Microsoft’s ComScore Numbers Have Been Changed To Hide A Massive Traffic Decline (MSFT) | ||
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Microsoft redesigned its MSN web portal, the default Internet Explorer homepage on the 400 million new Windows PCs that are sold each year, in September. In recent weeks, sources have told Business Insider that the redesign had a drastic negative effect on visitor numbers not only to MSN itself but also Microsoft’s search engine Bing (MSN used to send users to Bing results when they clicked on article headlines.) The first verifiable evidence of our sources’ claims was due to be revealed in this month report from research company comScore, which would have revealed separate worldwide traffic figures for Bing and MSN. The theory was Bing was being severely hurt by one of the changes, which saw MSN curate more stories from news sites and was seeing people click through direct to competitor websites, rather than through to a Bing search as it had done previously. But this month, following the site redesign, Microsoft has asked comScore to bundle all its web products — Bing, Skype, Outlook and so on — under one MSN banner, the research company confirmed to Business Insider. So now it is be extremely difficult to quantify just how badly the MSN redesign hit Microsoft. Business Insider has contacted Microsoft for comment about its request to comScore to reclassify its online traffic under the MSN banner. This article will be updated once a response has been received. ComScore is one of the most trusted sources of web traffic data around and the majority of major publishers use the company's reports to sell their advertising and size themselves up versus competitors. MSN’s newly organized total unique worldwide visitor figure for October was 6.77 million, according to comScore. In September, without the added help of other properties like Bing and Skype, MSN’s unique worldwide visitors totaled 3.79 million. No longer is it possible to compare apples with apples with the comScore data on MSN. ComScore does, however, still provide Bing data. Its worldwide unique visitors dropped from 271 million in September to 267 million in October, according to comScore. Separate US-only data from Compete, a Millward Brown Digital company, appears to show the drop-off in visitor numbers following MSN's redesign more starkly. Look how the uniques fell from September (when the redesign launched) to October.
The same pattern follows for Bing.com  “Shuttering MSN would be fairly simple for Microsoft. Bing already has a news section and is already programming news on their homepage. They also have links to Microsoft’s other services. So it can serve as the consumer default homepage for Microsoft. “With the fall in page views and click through rates on MSN, Bing is actually a better option for Microsoft strategically to gain any search share. So it makes sense to send all of that default traffic to Bing instead of MSN. This is the key reason MSN has struggled for so long. Microsoft really doesn't care about that business.”
Separate sources have previously told Business Insider there is a showdown of sorts between three powerful Microsoft executives: Terry Myerson, the man in charge of Windows, Derrick Connell who runs Bing and Qi Lu, the man in charge of most of Microsoft’s consumer online services, which includes MSN and also Bing. The fight is about who gets to control the default home page of Internet Explorer. All three want to claim the home page as a lucrative marketing spot for their own divisions. Microsoft told Business Insider last month that Bing and MSN are performing well and that the newly redesigned MSN is a success, referencing older US-only comScore data for October. In a statement the company said: “As the most recent [US] market share data indicates, Bing and MSN both continue to grow. We are seeing a great response to the new MSN, which we just rebuilt to combine content from the world’s leading media outlets along with easy access to tools such as Office Online, Skype and Bing. Similarly, we’re pleased to see Bing gaining traction both as a standalone search engine and as the intelligence platform powering experiences inside and outside of Microsoft, including Cortana on Windows Phone, Siri and Spotlight from Apple.” SEE ALSO: Microsoft Fires Global Advertising Sales Team Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here Are The UK's Best Black Friday Deals | ||
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Black Friday is nearly upon us. Visa Europe says that this year, Britons are going to spend £6,000 per second. So here's where to go when everything gets crazy: AmazonThe online retailer is the father of Black Friday in the UK. Its offers change daily and run all week; they finish on November 30. Today, until 13.40pm, you can nab an iPhone 5 32GB for £329 — 23% off. There are also One Direction action figures and headphones with up to 70% off the asking price. ASDAOwned by American retail giant Walmart, ASDA joins Amazon as one of the main companies behind Black Friday's introduction to the UK. Its sales start at 8am on Friday, and this year will it will also host a second sale on Saturday. As of Thursday morning, one offer is a 40inch flat-screen TV for £139. Apple Store UKEver mysterious, as of Thursday morning Apple was yet to reveal what its reductions will be. In the US, the company is giving away gift cards with purchases — but there's speculation that the UK will get price drops instead. John Lewis
ArgosArgos' discounts are on a timer and start at midnight. Customers can reserve online and pick up "Black Friday bargains" instantly in store. GAME
Gamers take note, this year the company will make "hourly announcements" from 6pm on Thursday. One sneak peak is FIFA 15 for £31.75. The complete sale begins at midnight and in stores from 11:59pm. PC WorldThe computer retailer brands its Black Friday sales as a "Black Tag Event". Its offers start at 8am on Friday, but it's not clear whether reductions will also be available online. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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10 Things In Tech You Need To Know Today (AAPL, TWTR, GPRO, FB, AMZN) | ||
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Good morning! It looks set to be an overcast day in London today. Here's the tech news you need to know. 1. Uber has been banned in Nevada. It's the only state that allows prostitution. 2. European regulators want to roll out the "right to be forgotten" around the world. They say people should be able to remove personal information that is "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant." 3. Uber's Android app could be collecting your personal data. It sends private data back to the company. 4. Apple could partner with Foxconn to make sapphire displays. The iPhone 6 doesn't have a sapphire screen, reportedly due to last-minute complications. 5. The CEO of Uber must share his emails with lawyers investigating how the company hands tips to drivers. It's claimed that Uber keeps most of the 20% fee. 6. Twitter is going to start monitoring what other apps you have on your phone. You can opt-out of it, however. 7. GoPro is going to release a line of consumer drones next year. They will be priced between $500 and $1,000. 8. One of the men in charge of Apple Maps has left the company for Uber. Brad Moore is now helping develop Uber's range of apps. 9. Facebook has hired the "father of statistical learning." Vladimir Vapnik is leaving his position at the University of London to work for the tech giant. 10. Amazon has unveiled its Black Friday deals. Most deals are around $20 off the usual asking price. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Microsoft’s ComScore Numbers Have Been Changed To Hide A Massive Traffic Collapse (MSFT) | ||
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Microsoft redesigned its MSN web portal, the default Internet Explorer homepage on the 400 million new Windows PCs that are sold each year, in September. In recent weeks, sources have told Business Insider that the redesign had a drastic negative effect on visitor numbers not only to MSN itself but also Microsoft’s search engine Bing (MSN used to send users to Bing results when they clicked on article headlines.) The first verifiable evidence of our sources’ claims was due to be revealed in this month report from research company comScore, which would have usually published separate worldwide traffic figures for Bing and MSN. The theory was MSN traffic was massively down following the redesign and that Bing was being severely hurt by one of the changes, which saw MSN curate more stories from news sites and was seeing people click through direct to competitor websites, rather than through to a Bing search as it had done previously. But this month, Microsoft has asked comScore to bundle all its web products — Bing, Skype, Outlook and so on — under one "MSN" banner, the research company confirmed to Business Insider. So now it is extremely difficult to quantify exactly how badly the MSN redesign hit Microsoft. Business Insider has contacted Microsoft for comment about its request to comScore to reclassify its online traffic under the MSN banner. This article will be updated once a response has been received. ComScore is one of the most trusted sources of web traffic data around and the majority of major publishers use the company's reports to sell their advertising and size themselves up versus competitors. MSN’s newly organized total unique worldwide visitor figure for October was 6.77 million, according to comScore. In September, without the added help of other properties like Bing and Skype, MSN’s unique worldwide visitors totaled 3.79 million. No longer is it possible to compare apples with apples with the comScore data on MSN. ComScore does, however, still provide Bing data. Its worldwide unique visitors dropped from 271 million in September to 267 million in October, according to comScore. The October figure was, however, up on the 258 million uniques reported in August. Separate US-only data from Compete, a Millward Brown Digital company, appears to show the drop-off in visitor numbers following MSN's redesign more starkly. Look how the uniques fell from September (when the redesign launched) to October.
The same pattern follows for Bing.com “Shuttering MSN would be fairly simple for Microsoft. Bing already has a news section and is already programming news on their homepage. They also have links to Microsoft’s other services. So it can serve as the consumer default homepage for Microsoft. “With the fall in page views and click through rates on MSN, Bing is actually a better option for Microsoft strategically to gain any search share. So it makes sense to send all of that default traffic to Bing instead of MSN. This is the key reason MSN has struggled for so long. Microsoft really doesn't care about that business.”
Separate sources have previously told Business Insider there is a showdown of sorts between three powerful Microsoft executives: Terry Myerson, the man in charge of Windows, Derrick Connell who runs Bing and Qi Lu, the man in charge of most of Microsoft’s consumer online services, which includes MSN and also Bing. The fight is about who gets to control the default home page of Internet Explorer. All three want to claim the home page as a lucrative marketing spot for their own divisions. Microsoft told Business Insider last month that Bing and MSN are performing well and that the newly redesigned MSN is a success, referencing older US-only comScore data for October. In a statement the company said: “As the most recent [US] market share data indicates, Bing and MSN both continue to grow. We are seeing a great response to the new MSN, which we just rebuilt to combine content from the world’s leading media outlets along with easy access to tools such as Office Online, Skype and Bing. Similarly, we’re pleased to see Bing gaining traction both as a standalone search engine and as the intelligence platform powering experiences inside and outside of Microsoft, including Cortana on Windows Phone, Siri and Spotlight from Apple.” SEE ALSO: Microsoft Fires Global Advertising Sales Team Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Here Are The UK's Best Black Friday Deals | ||
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Black Friday is nearly upon us. Visa Europe says that this year, Britons are going to spend £6,000 per second. So here's where to go when everything gets crazy: AmazonThe online retailer is the father of Black Friday in the UK. Its offers change daily and run all week; they finish on November 30. Today, until 13.40pm, you can nab an iPhone 5 32GB for £329 — 23% off. There are also One Direction action figures and headphones with up to 70% off the asking price. ASDAOwned by American retail giant Walmart, ASDA joins Amazon as one of the main companies behind Black Friday's introduction to the UK. Its sales start at 8am on Friday, and this year will it will also host a second sale on Saturday. As of Thursday morning, one offer is a 40inch flat-screen TV for £139. Apple Store UKEver mysterious, as of Thursday morning Apple was yet to reveal what its reductions will be. In the US, the company is giving away gift cards with purchases — but there's speculation that the UK will get price drops instead. John Lewis
ArgosArgos' discounts are on a timer and start at midnight. Customers can reserve online and pick up "Black Friday bargains" instantly in store. GAME
Gamers take note, this year the company will make "hourly announcements" from 6pm on Thursday. One sneak peak is FIFA 15 for £31.75. The complete sale begins at midnight and in stores from 11:59pm. PC WorldThe computer retailer brands its Black Friday sales as a "Black Tag Event". Its offers start at 8am on Friday, but it's not clear whether reductions will also be available online. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The 10 Things In Advertising You Need To Know Today | ||
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Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving to our US readers. Here are all the advertising stories you need to know today. 1. Sensing its market share was cratering following a September redesign of MSN.com, Microsoft quietly asked comScore to recalibrate how it reports visitor numbers for MSN and Bing. Previously Microsoft's online properties had separate reports for each site, but now Microsoft is bundling all visitors from sites like MSN, Bing and Skype under one banner so it's difficult to get a sense of a month-on-month comparison before and after the redesign. 2. Beats has released a new ad and it's full of celebrities. The ad, called "#SoloSelfie," is a mashup of pop culture's A-list with celebrities like Serena Williams, Kendall Jenner, and Big Sean taking video "selfies" of themselves wearing Beats. 3. Twitter is to begin monitoring the other apps users have on their phones. Twitter hopes that such information will lead to greater insights about its user base in order to serve better targeted advertising. 4. A cute ad from Animals Australia featuring "people being awesome" by helping ducklings cross the road and another man diving down a manhole to save a duck in peril has hit 88 million YouTube views worldwide, AdNews reports. The three-minute home video footage compilation forms part of a new campaign from the animal rights group urging the government to change its policy on duck shooting. 5. Peer-to-peer file sharing platform BitTorret is "going legit" with its first original web series, Adweek reports. The pilot and an ad-supported version of "Children of the Machine" will be made available for free download, but those who want to skip ads can pay $4.95 for the eight-episode season or $9.95 for bonus content. 6. Heineken has launched its own search engine to help push its Sol brand to independent retailers, Marketing Week reports. The branded search engine suggests the best local independent cafés, bars and restaurants according to user’s locations and preferences, a move it hopes will create news sales opportunities for the lesser-known beer. 7. Retailers began their marketing spend earlier than ever this year ahead of the US holiday shopping period, especially through search marketing, The Drum reports. Kenshoo data shows paid search spend began to rise nine days before Thanksgiving, four days ahead of the same period last year, to meet the trend of consumers planning their festive buys earlier. 8. Whether you're preparing a presentation or comparing your sales with rivals, here's a handy roundup of all the Black Friday 2014 stats from Econsultancy. Useful information includes data on the best time to tweet to how much UK consumers are set to save this weekend. 9. The Federal Trade Commission has ordered Sony to pay back $25 (or a $50 merchandise voucher) to consumers who bought a PS Vita console before June 2012, having found the company guilty of deceiving customers with false advertising claims. The FTC — which also called out Sony's agency Deutsch LA in the ruling — said claims related to the PS Vita's "remote play" and "cross platform" features were misleading. 10. Digiday explores why publishers are struggling with private marketplaces. Problems include the ad tech "plumbing," a lack of interest from the demand side and that many buyers are approaching private marketplaces in the same way they do with open exchanges, which they use to find big audiences at low prices. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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10 Things In Tech You Need To Know Today (AAPL, TWTR, GPRO, FB, AMZN) | ||
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Good morning! It looks set to be an overcast day in London today. Here's the tech news you need to know. 1. Uber has been banned in Nevada. It's the only state that allows prostitution. 2. European regulators want to roll out the "right to be forgotten" around the world. They say people should be able to remove personal information that is "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant." 3. Uber's Android app could be collecting your personal data. It sends private data back to the company. 4. Apple could partner with Foxconn to make sapphire displays. The iPhone 6 doesn't have a sapphire screen, reportedly due to last-minute complications. 5. The CEO of Uber must share his emails with lawyers investigating how the company hands tips to drivers. It's claimed that Uber keeps most of the 20% fee. 6. Twitter is going to start monitoring what other apps you have on your phone. You can opt-out of it, however. 7. GoPro is going to release a line of consumer drones next year. They will be priced between $500 and $1,000. 8. One of the men in charge of Apple Maps has left the company for Uber. Brad Moore is now helping develop Uber's range of apps. 9. Facebook has hired the "father of statistical learning." Vladimir Vapnik is leaving his position at the University of London to work for the tech giant. 10. Amazon has unveiled its Black Friday deals. Most deals are around $20 off the usual asking price. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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German unemployment falls more than expected in November | ||
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Frankfurt (AFP) - Unemployment in Germany fell in November as the labour market continues to shrug off weak growth, official data showed on Thursday. The number of people registered as unemployed in Europe's biggest economy fell by a seasonally-adjusted 14,000 in November, the Federal Labour Office said, beating analysts' expectations for a much shallower decline of 1,000 this month. The unemployment rate -- which measures the jobless total against the working population as a whole -- was steady at 6.6 percent in seasonally adjusted terms, the office calculated. The previous month's jobless rate had been revised downwards slightly from 6.7 percent. In raw or unadjusted terms, the jobless total fell by 15,900 to 2.717 million and the jobless rate was also unchanged at 6.3 percent. "The labour market continued to develop favourably, independent of the economy," the labour office said. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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