November
MESSAGE FROM THE OPA TEAM

Not only is the OPA growing in membership with latest members joining being; Funnel, Interface (Easyinfo and Webmail) and Uppercase Media, but our third quarter stats show 2.6 million South Africans on average per month accessed member sites compared to 2.4 million in the second quarter of 2006.
For more local and industry news continue reading .....

Local News:

Online SA consumers fuelling ad revenue growth
Online media consumption continues to surge as the Internet becomes an increasingly mainstream media platform and the current online media audience, while still a small proportion of the South African population, has accounted for strong growth in online ad revenue as advertisers increasingly find benefits. This is according to the latest research released by Nielsen/Netratings on behalf of the Online Publishers Association (OPA), which represents the major web publishers of SA.

Telkom sees ADSL growth
Telkom has seen strong data growth in the past six months, with the number of ADSL subscribers increasing by 99.6%, to 190 172, as at 30 September.

SA online shopping results released
Six months after the shopping search engine Jump Shopping went live, the first online shopping product results are out.

Is Google evil?
Computer users are storing more and more of their personal, and sometimes confidential, information on Web servers they don't own and control. Will security concerns be the undoing of Google and Web computing?

Affordable broadband for SA
Cape Town - The undersea telecommunications cable running down the west side of Africa was "at full capacity" and the planned eastern cable linking east African and southern African states was key to providing affordable broadband to ordinary South Africans, Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said on Tuesday.

International News:

Yahoo: Internet Ad Predictions Too Low
The growth potential of advertising on the internet has been underestimated because predictions did not include video advertising, social media sites or mobile advertising, according to Terry Semel, CEO of Yahoo.

IAB/PwC: Internet Ad Revenues Surpass $4B in Q3
Internet advertising revenues are estimated to have reached new record levels of $4.2 billion in the third quarter, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The third-quarter revenues were 33 percent more than the $3.1 billion in the year-ago quarter and 2 percent more than the second quarter's nearly $4.1 billion, according to the IAB and PwC. "Interactive advertising, with its eighth consecutive quarter of growth and the largest single quarter ever, is on pace for its biggest year," David Silverman, Partner, Assurance, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said in a statement.

Blogs becoming force in advertising
London - Blogs are becoming a force to be reckoned with as a means of advertising products, according to a survey. More trusted than TV or email An Ipsos MORI poll found that the Internet journals are a more trusted source of information than TV advertising or email marketing.

At Web 2.0 Summit, a Look At What's in Store (and Storage)
Jeffrey P. Bezos, chief executive of Amazon.com Inc., outlined his ambitious strategy for selling online storage and computing power before a crowd of entrepreneurs gathered here Wednesday for the Internet industry's marquee conference and annual pep rally.
Speaking to a crowd that seemed almost giddy over the potential of the Web, Bezos detailed a corporate strategy that seeks to transform the Internet retailer into a provider of Web-based storage, computing power and other logistical services for businesses. The idea is to allow other companies to spend less time wrestling with computer infrastructure and more time on their core business.

A Web Analytics Privacy Warning
It must be that time of year. Last Wednesday "The Wall Street Journal" ran another article ("Groups Urge Web Tracking Inquiry") about privacy concerns related to Web analytics and visitor behavior data collection on Web sites. The article focused on a complaint filed with the FTC by the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. I read the CDD's press release and overview, and scanned the 50-page filling.

Report

Jupiter: Media & Entertainment to Lead Online Ad Spend
Online advertising spend from companies in the media and entertainment, financial services, and travel and automotive categories will account for the majority of online advertising spending within five years. Online advertising spend in those four categories will total $11.5 billion in 2011, according to a new JupiterResearch report, "US Online Category Advertising Forecast, 2006 to 2011

B2B Putting Money Where The Market Is
Business-to-business (B2B) marketers have woken to the reality that their customers are hanging out online and have begun to divert resources in that direction, according to the latest research compiled by eMarketer.

Case Study

Sony Bravia: Choose Your Ending
Creative Showcase: McKinney Silver's campaign for Sony Bravia gives men and women the chance to choose their own ending to each commercial.

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