FOX has drawn much criticism over its decision to censor certain parts of this Sunday’s Emmy broadcast. The network “bleeped” Sally Field’s acceptance speech when she used the word “goddamn.” However, a 2004 ruling by the FCC specifically declared that “goddamn” was not indecent. Comedian Ray Romano received similar treatment, when the network dropped the audio and awkwardly cutaway during one of his jokes. See today’s video for commentary on Fox’s hair-trigger censorship.
APPLE announced this morning that the iPhone would debut in Europe on November 9th. O2, the leading wireless operator in the UK, will be the exclusive carrier. The phone will cost £269 ($536), and operate on the EDGE network.
GOOGLE announced AdSense for Mobile, which contextually targets ads to mobile website content. The service will allow publishers to monetize existing mobile sites. In its announcement, Google pointed out the large market it is now entering – saying there are more mobile devices worldwide than TVs and computers combined.
AOL will move its headquarters from Dulles, Virginia, to New York. The move is seen as a sign of its transition from a subscription company into a digital ad-sales firm. The move will include a consolidation of its digital ad business into a new unit, called Platform A, which integrates TACODA, Third Screen Media, and other recent acquisitions.
THE NEW YORK TIMES has decided to drop its subscription wall — getting rid of TimesSelect and its associated fees. The company believes that online advertising growth will outpace paid subscriber growth, and thus an open site offers greater revenue potential. In addition, the two-year experiment with TimesSelect revealed some interesting traffic patterns. The company found that a much higher than anticipated number of visitors came from places other than NYTimes.com – specifically, from search engines. These visitors were often blocked by the subscription wall, and represent untapped revenue potential. The wall will drop tonight at midnight.
MYSPACE is expected to unveil a major new targeted advertising system this week. The system scours MySpace profiles for information, categorizing users based on age, interests, and other data. The company calls the program “hyper targeting,” and claims it increases the chance that a person will click on an ad by 80%.