What is Media Literacy? Media literacy is the ability to bring critical thinking skills and about asking pertinent questions about what's there, and noticing what's not there. And it's the instinct to question what lies behind media productions - the motives, the money, the values and the ownership— and to be aware of how these factors influence content. In our world of multi-tasking, commercialism, globalization and interactivity, media literacy isn't about having the right answers - it's about asking the right questions. (Source: Jane Tallim) Photo credit: lumingopereira Inside this Media Literacy Digest:

• Community Information Hubs - Finding relevant information about a local community is challenging in a sea of global information.
• How Social Media Is Changing College Admission - Instead of marketing to 100,000 students at once (mainstream media model) they now focus on connecting to groups of 10-20.
• Visualization and Search - Searching and finding useful information really shouldn’t be as difficult as it is today.
• Technology as Philosophy - Technology is a philosophy and we MUST understand what it embodies, discuss its future impact, and explore what we are becoming.
• LearnTrends - Jay Cross hosted a 24-hour learn-a-thon this week.
• Pay Attention! - ...attention is a skill that must be learned, shaped, practiced; this skill must evolve if we are to evolve.
• Rough Week for Higher Education - Established institutions like higher education are increasingly targeted as bloated, inefficient, and thoroughly corrupt.

If you are into understanding how technology improvements are shaping new and different paradigms in the way we conceive and experience education, this weekly digest provides you a good set of pointers, facts and resources to make sense of the challenges that awaits our society in a not-so-distant future. Here all the details:


eLearning Resources and News learning, networks, knowledge, technology, trends by George Siemens


Analysis of Emerging Trends Affecting the Use of Technology in Education Becta has published a new report Analysis of emerging trends affecting the use of technology in education. The report does not contain anything significantly new, but provides a good overview of current trends in information technology (in particular, multimedia habits, mobile technologies, parental encouragement of educational use of tools, and growth of TV on demand). Growing awareness of trends impacting education is important. More attention is being paid to trends today than was only a few years ago (Horizon Report was an early initiative in trend analysis). We are now getting to the point where trends analysis needs to lead to the creation of future scenarios. Developing a futures thinking mindset would serve educators well (the future is about future thinking?).




Community Information Hubs Finding relevant information about a local community is challenging in a sea of global information. I subscribe to several local blogs, news sites, and related information. In networks, local information teeters on the brink of generating global conversation. All it takes is one unique conversation, violation of rights, a novel happening and suddenly global attention floods local scenes (high attention status is fleeting, however, and disappears as soon as the next novelty attracts the attention of online participants). In spite of following local information sources, I do find that I miss much of the mundane local conversation (gossip?). Given the global decline of newspapers, what can we expect from community hubs? MediaShift suggests: “There’s no shortage of quality information. The issue is recognizing the type of information that people need expanded access to and finding a trustworthy mechanism for delivering it.” A list of suggestions for information hubs then follows. All of which could be achieved through distributed means... and none of which require a central site. It’s here that I’m finding some personal dissatisfaction with information interaction. The notion of object-centered sociability suggests that it is objects that lead to socialization. I would like to turn it around and offer the view that online and community conversations are socially-centered information artifacts. They do not exist prior to the conversation and interaction. Information, in a socially centered view, is a by product of learning that emerges through socialization, rather than an artifact that centers socialization.




How Social Media Is Changing College Admission Media and advertising are obviously intertwined. Attention draws marketing schemes. There is value in watching how the PR industry has moved from centralized controlled messages in mainstream media to decentralized messages on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. College and university admissions are also taking note. At University of Manitoba, for example, our PR department is actively involved with: News blogs, Twitter, Facebook, podcasts, and other tools. And they subscribe to Google alerts on “University of Manitoba” (which is how they will find out about this post... I was recently interviewed by our student newspaper on Facebook and our handbook of emerging technologies because the editor discovered references on Google Alerts. It does make me wonder about how effectively our organizations are designed to handle and understand information flows when external tools do a better job of connecting people on a campus than internal tools and procedures). The intent with PR and marketing to connect with prospective students in various forums and various tools. Instead of marketing to 100,000 students at once (mainstream media model) they now focus on connecting to groups of 10-20. How social media is changing college admission (.pdf) demonstrates the significant use of blogs, wikis, social networking services, and other tool by universities / colleges. In most categories use is significantly higher than by Fortune and Inc. 500 companies. The discussion on how admissions departments use social networking and web search (p12) as part of the admissions process is interesting... and something that younger learners need to be aware of. (via Academica Group). UPDATE: For some reason, the paper has now been moved. Member only access…




Visualization and Search Searching and finding useful information really shouldn’t be as difficult as it is today. When Google first appeared, it introduced new expectations of search. Instead of categorical Yahoo Search or only marginally effective Lycos search results, users now expected fast and relevant responses to queries. And so things have stayed. I’m sure Google has been very aggressive in improving search results behind the scenes, but my experience of searching is almost identical to what it was in early 2000. Search innovation has been limited. This is partly due to the sheer complexity of language and matching results to sometimes undeclared intentions. While Berners Lee appears on the scene occasionally to declare the need for the semantic web, he soon fades and for most of us, search continues as it was. When Google purchased Trendalyzer, there was an expectation that search would now become more visual - providing not just the results, but an indication of patterns, trends, and related factors. Not much has happened since then. At least, not much that I’ve experienced in my search habits. WolframAlpha is now receiving attention (though it hasn’t launched) as a tool to assist in making sense of complex data. And Google has revived lagging search innovation by adding public data to its results (only American states / counties to date). Other novel declarations of new search engines (cuil and a9 come to mind) haven’t made much of an impact. Perhaps Google has attained Microsoft status: finding it difficult to innovate and having grown so prominent that those who are innovating are unable to compete.




Technology as Philosophy Technology is not neutral. We don’t apply it to our teaching in a “plug in and use” approach. Technology is philosophy. Tools embed views and influence action. Google permits access to information (when not blocked). Blogs and wikis permit openness and information sharing. It’s not much of a surprise then that we see the creators and advocates of emerging technologies to desire to exert their influence into traditional establishments and problems. I’m starting to see the field of technology as a quasi-religious system based on assumptions of progress, constant change, individualism, distrust/disdain for established structures of society, and hope for an every expanding brighter future. As any system of this nature, the will to power is strong. The desire to re-create society on the premise that drives the technology field forward is natural. In Iraq with Web 2.0 Luminaries: The idea is to use the brains of this small collective to give ideas to Iraqi government officials, companies and users that will help it rebuild. Iraq is short on the mojo that widespread internet can bring and the fast-track economic jolt that entrepreneurs feed on. Who knows that stuff better than a contingent of internet goombahs heavy on the Google juice and includes the guy who thought up Twitter? When stories like this appear, it should cause educators to stop spouting silly things like “technology is neutral”. Technology is a philosophy and we MUST understand what it embodies, discuss its future impact, and explore what we are becoming.




LearnTrends Jay Cross hosted a 24-hour learn-a-thon this week. Any experimentation with teaching and learning that challenges assumptions of courses and conferences is intriguing. Jay reflects on the event: “Our goal was honest dialog among as many members as possible. No commercials. No presentations. Few or no slides. Often, we threw three or four great people into an online fishbowl and let the conversation go where it would.”




Pay Attention! How do you handle students / colleagues who are actively handling email, twittering, facebooking, and whatever-else-ing while you are conducting a class or attending a meeting? Some educators adopt a “it’s the student’s choice” attitude, while others require learners to be present. Howard Rheingold posits attention as a form of literacy: I want my students to learn that attention is a skill that must be learned, shaped, practiced; this skill must evolve if we are to evolve. The technological extension of our minds and brains by chips and nets has granted great power to billions of people, but even in the early years of always-on, it is clear to even technology enthusiasts like me that this power will certainly mislead, mesmerize and distract those who haven’t learned - were never taught - how to exert some degree of mental control over our use of laptop, handheld, earbudded media. Related: PR 2.0 tackles attention from the perspective of the consumer, suggesting advertisers / organizations follow the eyeballs and “compete for attention where and when it’s captivated.”




Rough Week for Higher Education General Motors is now the new standard insult to organizations that need to innovate, but don’t. Established institutions like higher education are increasingly targeted as bloated, inefficient, and “thoroughly corrupt”. Harsh. Ivory Tower: Crumbling from Within quotes a presentation by Jeff Sandefer (who is highly biased as the founder of an business school to counter traditional universities): “the bureaucratic “pedagogy of arrogance” may soon collapse, much like the General Motors and even the former Soviet Union” (insert joke here about how effective business schools were at preventing economic collapse in late 2008). We then hear of David Wiley (slightly misquoted) declaring universities will be irrelevant by 2020. Each era of history creates its knowledge institutions to reflect how information (in that era) is created, disseminated, shared, and re-created. History has given us libraries, monasteries, universities, and research labs. What does the future hold for knowledge institutions when the information cycle is under the control of individuals and amateurs? I don’t agree fully with the harsh assessment in the articles linked above - universities appear to be awakening to the changed reality - but our current challenge is that we have no alternative to move toward. We know what we don’t want universities to be. We don’t yet have thought leadership on what they should become.

Originally written by George Siemens for elearnspace and first published on May 1st 2009 in his newsletter eLearning Resources and News.

About the author To learn more about George Siemens and to access extensive information and resources on elearning check out www.elearnspace.org. Explore also George Siemens connectivism site for resources on the changing nature of learning and check out his new book "Knowing Knowledge".

Photo credits: Analysis of Emerging Trends Affecting the Use of Technology in Education - vacuum3d Community Information Hubs - Tatiana53 Technology as Philosophy - Anatoly Tiplyashin Pay Attention! - Dmitriy Shironosov Rough Week for Higher Education - Ana Blazic

What is Media Literacy? Media literacy is the ability to bring critical thinking skills and about asking pertinent questions about what's there, and noticing what's not there. And it's the instinct to question what lies behind media productions - the motives, the money, the values and the ownership— and to be aware of how these factors influence content. In our world of multi-tasking, commercialism, globalization and interactivity, media literacy isn't about having the right answers - it's about asking the right questions. (Source: Jane Tallim) Photo credit: lumingopereira Inside this Media Literacy Digest:

• Community Information Hubs - Finding relevant information about a local community is challenging in a sea of global information.
• How Social Media Is Changing College Admission - Instead of marketing to 100,000 students at once (mainstream media model) they now focus on connecting to groups of 10-20.
• Visualization and Search - Searching and finding useful information really shouldn’t be as difficult as it is today.
• Technology as Philosophy - Technology is a philosophy and we MUST understand what it embodies, discuss its future impact, and explore what we are becoming.
• LearnTrends - Jay Cross hosted a 24-hour learn-a-thon this week.
• Pay Attention! - ...attention is a skill that must be learned, shaped, practiced; this skill must evolve if we are to evolve.
• Rough Week for Higher Education - Established institutions like higher education are increasingly targeted as bloated, inefficient, and thoroughly corrupt.

If you are into understanding how technology improvements are shaping new and different paradigms in the way we conceive and experience education, this weekly digest provides you a good set of pointers, facts and resources to make sense of the challenges that awaits our society in a not-so-distant future. Here all the details:

As the traditional advertising revenue stream keeps its downtrend slope for many a web publisher, what are the alternative online business and revenue making models that independent online publishers can leverage to increase their overall income and profitability? Beyond traditional banner ads, skyscrapers and Google AdSense strips, there is indeed a universe of alternative monetization opportunities that allows most online content publishers out there to increase, extend and diversify their range of revenue making channels in more ways than one would ever think. As I am myself working at diversifying MasterNewMedia own online revenue streams, I have spent some time researching and trying to identify which are the actual alternatives to the popular advertising revenue strategies most use, and which are the characteristics and traits that differentiate such alternative monetization models from each other. Unexpectedly, I have found much more than I was looking for. There are over 25 different ways to create new profit online open to just about any entrepreneur or independent web publisher out there. To understand and be aware of them is a responsibility that no serious web publisher can escape. But as I am not an economics professor nor an expert, my identification, labeling and grouping of all these online business and monetization models may be neither exhaustive nor perfect for everyone. But it is a starting point that reflects my own view on what is out there. In fact it would a fantastic thing, if you did actually add or provide extra information, comments, examples and ideas to my rough initial work. That's what I would like. To do so you can use the comments section at the end of this article or join me, later on today, for a live webinar on alternative online business models. In the webinar (you can register here if interested) I will share and provide free access to all participants to a unique editable mindmap of all online business models and monetization alternatives I have created. Here is what amounts to a base starting list of online monetization options, that I have separated between traditional advertising options and other monetization strategies. I'd love you to help me make it better.


Alternatives to Advertising-Based Online Business and Monetization Models




Online Advertising-Based Business and Monetization Models




Find More About Online Business Models

• Better Than Free
• E-World - Online Business Models
• Monetizing your Web App: Business Model Options
• Alternative Online Business Models
• Business Models On The Web
• Gaining Online Advantage: Understanding online business models
• Internet Marketing--Various Online Business Models
• The Long Tail Of Business Models

Originally written by Robin Good and Daniele Bazzano for MasterNewMedia and first published on April 29th, 2009 as "Beyond Ads: Guide To Alternative Online Business And Monetization Models".

If you are an Internet user and are concerned about future control and regulation of your ability to freely access your preferred content and services online, no matter where you live it is now the time for you to stop and understand what the European Parliament is about to pass in the coming days unless you and I do something about it.

Photo credit: graffoto

On May 5th in fact, the EU Parliament will vote a package of new regulations (the so-called "Telecom Package") which may free European Internet providers to decide which content, services and applications European users can access and use.

The Telecom Package will force users to choose among pre-packaged options of accessibility. Internet providers will tell you WHERE to go and WHAT to use online, dismantling instantly the essence of the Web as you know it today.

In this article you can find out details about the Telecom Package being reviewed, what its consequences could be, and what action you can take now to prevent this from happening.

If you care about the Internet and about the amazing opportunity that offers to each one of us, I warmly invite you to read closely this report and to evaluate by yourself how to best act to stop this Telecom Package from becoming official law.

Here all the details:

Voting In EU Parliament 5th Of May 2009

by Blackout Europe Team

Internet access is not conditional.

Everyone who owns a website has an interest in defending the free use of Internet… so has everyone who uses Google or Skype… everyone who expresses their opinions freely, does research of any kind, whether for personal health problems or academic study … everyone who shops online…who dates online…socializes online… listens to music…watches video…

1. What They Want to Enforce. The Telecoms Package

The internet as we know it is at risk because of proposed new EU rules (the Telecoms package) are being discussed now at 2nd reading in the Parliament stage.

Under the proposed new rules, broadband providers will be legally able to limit the number of websites you can look at, and to tell you whether or not you are allowed to use particular services. It will be dressed up as ‘new consumer options’ which people can choose from.

People will be offered TV-like packages - with a limited number of options for you to access.

It means that the Internet will be packaged up and your ability to access and to put up content could be severely restricted. It will create boxes of Internet accessibility, which don’t fit with the way we use it today.

This is because internet is now permitting exchanges between persons which cannot be controlled or “facilitated” by any middlemen (the state or a corporation). This possibility improves citizen’s life but force the industry to lose power and control.

Access providers have now learned that controlling access they can control the information society development.That is why they are pushing to act those changes.

The excuse is to promote competition, offering choices to users which fit better their behavior on the Internet and, by collaborating with sectors interested in the promotion of lawful content (aka the entertainment industry), to control the flow of music, films and entertainment content against the alleged piracy by downloading for free, using P2P file-sharing. However, the real victims of this plan will be all Internet users and the democratic and independent access to information, culture goods...

2. Consequences for All of Us

Think about how you use the Internet! What would it mean to you if free access to the Internet was taken away?

These days, the Internet is about life and freedom. It’s about shopping, booking theater tickets... holidays, learning, job-seeking, banking, and trade. It’s also about the fun things - dating, chatting, invitations, music, entertainment, joking and even a Second Life. It is a tool to express ourselves, to collaborate, innovate, share, stimulate new business ideas, reach new markets - thrive without middlemen...

Listen to one of the fathers of the World Wide Web talking about network discrimination and how it could affect to the openness of the Internet.

He talks about the USA… but in Europe the same can happen if the Telecoms Package passes as it is now.

Just think - what’s your web address? Unless people have that address in their “package” of regular websites - they won’t be able to find you. That means they can’t buy, or book, or register, or even view you online. Your business won’t be able to find niche suppliers of goods - and compare prices. If you get any money at all from advertising on your site, it will diminish.

Yes, Amazon and a select few will be OK, they will be the included in the package. But your advertising on Google or any other website, will be increasingly worthless.

Skype could be blocked. (As it is in Germany in the use from iPhone, already). Small businesses could literally disappear, especially specialist, niche or artisan businesses.

If we don’t do something now - we could lose free and open use of the internet. Our freedom (of choice in information, market, culture, pleasure) will be curtailed.

3. The Value of Our Opinions and Our Votes

Tell the European Parliament to vote against conditional access to the Internet!

Remind them that they need your vote in June and that the Internet still give us the tools to be watching and judging what they are doing!

You must know you are not alone: hundreds of organizations are working on that and thousands of people have already contacted their parliamentarians about that.

In scambioetico website you can also find some letters responding.

4. What Our Politicians Want to Pass

The EU proposals hold an enormous risk for our future. They are about to become Law - and will be virtually impossible to reverse.

People (even the members of the European Parliament who are voting on it) don’t really seem to understand the full implications and the legal changes are wrapped up in something called “Telecoms Package” which lulls people into thinking it is just about industry. However, in reality, hiding from public view, the amendments are about the way the Internet will operate in future.

Text about your rights to access and distribute content, services and applications, is being crossed out. And the text that is being brought in, says that broadband providers must inform you of any limitations, or restrictions to your access.

Alternative versions use the word ‘conditions’ - and it is seriously being proposed that you will be told the conditions of use of Internet services. This is made to sound good - it is dressed up as ‘transparency’ - except that of course it means that the broadband provider will have the legal right to limit your access or to impose conditions, otherwise why would they need to tell you?

If the Telecoms Package as it reads now is voted in, the changes will not be reversible.

5. How We Will Respond

We all have a stake in the Internet! You need to act now to save it!

• Ask to your leaders and representatives’ in the European Parliament to support a free and open Internet, where restrictions and limitations are only decided by a judicial ruling and monitoring is forbidden.
• Demand that Internet access providers will be required to offer a service open and without discriminations.
• Promoting growth and competition of the European economy should not be detrimental for citizen’s rights and the democratic participation.
• A fair welfare will not be reached if Internet does not stand free and open.

6. How to Do It (Tools)

Click here to find a technical explanation by Monica Horten, article by article, so you can check with your own eyes what it is going on.

The open coalition has also sent a number of letters to the European Parliamentarians (MEPs) with an explanation of the controversial articles.

As suggested by La Quadrature, you can:

1. Email, write to or phone your MEP - Follow the link to their website. to get the details.
   • You can use this letter as a model if you want
   • You are welcome to personalise the letter and include information that will make MEPs sit up, take note and take appropriate action. (Please do not be aggressive as they will not listen to you).





2. In this link you will be able to send these recommendations directly to all the Parliamentarians, (hacktivistas) Believe, they will really receive it and they will really feel the pressure.





3. Join this Facebook group





4. Send this page to everyone you know so that they can take action





5. Syndicate this page so that you keep been informed: disinformation is what they count on, we must be aware

Related Resources:

• Fac-simile letter for EU Parliamentarians
• Mail addresses of all EU Parliamentarians, categorized by country
• Political memory wiki page - Track and record vote of EU Parliamentarians
• La Quadrature Du Net - Info and resources

Originally written by the Blackout Europe Team and first published on April 20th, 2009 as "URGENT – VOTING IN EU PARLIAMENT 5th of MAY 2009".

Photo credits:
Voting In EU Parliament 5th Of May 2009 - mipan
What They Want to Enforce. The Telecoms Package - Ruslan Gilmanshin
The Value of Our Opinions and Our Votes - James Steidl
What Our Politicians Want to Pass - kmitu
How We Will Respond - Konstantinos Kokkinis
How to Do It (Tools) - Yanik Chauvin

The online video advertising market seems to show no decline despite the economic crisis. The last report from LiveRail shows that average CPMs keeps growing bravely, and internet video consumption has been experiencing a massive growth of 40% and more. Since this trend has kept growing almost unstoppably since 2005, there's no sign it will ease off pretty soon. That's why it is so important that you keep up with both technical and creative aspects of online videos, and the new entrants in this filed are those in-stream ads you can see on the big video platforms like YouTube or Hulu. If you want to get a comprehensive overview of the opportunities to monetize your existing video archive or your upcoming daily video production, the International Advertising Bureau has put together an official set of guidelines and metrics to make sense of the emergent set of standard in-stream video ad formats. Here the IAB Online Video Ad Formats guidelines:


Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines and Best Practices by Internet Advertising Bureau Digital Video Committee In order to simplify the digital video advertising buying and selling process, the Digital Video Committee of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has developed these guidelines and best practices for the most common current in-stream ad formats, including:

• Linear video ads
• Non-linear video ads
• Companion ads

These recommendations have been constructed for these ad formats in order to meet the following marketplace needs:

• More efficient operations through a common set of creative submission guidelines
• More efficient development of ads and players through minimum common creative guidelines, including click functionality and duration definitions
• Easier digital video ad buying across multiple sites through minimum common ad sizes for overlay and companion ads
• Better consumer understanding of ad interactions and environments through best practice recommendations for creative development and player environments

There are three types of recommendations contained in this document for each ad format:

• Ad Format guidelines
• Common creative submission recommendations
• Additional best practices

Publishers will be able to self-attest to the IAB for a compliance seal by adhering to these Ad Format Guidelines. All other recommendations in this document should be considered best practices and should strongly be considered for adoption, but are not necessary for compliance. It is also important to note that this document has certain scope boundaries:

• This document supersedes the 2005 Broadband Ad Creative Guidelines; the original 2005 document is now obsolete
• Measurement of impressions or other metrics is not addressed in this document
• Although many of these formats can apply to full-screen and live experiences, this document does not specifically address those environments because of the high level of customization between publishers. The IAB encourages, where possible, that these guidelines be used in those situations.

While this document’s purpose is to develop more standardization in the most common areas of the digital video landscape, the IAB continues to encourage creativity and innovation in video ad formats. As with all IAB guidelines, this document will be updated as the dynamic digital video advertising landscape progresses and new ad formats become more widely adopted.







Video Formats Click above to open the full image In November 2005, the IAB Broadband Committee (now the Digital Video Committee) released creative guidelines for online video commercials to further enhance the user experience and improve the efficiency of planning, buying, and creating online media without constraining creative opportunities for marketers. Since 2005, both the experiences and consumption of video content have evolved significantly and newer video ad formats have been introduced to compliment these emerging types of video experiences and environments. This document is meant to build upon those guidelines by offering more detail on both the creative and technical aspects of video player and ad development. Currently the most common digital video ad experiences are either viewed within or around “in-stream”, “in-banner” or “in-text” video formats.

• In-Stream Video is generally played or viewed from a video player.
• In-Banner Video is generally displayed in IAB standard ad units.
• In-Text Video is generally user-initiated and triggered by relevant highlighted words within content.

This document delivers standards and best practices around in-stream ad products only.







In-Stream Video Advertising There are two core video ad format categories in today’s in-stream ad experiences. These are, “Linear Video” ads and “Non-linear Video” ads:

• Linear Video ad: The ad is presented before, in the middle of, or after the video content is consumed by the user, in very much the same way a TV commercial can play before, during or after the chosen program. One of the key characteristics of a linear video ad is that the user watches the ad in addition to the content as the ad takes over the full view of the video. Common linear video ad formats include pre-rolls, interactive takeovers, and short bumper vignettes that appear prior to the video content stream.


• Non-linear Video ad: The ad runs concurrently with the video content so the users see the ad while viewing the content. Non-linear video ads can be delivered as text, graphical ads, or as video overlays. Common non-linear video ad formats include:
  • Overlays which are shown directly over the content video itself. Note that an overlay ad can also be delivered over a linear ad experience as well, generally prompting the user to interact with the ad when the user mouses over the ad.
  • Product placements which are ads placed within the video content itself.

Both linear and non-linear video ad formats have the option of being paired with what is commonly referred to as a “Companion Ad”.

• Companion Ads: Commonly text, display ads, rich media, or skins that wrap around the video experience. These ads come in a number of sizes and shapes and typically run alongside or surrounding the video player. The primary purpose of the companion ad is to offer sustained visibility of the sponsor throughout the video experience. Companion ads may offer click-through interactivity and rich media experiences, such as expansion of the ad, for further engagement opportunities.

The following sections detail the ad format guidelines, recommended submission guidelines, and best practices for the following in-stream video ad formats:

• Linear Video Ad with or without Companion Ads
• Linear Video Interactive Ad
• Non-Linear Overlay Ad
• Non-Linear Non-Overlay Invitation Ad

This document was written to address the informational needs of advertising agencies, advertisers, vendors and publishers.







Linear Video Ad Formats
Linear Video Ad With or Without Companion Ad User Experience Description A time-limited video advertisement that can be shown before, in the middle of, or after the user sees the content in the video player. A clickable companion ad is typically run adjacent to the player content window.


Linear Video Ad Format Guidelines

• Insertion point: Can be placed pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll.


• Maximum ad display duration: 30 seconds or 15 seconds max. Ads may be less than but not exceed these maximum durations.


• Click Event: Both the video window and companion ad may be clickable with links to advertiser site


• Controls:
  • Since ads are displayed when a user opts-in to view content, it is recommended that all linear video ads be host-initiated
  • Minimum player controls present should be Start/Stop and Volume On / Off / Softer / Louder. Other recommended and acceptable buttons include Fast Forward / Rewind, Pause, Zoom and other Interactive buttons as needed. All buttons should be enabled throughout the video ad play, with the exception of Fast Forward.


• Companion ad sizes: If a publisher offers companion ads as part of a linear video ad product, as per the “companion ad” section of this document at least one of the following companion ad sizes should be accepted:
  • 300x250
  • 300x100
  • 468x60
  • 728x90
  • 300x60

It is important to note that this is a minimum consideration set and that other ad sizes may also be offered by a publisher in addition to at least one of the listed sizes.


Linear Video Ad Submission Recommendations It is recommended, but not required for guideline compliance, that publishers adopt the following list of specifications in order to encourage standardized and more operationally efficient submission practices.

• Video file technical specifications:
  1. Bit rates: Greater than 2Mbps.
  2. Resolution (in pixels): 640x480 preferred; 400x300 minimum; these dimensions may be adapted to accommodate wide screen videos.
  3. Color depth: 32-bit.
  4. Key frames: every 1 second.
  5. Frame rate: At least 15 frames per second.
  6. Recommended codecs for video asset submission: MPEG2, WMV, H.264 / AAC.


• Aspect ratio: 4:3 (standard screen) or 16:9 (wide screen). Publishers may scale the submission to fit their player (e.g. colored bands may be added around the ad.)


• Leaders (slate): Video creative may be submitted without leaders (slate) before ad content.


• Scalability: If scaling of ad is possible, publishers should disclose to buyers in creative specs how scaling may occur.

Linear Video Ad Best Practices for Publishers

1. Video players should gracefully accommodate both aspect ratios (4:3 or 16:9) by adding color bands or adjusting the player size to fit.


2. Publishers should disclose to advertisers when running multiple ads in a pod during commercial breaks.
   
3. Other durations commonly accepted:
   • Short-form video creative (aka "bumper", 3-10 seconds in length)
   • 60 second spots (should be run sparingly and only as post-roll or during extended mid-roll ad slots)


4. Publishers should accept at least one of the following formats for companion ads: jpeg, gif, png, swf (Adobe Flash), and xap (Microsoft Silverlight).
   
5. In order to deliver optimal user experiences, publishers should continuously manage and analyze the ratio of ads to content.
   
6. It is recommended that frequency capping practices be employed. When frequency capping is practiced, publishers should disclose frequency capping practices to the buyers.

Linear Video Interactive Ad
User Experience Description Ad experience allows a user to interact with an ad message within a video window. The ad plays for a prescribed minimum length of time (usually length of video creative) inviting the user to interact. Ad duration can continue if the user continues to interact with the ad based on publisher criteria. The ad may include video, animation, or images. A key aspect of this unit is that everything is displayed within the video frame.


Linear Video Interactive Ad Format Guidelines

• Insertion point: Can be placed pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll.


• Maximum ad display duration: 30 seconds or 15 seconds max. Ads may be less than but not exceed these maximum durations.


• Click Event: Both the video window and companion ad may be clickable with links to advertiser site


• Linear Video Interactive Ad Unit format: Publishers should accept one of two types of interactive ad unit with the following format requirements:
  1. Full-video-window rich media interactive unit file format: Publishers should accept at least one of the following file formats: swf, flv (Adobe Flash), and xap (Microsoft Silverlight). It is important to note that some integration with publishers may still be required.
  2. Linear video ad with interactive overlays. See format guidelines for linear video ads.

Linear Video Interactive Ad Submission Recommendations It is recommended, but not required for guideline compliance, that publishers adopt the following list of specifications in order to encourage standardized and more operationally efficient submission practices.

• Video file technical specifications:
  1. Bit rates: Greater than 2Mbps.
  2. Resolution (in pixels): 640x480 preferred; 400x300 minimum; these dimensions may be adapted to accommodate wide screen videos.
  3. Color depth: 32-bit.
  4. Key frames: every 1 second.
  5. Frame rate: At least 15 frames per second.
  6. Recommended codecs for video asset submission: MPEG2, WMV, H.264 / AAC.


• Leaders (slate): Video creative may be submitted without leaders (slate) before ad content.

Linear Video Interactive Ad Best Practices for Publishers

1. Video players should gracefully accommodate both aspect ratios (4:3 or 16:9) by adding color bands or adjusting the player size to fit.
2. Publisher should disclose to advertisers when running multiple ads in a pod.
3. Publishers should clearly outline integration requirements for developing creative.
4. In order to deliver optimal user experiences, publishers should continuously manage and analyze the ratio of ads to content.
5. When possible, simple interaction cues, such as a small graphic or animation, should be included to ensure users understand when and how to interact with the ads.

Non-Linear Video Ad Formats
Overlay Ad
User Experience Description Overlay ads run concurrently with content. Invitation unit ads are displayed on top of content while video is playing.

• If user interacts with invitation, content is paused and full video ad is displayed in the video window.
• If user does not engage with overlay it may disappear, collapse to a “leave-behind” companion ad or be persistent for entire content play.

Note that some overlay ads can be served over linear video ads as well.


Non-Linear Video Overlay Ad Format Guidelines

• Insertion Point: During video play.


• Maximum ad display duration: 5-15 seconds or persistent.


• Click Event: Click or rollover on overlay expands to auto-initiated video, interactive ad, or takes user to advertiser’s site.


• Overlay Ad Sizes: Publishers should accept at least one of the following overlay ad sizes: 300x50, 450x50. It is important to note that this is a minimum consideration set and that other ad sizes may also be offered by a publisher in addition to at least one of the listed sizes. The overlay ad should not be more than 1/5 of the height of the player.

Non-Linear Video Overlay Ad Submission Recommendations It is recommended, but not required for guideline compliance, that publishers adopt the following list of specifications in order to encourage standardized and more operationally efficient submission practices.

• Video file technical specifications (if video is used for overlay ad):
  1. Bit rates: Greater than 2Mbps.
  2. Resolution (in pixels): 640x480 preferred; 400x300 minimum; these dimensions may be adapted to accommodate wide screen videos.
  3. Color depth: 32-bit.
  4. Key frames: every 1 second.
  5. Frame rate: At least 15 frames per second.
  6. Recommended codecs for video asset submission: MPEG2, WMV, H.264 / AAC.


• Non-video file formats: Publishers should accept at least one of the following: jpeg, png, swf (Adobe Flash), and xap (Microsoft Silverlight).


• Maximum file size: 100k.


• Audio: No audio allowed in overlay invitation unit; once full ad expands or begins audio should be host-initiated.


• Opacity: Text and image - 100% opaque; background - 70% maximum.


• Animation: For animated overlay ad units, publishers may allow an extra 20 additional vertical pixels (beyond the 1/5 limit) that can be used sparingly by the advertisers to enhance the ad message, such as for drop shadows, flying sparks, etc.

Non-Linear Video Overlay Ad Best Practices for Publishers

1. Publishers should include a persistent close button in the upper right corner of the overlay ad unit.
2. Publisher should clearly use overlay labels to identify unit as “Advertisement” within frame or next to overlay unit.
3. The ad is most commonly presented anchored to bottom of player, but may be anchored along the top or side of player at the publisher’s discretion.

Non-Linear Non-Overlay Invitation Ad
User Experience Description Like the overlay, this unit presents an invitation to engage with the ad concurrently with the content experience. However, rather than overlaying the content, the non-overlay ad’s invitation resides outside the live video frame but within the video window. This format is used when publishers do not wish to overlay the content.


Non-Linear Non-Overlay Invitation Ad Format Guidelines

• Insertion Point: During video play; within player but not within video content frame.


• Maximum ad display duration: At least one of the following two durations should be offered: 5-15 seconds or persistent.


• Click Event: Click or rollover on overlay expands to auto-initiated video, interactive ad, or takes user to advertiser’s site.


• Non-Overlay Ad Sizes: Publishers should accept at least one of the following overlay ad sizes:
  • 300x50
  • 300x60
  • 234x60
  • 400x20
  It is important to note that this is a minimum consideration set and that other ad sizes may also be offered by a publisher in addition to one of the listed sizes.

Non-Linear Non-Overlay Invitation Ad Submission Recommendations It is recommended, but not required for guideline compliance, that publishers adopt the following list of specifications in order to encourage standardized and more operationally efficient submission practices.

• File formats: Publishers should accept at least one of the following: jpeg, png, swf (Adobe Flash), and xap (Microsoft Silverlight).
• Maximum file size: 100k.
• Audio: No audio allowed in overlay invitation unit; once full ad expands or begins audio should be host-initiated.

Linear Video Interactive Ad Best Practices for Publishers

1. The invitation should be presented as anchored to either the bottom or top of player.
2. Expandable rich media banners enabling users to rollover or click to view an expanded ad experience may be offered.

Companion Ads The primary purpose of companion ads is to offer sustained visibility of the sponsor throughout the video experience. Companion ads may offer click-through interactivity and rich media experiences, such as expansion of the ad for further engagement opportunities, and may include text, graphics or rich media and may be combined with any of the format standards listed above to create unique experiences for users and opportunities for advertisers. Creative specifications for companion ads are not detailed in this document and should continue to be governed by each individual publisher. If a publisher offers companion ads as part of a linear video ad product, at least one of the following companion ad sizes should be accepted:

1. 300x250
2. 300x100
3. 468x60
4. 728x90
5. 300x60

This is a minimum consideration set. Publishers have significant inertia around the companion sizes they use on their sites today. Publishers may continue to accept companion ads in other sizes, however, the minimum requirement is to accept one or more of the listed sizes for companions. The purpose of this minimum is to provide a core group of sizes so media buyers can rely on the portability of their creative.

Originally written by IAB Digital Video Committee for IAB and first published on May 1st 2008 as "Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines and Best Practices".

About the author The Digital Video Committee of the IAB is comprised of 145 member companies actively engaged in the creation and execution of digital video advertising. One of the goals of the committee is to implement a comprehensive set of guidelines, measurement, and creative options for interactive video advertising.

In this week Media Literacy Digest: the social value of new media, the information cycle, a nice presentation tool, and the real help we get from technology as human beings. Photo credit: Jason Rhode While the information cycle (the process whereby information is produced, validated, shared and re-created in other forms) has more or less stayed the same, it's the way each process is carried out that has drastically changed across time. Thanks to technology improvements, producing information is now a whole lot easier. Blogs, podcasts, videos allow everyone to create content with minimum effort. And to validate and share information there are plenty of social services to have others consume, re-distribute and even remix your stuff to add additional value. What seems to be very important then, is not to focus on transient tools that produce information (as they will change frequently), but rather on the information process itself, which should be the real concern of those wanting to share knowledge and reform education paradigms. Here all the details:

If you are looking into innovative ways to browse and explore search engine results, visual search engines may provide exactly what you have been looking for. Instead of long lists of page titles and URLs, visual search engines deliver visually rich maps of content results, often utilizing also size, color and positioning to communicate at a glance a greater array of information about the items found. Photo credit: lhfgraphic Visual search engines are generally web-based tools just like Google and they require no extra software or plugin to be installed. You can just type a keyword and start diving inside their visual result pages: select a visualization type, re-arrange your results, sort them by date, relevance, or by other possible parameters. Within the set of visual search engines available out there, there are some that allow you to search standard Web-based content as well as others capable of retrieving also network contacts, similar sites, videos, images, podcasts, and much more. In fact, some of these visual search engines will also search for your preferred keywords inside Wikipedia, Amazon or Twitter. To explore and give a try these eye-striking visual search engines you need to look no further as I have taken the time to search, check and pull together a guide that includes all of the visual search engines out there. As always, I have also done some extra homework to identify some basic comparison criteria to help you select the visual search engine that could best match your needs:

• Technology Type: Software or web-based.
• Visualization types: Dynamic map, stacks, list, tag clouds, etc.
• Content Sources: Web, Wikipedia, videos, images, Amazon Books, Twitter, etc.
• Search options: Sort by date, exclude keywords, search inside domain, RSS, etc.

Here all of the best visual search engines and what I have discovered about each one:

How is the educational landscape going to change in the near future? Which are the key trends and new directions which are going to influence the most we study, research and learn? Photo credit: pnrphoto New, decentralized forms of learning such as personal learning environments, non-traditional and more flexible approaches like just-in-time and informal learning, are bound to shape differently not just the way you learn but more than anything the way you think and conceptualize learning as an activity. How much the ability to share, to connect to other people and networks and to leverage collaboration technologies will directly affect your ability to learn? In this digest on the future of learning, George Siemens brings together some of the most interesting pointers, news stories and data trends on this topic, allowing you to get a glimpse of the educational panorama awaiting us. Here some interesting resources for you to explore:

In this week Media Literacy Digest: data visualization, advances in robotics technology, alternative approaches in education, the future of academic courses and the newspaper crisis. Photo credit: Stephen Downes If from one hand newspapers want to ride the online business opportunities available to them, while spreading their content to a wider readership, on the other hand they still want to maintain complete control over what is published, thus eradicating at the source any effort to share or redistribute. But "openness and content control are two separate tightropes. Both can’t be walked at the same time". So, what is the right thing to do? To share or not to share? Whichever the correct answer, for George Siemens it is the inability of newspapers to choose a precise editorial strategy, consistently, that really rubs salt into newspapers wounds. If you want to explore new thoughts and the opportunities offered by some of these new emerging content distribution models, Dr Siemens weekly pointers and intellectual ponderings may help you make sense of some of the disruptive changes taking place all around you. Here all the details:

Copyright issues, the online collaboration tools map, visual search engines, and the crisis of newspapers are just some of the fascinating topics of this new issue of Media Literacy Digest by George Siemens. Photo credit: romeisfamily4 The pointers about copyright are particularly worth mentioning. Intellectual property is a serious issue in Web 2.0 era. Each time you publish something on the Internet you consciously put yourself at risk of someone stealing your content. Creative Commons licenses try to solve the problem where traditional copyright fails. But it's still a long way to go before you can protect your work and sleep well at night. An example? Recently Lee LeFever of Common Craft lamented some of their copyrighted material (an explanatory video for Twitter) was used in mainstream media without any permission granted nor attribution to the original authors. The work in question is licensed under a non-commercial, no-derivatives CC license. As George Siemens sadly points out: "Copyright and intellectual property is a mess. And it’s not getting better in the near future. Creating and sharing resources works well when it’s with a network of individuals who value reciprocity." If you want to make sense of how new technologies are changing our society, and the impact new media have on the educational landscape, this weekly Media Literacy Digest provides you with pointers, facts and resources to help you analyze the important changes we are undergoing. Here all the details:

How can you track links to your site and monitor mentions others make of you on other web sites? Ego searching, ego-surfing, buzz and conversation tracking are online services set-up to gather all the info about you so that you never miss the opportunity to join a conversation. Photo credit: cybermarti Web 2.0 is all about conversations and interaction with other people. Tracking what people are saying about you or your products and services, is very important if you want to improve your profile, positioning, and online reputation. But often, conversations are difficult to monitor over time, as they can start on one web site, and then splinter into multiple locations. For example, a user comments your video on YouTube, then another user tweets that comment on Twitter, and then somebody replies to that tweet on FriendFeed. How can you monitor such a scattered stream of thoughts without losing time and efforts? There are many web tools that can efficiently track, monitor and bring together links, citations, mentions and references so that you can easily make sense of the buzz which is generated around you, or your web site. No matter which one you choose, among the several I have selected here, the approach is always the same: a) You input your name, between quotes (such as in "Robin Good") or the URL of your web site (or of a specific article) b) The service goes out to find links and mentions of your site / name or URL and reports them back to you. To help you out, I've personally selected in this guide the best free tools to do ego-searching, buzz tracking and social media monitoring of yourself or of your web site. To facilitate your choice among these different tools, I have also identified some basic criteria you can use to evaluate which service may be a best fit for your needs:

• Sources: Content and news sources used to search.
• Notification: Supported notifications systems for alerts.
• Trend Tracking: Feature that monitors your "status" over time.
• Type: Nature of service (web.based, software browser plugin).
• Comparison: Ability to compare multiple profiles, people or sites.
• Widget: Feature that allows you to embed a widget to show the conversation related to your web site.

Here all the best ego-searching, buzz monitoring and trackers of social media mentions out there:

New ways of consuming news, information visualization, age differences in Internet adoption, and the failure of traditional advertising on the Web, are just some of the hot topics George Siemens navigates through in this Media Literacy Digest issue. Photo credit: Concetta Gotlieb The information cycle - creation, dissemination, validation, sharing, re-creation - has been altered. It is more open, more participatory, and less under the control of distributors (such as journals, newspapers, and mainstream media). With many printed newspapers switching to online editions to survive the economic crisis and, broadly speaking, with traditional media inadequacy to provide a balanced and interest-free news service, what is the future of news delivery and consuming? Social media is the key, as it will serve as a sensemaking tool to filter out of the incoming tsunami of data what is not relevant for you while allowing you to create and redistribute your own personalized news streams. The only problem with such an approach is that we may reduce our critical aptitude, selecting and accessing only the information we agree with. But even under the threat of such negative consequences, George Siemens believes a networked approach is the best way to overcome the decadence of traditional media. If you want to explore how new technologies are changing our society and the impact new media has on the educational landscape, this weekly Media Literacy Digest, systematically showcases pointers, facts and resources to help you analyze and make sense of the communication revolution we are going through. Here all the details:

As the whole online advertising landscape struggles with the economic crisis, AdSense is no exception: online publishers are experiencing a persistent drop of ad revenues. But why is this crisis emptying your pockets? To find out, I've brought together for you the best resources and articles to both make greater sense of the reasons causing losses in AdSense revenues and to evaluate effective strategies to compensate the economic downturn. AdSense eCPM Worldwide Trend from January 2007 to January 2009 - Photo credit: Rentabilizar Web So why AdSense revenues are diving? It's dead simple. AdSense is based on contextual, relevant advertisements. Having a huge pool of advertisers allows Google to put ads on your pages that match the specific content of your articles. But since the economic crisis is forcing many advertisers to stop their advertising campaigns, AdSense is no longer capable to provide you with 100% relevant, contextual ads anymore. Less targeted ads result in less clicks. Less clicks, less revenues. The fact that AdSense is no longer able to provide the relevant ads you need, generates a chain reaction where both online publishers and AdSense are defeated:

• AdSense serves you less relevant content for your web site and makes your revenue drop.
• Less money is earned by online publishers, which also reduce the investments on AdWords campaigns.

But don't panic. There are still some small precautions you can take to avoid your AdSense revenues hitting the ground. Here are some valuable resources that can help you understand how much this crisis is damaging publishers, and how publishers can defend themselves. Here all the details:

Do you want to automatically translate all of the pages of your web site into the most popular languages and facilitate foreign visitors get an insight into your content without hiring a pro translator? Here is MasterNewMedia guide to the best tools and services to automatically translate your web site in multiple languages. Photo credit: Guy Erwood More than 65% of people around the world don't speak English, so having a web site that can be read in multiple languages is crucial if you don't want to lose any possible extra traffic. Also, offering your visitors to read your web content is a great way to stand out from your typical competitors. With the tools and services I have selected for you in this guide, you just need to pick your preferred web site translations solution, integrate their code into your web pages and the work is done. In most cases, your web pages will be translated on the fly when a reader will click on the language of his choice. It is also very important to keep in mind that such translations are made automatically, so don't expect them to be perfect. They should be intended to provide just a "guide" into your original content, and not certainly a formally correct translated version. So, since there is a plethora of different services to translate your web site, you have to decide first which kind of features you need. Many languages? Advanced customization possibilities? Embeddable widget? Or maybe just using a free solution against a more professional alternative? To help you make the best choice, I have identified some basic criteria you can use to evaluate and select the best automatic web site translation tool for your web site:

• Number of languages: How many languages your web site can be translated into.
• Languages supported: Which languages your web site can be translated into.
• Translated items: Which elements of your web pages are translated (just text, text and image captions, hidden texts...)
• Price: Price of the service, and premium accounts with extended features (if available).
• Widget implementation: Easiness of implementation of the widget inside the source code of your site / blog.

Here all the details:

Today I had the opportunity to give a crash course in social media to a group of publishing colleagues at Wiley’s European headquarters. The talk was only an hour, so we covered a lot of ground quickly with hopes that everyone could pick up at least one tool they could put to use right away. If social media is like drinking from a firehose, we all got a little wet today.

Many if not most of the attendees were involved in some sort of social media activity, either personally or professionally.  Almost everyone was using Facebook to some degree, less using Twitter, and a lone MySpace user.

Like most, the challenge of everyone in the room was in filtering the noise in order to find opportunities where they could provide value. My goal today was to provide a collection of tools that might be used to set up a Social Media Listening Post - a place where all the signal can be collected and where one might find opportunities for conversation.

The group asked a lot of very smart questions, and as a result we bounced around quite a bit from tool to tool, as everyone contributed ways in which they found certain sites or tools useful. I admit I rediscovered a forgotten tool while answering a question, so I came away with something new again as well.

Among the tools we covered were:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Ning
• Twitterfall
• Google Reader
• Google Alerts
• Google Blog Search
• Social Media Firehose
• Backtype
• Social Mention
• Board Reader
• Feed My Inbox
• Twimailer
• Tweetdeck
• Twhirl
• Firefox
• Google Chrome

What other tools do you use when filtering social media? How did you develop your social media listening post?

I witnessed an interesting use of Twitter today by  Chelsea Green Publishers who promoted their website and books with a very simple contest.

The premise was very straight forward - tweet about a book from their website that you would like to read. The 10th person to tweet a book wins the book tweeted. Free book, free shipping. Easy, right?

There are several things I like about the way Chelsea Green ran this contest including:

1. You have to follow them on Twitter to be eligible
2. They have built “Tweet this book” links into each product page that includes a link to the book, as well as hashtags.
3. They primed the contest with a countdown which was re-tweeted several times to spread the word.

So, how did they do on the first run? Some quick stats:

• Total contest time was approximately 4 minutes
• Total contestants was 27
• Total tweets (entries) was 45

At first glance these look like really small numbers, but consider how many others saw these tweets.  According to my quick study via search.twitter.com it appears that these 45 tweets reached 14,216 Twitter users. And each of those 14,000+ users was sent a book title, hashtags, and a direct link to the book’s product page. And, those 14,000+ followers does not include any users who may be consuming searches for the variety of hastags or terms that were part of those tweets.

As a bonus, it appears the Huffington Post re-tweeted at least one funny entry from @daveburdick (over 5000 followers of the 14,000+ total.)

So if you ask me, reaching 14,000 people in the span of less than 5 minutes is pretty good. Of course, we don’t yet know how many of those, if any, clicked through to the publisher’s website, nor how many purchased books.

But, Chelsea only spent some time and the cost of one book plus shipping to try this experiment, which I think is important to do. We need to experiment a little more.  All in all I think it is a very clever use of Twitter to perhaps gain some awareness of the publisher and their books.

What do you think? Productive use of Twitter, or social media folly? What other examples have you seen?

This week I had a lively conversation about Amazon’s recent Kindle mobile phone announcement with Wiley Author Reto Meier. I invited Reto to share his thoughts with readers on why he believes digital books have a very long way yet to go.

The future of publishing may be digital, but costly Kindles and eBooks on iPhones aren’t enough to trigger a digital book revolution. It’ll take more than the promise of a portable library to convince readers they’re better off without paper.

The iPod heralded a seismic shift in content distribution. Music downloads now seem as obvious as they were inevitable, so it’s reasonable to expect written content to follow music, movies, and TV down the path towards digital distribution. But to get consumers onboard, eBooks will need to supply a superior reading experience and better value for money than they currently offer.

Increased availability satisfies a demand that doesn’t yet exist

Last week Google released Book Search for mobiles and made over 1.5 million public domain books available on iPhones and Android mobiles. As well as introducing a revamped Kindle 2.0, Amazon has announced that its more contemporary range of Kindle titles will be made available for download to devices other than the Kindle.

Both companies are addressing the issue of title availability, but that’s not the eBook bottleneck. Having more titles is an important step, but it’s not enough to trigger a fundamental shift in people’s reading habits.

It’s easy to blame the slow uptake of digital books on nostalgia for printed paper

There’s a some good reasons digital books haven’t taken off, and the least of them is the ‘I just like paper books’ problem. Don’t get me wrong, like many people, I don’t think that the look, feel, and smell of books will ever be fully replaced. But it’s possible to imagine a future where convenience, cost, and environmental concerns make digital books a mass market alternative to the paperback, in the same way that paperbacks have become a cheaper, more convenient alternative to hard covers.
The true causes of consumer reluctance are more compelling, and more easily addressed, than an enduring love of paper:

• Readability and the user experience
• Value and the total cost of ownership
• Flexibility: to sell, trade, and loan books

eReaders need the readability of a paperback printed on recycled paper, to last 12hrs, and be durable enough to throw in a backpack

Many books will soon be available on mobile phones, letting you read eBooks on hardware you already own, though at a cost to your battery-life and with poor readability. With better batteries, phones may yet become a reasonable platform for reading, but it’s hard to see such a small, eye-straining LCD screen leading to the mass desertion of paper.

Both the Kindle and Sony’s eReader use breakthrough technologies to offer improved readability and extended battery life, as such they seem the more likely catalyst for mass eBook adoption. They’re not cheap though, they cost over $350 and lack the readability, durability, and portability of a paperback. The hefty price tag doesn’t include a contrast ratio that approaches black text on white paper and the low resolution is a problem for the line drawings in text books.

Paper books combine content with the hardware needed to read it in one convenient package

Like CDs, books are a way to distribute content, but unlike music, electronic books introduce a new hardware cost for consuming written content. CDs don’t come with headphone jacks, so the removal of the physical media makes sense for content that’s always needed a separate ‘player’. Fully self-contained, books have never needed extra hardware to be read: no turntable, no CD player, no iPod. Electronic book readers need to be much better value and find ways to justify their upfront costs.

As a reader, what do I gain from electronic distribution?

People like the option of listening to a lot of different music, so an iPod that makes your entire music collection portable is a big win.

Digital books ask readers to sacrifice the advantages of paper for the same reward as iPods, but if you’re not at school or working in publishing how often do you want to carry around more than a couple of books? I’m a big reader, but I don’t often have more than two books on the go.

Until digital books can be traded as easily as their paper cousins, publishers must consider the implicit costs of digital delivery

DRM is a regular source of contention in the tech industry, and there’s plenty of debate over the use and effectiveness of rights management for books. Leaving aside the important arguments over fair use and piracy, it’s worth remembering that the exchange of books has been a powerful force in their marketing. I’ve borrowed, loaned, and traded a lot more books than I’ve bought new, but it’s the books I’ve borrowed that have fuelled my appetite for buying new fiction and trying new authors. It’s important to consider the implied costs of DRM if it means eBook readers won’t share books with friends and family.

Aside from that, by selling or exchanging their used books, readers have been able to subsidize the cost of further purchases. Digital editions, at a discount of only one or two dollars, don’t offer a payoff comparable to exchanging or selling used books.

Without the opportunity to experiment with digital music, it’s unlikely that its adoption would have been so fast or comprehensive

When music started shifting to digital, early adopters could rip CDs they already owned to MP3s. If publishers offered free digital copies along with every paper edition sold, wary consumers could experiment without paying twice. Eventually ‘digital only’ editions could be sold cheaper to encourage people to make the switch.

Until students, editors, and literary agents are reading textbooks and manuscripts on eReaders, there’s little chance that the general public will welcome them

Rather than focusing on paperbacks, publishers and book sellers should look to replace the backpack full of textbooks. Students, and people in publishing, are an obvious target for replacing a bag, or briefcase, full of heavy books with a lightweight, convenient device. At $350 it’s clear why this hasn’t already happened.

By targeting students, you can develop a market for digital fiction through an audience that’s already comfortable with electronic books and the associated hardware.

Free, durable hardware and cheaper digital content will make eBooks as inevitable as on-demand movie downloads

Where iPods offer a familiar user experience at a familiar price, with the convenience of having all your music on hand, eBooks on mobiles and $350+ readers offer poor readability at a premium price. Consumers being asked to consider taking their libraries digital aren’t being given enough reasons to take the plunge.

The future of print may be digital, but for a real industry shakeup we’ll need to see cheap, easy to read, durable hardware coupled with cheaper digital editions. If Amazon started giving away Kindles while including a free Kindle edition with every paper book sold, they could quickly become the iTunes of the written word.

Reto Meier is a mobile software engineer and author of Professional Android Application Development. He’s based in London and blogs about Android, technology, and programming.

Did you feel that? That was a tremor in the publishing world. There have been many of them over the past several months, but yesterday’s announcement from Amazon could be especially game changing in my opinion.

Amazon announced plans to make its Kindle titles available for a variety of mobile phones. Earlier this year they announced that they would no longer support PDF or Microsoft Reader formats for their ebooks, effectively locking buyers into its Mobipocket or Kindle formats.

Since the Kindle format is only an offshoot of the Mobipocket format, I wonder if these mobile device efforts will revolve around an updated Mobipocket Reader. The Mobipocket Reader software is already available for a variety of mobile phones including Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian. If Amazon plans to revamp this application to make it available for other handhelds including iPhone – and they can duplicate the easy buying experience Kindle owners already enjoy – this could really change the landscape for ebooks.

In an article entitled The once and future e-book: on reading in the digital age, published earlier this week, Ars Technica’s John Siracusa lamented that dedicated ebook readers are not the entire answer, and asked why Amazon didn’t realize that devices like the iPhone were where reading was headed.

I do still believe that dedicated readers are more appropriate for a mature e-book market, when consumers can more easily justify the cost of such a specialized device. But that doesn’t mean a dedicated reader can’t succeed. The Kindle is the best example, hitching itself to the star of Amazon’s existing retail store. Maybe Amazon will haul the ungainly Kindle right across the critical mass threshold and it will become “the iPod of e-books.” Then again, maybe Apple will finally figure out that the iPod (and, yes, the iPhone) is “the iPod of e-books.” Amazon’s efforts are handicapped by the hurdle of that separate hardware purchase, so the door is still open for a strong competitor targeting an existing reader-capable hardware platform, whether it be Apple or someone else.

John also suggested that Apple was best positioned to lead us to the ebook promised land.

Will Apple wake from its apparent slumber and pull the sword from the stone—the sword that’s currently taped to its hand and sheathed in a teflon-lined crevice? That’d certainly be the shortest path between the present and the inevitable e-book future.

I say if Amazon plays this right and creates applications that open their ebook store to a variety of devices - including iPhone- they may actually hold Uther’s sword. But controlling formats and owning the largest selection of current and best selling books won’t in itself make this a winning solution. Amazon needs to deliver the right experience, making both the buying and reading of ebooks easy and enjoyable.

What do you think – major shift, or just another ripple?

(Image credit DaveQ)

Make tons of money online with my internet marketing secret formula! At one time or another you have probably already landed on a sales page claiming to be able to make you become another Internet millionaire only by reading and applying a few simple tactics, "anyone" can use. Haven't you? And ever since you have been wondering if there is really a secret to be discovered to make fast money online. Photo credit: Aspen Country The answer to that question is: yes, there is a secret to most of the apparently successful internet marketing offers you increasingly see online. It may not be the secret you expect to hear about, but it is nonetheless a quite well kept secret. The unique thing is that the secret is in front of everyone and yet many can't see it. In this article, Enrico Madrignano, a true internet marketing expert explains in a simple and direct way why internet marketers are so effective in selling you their secrets and why you may be deeply disappointed with the results you are going to get. Here all the details:


Make Money Online or Doing Web Marketing? I believe that whoever consciously mixes "making money online" with "Internet marketing", does it more to increase her revenue than to help others better understand how things really are. As a matter of fact, the phrase "make money online" helps catching many more fishes and it's not strange that the keyphrase "money online" is often among those most searched on internet marketing blogs. One of the basic marketing principles is: "give people what they want." The trick works simply because the phrase "to make money" triggers desires and impulsive attraction much more than the word "internet marketing" does. The new "internet marketing" gurus have well understood this and they also know that mixing the idea of "internet marketing" with "making money online" creates the perfect mixture. It has worked for a long time in the US and it also works well in Italy. Can we say it's their fault? I don't think so: just like you, they want to make money. Can we scold them? Absolutely yes: if those two concepts are not clearly and distinctly explained, then you are playing a cheating game.

Creating Value Doing "internet marketing" means creating value that is built around the needs and desires of the customer or the market. And this value must be discovered by doing extensive analysis, tests, and experiments. "Making money" only means selling something to someone who is willing to buy, even in a short time, and even if no additional value is created. To provide an example, I could make money going to a crowded beach and selling ice-creams with a cart at the hottest hours, when the sun is high in the sky. I have a product that sells itself automatically, no matter how good or bad it really is (my customers can only find out after they buy it). But if I want to transform my ice cream cart into a multinational ice-cream corporation, then things change drastically. Now I really need marketing to take my business to the next level, otherwise, in one year I will still be at the same beach, selling ice-creams to the beach-goers.

A Gambling Card Game The cheating card game of these "internet marketing" gurus is built specifically around the idea that marketing is actually that ice-cream cart. Here is how they do it:

1. They make the whole thing look as simple as possible and accessible to anybody out there. Do you need an astrophysics degree to sell ice creams on the beach? Anyone can do it, you too! Just think of this: While you are reading this page, thousands of entrepreneurs are already out there making billions of money by selling ice-creams on the beach, while you...


2. If I write a 500-page ebook to tell you how you can buy the ice cream cart, where you can buy it, which wheels you need for it, what kind of ice cream refrigerator you need to install on it, and so on... I won't need to waste my time explaining you the strategies to distribute, promote and add value to your product (that is "marketing"). Why? There is nothing better than having an ignorant customer. They let you believe that they hold the key to success, while the reality, is they are just selling you information to setup an ice cream cart. If you understand the problem, then you get mad and you stroll around discrediting the guru or, if you still buy into the cheating card game, you fall into the final trap, which is this.


3. You have understood that with the ice-cream cart you can make money, but you have also understood that to make real, significant money, you need something much more advanced than an ice-cream cart. And it's now, that the guru suddenly pulls out from his magic hat a secret envelope and lets you sniff it. Obviously, you have a hard time resisting to such offer, and you buy the expensive envelope with the secret formula. You open it slowly, excited and curious... and what do you find inside it?

Good or Evil Gurus? If the guru is an evil one, then in the envelope you'll find some marketing strategies. But, to be put to use, these strategies require you to buy a new, motorized, 12-wheel ice-cream cart that your guru is going to sell to you, or yet worse, you will have to become a reseller of his motorized 12-wheel ice-cream carts, s/he has been selling for years that will make you a millionaire in a very short time... I guess you have understood how the story goes. On the other hand, if the guru is a good one, then in the envelope you will find some real good marketing strategies. Too bad that on the way to get there your good guru had you spending all your life savings. And not taking into account that now, if you really want to make money online, you will need to roll up your sleeves and start working very hard for quite some time.

Conclusion The two concepts, "making money" and "internet marketing" go perfectly hand in hand as long as they are clearly distinguished by whoever promotes them. Whoever consciously mixes these two concepts, creates an inviting dish that is as poisonous as venom. This approach can be valuable at a first stage, but in the long run it bears only disgraces. I have seen this mix utilized for many years in the American market, almost in every field, but firstly in "internet marketing", where marketing gurus grow faster than mushrooms. It is always the same story, with the same plot being sold over and over again. "How to make money online with the superninja formula", "find the ultimate web marketing secret", are the typical slogans that characterize this ambiguous universe. As a matter of fact, there would be nothing intrinsically bad with all this, if it wasn't for the fact that these slogans and tactics are always the same, copied over and over again, and promoted by supposed gurus who have never tried and experimented them for real in their own strategies. Here in Italy, it is a little bit better, because culturally we are much more prepared to sniff out situations where someone wants to take advantage of our ignorance. But I don't know if this will last. Making money online is something that sometimes can happen fully naturally, in a short amount of time and without excessive efforts. On the other hand, to do effective marketing you need real dedication, perseverance and a lot of time to try and experiment all possible venues. To say it in simple words, in marketing you really need a lot of experience gained by having experimented lots of strategies in a real world situation. Who has gotten this experience through lots of efforts and over many years, out of respect to you or by being coherent with his hard-learned skill, will never sell it you as the magic formula to become a millionaire in 24 hours while selling ice-creams on the beach. Many understand all of the above right away, while others need to be caught in the trap before they start realizing how this internet marketing magic works. And this is part of the game too.

Originally Written by Enrico Madrignano for Web Marketing Forum and first published on January 11, 2009 as "Il Web Marketing NON è il guadagno online".

Photo credit: Make Money Online or Doing Web Marketing? - Rido Creating Value - Eduard Härkönen A Gambling Card Game - Visual 7 Good or Evil Gurus? - Piksel Conclusion - Xiao Fang Hu

In this issue of the Media Literacy digest George Siemens deals with the predominance of advertising in Web 2.0, usage statistics of social networks, alternative approaches to teaching, and the need to improve existing learning platforms. Photo credit: Rogers Furthermore, today digest points to an interesting MIT experiment devoted to try out new teaching approaches. MIT is gradually dropping long lectures, and focusing on smaller classes where learners can collaborate and interact with each other more actively. A small and intimate learning environment is the best way to let students improve their skills. And from such a view it should appear as comforting news that such a long-established and respected academic institution decides to try a different solution where teachers and learners can truly share their knowledge, instead of being just put together in the same room following the sterile approach "I teach, you learn". If you want to know more on alternative teaching approaches, and understand better the disruptive changes that our educational system is facing, this weekly digest with George Siemens is a good starting point to get more involved. Here all the details:


eLearning Resources and News learning, networks, knowledge, technology, trends by George Siemens


Web 2.0 Called; It Says It’s Just an Ad Platform Now I’ve whined before about how web 2.0 was / is a threat to open source software. Open source is an ideology (although watered down from Stallman’s initial version) about openness, democracy, and participation. Web 2.0 is about free of cost. It’s a soul-less version of open source that relies on certain external conditions for its existence. Ideologies can outlive many waves of change. It’s too early to say that web 2.0 is on the wane due to economic pressures, but a concept tied to external realities (markets, politics) will always be challenged to live in tumultuous times. Web 2.0 Called; It Says It’s Just An Ad Platform Now: “Time and time again, many of the most innovative services online today run out of money before the huge number of potential and diverse users that could find value in them end up discovering them. Those services end up serving instead the world of advertising, or as is the case with many of the most awe inspiring research technologies - financial services professionals.”


Adults and Social Network Sites Pew Internet’s recent report - Adults and Social Network Sites (.pdf) - doesn’t offer anything dramatically new for those who have been active in online social networking sites. Of greatest interest is the growth over the last three years - 35% of adults have a profile, four times the number from 2005… but significantly less than the 65% of teens with a SN profile. As is often the case with new technology adoption, the percentages decline with age (down to only 7% for those in the 65+ category). The adoption of SN sites does reveal some interesting distinctions by race and income: non-whites are more likely to use these services and use declines as income increases.


Time to End “Courseocentricism” Aside from winning the most awkward new term - courseocentricism (why not just course-centricism?) - this article makes a compelling case for the limitations of current views of courses. The author appeals for ending course silos as a way to improve consistency across curriculum and thereby produce a more integrated or connected body of knowledge. From the article: "At a time when amazing new forms of connectivity are made possible by new digital technologies and when much of the best recent work in the humanities has made us more aware of the social and collective nature of intellectual work, we still think of teaching in ways that are narrowly private and individualistic, as something we do in isolated classrooms with little or no knowledge of what our colleagues are doing in the next classroom or the next building and little chance for each other’s courses to become reference points in our own." I like the idea of thinning our classroom walls and allowing connections to be formed between concepts from other subject areas. But that responsibility shouldn’t rest on the educator. “Getting on the same page” (author’s words) seems a bit at odds with opening up class rooms. We need to all get on our own page, form our own connections, our own understanding of different fields. It seems that the desire still runs high for educators to apply increased organization when problems become intractable. What is really needed is a complete letting go of our organization schemes and open concepts up to the self / participatory / chaotic sensemaking processes that flourish in online environments.


The Season of Predictions The season of predictions is upon us. I’ve never been fully convinced of the value of predictions (if someone says 2009 is the year of the mobile phone, what does that mean to me? What should I do differently? Use my phone more? Text more?). Ironically, the value of predictions is less in what they predict… and more in how they provide a framework for existing trends. Predictions that only look one year into the future are really a “pause and reflect” activity. A few recent articles / predictions:

• eLearn magazine’s 2009 predictions (short statements from numerous well known elearning personalities)
• Top Trends and Technologies (from a librarian’s perspective)
• Top Teaching and Learning Challenges

At MIT, Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard It’s encouraging to see universities adopting different approaches to teaching. While research on the so-called learning sciences is not fully settled, enough is understood about learning to warrant significant reconsideration of how teaching occurs in universities. At MIT, Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard: The physics department has replaced the traditional large introductory lecture with smaller classes that emphasize hands-on, interactive, collaborative learning. Last fall, after years of experimentation and debate and resistance from students, who initially petitioned against it, the department made the change permanent. Already, attendance is up and the failure rate has dropped by more than 50 percent. Changes of this nature still occur within the existing structure of universities. The next, somewhat obvious, question to tackle is “how should universities be structured when access to information and ability to create learning networks shift from instructor to learner control?”.


Frustrating Conferences… Conferences are terrific opportunities for meeting colleagues, encountering new ideas, and getting as sense of what’s happening “over there”. For dissemination of knowledge (information, really, but knowledge is the term most people relate to), few processes are more valuable. But conferences can be frustrating. Very frustrating. Who hasn’t encountered the joy of sitting in a conference room, listening to droning presentations, feeling as if though they’ve lost the “which session is going to be the least bad” lottery from the program brochure? Several years ago, I was asked to join the ED-MEDIA steering committee. As a group, they have been very willing to entertain different approaches for improving the conference. Now, under the umbrella of AACE, we’re pleased to announce Spaces of Interaction: An online conversation on improving traditional conferences. (Ning site for the event). The discussion happens February 18-20, 2009. It’s free. It’s online. And it’s open. If you’re a conference organizer, sit on a conference committee, or attend conferences, we’d love to hear your input on how the experience can be improved. You may find this article - Conference Connections: rewiring the circuit - to be a useful lead up to the online event.


What Not to Build I met with an individual today who is creating a virtual world for young teens. The project is conceived as serving a niche market. Of course, we all feel our ideas are unique or our particular circumstance is different from others. I left the meeting with a sense of “why are people still building these things? why not take advantage of infrastructure that is already in place?”. Operating systems and platforms that are used as the base of innovation are increasingly free. The value is in the creativity and innovation unleashed by many contributors. Google gets this. That’s why they announced OpenSocial. And Android. Competition based on openness. Stephen Downes continues his reflection / future thinking with What Not to Build (this follows his important Future of Online Learning: 10 Years On). In this (shorter) paper, he offers advice to the elearning industry on what not to build… what is being built… what is a fad… and what might be worth building. I don’t agree with all of his statements. iPhones are hyped, but I don’t think they are a fad… though Android and RIM may impact their market share. Cloud computing will not be noticed because, well, that’s the point. The technology becomes transparent. People are already “using the cloud” without being fully aware of it. This may depend on how one defines cloud computing - i.e. if it includes Google Docs, Gmail, MobileMe, and other hardware / software applications that don’t confine computing to a particular device - then I don’t think it’s a fad. Those two small points aside, Stephen has written a good article that will make edtech professionals rethink future / emerging projects.

Originally written by George Siemens for elearnspace and first published on January 15th 2009 in his newsletter eLearning Resources and News.

About the author To learn more about George Siemens and to access extensive information and resources on elearning check out www.elearnspace.org. Explore also George Siemens connectivism site for resources on the changing nature of learning and check out his new book "Knowing Knowledge".

Photo credits: Web 2.0 Called; It Says It's Just an Ad Platform Now - Eric Isselée Adults and Social Network Sites - Cathy Yeulet Time to End "Courseocentricism" - moori The Season of Predictions - Andrei Kiselev At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard - Luis Louro Frustrating Conferences… - Fleyeing What Not to Build - xavigm