AND news - June 2008
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ABCe: Mail Online topples Telegraph to take top spot
Loopylove.com uncovers the formula for the perfect wink
ABCe: Mail Online topples Telegraph to take top spot
23rd June 2008
Mail Online has leapfrogged both Telegraph.co.uk and Guardian.co.uk to become the UK’s most popular newspaper website.
Taking the top spot, the companion website for the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday recorded 18.7 million unique user visits during May, a rise of 3.7% on the previous month. Both its main online rivals suffered falls in traffic figures, boosting Mail Online from third to first place.
Despite recent grumblings from newspaper publishers over the accuracy of web metrics, it is the first time that Mail Online has taken pole position in the ABCes – a tribute to the quality of the site’s recent revamp. This month’s figures represent a 100% year-on-year growth for Mail Online.
Head of Mail Online James Bromley – who only joined the website in April – said: "This is testament to the enormous commitment from both the editorial and development teams; to break ahead of our competitors in the same month as launching a new site design is a great result."
With 13.6 million overseas visitors Mail Online remains the most popular UK newspaper website globally – fulfilling its aim to exploit the audience opportunities within the US and identify other global markets.
"Average time on site per user has also increased, not only do we have more users than any other UK newspaper, they are spending longer consuming our content," James added.
Northcliffe Media reinforces commitment to digital with roll out of next generation 'this is' websites
17th June 2008
Northcliffe Media, regional news and information publisher and part of DMGT (Daily Mail General Trust), continued the roll out of its portfolio of next generation websites with the launch of 10 sites today. The latest sites form part of the company’s plans to roll out 90 next generation websites under the ‘thisis’ brand across its regional network. The programme, which combines the evolution of Northcliffe’s current 55 ‘thisis’ sites with an additional 35, spans the company’s entire regional network. The next generation sites introduce evolutionary design changes and enhanced multimedia content aimed at maximising interaction with end users.
The 10 ‘thisis’ sites that go live today include www.thisisTotalEssex.co.uk, www.thisisDerbyshire.co.uk and www.thisisCornwall.co.uk and these will be joined by a further 79 throughout the summer, which cover a mixture of urban, regional and hyperlocal sites. One site is already live – www.thisisHullandEastRiding.co.uk – which was the pilot for the UK roll out and completes the total of 90. Content from Northcliffe’s pureplay jobs, motors and property partners (Jobsite, Motors.co.uk and Findaproperty) will be fully integrated into the new sites to provide users with a combination of local news, information and classifieds. New technology is being used to ensure maximum stability and performance and to incorporate industry leading SEO standards.
All of the next generation websites will incorporate extra elements to encourage user generated content – Northcliffe’s websites already receive more than 200,000 votes, story comments and community postings every month and a key aim for the company is to keep driving this figure up. In January, Northcliffe launched its first UGC site – www.thisisYourMail.co.uk in Hull – allowing users dedicated interaction with other local residents.
The new websites also offer advertisers an opportunity to capitalise on an ever expanding ‘local digital’ audience. Recent research from Survey Interactive showed that Northcliffe Media’s combined web and print monthly audience has now passed 4.7m, which will increase further following the next generation site roll out. It also found that Northcliffe’s network of local websites can deliver an advertiser an additional 27% ‘solus online’ reach over and above the existing newspaper audience. Combined with the additional reach, the new sites will carry several new commercial slots in better positions and a range of innovative ad formats aimed at maximising advertiser response rates.
Mike Rowley, Director of Digital for Northcliffe Media said: “Digital strategy is vital for Northcliffe’s growth and through the new sites we will not only be offering improved content and functionality for end users but also a great opportunity for advertisers to target these growing online communities. The recent integration across our local network of our pureplay jobs, motors and property partners now provides an even more compelling service for local audiences wanting to access news and information as well as local classified information.”
“By driving traffic to the sites through increased levels of multimedia content we will help advertisers maximise response rates, which is a crucial element of our strategy moving forward.”
The next generation website roll out will continue throughout the summer of 2008 with all 90 sites set to be live by mid-September.
Loopylove.com uncovers the formula for the perfect wink
16th June 2008
A social study has uncovered the formula for the perfect wink. Derided for decades as the preserve of dirty old men, the wink is set for a comeback!
A social behavioural study, commissioned by the UK’s first online dating community, Loopylove.com, shows that 73% of people respond positively when they are winked at, but only one third are brave enough to try. Researchers have therefore developed the formula for the perfect wink, to ensure people have the confidence to wink and get it right each time.
As the below formula calculates, a perfect wink is achieved through a combination of actions; the head should be tilted slightly forward and to the right, delivered at an appropriate distance from the subject, always with the right eye, taking care that the duration of the wink isn’t too long, and most certainly accompanied with a smile!
W = [ T / E ] X [ V x H ]
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D
W = The Perfect Wink
T = duration of winking in Time (in seconds)
E = duration of Eye contact before and after wink (in seconds)
V = angle of head away from the Vertical (in degrees)
H = angle of head away from the Horizontal (in degrees)
D = Distance away from target
Dr Craig Jackson of Birmingham University says; “As the study shows, giving the perfect wink involves taking all kinds of factors into consideration. The secret is simply confidence. If done correctly, the perfect wink is enough to make a woman go weak at her knees! But whilst men show no concern over the ‘winker’, women have specified that a wink from a landlord, cab driver, lecturer, one’s boss or a ‘funny’ uncle is an absolute no-no, perfect formula or not!”
The report shows that males wink significantly more than females in general conversation - 37% versus 18% respectively - and when it comes to letting attractive strangers know you fancy them, 41% of males are happy to send out a cheeky wink in comparison to 31% of females.
Interestingly, 88% of respondents insist a wink with the right eye is much more appealing than one with the left. Of the people surveyed, the biggest bunch of winkers come from Coventry, with 75% saying that they would wink at someone they fancied. Although people in Coventry wink more, the survey shows that Belfast and Leeds think their winking style is the best with 43% rating themselves as excellent, and it appears Bradford need all the help they can get with 15% (the highest in this category) rating their winking skills as poor. The flirtiest of all cities is Derby, 71% of them love to receive a wink from a passer by.
Domonic Baron, Chief Operating Officer at Loopylove.com comments; “People often use texts and social networking tools to indulge in flirtatious behaviour rather than doing it face-to-face. At Loopylove.com, we’d like people to be braver and try out their flirting skills. Now that we have the formula for the perfect wink, we’re urging people to get out there and give it a try… we know it makes people feel happy!”
Follow the steps below for a perfect wink each time: Steps for the Perfect Wink (either at distance or up close)
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Be confident and commit to the wink
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Never wink facing heads-on to the target
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Angle your head slightly forwards
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Turn head slightly sideways from target
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Make eye contact with target
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Start to smile
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Wink with right eye
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Maintain eye contact with left eye
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Maintain smile
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Keep tongue hidden
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Don’t make a “clicking” noise
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Close the eye for as long as a normal blink takes – no longer
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Open right eye
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Look away from target two seconds after opening right eye
For further press information, please contact Emma-Jane Ireland or James Duffy on 020 7307 3100, or email jodie@cakegroup.com jamesd@cakegroup.com