Topic: Advertising and Related Services

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World's five largest companies

For the first time in nearly a decade, the world’s five largest public companies are all American affair These are the Top 5, as of mid-April 2013.
Top 10 secret menu fast foods

Ten of the strangest, most innovative entrees you won't see on fast food menus – but can get anyway, if you ask.
Top 5 greatest Super Bowl ads

In addition to football, Super Bowl XLVII will bring a new crop of ads to rate, discuss, and chuckle over Monday morning. But while several Super Bowl ads hold our attention for hours or days, very few stand the test of time. Here are five that do, from special frogs to an iconic ad from a master director. Can you guess which ad took the (highly subjective) top spot? Did we miss your all-time favorite?
Super Bowl commercials 2013: The 4 best sneak previews

For Super Bowl commercials, many companies are providing sneak peeks for their ads that will run during the big game. Here are some of the best.
The Super Bowl: 10 football books to gear you up for the big game

The biggest sports game of the year is just around the corner. Here are some books to put you in the mood.

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Looking back: The Monitor's coverage of 9/11

Ten years ago, The Monitor had recently moved into a renovated newsroom on the second floor of the venerable Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston. It featured new, modular desks, carpeting instead of linoleum, and many large TV monitors hung from the ceiling. They were tuned to various network and cable channels, but with the sound turned off, normally. So the first indication of a crisis on 9/11 was a chilling silent image of smoke billowing from the North Tower of the World Trade Center, an image that spread from screen to screen across the newsroom. When the second plane hit, 17 minutes after the first, it was clear that the United States was under attack. We had four hours till deadline that day. Four hours in which to try to make sense of what had just happened. Reporters, editors, photographers, editorial writers, columnists, feature writers, even editors and writers of the religious article that appears in the Monitor daily, sprang into action. It was the beginning of days, weeks, and months of reporting and analysis of that incident and its aftermath that would follow. The list below represents some of the most significant reporting and writing we did that day and on subsequent days. The 9/11 stories and images are The Monitor's first draft of the history of that moment. Like most first drafts, some could do with some revising now. But give credit to the swiftness with which they had to be written -- especially those produced that first day and week -- and the decades (if not centuries) of accumulated wisdom, knowledge, and expertise they represent on the part of a staff that worked around the clock to bring them to you.
Burger King ads: The king is dead. Long live the burger.

Burger King ads will no longer feature the chain's longtime spooky mascot, the King. The company will refocus Burger King ads on its burgers.
How to spoil a president's Martha's Vineyard vacation

When Bill Clinton vacationed on Martha's Vineyard, the Republican National Committee bought up all the ad space on the local cable channels. Will President Obama get the same treatment?
Google's 16 biggest purchases, and how they worked out

Google's $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola will be its biggest acquisition ever -- more than four times the size of DoubleClick, the previous leader. But over the last decade, Google has been one of the biggest -- and most successful -- acquirers in the tech industry, and owes a lot of its success to these smart buys. Its core search advertising platform and most of its biggest new businesses, including Android, YouTube, and display advertising, all come from other companies. Join us as we count down Google's top 16 acquisitions by value and show what happened to them.
Earn money with your smartphone: five apps that pay

Here’s a sure-fire way to earn a little pocket money. Use your smartphone to snap a photo of a restaurant or scan a barcode in a store. You can earn cash or gift certificates. Companies pay for such information, often because they want to know how their stores and products look in the real world. Here are five free smartphone apps that can earn you money.
Heat wave: Four things that will rise with the temperatures

Slowing down because of rising heat is the expected response in any summer heat wave. But in a week like this one, where high temperatures fanned across the country, sizzling toward 100 degrees F. from Texas to Boston, some things also go up. Here are four things to expect to rise along with our desire to stay indoors and beat the heat.
MySpace finally sold for some $35 million

MySpace, a struggling competitor to Facebook, is bought by ad network Specific Media. The $30 million to $40 million price for MySpace is less than what News Corp. had hoped to sell it for.
In Pictures: Emma Watson's fashion
In Pictures: Whitey Bulger arrested
Online advertising cluttering online TV

Online advertising for online TV used to be rare. Now online advertising is flourishing on Web-streamed TV shows.
Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 05/22
Data theft: Top 5 most expensive data breaches

Data theft is off to a troubling start this year, with two massive breaches occurring in March and April. Hackers' success in grabbing millions of records at Epsilon and Sony are just the latest example of increasingly sophisticated attempts to steal sensitive personal information. Here's a list of the five most expensive data theft cases in the United States:
How much do you know about the Tea Party? A quiz.

The tea party movement was a major player in the 2010 election, and will likely play a major role in the 2012 presidential race. Depending on who you ask, the Tea Party is the ultimate grassroots movement, patriotically focused on fiscal responsibility and reduction of the deficit – or it's a re-branding of conservative Republican Party candidates and policies, funded by the same old big money. How much do you know about the Tea Party?
New Internet privacy bill: How would it protect consumers?

Legislation proposed Tuesday would require companies to notify users before data is collected and allow users to change the collected data or opt-out entirely.
The best online April Fools' pranks of 2011

April Fools' Day tends to be a bonanza for tech pranksters – from Twitter-only newspapers to upside-down YouTube pages and browsers that read your facial expressions. This year was no different. Click through for a look at the funniest Web gags of 2011.
12 books Seth Godin thinks you should read

Nonprofit group TED asks some of the world's most fascinating thinkers to share both ideas and reading lists. Here's a list of the 12 books recommended by entrepreneur and marketing guru Seth Godin.
Betty White hosts new hidden camera show

Betty White to host new show: A new hidden camera show, hosted by Betty White, will follow seven senior citizens as they play pranks on others in Betty White's Off Their Rockers.
Mad Men season 5 pushed back to 2012, AMC says

Mad Men: AMC's announcement on Tuesday came amid reports of ongoing negotiations between Lionsgate, the studio that produces the series, and its creator-executive producer, Matthew Weiner.
The Monitor's View: Consumers may be losers in an AT&T merger with T-Mobile

An AT&T takeover of T-Mobile could reduce competition and choice and raise prices.
Aflac duck voice: Got quack? Job's open.

Aflac duck voice is up for grabs as insurance company begins accepting submissions from public. But is Aflac duck voice really 'America's best job?'
Five worst labor disputes in sports

The NFL isn't known for striking. In fact, it hasn’t had a major interruption in play since 1987, which may be the reason for its continued popularity, says New York University professor of sports management Robert Boland. As the NFL faces its first labor dispute in decades, here is a look back at the five worst shutdowns in US sports history.
Gas prices out of control? Seven ways lawmakers could help – or hurt.

Gas prices are approaching $4 a gallon and oil prices are above $100 a barrel, leading politicians in Washington and statehouses to propose a flurry of legislation. Some proposals strive to quell voter angst while others might balance budgets by raising gas prices. Meanwhile, wind, biofuel, nuclear, and oil industries are lobbying Congress to support more domestic energy production. Many of the proposals are longer-range and thus unlikely to affect short-term gas prices, energy economists say.
Opinion: Super Bowl commercials: What happens to those CareerBuilder chimps?

They're not monkeys. They're chimpanzees with short working lives in entertainment, after which they can't be returned to zoos or the wild. Lucky ones end up in sanctuaries, needing care for the next 40 years. Major ad agencies have pledged not to use great apes. Why won't CareerBuilder?
Top Super Bowl commercials 2011: six winners and losers

Super Bowl commercials have become a mini-film festival, keeping the less-than-diehard football fans in front of the tube. But this year’s top spots are singled out for their misses as much as their hits.
Super Bowl commercials 2011:The best 3 online now (video)

You don't have to wait until Sunday. Many companies are already airing their Super Bowl 2011 commercials days before the Big Event. The goal is to create a pre-game buzz around their ads. Check out our favorites, so far.