Sprint will roll out the first Android Phone in the United States that will utilize an open-platform developed by Google.  This news comes at a great time for advertisers and those in the mobile world, as many more mobile application users, means more advertising opportunities. It also, means that as more and more companies adopt this platform, the more users will have these feature available by default.  This could change the landscape of mobile marketing, and the need for opt-in advertising. Additionally, direct response advertisers can more easily target their clients through PPC, since the location of the individual search will be that much more timely and accurate.  Read more at TelevisionBroadcast.com.

Microsoft announced it will replace “Live Search” with “Bing” as search engine to contend with current competitor Google.  They are renaming the search engine in an effort to drive search traffic and have “bing” become apart of search rhetoric. While the name certainly has a ring to it, only time will tell if we will start to “Bing” rather than “Google.”  Read more at New York Times.

Facebook is creating an advertising environment of highly accountable and relevant direct response advertisements. Messages can be targeted well through demographic data and products can even be recommended to friends. Even better your product can be a part of a fan group! Brand building and selling wrapped into one. Direct Response at it’s best. Read more on The Plainsmen website.

This release is ruffling some feathers, and some ad traceability. The Internet is a great space for finding, who is looking at your ads, and what other ads intrigue your current visitors, but IE8 could change all of that. A new feature called, “InPrivate Blocking,” allows users to trek through the web without their virtual tracks being left behind. This could be a darker day for marketers, as we depend on this information to do business and find our target audiences on the web. Furthermore, up-selling and cross-selling to consumers will become more difficult with this new blocking feature. There could be one upside to this, how many of you have already upgraded to IE7? Likely, that many of you have not. Also, how many people will be turning on this new privacy feature? With every new innovation to “protect” consumers, it seems that someone will find a way around it. Or consumers, themselves will not seek to “cover up” what they are doing.

Marketers should approach this with a level of integrity and think of the consumers, not just their bottom line. The traceability of Internet activity is important so, you receive advertising that is relevant to your interests. The public is generally more entertained and responsive by ads that speak to them than those that do not. Marketers should adopt this approach when addressing this issue publicly, rather than remarks that are based on business models and their bank accounts. Read more on this topic at the  Seattle Times.