The not-for-profit, Mozzilla foundation, has started a for-profit subsidiary to promote its Firefox Internet browser in a move to compete with the dominant Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). Firefox has grown incredibly popular in the few months it has been released mainly due to its security features that IE has clearly lacked. To take advantage of the growth, Mozilla Corp. will generate revenue through partnerships with businesses such as Google Inc. This move has been widely praised -- as the biggest obstacle in the growth of Firefox is awareness. Most computers come with IE installed, many consumers are unawares of Firefox or its benefits. I think this is a wonderful move and the right time to do this. With the release of IE7 approaching (2006) with its tabbed browsing and security features, it is important Firefox gains as much market share as possible. I do wish they would also make an emphasis on some of the great extensions offered because frankly it is one of the main reasons I use Firefox and that makes it a standout.

Reuters has this odd news article about the talents of North Korea's Dear Leader Kim Jong-il ("Dear Leader" is taken straight from Reuters). It is supposed that Kim has the most incredible memory --   "I remember all computer codes and telephones that workers are using now," says Kim on a Web site run by North Korea. When Kim visited a cemetery, he was able to remember all the achievement, characteristics, tastes, family members of the deceased. He has forgotten how they got there? But everything else he can remember. North Korea propaganda is full of amazing achievements of Kim, I mean, people (in public atleast) call him by the title "Dear Leader." There is not a government that does not try to sell a good image of themselves but this is absolutely absurd and comical. Besides his wonderful memory, he has piloted jet fighters, penned operas, produces movies and has shot 11 holes-in-one in the first round of his professional Golf career. And I have a pink elephant that flies me to the moon. I suggest Kim get one of the American ad agencies to help with his image because no one is going to buy this stuff.

On Wednesday, Yahoo will launch an ad network tailored for bloggers and small web publishers. This new service is to challenge Google's AdSense which you can find in almost any website. Currently, Yahoo's advertising portfolio has been limited to search engine and larger Web sites. Yahoo's service will differ from Google's service in that there will be an added human editorial to the selection of ads for content pages. In comparison, Google's service relies mainly on technology. Though I would prefer Yahoo's human touch, it is hard to imagine millions of websites receiving such attention. Yahoo recently released Yahoo 360 -- a free blog service to rival Google's Blogger. It seemed only a matter of time an announcement like this would be made as Bloggers rely heavily on the ad services for the income, however pitiful.

The Daily Show has a funny piece on how the Bush Administration re-branded the slogan "War on Terror" to the "Global Struggle against Extremism." Some of the reasonings behind the change are found in this New York Times article. The biggest reason is that if use the term "war on terror" it indicates the only solution to solving the problem would be war and the military campaign. So why is it not the "Struggle against Terror." Too limiting, global includes other countries like England, extremism is not as frightening a concept as terror. But, of course, the funniest (best) analysis comes from the Daily Show's Stephen Colbert who says the reason why the slogan has been changed is that the Administration is having a difficult time recruiting young people as they are terrified of the word terror. But extremism sounds like an extreme sport!!

There seems to be a growing controversy (1, 2) with Google attempting to patent the idea of automating the incorporation of targeted ads into RSS files. Many are wondering why this is being patented now since Google and other smaller players have already been doing this. The critiques also believe that this patent is a little too broad as it patents the idea instead of how the idea is implemented. Google already has a AdSense Patent in 2002 that covers much of how it is currently implemented. I personally cannot stand the idea of ads in RSS feeds. What is the point? I can just go the website myself. RSS is meant to streamline the info not to be bloated with advertising. RSS feeds are used by very few people, this recent research points to a mere 2 percent online users use it and many of them through feeds like my.yahoo.com. Again, this does not mean RSS will not grow in the future but I think majority of RSS users will be power users, those that professionally deal with online content.

Dove is getting a lot of positive attention to their new campaign for their firming products that feature models that many people would consider fat. This article explains the phenomenon quite well. The initial reaction is that of the model being fat and thus not belonging in such an ad. But once that shock evaporates, the feeling is positive -- this is good, the models are pretty and good for them.  You almost want to go out and buy a Dove product in a show of support for these models and that is exactly what Dove figured you would. They also have a call center and a website, which according to the company been lit up with words of encouragement and hope. I do not understand why more ad campaigns do not use this approach, where the product associates with bigger social issues.

This is got to be a first and that is not necessarily a good thing. The story starts in Hans Island, situated between Canada's Ellesmere Island and Greenland, which belongs to Denmark. Both sides have contested that the island belongs to them. Here is where it gets odd, an unknown Danish man bought a Google ad that read "Does Hans sound Canadian? Danish name, Danish island." A Canadian responded with this Google ad that featured a large Canadian Maple Leaf flag and carried the message: "Hans Island is Canadian." Not much of a comeback. No "your momma is so ugly" jokes here. For the most part, both sides seem to be having fun with the whole issue. But some observers say the dispute could get ugly if it turns out that Hans Island is sitting on rich mineral resources. If that does occur, watch out for some really funny Google Ads. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I found this cute little story at Adbusters where a reader recounts an experience he had modeling for  Tide, the detergent product, when he was 9 years old. The innocence of the experience is refreshing, not just in terms of seeing through the eyes of a child but also how advertising worked without all of today's sophistication. The boys were grouped into two groups, one group had white t-shirts with red lining and the other had white t-shirts with blue lining. The blue lined boyes were vigorously rubbed with dirt from the parking lot. The main red lined boy is handed a tide box but because his "chopstick" arms couldn't hold the heavy box, the box is emptied of its contents. I mean that is great, they gave him an actual tide box to hold. If that shoot had happened now, they would have a specially designed box just for the shoot.

So months after the successful shoot with a pocket full of money, the ad comes out with the copy that reads “All the soccer shirts had the same ground in dirt. The only difference . . . was the detergent.”

A new and working version of the Adsense Widget is out. The widget will automatically log into an AdSense Google account and display the last 6-days of revenue generated from the Google advertising account. Widgets are little applications that work inside of a bigger application such as Konfabulator or Dashboard in Apple's Tiger OS. This widget, however, will only work with Tiger and do not expect to see this widget in Konfabulator either, as that company was recently bought out by Yahoo, whose biggest rival is none other than Google.

I Cannot Believe It's Not Butter (ICBINB)  has long used its non-traditional name in traditional marketing world quite effectively. This Unilever Brand is the leader in the category of spreads such as margarines and butter blends. But now, they have started a campaign that is as bold as its name. Instead of television advertising to reach its mostly female base, ICBINB has started an online camapaign with an animation series called "Sprays of her life".

These tongue-in-cheek webisodes which mock old-fashioned soap operas will feature a heroine Spraychel, who is trying to make friends, fall in love, and avoid the wrath of Buttricia. Encouraged by the fact that more and more women are using the internet, Unilever hopes these episodes will generate a buzz as computer users start to share the ads through e-mail messages.

With the success of Toyota Prius and other Hybrid cars, Corporate America is beginning to realize the buying potential of a people known by the acronym LOHAS, or lifestyles of health and sustainability. The LOHAS market, who had no say in the picking of acronyms, have spending power of about $230 billion.

One man who sees that this is bigger than yoga mats and juice mixers is America Online co-founder Steve Case.  His company Revolution will rebrand its Wisdom cable channel as Lime with a tagline that reads "healthy living with a twist". Because the LOHAS market is allergic to hype, much of the content for this market is serious. However, Lime will take an unexpected approach by spicing its content with humor. Cannot wait to see Deepak Chopra in his undies!

A little while back, Rasheed Wallace ran into controversy when Nike showed off his tattoo's in one of it's ad campaign featuring the NBA star. The problem lay with the designer of the tattoo who sued contesting that he was not properly compensated.

Now it seems another sports star has fallen into the trap of not owning his body. The tattoo artist who designed the cross on the back of David Beckham's neck is threatening to sue if Beckham goes ahead with plans to use the images of the tattoo in an ad campaign.

So besides being painful to get a tattoo and even more painful to get them off, if you do decide to keep them -- somebody else owns the images of your body and can sue you if you would like to show it off. No thank you, tattoo guy.

A Japanese Bank is trying to add excitement to your next visit to their ATM's. They have added a fruitmachine-syle slot machine to the ATM, for people to play with while they do their mundane transactions. "Get three sevens, and your withdrawal fee is waived; three golds promise a jackpot of 1,000 yen (£5; $9)." Not much of a jackpot, is it? Kinda scary when banks start gambling with your money. According to the BBC story, the bank's Yoshi Enami, says that this 'gimmick' is "simply fun."

Is it really that simple? Actually, no. Banks don't do anything for "fun". Japan has been slow in adopting to ATM's, which is kinda weird as the whole country is one big Willy Wonka's technology factory. The problem lies with the fact that the Japanese hate to be charged, however minimally, at the ATM for the simple transactions. So Banks have had to think outside of the box.

What's next? Porn while you bank.

You could see this coming a mile away. If Gmail was going to be packaged with ads then it would be expected that the same would happen with Google Maps. Which by the way, in my humble opinion, is even more of a perfect match for search ads than it is with email or even search engines. The idea of placing ads within email is a little creepy (and controversial) to begin with but product keywords in an email having nothing to do with buying. I think instead of product ads, sites that are content related would fare better. If I were to have a political discussion through email, it would be best if the ads were for sites rich in political discussion.

Search engines are great places for ads as Google has so prosperously demonstrated. And I can never argue against those billions of dollars. But I think online ads are best suited for online businesses. Sure there are exceptions but ads next to Google Maps could be a whole different beast.  Imagine planning to attend meeting in an unfamiliar part of town, click a little button for ads for the local restaurants or shops. Meeting ends early and you find yourself buying a new cellphone and some good curry. Voila! Don't forget, we still do most of our shopping off-line, and coupled the growth of PDA-like devices, I think Maps could potentially become Google's biggest cash cow.