Friday, June 14, 2013

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “'National Geographic' to Explore Online Pay Model”

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “'National Geographic' to Explore Online Pay Model”


'National Geographic' to Explore Online Pay Model

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 04:36 AM PDT

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National Geographic — which last month picked up more National Magazine Awards than any other title, including best tablet magazine — is planning to introduce a paid, web-based version of its magazine later this year, Declan Moore, executive vice president of the National Geographic Society, tells Mashable.

The "web magazine" will be different from what appears on NationalGeographic.com, though some of the content will be the same. Think of it as a replica of Nat Geo's tablet edition, with all of its multimedia bells and whistles, but made for viewing in a web browser.

The move comes as other legacy publishers look for new (and less volatile) revenue opportunities beyond online advertising, which has thus far failed to come even remotely close to commanding the same sums as print advertisements once did. Read more...

More about National Geographic, Business, and Media

Microsoft Office Finally Comes to the iPhone

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 04:10 AM PDT

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If you've ever wanted to create and edit Word and Excel documents on your iPhone, the wait is overMicrosoft is launching Office for iPhone, bringing Word, Excel and PowerPoint to the world's most popular smartphone.

The version of Office the iPhone's getting is Office Mobile, which is nearly identical to the apps that already exist on Windows Phone. It includes phone-friendly versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but not other Office apps such as Outlook.

Creating a version of Office for iPhone fits with Microsoft's new strategy of treating its services as platform-agnostic, and it comes to iOS long after other Microsoft apps, including OneNote and Lync. It also fits with Microsoft offering Office 365 as a subscription service, accessible from many devices, rather than a one-time download for one machine. Read more...

More about Iphone, Microsoft Office, Ios, Office 365, and Tech

New 'Elysium' Trailer Shows a Depressing Future Earth

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 02:46 AM PDT

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A new trailer for Neill Blomkamp's "Elysium" is out, revealing many new details about the movie's plot and setting

In the movie, set in 2154, humanity is divided into two castes: the rich and privileged live on paradise-like Elysium, while the poor toil away in a dark, depressing future Earth

The first theatrical trailer focused on showing us the beautiful world of Elysium and a many action sequences from the movie. At 3:17, the new trailer is considerably longer, and it reveals much more about the life on Earth, where machines rule over the human population

Blomkamp is best known for his feature debut, "District 9," which surprised many sci-fi fans with a realistic portrayal of an alien visit, and great visuals created on a tight budget. With Elysium, Blomkamp had a much bigger budget at his disposal, and it shows — Elysium looks gorgeous, while the landscapes of Earth are convincingly dilapidated and dreary Read more...

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iCoil Keeps Your Headphones Tangle-Free

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 12:34 AM PDT

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In a perfect world, all electronics would be cordless.

Think about how many times you've tripped over your laptop charger, or the countless occasions on which you've found your iPod earbuds at the bottom of your gym bag in a knotted mess.

Begrudge their inconvenience as we may, most of the devices we use still depend on cords — whether they serve to transfer information or electricity.

However, as Bluetooth technology has expanded its scope, wireless headphones have become widely — though not cheaply — available. Bluetooth-powered headphones eliminate the problem of cord tangling entirely, but there's hope yet for those of us who still plug in to tune in. Read more...

More about Device, Tangle, Kickstarter, Headphones, and Earbuds

New Parents, Bookmark This Website

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 08:29 PM PDT

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The Launchpad is a series that introduces Mashable readers to compelling startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: weeSpring

One-Liner Pitch: The first comprehensive social review site for baby products, where parents can research baby gear and follow other parent reviewers they know and trust.

Why It's Taking Off: Parents used to send 85-line Excel spreadsheets to friends who were expecting. WeeSpring uses the wisdom of the crowds and a simple rating system to help new parents find exactly what they need, from the pre-natal to pre-school stages. Read more...

More about Features, Parenting, Startups, Lifestyle, and Family Parenting

Unpopular Now: One Vine Account to Rule Them All?

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 07:49 PM PDT

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Now that both iOS and Android users can enjoy Vine, one of the major challenges on the service is cutting through the overflow of content uploaded every day

To help users get past the "Popular Now" page, some of Vine's biggest names have launched a joint account — jokingly called Unpopular Now — in an attempt to cut down the noise.

SEE ALSO: 11 Types of Vine Videos You Haven't Tried

"The idea is to have one place for various creative artists and entertainers to post content for one audience. In a way, it's a lot like the Popular Now page on Vine, sans the clutter/garbage," says Nick Massahos, a.k.aNick Mastodon. Read more...

More about Videos, Social Media, Vine, and Pics

Professor Discovers New Human Body Part

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 07:20 PM PDT

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Get ready to put your hands together and give a warm welcome to the newest addition to the human anatomy. Introducing: Dua’s layer.

The new ocular part, which sits at the back of the cornea, was discovered by Harminder Dua, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Nottingham. It's only 15 microns thick, but the discovery, per Dua, has big implications.

Before, researchers were aware of five corneal layers. But, thanks to the help of an electron microscope, Dua and his colleagues were able to discover this additional one by injecting air bubbles into the cornea to separate its layers. Read more...

More about Science, Eyes, Tech, Dev Design, and Newsy

Apple VP Rushed iBooks Deal While Steve Jobs Was Alive

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 06:43 PM PDT

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Apple senior Vice President Eddy Cue told a Manhattan courtroom Thursday that he rushed through the process of making deals with publishers — so that Steve Jobs could unveil the iBooks store on stage while the Apple founder was still alive

Cue is at the center of an antitrust trial where Apple stands accused of fixing prices of e-books at an artificially high level. Department of Justice prosecutors have described Cue as "the chief ringleader" of a price-fixing effort, a charge he vehemently denied. The five major publishers involved in the lawsuit have all made out-of-court settlements with the DOJ. Read more...

More about Apple, Steve Jobs, Ipad, Ibooks, and Business

Smart Socks Act As Your Running Coach

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 06:17 PM PDT

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Can an actual pair of socks knock your proverbial socks off when it comes to making you a better runner? Quite possibly, if you check out the latest creation from a Redmond, Wash., startup.

Wearable tech firm Heapsylon developed Sensoria Fitness Socks packed with smart capabilities. These fitness tracker socks have special textile sensors in them that communicate with a Bluetooth-powered anklet you also wear, all feeding data to your smartphone. The Sensoria app displays an activity tracker and lets you know how hard you're exercising.

The socks can track a runner's steps, distance, speed and calories. The technology also serves as a "virtual coach", detecting where you land on your feet and how you stride. There are wrong ways to run (such as overpronation), so the app aims to help you prevent injuries. Read more...

More about Indiegogo, Fitness, Running, Wearable Tech, and Lifestyle

One Man's Mission to Map More Accessible Cities

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 05:16 PM PDT

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Every day, Jason DaSilva experiences firsthand the challenges of traveling around New York City on his motorized scooter. But the Brooklyn-based filmmaker with multiple sclerosis is not sitting back. Instead, DaSilva is leading an initiative called AXS Map to chart big cities with better accessibility information.

For people living with physical disabilities, the project is sort of like a more robust Yelp. Resources like Yelp feature detailed information about restaurants, bars and shopping destinations, but DaSilva found they lacked any information about accessibility. Currently, Yelp only indicates whether a place is wheelchair-accessible with a "yes" or "no" indication. Read more...

More about Crowdsourcing, New York City, Maps, Yelp, and Social Good

Want a Million Likes on Facebook? It's All About the Reshares

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 04:50 PM PDT

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Remember that time a couple of Norwegian 20 year-olds posted a picture to Facebook? Sure you do. The one where the girl, Catherine, agreed to have sex with her friend Peter if the picture got a million Likes?

It turned out to be a joke for the benefit of the pair's friends. Still, the picture zoomed past a million Likes in less than a day. Now the story has become a subject of an academic white paper by a trio of Facebook data scientists. The paper investigates how this picture, along with a similarly viral posting from President Obama, made the big time

Read more...

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Boy Bullied by Twitter Racists Will Sing NBA Finals Anthem

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 04:05 PM PDT

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Before game three of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night, the home team San Antonio Spurs brought out 11-year-old fan and America's Got Talent star Sebastien De La Cruz to sing the national anthem. The "boy with the golden voice," decked out in a Spurs-themed traditional mariachi suit, brought the house down — as you can see in the video embedded above

But that didn't stop the ignorami of Twitter from trying to bully him with racist messages and bitterness over a child of Mexican descent singing America's anthem. Here are just a few examples of the hate, courtesy of Public Shaming (though plenty more appear on the site): Read more...

More about Nba, Entertainment, and Sports

47% of Superman Fans Want to See 'Man of Steel' in 3D

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 03:04 PM PDT

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Man of Steel swoops into theaters June 14, and eager fans naturally can't stop talking about all things SupermanMashable asked digital comics hub comiXology and DC Comics to survey more than 10,000 fans to get their thoughts on the movie, villain of choice, Superman's love interest and, of course, their favorite Superman comic. Justice League reigned supreme, snagging 25.3% of the votes, while Smallville had the most write-in votes. "Our team here considered Smallville kind of a young Superman comic, so we left if off the poll as a multiple choice option," said Chip Mosher, VP of communications and marketing at comiXology. Read more...

More about Films, Entertainment, Comics, Movies, and Film

Snowden Stole Secret NSA Documents With a Flash Drive

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 03:03 PM PDT

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How did whistleblower Edward Snowden steal all those top secret documents from a secure National Security Agency facility in Hawaii? Simple: with a good old-fashioned flash drive

That's allegedly how Snowden, who was working at the facility as a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton, smuggled the documents he then leaked to The Guardian and The Washington Post, according to officials questioned by The Los Angeles Times

The classified documents leaked last week revealed that the NSA has been collecting millions of phone records from Verizon; the existence of an international surveillance system called PRISM which apparently collects data from the likes of Google and Facebook; a secret Obama order to draw up overseas targets for cyber attacks; and Boundless Informant, a tool to datamine the world. Read more...

More about Privacy, Surveillance, Prism, Us World, and Us

Apple Claims 20% of E-Book Market

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 02:56 PM PDT

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Apple's share of the e-book market is bigger than many previously thought

Taking the witness stand at the antitrust trial between Apple and the DOJ on Wednesday, Apple executive Keith Moerer revealed that the company obtained a 20% share of the e-book market shortly after launching its iBookstore in 201, and has maintained that share in the two years since. "E-book sales grew 100% last year at the iBookstore and it had over 100 million customers," Moerer said, per Publisher's Weekly.

Asymco analyst Horace Dediu estimated in February that Apple's share of the e-book market was 24%. Other industry observers claimed at the time that the estimate was overzealous, pegging Apple's share at 10% and allocating 65% of the market to Amazon and 25% to Barnes & Noble. Read more...

More about Amazon, Apple, Kindle, Ebooks, and Barnes Noble

Player's Microphone Captures Joy of Historic Stanley Cup Game

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 02:35 PM PDT

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Wednesday night's first game of the Stanley Cup Finals was an-all time sports classic. The Chicago Blackhawks finally scored in triple overtime to secure a come-from-behind, marathon win over the visiting Boston Bruins in the wee hours of Thursday morning

The four-hour, 32-minute game was instantly lauded by fans and media on Twitter as one that will live on in history, both for its length and the tenacity of both teams' exhausted players. Likewise, Andrew Shaw's late, late, late goal for the 'Hawks will surely be replayed for years and years to come in highlight montages and NHL retrospectives. Read more...

More about Nhl, Stanley Cup, Entertainment, and Sports

Pocket and Sleeping Bag Can Charge Your Phone

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 02:35 PM PDT

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Forget searching for charging outlets and plug points, you can now charge your phone with body heat and a sleeping bag or pocket in your clothesVodafone revealed this week the wearable Power Pocket charger.

It works by using technology called thermocouples, pairs of thermoelectric material designed to be small and flexible enough to stitch onto clothing. A number of them are printed and then connected together to create the "pocket."

Stephen Beeby, professor of electronic systems at the University of Southampton, said in a statement, “One side of that is cold and the other is hot, and when you get a flow of heat through it you can create a voltage and a current. Voltage and current together equals electrical power.” Read more...

More about Vodafone, Chargers, Wearable Tech, Dev Design, and Lifestyle

French Court Forces Twitter to Reveal Anti-Semitic Users

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 01:49 PM PDT

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Twitter must reveal the users behind a series of anti-Semitic posts after a French court decided Thursday not to hear the company's appeal of an earlier decision.

Several French groups sued Twitter last year, demanding it reveal the identities of users who posted anti-Jewish messages. In January, the Paris High Court ruled in favor of the French groups, deciding the messages violated French laws against hate speech and Holocaust denial. Twitter consequently filed an appeal, which has now been denied.

Twitter told the BBC that it is considering options for further appeal. Meanwhile, the tweets in question have been blocked in France. Read more...

More about Twitter, Government, World, France, and Us World

25 Rage GIFs That Perfectly Express Your Anger

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 01:25 PM PDT

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Sometimes, a GIF can capture an emotion in a single moving image better than an hour-long rant ever could. Since the last thing you want to do when you're seething is to scour Tumblr for that one where that guy throws that thing, it's always helpful to have a collection of reaction GIFs handy

So, for every time someone doesn't hold the elevator door, every time your best friend bails at the last minute, every time you had a bad day and it feels like Daniel Powter is singing directly to you, we've got you covered.

1. For an anger that can't be contained.

animated rampageImage courtesy of Tumblr, shoot4thestarsabove.tumblr.com Read more...

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'Star Wars' Attack May Be the Coolest Wedding Photo Ever

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 12:31 PM PDT

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Readers, meet the ultimate wedding crashers: a squad of Imperial AT-AT Walkers

Following the killer dinosaur attack Photoshop that went viral this June, photographers and self-professed Star Wars nerds Tony and Danielle Lombardo of Little Blue Lemon decided to craft a wedding party attack too.

The day of the wedding, photographer Lisa Wiebe joked about creating a nerd-tastic chase scene for bride and groom Leslie Seiler and Paul Kingston, both diehard Star Wars fans. Soon enough, they were halting traffic while a horde of screaming bridesmaids and groomsmen ran for their lives down Elington Avenue in Toronto. Read more...

More about Wedding, Pics, Star Wars, Watercooler, and Family Parenting

Aided by a Robot, Teenage Boy Pitches Baseball From 5 States Away

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 12:11 PM PDT

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We told you it was coming: A boy sick with a rare blood disorder would throw the first pitch at a Major League Baseball game from five states away, thanks to help from a high-tech robot and Google Fiber

The moment finally arrived before Wednesday night's Yankees-A's game in Oakland, Calif., and it's a pretty heartwarming example of sports technology being used to make one kid's day.

Thirteen-year-old Nick LeGrande is a huge baseball fan and a talented player recently diagnosed with aplastic anemia — a condition in which the bone marrow doesn't make enough new blood — meaning he can no longer play ball or surround himself with large crowds Read more...

More about Robots, Mlb, Entertainment, and Sports

This Jet Bike Is Insane and Dangerous, But It Works

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 12:10 PM PDT

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Self-described British garage inventor/videomaker Colin Furze built a portable "big-ass pulse jet," and naturally, the first thing he wanted to do was strap it onto what he calls "an old woman's bike built for shopping." The result? It's a jet bike.

Isn't this dangerous? Of course it is. Colin admits it himself, titling his video "The JET bicycle — the most dangerous unsafe bike EVER." You can plainly see in the video the open flames that get just a little too close to that fuel tank. You'll notice the location of the fuel tank has been changed later in the video, too — to make it "safer," we suppose. Read more...

More about Youtube, Inventors, Dev Design, Gadgets, and Watercooler

Supreme Court Leaves Room for Big Business in Synthetic DNA

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 11:42 AM PDT

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The Supreme Court's gene patenting decision left plenty of room for profitable business in synthetic DNA, Wall Street is indicating. Myriad Genetics, the genetics research company involved by the case decided Thursday, is up more than 8% in mid-day trading:

While there's no guarantee Myriad will end the day quite so high, this is a sign investors are positive about Myriad's future. Rightfully so: While the Supreme Court found organic DNA can't be patented, it conceded that synthetically engineered DNA can be protected by a patent

Read more...

More about Science, Dna, Genetics, Us World, and Us

15 Exceptional Dads Who Deserve Parenting Awards

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 11:30 AM PDT

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So you think your dad is awesome? Maybe so, but these dads have gone above and beyond to show their children just how much they care

One dad dresses up in different costumes every day to see his son off to school; another built a backyard roller coaster for his daughter

These 15 dads deserve some special recognition, in honor of Father's Day. Let us know in the comments if your dad has done something amazing for you.

1. This dad built a spaceship simulator for his son.

Daniel Sherrouse sure raised the bar for other dads out there. When he found out his wife was pregnant, he started planning an extensive spaceship simulator for his son. After about 10 months of construction, Sherrouse outfitted a 1.5 x 2.4-meter trailer with dashboards, controls, HUDS and equipment to mimic a spaceship cockpit. Most of the parts aren't functional, but you can play Pioneer Space Simulator on one of the screens Read more...

More about Father S Day, Features, Watercooler, Family Parenting, and Lifestyle

Foursquare Time Machine Teleports You Down Memory Lane

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 11:21 AM PDT

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Okay world travelers, now it's time for some humble bragging, thanks to the new Foursquare Time Machine. On Thursday, the company announced this new way to visualize all of your past check-ins on its Foursquare blog, and what a gorgeous visualization it is.

The animation flies you around all those haunts you've visited in times past, served up in a lovely 3D effect that you can autoplay to your heart's content. You can zoom in or out of its map showing all the places you've been, checking out each of your check-ins. The interface helpfully provides places Foursquare has recommended for you as well. Read more...

More about Foursquare, Social Media, and Apps Software

10 Signs You've Landed at E3

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 11:08 AM PDT

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LOS ANGELES — The Entertainment Electronic Expo is like no other place on Earth. Industry insiders, press, analysts and fans unite to see the latest and greatest in gaming — resulting in a combined culture that you don't see anywhere else.

As we head into the final day of the convention, we wanted to recap exactly what it is that makes E3 so special, strange and alien.

SEE ALSO: E3 2013: What to Expect

What strange things have you witnessed at E3? Share your stories in the comments below.

1. There are Booth Babes everywhere.

These ladies are hired to hand out promotional material, often in short shorts and skimpy outfits like they do at other tech expos. But at E3, the more classic example looks like this group of cosplayers who are just there to snap pictures with fans. Read more...

More about Gaming, Lists, Entertainment, Pics, and Watercooler

Facebook Nixes Sponsored Results Ads

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 11:00 AM PDT

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In a further effort to streamline its advertising offerings, Facebook is planning to phase out Sponsored Results — the ads it had served up for searches.

The company plans to stop offering the unit to advertisers in July. Later that month, users will stop seeing them. Facebook offered the following statement on the matter: "We've seen that most marketers were buying Sponsored Results to advertise their apps and games and we already offer mobile app install ads and Page post link ads on desktop to achieve these same goals."

Introduced last August, Sponsored Results let marketers buy "type-ahead" units that popped up when users began typing a query. For instance, here's a Sponsored Result for a company called Porch Potty Read more...

More about Facebook, Facebook Ads, Business, and Marketing

AOL Founder Invests $20 Million in Children's Apparel Startup

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 10:51 AM PDT

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AOL co-founder Steve Case has been on a journey across America, looking for promising young businesses outside of New York and Silicon Valley.

On one such trip to North Carolina last fall, Case met Brandi Temple (pictured above), founder of a now 5-year-old online children's apparel company, Lolly Wolly Doodle, which claims to sell 60% of its clothes through Facebook. That meeting led to several more and on Thursday, Case's Revolution Growth venture fund announced a $20 million investment in the company.

"Part of the Revolution strategy is to invest in big ideas that are small companies, and to try to help them become big companies," Case said in a phone interview with Mashable on Thursday. "I also believe in the notion of 'the rise of the rest' — there are great entrepreneurs all around the company, [but] just a few places are getting all the attention." Read more...

More about Fashion, Children, Retail, Steve Case, and Business

Metta World Peace's Weird Twitter Musings Are NBA Finals MVP

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 10:28 AM PDT

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Pivotal game four of the NBA Finals tips off Thursday night, with LeBron James and the Miami Heat looking to avoid a 3-1 deficit against Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs

But the finals' MVP so far hasn't been James or Duncan. It hasn't been surprise hero Danny Green. And it hasn't been this ridiculous dunk block

No, if the finals ended today, the MVP would have to go to Los Angeles Laker Metta World Peace — or, to be more specific, World Peace's fascinatingly bizarre Twitter feed

For context, World Peace is a pretty weird dude in general. He spent the first several years of his career as Ron Artest, then legally changed his name in 2011. In April, he tweeted this gross photo of fluid doctors drained from his knee Read more...

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Why Advertisers Need YouTube

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 10:17 AM PDT

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YouTube reaches more U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 34 than any cable network. With one billion unique users per month, YouTube helps brands engage with people who aren't just willing to watch videos; they're actively seeking them out.

A video marketing strategy on YouTube can benefit your brand's social media presence on other networks, too. When Old Spice ran its "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign, it gained over 80,000 Twitter followers in two days and increased its Facebook engagement by 800%. What do these numbers mean? Well, for Old Spice, they meant a 107% sales increase Read more...

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