If you like following the gossip on your favorite celebrities, and part of your routine is looking them up on the web, then you better pay attention…you might get more that you bargained for. In fact, it could be downright dangerous! One quick search could land you and your computer in hot water!

The internet bad guys are creating websites or infecting other sites with viruses and malware and then luring unsuspecting internet surfers to these sites using the most popular stars as bait. Click on a link for a Jessica Biel wallpaper and you could be infected on the spot. The good news is that the McAfee Company has researched Hollywood’s stars and found out which are the riskiest for you to click on.

Unfortunately for her fans, Jessica Biel heads the list…so if you search for her on the internet, you have a 20% chance of being infected with malware or a virus. According to the report, over 50% of the sites advertising “Jessica Biel screensavers” were infected.  Brad Pitt was the most dangerous last year, but Jessica has surpassed him…I wonder how happy she is about that! Beyonce was number 2 both last year and this year making her the most searched and dangerous over that period.

The stars on this list read like a who’s who…from Jessica and Beyonce…to Jennifer Aniston, Tom Brady, Jessica Simpson and Megan Fox. Interestingly enough, the Obama’s are ranked in the 30’s and are considered a relatively safe search.

So, how do you get infected? Simply search on one of these names, or their name with videos, screensavers, wallpaper and you have a good chance on getting more than you bargained for.

What does this mean to you? The bottom line is that searching for the latest celebrity news and downloads can cause serious damage to one’s personal computer.

How do you stay safe? Be sure to have virus protection, malware and spyware filters running on your computer and stay away from sites you don’t trust.   Downloading from some site you have never heard of is probably not a good idea.  Use the common sense rule. People often forget how complex and important their computer is to them…so be careful when downloading anything.

A good friend asked me if the companies that have had their websites infected are doing anything about it. The answer is probably not!   However, most of them don’t know that they are vulnerable…according to the Verizon Data Breach report, a whopping 63% of websites that are compromised; find out MONTHS later about the attack.

Businesses must start scanning and protecting their websites. I believe that this will become a federal mandate in the near future. Talk to you soon and happy surfing!

DVR penetration is peeking over 30%, and it’s not falling.  TV Advertising is.

I just read an interesting article over at Ad Age: As ratings fall, nets take on ad-skipping.  Basically, between people shifting attention to the Internet and the rise of DVR, TV ratings and advertising are losing ground.  And this article discusses the effectiveness of online video ads that are embedded into network content online and not allowed to be skipped.

Apparently, online video is catching on.  Hulu showed 142 million videos in September – mostly videos from major networks, and one firm estimates that 20% of Americans have watched prime-time shows over broadband. But here’s the kicker:

Recall of unskipped ads on TV is 18%, while recall of unskippable ads online is 50%

To me, the reason is clear: Focus.

Ad Age’s article did mention this significant reduction in ads in online videos – typically down to 3-4 ads for a 60 minute program vs almost 18 minutes on network TV.  It’s undoubtedly easier to focus on the ads themselves when only a few are shown and explains some of the boost in ad recall.

But I’d contend that the user’s attention is always more focused to online video than to network TV – which means as long as viewers watch online, these ads might always be more effective.  (The concern is obviously that networks will inevitably stuff this content with ads giving a user no reason or desire to view online – so tread lightly NBC, et al.)

Consider another interesting statistic that the article doesn’t get into: up to 70% of TV audiences go online while watching.  So not only are there too many ads to recall, but viewers are dividing their attention – and often tuning out when ads interrupt their TV show.

Online video viewers are much more focused – browsing around would shrink or hide the program that they’re watching. That added focus, combined with a less-intrusive advertising model, could mean a bright future for unskipped online video ads.

Your website needs advertising, and your advertising needs your website.  The most interactive and beautiful website is worthless if no one sees it, and all the site traffic in the world is no good unless your website is able to capture attention and translate traffic into customers.

But, as we face an economic slowdown that’s surely effecting everyone, businesses everywhere face the difficult dilemma of tight spending limiting advertising budgets at a time when new business and customers are needed more than ever.  The result? A shift in spending from traditional media to online spending.

To be clear, the increase in online advertising is not offsetting the decline in traditional ad spend, and overall US advertising spend will be down about 4% in 2009 according to Media Futurist Jack Myers.  But amidst this decline, emarketer is still projecting double digit growth for online advertising.

Perhaps the hardest hit sector of the media landscape is TV.  According to the November 3, 2008 Advertising Age, TV advertising slipped 1.3% 2008 – even when you include the boost from the election and the Olympics.  Without political spending and Olympic advertising, TV ad dollars would have fallen 2.4%.  This while online advertising is projected to grow some 14-16%.

It seems that in a time when ad dollars are becoming more and more precious, advertisers are counting on the two big promises of Internet advertising – Targeting and Tracking.

These concepts aren’t new!  Every TV show targets a specific demographic which advertisers try to latch onto, and the TV ratings of any given program will give you an idea of who saw what.  But between DVR and the growth of online media, who knows who’s actually watching those commercials.  Online advertisers can reach out to people based on their web history, demographics, and even the interests they express in their social networks.  So instead of paying a lot to reach everyone, they can pay less to reach just the audience that they’re looking to sell to.  Search ads go a step further, reaching out to people actively seeking to buy!

Also, with Google Analytics leading the charge, free tools exist that allow websites to track an absurd amount of user actions with their website.  Ultimately, advertisers can see what ads are working, and make changes on the fly to constantly improve.

Analytical tools are also crucial to understanding how users interact with your website, and how users move through the buying process.  Remember, driving traffic to a website is only half the battle! Once a user’s found you, they’ll need to be able to find what they need quickly.  Online, we all have the attention span of a 5-year old.

I’m sure none of this is groundbreaking stuff, but as the economy scares everyone and shrinks budgets worldwide, the message is important:

A user-friendly website that converts traffic into buyers and informed online advertising is the most effective mix for winning in a down economy.

The web is a necessity.  Having a web presence that reflects your brand and articulates your message is no longer a luxury for successful companies, it’s a pre-requisite for doing business.  However, once you have a beautiful, functional website, the next question is usually pretty clear.

How do I get people to my website?

This is no doubt the number one question for web-marketers, but I’m not so sure it’s the most important anymore.  Because it takes no effort to leave a website, dragging people to a web page is only as good as their desire to be there.  So, the more important question is: How do I engage my target audience?

MAKE THEM WANT TO COME

The obvious part of this lies in designing a website that itself is fun, engaging and useful.  If people can’t find the information that they want and need quickly – they’re gone and good luck getting them back.  A web site MUST start with the user.  What are they here for?  Are you bringing them to what they want, or making them root for it through pages and pages of meaningless corporate nonsense to find it?  There’s a reason that G.1440 has become experts in designing web usability.  This will not only lead to keeping the traffic that you get, but it will inherently drive traffic as more and more users spread the word about your www dot awesomeness.

DON’T CHANGE USER HABITS – COME TO THEM!

But the second part of this proposition is a little more elusive.  Instead of focusing on how to drag people away from what they’re doing to spend time on your company’s digitial brochure, why not bring the message to where they are already?!

This isn’t as simple as just throwing up a MySpace page.  It takes a bit of research, but ultimately you want to know where your target customers spend their time online.  Then take the message to them!  Contribute to the blogs they read, either as a guest writer or as a commenter.  Create applications for the platforms they use.  Be creative!

You can also use your existing users for some of this legwork.  Open your content up for others to use.  A great example is http://www.mtvmusic.com.  MTV just made every music video ever available for embedding (along with a host of other original content).  So now I can share Thriller with all of you – while promoting MTV – how nice of me!

Your website should really only be one part of a multi-media marketing mix.  With social networking, micro blogging, and all the other web 2.0 tools that comprise “social media”, the opportunity to engage your target market has never been better!

Remember the web is an interactive communication medium.  Not a content delivery platform.  It’s not TV: Part 2.  People have to want to see what they’re looking at.  In fact, some of the latest research shows that online ads don’t really work well anyway!

There’s no single solution that will work for everyone, but it’s certainly worth it to put in the time to find a digital marketing strategy that works for you.