Advertising spend in broadcast media is on the decline:

* With the rise of on-demand world, push/broadcast advertising model is no longer effective.

* In October, the four biggest broadcast networks reported declines in audiences between the ages of 18 and 49.

* Advertising Age, in a study on social networking and its impact on television, found that 25% of users of social networking sites like Facebook indicated they were spending less time watching TV because of the time they were spending online.

So this means online advertising spend is exploding? Not really:

* TechCrunch indicates that in the third quarter, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL collectively eked out only a 0.6% increase in online advertising revenue quarter over quarter.

* MediaPost.com reports that, while online ad revenue is up 11% year-to-date, compared to last year’s growth of 26%, growth has all but stalled in 2008. They predict that 2009 will be the first flat year for online ad spending since 2003.

* In a survey of attendees at AdTech New York, private equity firm Halyard Capital found most predicted digital-marketing budgets would be down 10-20% in 2009.

* According to research by Morgan Stanley, the average CPM for a banner ad has dropped from $3 to $1 over the past decade.

* MediaPost predicts that this decline in the rates advertisers are paying will extend to online video advertising in 2009, which is an area that has been enjoying a two year spike in CPMs.

So then where will the ad dollars go? Will they go to social networks that is getting monster page views? No, again:

* Click-through rates on social networking sites are 10 to 100 times lower than the average for banner ads, which were already in the 0.1 percent to 1 percent range.

So then, what is the rising star? It is ‘mobile’ and ‘location-based social networks’:

* 62% of AdTech’s attendees responding to the survey by Halyard cited mobile as the advertising platform that will grow the most in the next two years, as they point that the ’spray and pray’ model no longer works and they need more effective ways to get their messages to the consumers.

At Centrl, we are seeing amazing engagement metrics from our users with the location-based ads we are serving through our partner Navteq and their LocationPoint location-based advertising service.

You are traveling to New York? Download Centrl for free to your phone, see where your friends are, pick some restaurants to go to through Centrl’s layers and while you are at it, click on these green icons and get 10% off your hotel stay. The advertisement becomes a benefit when it is delivered at the right place at the right time.

We are very excited to be the first LBSN to use Navteq’s LocationPoint and we are working with them very closely to improve and optimize every aspect of our system. As the industry and advertisers are gearing up to send their messages to the right people at the right place at the right time, it is very encouraging that these messages are transforming from advertising into ‘benefits’ for our users.

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

The video curation and publishing platform based in NYC and Vidiac, the "leader in enthusiast video verticals," have announced a partnership according to a press release which we received which will enable Vidiac-hosted Web sites to transition to a video 2.0 discovery platform powered by Magnify. 

The partnership will also provide Vidiac users with access to new features, including a custom-filtered Twitter feed, 20-plus new page templates, Google Maps widget, and seven additional video search sources.

[Editor's Note: Magnify powers NYConvergence's NYConvergence TV channel.]

Our Android and BlackBerry applications are finally available:

Android:

BlackBerry:

You can download them at http://centrl.com/mobile . We are looking forward to your feedback!

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

The NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) has released a Request for Information (RFI) regard the installation of wireless Internet Service in NYC Parks according to an e-mail received by NYConvergence.  This wireless Internet service will replace the one previously provided in eight parks through a concession agreement. 

The RFI is available for download here:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doitt/html/miscs/rfiwifi.shtml.

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NYConvergence ORIGINAL

The Semantic Web Meetup's panelists attempted to answer that question last night at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan's Midtown neighborhood last night.  The panel which was moderated by Project10X's Mills Davis and Hearst Corp.'s Mike Dunn included Peer39's Amiad Solomon, ad pepper's Sacha Carton, Edelman Digital's David Dunne, Newsweek's Geoff Reiss, The New York Times' Evan Sandhaus, and DDB's Paul Sundue.

Highlights of the discussion included:

• How semantic technology is used to analyze remnant inventory more effectively
• There is a difference between semantic technology which is based on linguistics and natural language systems
• Advertisments themselves will eventually become more dynamic
• Semantic technology can be used to compliment contextual and behavioral systems in place
• The New York Times has a wealth of data available on its articles' subjects as it has been using its own unique indexing system since 1913 to classify them.  A significant amount of this data is available here.

[Editor's Note: Peer39 is a current client of Trylon SMR, publisher of NYConvergence.]

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

While NYConvergence was over at SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology's Haft Auditorium in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood for the June NY Tech Meetup last night, Microsoft was hosting its own event at a temporary "gallery" location in Manhattan's Meatpacking District across the street from Apple's retail location.  Project Manager Rob Kelley e-mailed us to let us know how it went.  Below, you'll find his report.

In contrast to the youth and energy of [the] tech meetup, the [M]icrosoft gallery show had the stylishly-dressed 30-somethings sipping wine while looking over [their] shoulders at touchscreens.  The event
also brought in some of the walk-by meatpacking district fashion set.

Biggest fail: Microsoft's tabletop surface copmputer was kaput (a shame because I''d call it the main geek draw, but the two-finger HP touchscreens were a hit.  Users could use Microsoft's Photo Montage program to move and stretch photos by dragging the corners as in Minority Report.

Coolest was the presence of half a dozen toddlers (including my own). They cuted up look of the crowd and made good test users of the touchscreens (in my informal tests, MS Paint wins out over Virtual Earth for the under-five crowd).

The New York Web TV Meetup, presented by Tilzy.tv and hosted by For Your Imagination, is planning a Very Special Night with Big Fat Brain (aka the You Suck at Photoshop Guys) on Wednesday, June 3 starting at 6:30 PM at For Your Imagination in New York City. The New York Web TV Meetup is a monthly event devoted to celebrating and supporting innovation in the exploding digital entertainment industry and bringing together the dynamic web television community. Make sure you RSVP for this great event that will have free beer!

NYConvergence ORIGINAL

Downloaded, scheduled to take place tomorrow at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, will feature live music performances from  Tennman/Interscope Records artist Esmée Denters, Tay Zonday, Iman "Alphacat" Crosson, David Choi, and Kina Grannis.  Adding to this first-of-its-kind show are a comedy performance by HappySlip, and a live make-up demo with Michelle Phan. 

The Hghline Ballroom is located at 431 West 16 Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues. Tickets are $15 and the doors open at 6 PM and the show starts at 8 PM.