Starting on May 2, advertisers will be able to buy the privilege of slapping their logo on the Tumblr dashboard. David Karp, the company’s 25-year old founder and CEO, detailed the new revenue-generating effort at the Ad Age Digital East conference. But as Karp took great pain to communicate in an interview with Ad Age’s David Teicher a few days ago, Karp took pains to say that Tumblr isn’t getting ads per se. They’re getting “user-oriented promotion features.” We don’t mean to sound like a thesaurus or anything but some other words for this type of unit is “advertisement,” “commercial,” “promo,” and “sponsorship.” This marks the end of an era for the infectiously popular blogging platform, popular with teenage fashionistas and hipsters alike. According to Kunur Patel, who was at the conference, Karp called “himself an ‘idiot’ for saying advertising turns his stomach in 2010.” Turns out brands really want to get to know some of the demographics that spend hours a day blogging and reflagging and liking content on Tumblr. Why? Because there are a TON of them. 50 million people blog on Tumblr, Karp also said at the conference’s keynote, and 122,000 new users joined the network on Tuesday alone. For a site that’s less than five years old, Tumblr is comparable to Instagram in popularity, and it’s still independent. Now, it sold itself out to advertisers—or, “user-oriented promotion creators”—just like the rest of those free Internet websites that everybody loves so much. (via Please Don’t Call the New Ads on Tumblr ‘Ads’ - Technology - The Atlantic Wire)
Source: theatlanticwire.com
Automotive News is reporting that Audi is set to lay down $1.1 billion to purchase Ducati from the motorcycle manufacturer’s current owner, Investindustrial. The news comes courtesy of a source “familiar with the matter,” though neither Audi nor Investindustrial have officially commented on whether that price is accurate. As Automotive News points out, the price is around seven times what Ducati earned last year before interest, taxes and depreciation – even after subtracting any debt Ducati holds. Currently, the motorcycle maker’s liabilities are less than $262.6 million. Most analysts view the purchase as a thinly veiled jab at rival BMW, itself a longtime motorcycle builder. Last year, the Italian firm sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 42,000 bikes with a revenue of $630 million. While that’s technically more than either Bugatti or Lamborghini, both Volkswagen brands, adding a motorcycle manufacturer to the VW portfolio probably won’t do much for the rest of the company’s brands. Longtime industry watchers may remember that VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech tried to purchase Ducati once before in 2008 before loosing out to Investedindustrial. (via Audi deal to buy Ducati valued at $1.1B)
Source: autoblog.com
Hackers took control of an official Fox News Twitter account and posted false updates claiming that President Barack Obama had been assassinated. (via Fox News hackers claim Barack Obama assassinated - Telegraph)
Source: telegraph.co.uk
The ‘Musalman’ is probably the last handwritten newspaper in the world. It has been published and read every day in South India’s Chennai since 1927 in almost the same form. In the shadow of the Wallajah Mosque in Chennai, a team of six die hard workers still put out this hand-penned paper. Four of them are katibs — writers dedicated to the ancient art of Urdu calligraphy. It’s tough for the die-hard artists of Urdu calligraphy. But the story we tell here is not just of their desperation and despair. The fact is, at the office of ‘The Musalman’, the oldest Urdu daily in India, no one has ever quit. They work till they pass on. This is the story we tell.
The Musalman-Preservation of a Dream (by Indiandiplomacy)
Source: youtube.com
