Welcome to May's Click-thru, your indispensable round-up of the latest online industry news, brought direct to your inbox from the Internet Advertising Bureau.

April was the month where the BBC outlined its continuing commitment to the digital world that is benefiting us all. The areas the BBC - the world's most trusted brand - wish to move into provide a terrific validation for a number of online initiatives that are fast becoming internet institutions. It is testament to the achievements of MySpace, Wikipedia and Flickr that one of the most famous corporations on the planet would look to build its future on similar foundations.

World Cup fever is beginning to grip the nation and the internet is set to provide a vital role. We can expect record traffic and plenty of football-focused internet marketing as England turn us inside out on their way through the tournament. This month's comment piece assesses the potential impact the World Cup will have on the internet and vice versa.

Further details on these stories and a look at how else the internet has been making the news are included below.

Kind regards



Guy Phillipson
IAB, CEO

Metatags and metatarsals: the internet World Cup? As TV advertising seems set to struggle, the internet looks to be the key marketing medium for 2006's Football World Cup. Read more

The online audience

That hits the Gamespot CNET has launched the UK branch of Gamespot, a website a 100% focused on games. The site is expected to be a huge success amongst the UK and European gaming markets as the worldwide Gamespot site already attracts 1.3 million every month. Gamespot, April 24 Read more Get all of online, offline A technology start-up named Webaroo has launched a free service that will enable users to search the internet even when not online. Webaroo believes their product will enable all the internet's useful information to be downloaded to a "tiny memory card" in a laptop or smartphone The times online, April 10 Read more Multi-country swap site All those lucky people with holiday houses around the world, just got luckier. A website called swapandstay has launched enabling global home exchanges in over 50 countries. Already 500 members have signed up for the service that does not place restrictions on like for like or simultaneous exchanges. Properties are attributed rental rates and members can 'upgrade' their home, or alternatively 'rough it' by making cash adjustments. Netimperative, April 7 Read more

Entertainment

Music

The iTod set to get three-year olds' toes tapping This year's must have toy for the discerning toddler is the Fisher-Price iTod MP3 player. The iTod comes complete with volume-restricted and an online iTunes store that sells parentally approved songs for the player. Times online, April 8 Read more

TV

Get Lost online As the second series of Lost began in the UK at the beginning of May, Channel 4 announced that shows from both the first and second series will be made available on the internet for 99p an episode. Channel 4's Andy Duncan said the move was to prompt a revolution in television viewing, where by popular shows are available "anytime, anywhere". Times online, April 27 Read more ... And in the US, Walt Disney makes tops show available for free The news of Channel 4's paid for downloads followed the announcement by Lost producers, Walt Disney that they are to make some of their most popular shows, including Lost and Desperate Housewives available for free on the internet. But broadband users WILL NOT be able to skip the advertising breaks. BBC. April 10 Read more ipTV serves online congregation Christian television, that has previously struggled to meet satellite transmission costs, has recognised that they can create commercially viable channels using internet delivered television. Faithglobe.tv transmits 24 hours a day for under £10,000 a month, a massive reduction compared to the £80,000 a month that non-internet channels have to pay. The Times Online, April 15 Read more The BBC's Integrated Media Player results released The results from the BBC's Integrated Media Player trial that gave 5,000 users the opportunity to view Radio and TV programmes after their broadcast date online, have been released. Eastenders proved to be the most popular show in the scheme that the BBC's Ashley Highfield believes could "revolutionise" broadcasting. BBC, April 6 Read more Jackson believes the internet is the answer to US broadcasting "creative deficit" The former head of Channel 4, Michael Jackson believes that the internet will aid the "creative deficit" in American broadcasting. Speaking to the Guardian about his new role as a US media executive, Jackson said that the dominance of media giants such as Disney and News Corp, has stifled creativity. He also believes, however, that the internet is now offering more creative freedom as it undermines the reliance on a traditional advertising based business model. The Guardian, April 6 Read more

Newspaper

'Open House' marks Wall Street Journal's tenth year online At the beginning of May the Wall Street Journal Online celebrated its tenth anniversary. The publication closes its first decade in style as the largest paid subscription news site on the internet. The WSJ Online is celebrating its ten years online by offering free access - or open house - to the site for ten consecutive days. Brand Republic, May 2 Read more ... But how influential is the WSJ Online's payment model? The Wall Street Journal Online was the first major publication to use a subscription system in order to meet the costs of its online investment, but just how influential has the Wall Street Journal Online's payment model been? Just 37% of the Association of Online Publishers' members charge for internet content, a figure that has almost halved from a year ago. 43% of AOP members also stated they are unlikely to start charging for online content in the future, up from 18% two years ago. BBC, April 5 Read more

Web 2.0

Sex, drugs and Web 2.0? A BBC article has equated the impact of internet technology and social media, known as Web 2.0, with the social revolution kick-started by rock and roll 40 years ago. BBC, May 2 Read more

B2B

With a 25% discount available the B2B Marketing's Little Black Book is the place to B2B for IAB members In a recent IAB business to business survey 96% of those surveyed believe online marketing is appropriate for a business audience. To ensure our members are getting the most out of their B2B advertising we have teamed up with B2B Marketing magazine for a fantastic offer. IAB members are able to get a 25% discount off all advertising rates in B2B Marketing's Little Black Book of B2B Marketing 2006/07 edition, the complete guide to agencies, services and suppliers in business-to-business marketing. To book your advertising space today please email Annie Lorenzini, Directory Sales Manager, or call +44 (0) 20 7798 2159, quoting: 'IAB member'.

Blogging

French cookery blauthor wins first Blooker prize for blog turned book The Blooker Prize for the best blogger-turned-author has been awarded to Julie Powell's blog on French cookery. Since making it's debut in print Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, has sold almost 100,000 copies. BBC, April 3 Read more

Online Creative

Online campaigns

The witty headline for this Da Vinci Code story is hidden on the back of a painting of pool playing dogs in our local The forthcoming release of the film adaptation of the Da Vinci code is being supported by an online game from Google and Columbia Pictures. If the number of hours of 'research' the IAB team have put into the Da Vinci Code Quest at are anything to go by the 24 puzzles spread over 24 days are certainly engaging. Netimperative, April 27 Read more Radio 4 encourages internet audience to 'Think Comedy' with online executions Radio 4 is using online advertising to draw attention to its comedy shows as part of its Thinking Comedy campaign. One of the banner executions enables people to listen to snippets of four shows - including Nebulous and Political Animals - and encourages users to click-through and hear entire episodes on the Channel 4 website. Brand Republic, April 7 Read more McDonalds first global campaign puts your face on a Big Mac McDonald's first global online promotion will put the fast food restaurant's customers on over 50m pieces of food packaging. As part of the I'm Lovin' it marketing, consumers are invited to submit photos of themselves on the McDonald's website along with 100 words detailing what they love in life. The 25 winners will get a holiday in London, pus a photo shoot that will appear on the packaging along with their passion. Brand Republic. April 4 Read more International BBC homepages to carry online advertising? The BBC is considering having online advertising on its international homepages. 100,000 internet users outside the UK are being randomly polled online to gauge their opinion on the proposed move. BBC, April 25 Read more Visit bannerblog to view a gallery of all the latest online creative

Viral

Coca-cola looks to community sites to sweeten youth culture market Coca-cola is targeting the users of social networking sites such as MySpace with a viral campaign in a effort to tap into modern youth culture. The virals use edgy animation, purpose made for the internet in an effort to reconnect with the global brand's target audience. Media Guardian, April 24 Read more

Online awards, events and polls

The winner of April's Creative Showcase Awards is Agency Republic's From A-to-S campaign for Mercedes-Benz. The campaign features a groundbreaking site with accompanying online ads that showcase the attention to detail running throughout the car giant's entire range of passenger vehicles. The site mirrors Mercedes' approach to vehicle production with a host of interactive elements that reflect the real world experience.

IAB's Engage for Sales Wed May 24, 2006 This half-day conference will help retailers discover the ways in which they can strengthen their online presence, identifying the online marketing methods available to drive their sales both online and offline from brand awareness to point of purchase. Read more

Ecommerce

Every little helps for Tesco as online operations make profit of £56.2m Of retail giant Tesco's £2.2bn annual group earnings, its online operations contributed a weighty profit of £56.2m. Online sales were worth £1bn, up 32% on the previous year and made up 3% of all UK sales. Innovate, April 26 Read more

Global snapshot

The internet American Woman's domain The female online audience now makes up 51.6% of the US online audience and there will be nearly 100 million American women using the internet by 2008. Womens' online behaviour is changing according to new figures from comScore Media Metrix. Women are now looking for multimedia content, listening to radio, checking classified ads and checking maps... now there's an oxymoron! Emarketer, April 27 Read more