Online Marketing News - Business to Business

For me, spam is unwelcome email - if I don't want it, it's spam.

The send speeds of ESPs are increasingly being looked at as a key selling point. Being able to pump out over a million emails per month is regarded as a benefit by many clients.

Most major UK-based ESPs are able to provide these speeds, often through a partnership with companies such as Strongmail or Port25 Solutions.

But is this important?

A simple Santa hat, some holly or a bit of tinsel hanging off the corporate logo is often the most companies do to make their email marketing festive. 

They are missing a trick.

Professional social network LinkedIn has launched a developer platform as well as a redesign of its website.

As previously outlined by CEO Dan Nye, the new "Intelligent Application" platform will not be as open as that of rival Facebook, and will be limited to ‘business productivity applications’.

Dela Quist looks at why 40% of subscribers to an email database may not open a single message they are sent for six months or more.

He says this is not necessarily a bad thing as they are ‘unemotionally subscribed’ – they still want to receive messages from you but are not in a position to take up your offer today.

The BBC, Channel 4 and ITV have confirmed that their long rumoured joint video on demand (VOD) service will go live next year.

The venture, dubbed 'Project Kangaroo', will operate independently of the three broadcasters and offer video content from a range of providers.

B2B social network Xing is planning to introduce advertising for the first time before the end of the year, giving the company an extra revenue stream to add to subscriptions.

According to Xing, the targeted ads will only be introduced in certain sections and will "not compromise the usability of the website". But it says the volume of ads will increase over the next year.

The Times is to make it easier for readers to contribute to its website by allowing them to blog by phone using voice to text services provided by SpinVox.

The service is initially aimed at travel bloggers as part of the site's YourWorld promotion with BMW. TimesOnline users will be able to give accounts of their travels from anywhere in the world, and read those posted by other readers.

MySpace has joined up with Google for the launch of its OpenSocial platform, which aims to create a common platform for developers to create applications for social networks.

Bebo also joined in with OpenSocial yesterday, while LinkedIn, XING, Friendster and Orkut are already on board. The big question is whether Facebook will decide to join Google's initiative.

WPP Group has acquired Blast Radius, an interactive agency based in Canada, for an undisclosed sum. 

Blast Radius, which employs 400 staff with offices in San Francisco, New York, Toronto, Amsterdam and London, has experience in building ad campaigns for social networks. It will be aligned with WPP's Wunderman network. 

Finnish mobile micro-blogging startup Jaiku has been acquired by Google for an undisclosed sum.

Jaiku is a micro-blogging / social networking startup that enables users to post their thoughts, comments and opinions, while other users can keep in touch with friends by viewing their profiles and posting new updates.

Sportbuzz, the company behind online sports community Sportingo, has received $3.2m (£1.75m) in VC funding from Ingenious Media.

MSNBC.com, the Microsoft/NBC joint venture, has acquired social news site Newsvine for an undisclosed sum, the first acquisition in the firms's 11 year history.

Users of LinkedIn can now add photos to their profile pages, while users of German business network Xing will be able to add more personal and professional information to their profiles.

LinkedIn has resisted this move for some time as the lack of photos has set the site apart from other social networks, but has decided to give in to user requests.

TUI Travel, the holiday group that includes major travel brands Thomson Holidays and First Choice, has reportedly acquired holiday user review website Holidays Uncovered.

Travolution reports that a deal was concluded within the past few weeks and will soon be officially announced.

A good online marketer makes their budget stretch a long way. Now I employ an account management team full of them, I’m always gobsmacked by how far they used to make a little money go in their previous positions.

Yahoo! has acquired Zimbra, a provider of web based email and online/offline office software, for a cash price of $350m (£175.5m).

Zimbra's product is essentially a web based version of Outlook, though the company recently added Zimbra Desktop, which allows users to access email and other functions when offline.

Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has acquired US mobile advertising firm Enpocket as it bolsters its position in the market.

Enpocket provides technology and services for mobile advertising and delivers mobile ads in various formats, including mobile internet ads, video, SMS and MMS.   

The BBC is reportedly in talks with Microsoft over allowing the corporation's content to be downloadable via Xbox Live, as Microsoft looks to turn the console into an entertainment hub in people's living rooms.

In the US, Microsoft currently offers a video on demand service through content deals with Warner Bros, MTV and others. It apparently now plans to expand this service to Europe.