The Charles Ramsey-McDonald’s episode is shaping up as an argument that brands should respond to viral marketing opportunities slowly, cautiously—and perhaps not at all.
What the Library of Congress Plans to Do With All Your Tweets
The Library of Congress is archiving every public tweet ever posted, and it’s now becoming clearer what research opportunities that data might present.
TurboTax Vs. H&R Block: Here’s the Other Class War Sparked by Taxes
Who knew tax preparation could get so controversial? As tax season kicks into gear, archrivals H&R Block and Intuit, maker of TurboTax software, are squabbling like reality show housewives.
Online Banking: More Site Outages and Cyberattacks Coming?
Increasingly, banks want people to use digital means of conducting their banking business. But when things go awry, huge infrastructures can grind to a standstill, and customers become collateral damage.
5 Top Trends for 2013 Super Bowl Commercials
The cost of advertising in the Super Bowl is rising, running an average of $4 million for a 30-second spot—up from $3.5 million last year and just $42,000 back in 1967. To justify the expense, advertisers aim to present fans with something more than just another entertaining but ultimately forgettable commercial.
You Probably Spent 13 Hours on Hold Last Year
Add this factoid to the many others concerning the poor state of customer service, right alongside the one about how we collectively lose $38 billion annually waiting around for the cable guy to show up.
2013: Six Tech/Media Stories to Watch
In 2013, most tech consumers will be asking if it’s smart to buy a new computer, smartphone, or tablet device. As the structural shift from desktop to mobile computing races forward, hardware and software manufacturers are …
The Top 5 Tech Biz Stories of 2012
Why Walmart Took Over Facebook for 72 Hours
Walmart shut out the competition and purchased 50 million Facebook ads over Black Friday weekend — all without proof that doing so would necessarily help boost sales. Huh?
Lessons from Facebook’s Instagram Photo Flap
If you don’t follow tech news, you may have missed a bit of a kerfuffle this week involving Instagram, the popular photo service purchased by Facebook for $1 billion in April. Earlier in the week, Instagram announced plans to …
Can a Payday Lending Start-Up Use Facebook to Create a Modern Community Bank?
Social media and big data are being used in an innovative new payday loan banking model that’s more Silicon Valley than Wall Street. Most interestingly, the operation seems to have more in common with old-fashioned hometown …
Sandy Bump? Where Business Is Brisk After the Storm
No one should anticipate that a “Sandy stimulus” will kick the economy into a higher gear. Even so, Sandy has caused businesses of all shapes and sizes to be exceptionally busy — including a few you wouldn’t expect.
