ROUNDUPS
For the record 16 April
16-04-2007
by Maxim Kelly
Google in radio ads deal | Three appoints business market boss
Tourism agency Failte Ireland has launched its latest marketing blitz, including a new online portal, DiscoverIreland.ie. The site, designed by FluidRock, is part of a EUR5 million marketing communications programme encouraging Irish people to take holidays within Ireland. The website will be the key focus of the campaign, which encourages people to go online to look for more information. The site contains features such as 'late offers', 'special locations', extensive search facilities, and up-to-date listings and festival information. In total, Failte Ireland said the online service provides approximately 20,000 items of tourist information, including a list of approved accommodation.
Clear Channel Radio and Google announced a multi-year agreement on Monday that enables Google to sell a guaranteed portion of 30-second advertising inventory available on 675 of Clear Channel's AM/FM radio stations. Under the agreement, Google Audio Ads advertisers will have national distribution over US airwaves, enabling them to reach specific audiences, at specific times, in targeted geographies. For Clear Channel, the agreement opens up an additional sales channel and provides supplemental revenue by making Clear Channel inventory available to online advertisers who previously had not used radio. Financial terms of the deal were not released.
Mobile operator Three Ireland has appointed Damien Gallagher as its Head of Business & New Initiatives. Gallagher's role will be developing Three's entry into the business market, particularly wholesale mobile broadband. Gallagher joins Three from O2 where he was Business Portfolio Manager.
Dublin cashflow and credit/debt technology firm CashCollector has made several appointments to its board of directors. Finance industry heavyweights former Sage chairman Michael Jackson and former Eontec chief executive Pat Brazel have joined the board of the one-year-old Digital Hub start-up.
A survey by network firm Chronicle Solutions shows confusion over internet usage policies in British offices. It shows 31 percent of British firms don't have an acceptable use policy (AUP), blogging is usually not covered at all by those companies that do, and only a small percentage of AUPs cover instant messaging and webmail. "These findings are a matter of serious concern," said David Lacey, internet security consultant with the Jericho Forum. "Corporate reputations can be damaged by errant bloggers; fraud can be perpetrated via e-mail; proprietary information can be leaked or sold for profit, private employee data can be shared, sexual harassment can be perpetrated, all on workplace PCs. Instant messaging and webmail in particular are two of the most persistent vectors of information leakage, yet even those look to be absent from most AUPs."
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 