ChoiceStream

Outdoor gear multichannel retailer Cabela’s has selected Webtrends as its Web analytics vendor, replacing Coremetrics. A key factor in Cabela’s decision to hire Webtrends was the firm’s ability to give the retailer free access to its data through an open API framework. Read the full article

It’s official. Razorfish is now part of Publicis Groupe, and as a result, Publicis now has the largest digital advertising services organization in the world. As part of its transaction to acquire Razorfish, Publicis gave Microsoft 6.5 million shares or a 3.3% stake in the Paris-based agency holding company. Microsoft also received $286.8 million in cash, and promises for a variety of long-term strategic initiatives, and a relationship that stretches well beyond cash and equity investments. Read the full article

Ad exchange AdBrite has created an Open Source Platform for integrating multiple 3rd party data partners (e.g. AlmondNet and Exelate). AdBrite’s Open Source Platform enables advertisers on every single impression and for every campaign to take advantage of all available 3rd party data without paying any additional CPM. By including all pertinent 3rd party data into its black box optimization engine, AdBrite is able to achieve optimal ad targeting and drive the highest possible ROI for every advertiser on every campaign. Read the full article

In online stores, it is much easier for shoppers to fill their virtual shopping carts — and much easier for them to get distracted by an e-mail message or comparison shopping on other sites and abandon those carts. Many shoppers fill their carts just to keep track of things they like or to check shipping rates and taxes, with little intention to buy. While there is no industry-wide data, some e-commerce companies estimate that only about 3% of shoppers who visit an e-commerce site buy something, and when they do load their shopping carts, as many as two-thirds abandon them. One of the biggest reasons people procrastinate more when shopping online is the fear of regret, said Dan Ariely, a professor of behavioral economics at Duke, a visiting professor at M.I.T. Read the full article

Retailers are turning to new gift-card gimmicks as they try to lure shoppers into their all-too-empty stores and increase holiday sales. Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus this year is giving free $50 cards to thousands of shoppers to “drive customers to our stores.” Target will hand out cards worth $10 to shoppers who spend at least $100 before noon the day after Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, Best Buy is allowing multiple gift-givers to contribute money to a single card, to cover big-ticket items like flat-screen televisions. By turning the cards into promotions that attract shoppers before the holidays, stores are augmenting their longtime strategy of selling gift cards as a service to harried relatives and friends. Read the full article

At the end of the second quarter, only about 7% of U.S. consumers bought goods or conducted financial transactions via cell phone, according to a recent survey by Nielsen. However, its believed m-commerce may finally be gaining in popularity. ABI Research projects North American sales of physical goods ordered via the cell phone at $544 million this year, up from $346 million in 2008. Now, Mark Beccue, senior analyst at ABI, is considering updating his 2009 forecast to $800 million. “I thought hockey-stick growth was going to come in 2010,” says Beccue. Read the full article

Shane Atchinson submitted to ClickZ recently that the definition of “behavioral marketing” needs to be simplified for both marketers and consumers. Atchinson notes it’s easier to think of behavioral marketing as digital merchandising. According to the “New Oxford Dictionary,” merchandising is the activity of promoting the sale of goods, especially by their presentation in retail outlets. Atchinson says this definition would be more palatable to both marketers and consumers. “Successful digital merchandising means delivering the right message in the right way at the right time, and monetizing it,” notes Atchison who concludes “When done right, it’s a positive experience for the customer and the company.” Read the full article

A federal judge has dismissed a privacy lawsuit against six Internet service providers who worked with defunct behavioral targeting company NebuAd. The U.S. District Court Judge noted in his ruling that, “The six ISP Defendants have sustained their burden of demonstrating that haling them to court in California is unreasonable under these circumstances.” Last year, 15 Web users sued NebuAd and six ISPs for violating their privacy by deploying a behavioral targeting platform that used deep-packet inspection technology to monitor users’ Web activity Read the full article

With projections for ho-hum holiday sales rolling in, agencies and media companies could again see fewer ad dollars from the nation’s retailers. But not everyone will feel the sting as some big names loosen purse strings and try to rebound from last season’s grim quarter. Best Buy has said it would not be pulling back as it did last year. JC Penney said its budget is flat as a percentage of sales, compared to last year. And Gap Inc. has indicated increased spending could be on tap for the Gap brand, which will boast a holiday campaign from new agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky. Read the full article

After a recession-fueled contraction, search advertising may finally be picking up. A report by Efficient Frontier, a search advertising firm, showed that its clients spent 5% more on search ads in the quarter that ended Sept. 30 than in the previous quarter. “It feels that things are starting to stabilize,” said David Karnstedt, the chief executive of Efficient Frontier. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s search engine Bing keeps picking up speed. Bing’s share of spending grew to 5.3% in the third quarter, up from 4.3% in the second quarter, while its share of clicks rose to 4.8%, from 4.1%. Though a far cry from Google’s search advertising market share, Bing’s slow but steady growth is noteworthy according to Karnstedt. Read the full article