Welcome to the 58th episode of the Mediatwits podcast, with Mark Glaser and Rafat Ali as co-hosts. This week, we take a look at the changes in coverage of the presidential debate, with live-streaming online, instant fact-checks and added context, and even “live-GIF’ing.” Tumblr’s Christoper Price and the Sunlight Foundation’s Bill Allison talk about the hits and misses during the debates and how @FiredBigBird went viral. Does it add more to the debate or is it all a big distraction?
Then we look deeper at the challenges for mobile advertising. For years, experts said mobile ads would rule, and now with so many more people getting news on mobile devices, the time has come. So why are they falling short? We talked to the IAB’s Joe Laszlo, AdAge’s Jason Del Rey and consultant Chetan Sharma to find out how advertisers and publishers can improve the mobile ad experience. Simply repurposing online ads on mobile isn’t the answer, but what is?
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Guest Bios
Christopher Price is editorial director of Tumblr. He’s created 178 Tumblogs, including his main one, TopherChris. He’s been with Tumblr since 2009 and will be involved in a new outlet composed entirely from Tumblr stories.
Bill Allison is the editorial director for Sunlight Foundation Reporting. Bill has spent the better part of his career reporting on lobbyist influence in Washington, campaign finance transparency and earmarks. He is a veteran investigative reporter and editor.
Joe Laszlo is senior director of the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence. Joe manages many of the IAB’s mobile standardization, best practices, and research projects. Prior to the IAB, Joe had an eight-year tenure at Jupiter Research, where he started researching and writing about mobile interactivity in 2000.
Jason Del Rey is a reporter at Advertising Age, where he writes about digital media and advertising technology. He was previously the senior reporter at Inc. magazine, where he wrote about startups and other fast-growing, privately-held companies across all industries. You can follow him on Twitter @DelRey.
Chetan Sharma is Founder and President of Chetan Sharma Consulting. He is a recognized industry expert in strategy and implementation of wireless data and pervasive computing solutions. He has served as an advisor to senior executive management of several Fortune 100 companies in the wireless space and is probably the only strategist to have advised each of the top 6 global mobile data operators.
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Intro and outro music by 3 Feet Up; mid-podcast music by Autumn Eyes via Mevio’s Music Alley.
Highlights from the Show
Intro
1:00: Rafat shows off Skift at Paley Center
2:20: MediaShift Mixer coming to Paley Center in NYC Oct. 23
3:40: Rundown of topics on our show
Presidential debate extended online
5:00: Special guests Christopher Price and Bill Allison
7:00: Price: Tumblr hosted a debate-watching party with animated GIF artists
9:30: Allison: We provide context instead of live fact-checking online
12:45: How did Big Bird go viral?
15:20: Why did the Debates Commission squelch participation?
16:50: Allison: Referee or umpire might have done a better job moderating than a journalist
Challenges for mobile ads
17:20: Special guests Joe Laszlo, Jason Del Rey and Chetan Sharma
20:00: Del Rey: Small screen size is a challenge for advertisers
22:10: Laszlo: IAB wants to improve mobile ads with standard formats
25:30: Sharma: Rather than measuring impressions on mobile, making sales is better
27:30: Laszlo: Advertisers can also use responsive design for ads
30:50: Sharma: Industry needs to improve user control over data collection, tracking on mobile
More Reading
Six Digital Takeaways from the Denver Debate at Forbes
Tumbling the Election at Tumblr
The First Presidential Debate on Sunlight Live
The missing ingredient from hyperwired debates: the feedback loop at O’Reilly Radar
Presidential Debate and Fact-Check at NYTimes.com
Presidential Debates Commission Keeps Internet Bottled at TechPresident
Just how big is the mobile ad market going to be? at Econsultancy
Will Mobile’s Massive Growth Equal Real Revenues? at AdAge
The Explosion in Mobile Audiences and a Close Look at What It Means for News report from Pew Research Center
Mobile Rising Stars Ad Units at the IAB
MediaShift Poll
Don’t forget to vote in our poll, this time about your thoughts on mobile advertising:
Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco with his son Julian and fiancee Renee. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit. and Circle him on Google+