The U.S. video-game industry experienced a particularly rough month in April, with its worst year-over-year sales decline since last summer, according to the NPD Group market research firm. But unit sales of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were both up, compared to the same month last year, and Microsoft’s Xbox Live showed up in the results in a way that demonstrated how buying habits among gamers are changing.

Microsoft’s Xbox Live 1600-point game card was the top-selling accessory for the month for the second month in a row — coming out ahead of game controllers, memory units and other items, according to NPD. The $20 cards can be bought at retail, as an alternative to using a credit card online, giving gamers points for purchasing games and other items on the Xbox Live system.

The research firm’s video-game industry analyst, Anita Frazier, pointed out the result at the end of her monthly summary to underscore the rise of downloadable games as an alternative to traditional retail. Microsoft reported 23 million Xbox Live members as of the end of 2009, up from 17 million a year earlier.

In the video-game console race, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 sold 185,400 units for the month, up from 175,000 the same month last year. The Playstation 3 came in at 180,800, compared with 172,000 previously. Nintendo’s Wii was still No. 1, although it declined substantially, from 340,000 last April to 277,200 units this time.

The Nintendo DS continued to reign in the handheld market with 449,800 units sold for the month (down from more than 1 million last April), compared with 65,600 for Sony’s PlayStation Portable (116,000 a year ago).

The top game for the month was Splinter Cell: Conviction for the Xbox 360, which sold 486,100 units in the U.S., according to NPD. That was more than twice the unit sales of the second-place game, Pokemon SoulSilver Version for the Nintendo DS.

Overall, sales of video-game hardware, software and accessories in the U.S. were down 26 percent, to $766,200, from more than $1 billion in April last year. Not the best of news as the industry heads into the key E3 video-game convention next month.

NPD cited factors including the timing of Easter, which came earlier this year than last year. That shifted much of the Easter gift-buying into March, according to the firm. Here’s a chart showing the overall industry sales trend.?

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Just days after we covered a new Facebook Page scam that automatically invites your friends to a misleading Facebook Page, comes a new copycat. While your personal information isn’t at risk, the new exploit automatically sends Facebook Page invites to all your friends (without your permission) and tries to convince them to take a survey which then generates revenue for these scammers. The craziest part of this scam is that it all takes place within Facebook.

In under 24 hours, the Facebook Page “10 Best Ways To Cheat On An Exam” has added close to 100,000 fans and is growing at close to 100 people a minute. It’s pretty clear that the developers behind this scam are extremely advanced. They also have been slowly improving their strategy over months, leveraging Facebook Groups initially, and then expanding on to Facebook Pages.

The reason that the scammers are so dedicated is that there is clearly big money in scamming people. Each survey that the scammers can get a user to complete results in a minimum of $1 for the scammer. If 5 percent of people complete the survey (a relatively high conversion rate), a group like this one could quickly generate $20,000 or more.

While we’d expect Facebook to shut down this group within hours, it’s interesting that it has been taking them so long to pick up on some of these Pages now. Clearly the scammers have recognized how to work around Facebook’s security algorithms. The lesson is this: do not visit the “10 Best Ways To Cheat On An Exam” Faebook Page as it will automatically invite your friends to the Page whether you want to or not.

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In the first quarter of 2010, Facebook became the largest display advertiser, serving 176.3 billion display ads, versus Yahoo who served 131.6 billion banner ads according to new comScore numbers. The measurement is only of display ads within the company websites, not those included through external networks. As the Wall Street Journal points out, the large reach of Facebook ads has not yet translated into equivalent revenue streams.

While Facebook is expected to generate more than $1 billion in revenue this year, it’s a fraction of the revenue being generated by Yahoo, who earned $6.5 billion last year, much of which came from advertising. The growth of Facebook ads is impressive. As Jessica Vascellaro points out, “Nielsen Co., another measurement firm, found that Facebook’s share of the U.S. display-ad market grew to 20% in April 2010, up from 2% in April 2009.”

While Facebook may not have translated all that traffic into equivalent revenue, there’s no doubt that Facebook is growing their base of businesses using the service. In addition to global corporations who are funding Facebook’s growth, a growing number of small businesses are turning to Facebook for promotional purposes. Performance advertisers and affiliate advertisers have also been pouring money into Facebook Ads as the site’s audience continues to skyrocket.

While Facebook hasn’t publicly stated any recent projections on revenue, we’d expect that the company’s ad revenue will continue to grow, reflecting the massive growth in dominance of display ads on the web.

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According to multiple sources we’ve spoken with over the past few weeks, RockYou will be the third partner to work with Facebook on their growing Credits platform. The other two partners, TrialPay and Peanut Labs, have been working with Facebook to power their offers and surveys integration with Facebook Credits, respectively. With $119 million in funding, many have wondered whether or not RockYou would be able to build a fledgling business.

With ongoing business challenges, and a need to justify a massive valuation, it sounds as though this partnership with Facebook could potentially turn out to be a life-saving one if it turns out to be accurate. How RockYou will integrate with Facebook Credits is not yet clear, however according to the people we’ve spoken to, RockYou is expected to power some form of ad network for Facebook Credits.

While we’re still trying to find out the complete details, it sounds as though the service will promote in-application opportunities to generate Facebook credits. Despite the unclear integration with Credits, it’s pretty clear that Facebook is looking for more opportunities for users to earn Credits and to promote those opportunities.

Just today Techcrunch posted about Facebook’s expansion of offers integration outside of applications. While Facebook is expanding the opportunities to earn Credits, integration with developers has been limited to a closed set of partners, and it sounds as though it will stay that way for now.

How successful Facebook Credits will be is not yet known as it appears to be an ongoing source of tension with developers. Zynga, for example, is looking to drive users off of the Facebook Platform to their own standalone site, in order to decrease the company’s dependance on Facebook. Despite the push, it’s pretty common knowledge that user acquisition of the Facebook Platform is much more expensive.

As such, in-app Facebook Credits integration could become a pretty large business for Facebook. If the multiple sources we’ve spoken to over the past few weeks are accurate, RockYou will be the next partner to power another aspect of Facebook Credits.

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After several days in the dark, the data feed from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service came back online over the weekend after an upgrade, following an outage that lasted twice as long as originally expected. Online real estate service Redfin told users Sunday afternoon that it was back up and running with new listings for the Seattle region. The outage also affected other online real estate services and the web sites of traditional real estate brokers.

So what happened? In a message to brokers on Saturday, the NWMLS said it encountered two unexpected problems during the upgrade.

During the cutover from Locator to Matrix, a planned downtime for the IDX data feed to broker web sites was communicated as part of the cutover process. This downtime was expected to last from Tuesday, May 4, 12:00 noon, until shortly after noon on Thursday, May 6. However, at the expected time to reactivate the data feed we detected some unexpected data irregularities, which would have been inconsistent with the data feed expected by the IDX vendors.

NWMLS Staff, working with Tarasoft, worked that Thursday through Friday evening correcting these data irregularities. On Friday evening May 7 a full updated data file was posted for all IDX vendors to use to update their broker web sites. Unfortunately, we became aware on Saturday morning that many IDX vendors were unable to access the data file due to a security permissions error. That situation was corrected at 11:00 a.m. and all IDX users now have access to the updated file. A final piece to this process is for the regular continual updating of broker web sites with IDX data and photos is anticipated to be in place and working sometime this evening and into the early morning.

Northwest Multiple Listing Service truly regrets this interruption to the continual flow of accurate data to your web sites. We are proud of the track record that we have maintained for many years in providing the most state-of-the-art data delivery process in the industry. We recognize though that this downtime, expected to be two days, lasted almost four days. Providing you with the best service is our number one goal and we apologize for the inconvenience that we have caused you, your agents, and your clients and customers. We remain committed to serving your needs and look forward to continuously earning your trust and support.

For buyers and sellers of homes in the Seattle region, the situation should make for an interesting scramble here at the beginning of the week. Just as an example, my own Redfin daily email update — which typically contains, at most, three properties matching my search parameters — delivered 15 new listings this morning, catching up for the past five days.

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Making good on a promise two months ago, Microsoft today updated its Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) preview, a sneak peek that targets Web developers and others eager to try out the company’s next browser.

“The Platform Preview continues to be the thinnest possible wrapper around the Web platform, and as such is not intended for general purpose browsing,” cautioned Dean Hachamovich, the browser team’s general manager, in an entry on the IE blog today.

In mid-March, Microsoft committed to updating the IE9 preview every eight weeks until it issues a public beta. The company again declined to reveal its timeline plans for a beta or a final of the next-generation browser.

Microsoft also updated the supporting IE9 Test Drive site with new samples to show what developers can do with its graphics processor-powered HTML, a key feature of the browser that boosts text and graphics rendering by offloading those chores to the PC’s GPU (graphics processor unit).

IE9′s preview will not run on the nearly-nine-year-old Windows XP, because the browser relies on APIs (application programming interfaces) built into Windows 7 and added to Vista and Server 2008 R2 in October 2009. The final version won’t run in XP either, Microsoft has confirmed.

Hachamovich claimed that the second IE9 preview renders JavaScript about 20% faster than the March edition, and 36% faster than Mozilla’s Firefox 3.6. Microsoft’s early code, however, still lags behind the leaders — Apple ‘s Safari, Google ‘s Chrome and Opera Software’s Opera — in SunSpider benchmark scores. Opera, for instance, was half again as fast as IE9′s Platform Preview 2.

Microsoft’s results nearly match those of recent Computerworld SunSpider tests, which showed that Chrome’s newest beta was almost 20% faster than the current “stable” build, and that Opera continued to take honors as the fastest Windows browser.

The company also touted progress in the widely-used Acid3 benchmark, which checks how closely a browser follows certain standards, particularly specifications related to DOM (Document Object Model), CSS2 (Cascading Style Sheets 2) and SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics). Hachamovich said IE9 Platform Preview 2 scored 68 out of a possible 100 on Acid3, an improvement over the 55 scored by Platform Preview 1.

Unlike full-fledged editions of IE, the IE9 preview runs alongside existing versions of IE, such as IE7 on Vista or IE8 on Windows 7. Users can install the update overtop the March edition, Microsoft said.

Microsoft has said nothing about its goals for IE9′s adoption, but the company has to be concerned with the gradual decline of Internet Explorer’s usage share, which has been on a downward line for years and shows no sign of heading upward. The most recent data from Web analytics firm NetApplications puts IE’s usage share at just under 60%, a record low.

IE8 has not been able to turn that around. Since IE8′s March 2009 launch, Microsoft has lost 7.8 percentage points in usage share, only slightly less than the 9.2 points it lost in the 12 months preceding IE8′s debut.

The second preview is a 15MB download, and can be obtained from Microsoft’s site .

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld . Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer or subscribe to Gregg’s RSS feed . His e-mail address is gkeizer@ix.netcom.com .

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SAN DIEGO, May 5 /PRNewswire/ — Anametrix (http://anametrix.com), the leader in cloud-based business analytics technology, announced the appointment of Jerome Rota, co-founder of DivX.  As Vice President of Product Marketing at Anametrix, Rota will oversee the build-out of the InstaVista™ platform to support explosive client acquisition in 2010.

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100308/ANAMETRIXLOGO)

Jerome Rota is the original designer of the DivX video compression technology and co-founder of DivX, Inc.  As a brilliant engineer, Jerome has overseen codec development as well as led teams to introduce new platforms, products and services.  He still serves on the Board of Directors of DivX, which became a publicly traded NASDAQ company in 2006. Rota will continue to be a global technology visionary and spokesperson at Anametrix.

“Jerome Rota and I share the distinction of being the only French founders of San Diego based companies that have become public, DivX and WebSideStory,” stated Blaise Barrelet, Anametrix CEO.  “Jerome has spearheaded cultural shifts around the world by leveraging the power of the Internet to streamline video sharing.  His long-sighted product leadership will drive the adoption of the InstaVista™ platform and will be instrumental in building Anametrix as a billion dollar business analytics technology company.”

“To define the cloud-based business analytics market is an exhilarating proposition,” Jerome Rota added.  “Anametrix serves a significant business need by solving for the prohibitive cost and time limitations of traditional business intelligence deployments.  I am pleased to join this proven world-class analytics team to expand the Anametrix InstaVista™  platform and offer clear, actionable business insights to new customers around the globe.”

Through an intuitive Software as a Service (SaaS) interface, Anametrix InstaVista™ offers immediate self-service business insights across multiple applications including customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), social media, search engine marketing (SEM), video & audio, e-commerce, and web analytics.

About Anametrix, Inc.

Anametrix, Inc. is a privately funded next generation business analytics company whose InstaVista™ solution is delivered via Software as a Service (SaaS).  A high-performance data management infrastructure handles data integration, statistical analysis, and other compute-intensive functions to seamlessly manage online, offline, and multi-channel corporate objectives.  Founded in 2009 by analytics industry experts Blaise Barrelet and Anders Olsson, Anametrix provides cloud-based solutions that allow for quick and precise decision making from the correlation of vast amounts of data. Self-directed business insights are readily accessible across organizations, from sales staff to C-level.  For more information, please visit http://anametrix.com, call (858)558-8230 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (858)558-8230      end_of_the_skype_highlighting x333 or email publicrelations@anametrix.com

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YARDLEY, PA, May 04, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Harte-Hanks, Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!hhs/quotes/nls/hhs  (HHS  14.07, -0.39, -2.70%)  is proud to announce the expansion of the marketing strategy team at The Agency Inside Harte-Hanks with the addition of three new team members: Jennifer Pineda-Bodnar, vice president, strategy & business development; Patricia Crowell, vice president, strategy & business development; and Leslie Schultz, senior director, digital strategy.

Jeannine Falcone, managing director of The Agency Inside, commented, “The marketing landscape is more complex than ever before, and the tools and talent we use are evolving, too. We have been leading our clients in innovative strategies and engagement plans; however, additional marketing strategy expertise, particularly within digital and social media, ensures that our clients are continually at the forefront of industry trends and techniques.”

With more than 15 years in senior-level marketing positions — including brand leader for Nexium and vice president, product marketing and communications for MasterCard, Pineda-Bodnar brings a sophisticated and advanced level of expertise to the Strategy and Insight team. She developed, launched and promoted products, services and multichannel marketing campaigns across several verticals including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, financial services, high tech, telecommunications, business services, and office electronics. Pineda-Bodnar is a results-oriented leader with a track record of top performance in a broad range of marketing disciplines. She can quickly analyze a company’s strategic vision and translate into effective marketing strategies that drive business results and ROI.

Patricia Crowell has spent the past 15 years overseeing marketing strategies for top brands in the pharmaceutical and high tech industries. She was a founding team member in the establishment of Dell Online where she pioneered the use of digital and new media in the technology sector; she then leveraged her experience to build digital strategy programs in the pharmaceutical industry with Lexapro, Medco and Wyeth. Crowell also created and produced the social media property “The Wine Scout” which includes vidcasting, podcasting and wine tasting community. With an emphasis on digital marketing and social media marketing in particular, Crowell provides a hybrid of effective technology leadership and marketing strategy expertise to produce multimedia and interactive marketing solutions for innovative businesses. Her calculated insights identify strategic business opportunities and provide innovative, measurable solutions for her clients.

Both Bodnar and Crowell are part of the Strategy and Insight team reporting into Michele Fitzpatrick, senior vice president of strategy for The Agency Inside, where they will work hand-in-hand with the account teams and the rest of the Strategy and Insight team to develop innovative, multichannel marketing strategies that drive measurable results for The Agency Inside’s client base.

Leslie Schultz has been developing and leading digital and integrated marketing strategy for over 15 years in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, high tech and publishing industries. Most recently, as the director of marketing for The Scientist Publishing Group, she led all marketing and new market development for the multimedia publishing company including the creation of social media strategies and the launch of digital publishing initiatives. She has also held senior and director-level strategy and marketing positions at Gateway, Capital One, Rx.com and Cox Interactive Media. As senior director of digital strategy, reporting to Jeannette Kocsis, senior vice president of digital strategy for The Agency Inside, Schultz develops and leads comprehensive digital strategies for the agency’s clients, including social media marketing, online channel development, interactive media planning, and mobile marketing. Her expertise is integrating digital media and channels into marketing plans and developing one-to-one social and mobile brand experiences.

Falcone added, “These strategic appointments reflect what we see as the future of marketing — strategic, multichannel relationship building. We are excited to bring this talent to our clients.”

About Harte-Hanks(R) Harte-Hanks, Inc. is a worldwide, direct and targeted marketing company that provides direct marketing services and shopper advertising opportunities to local, regional, national and international consumer and business-to-business marketers. Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing improves return on its clients’ marketing investment by helping them to turn data into insight, and insight into programs that identify, acquire and retain customers, and grow customer value. Visit the Harte-Hanks Web site at http://www.harte-hanks.com or call (800) 456-9748.

This document may contain trademarks that are owned or licensed by Harte-Hanks, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including, without limitation, Harte-Hanks(R). All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

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Want to instantly add Facebook’s Like button to your WordPress blog? No need to worry about dealing with Facebook’s upgraded JavaScript SDK or anything else. You can simply install the new WordPress Like plugin and get up and running in only a couple of clicks. The new plugin works with both XFBML and as an iFrame. While there are some challenges of using Like button’s with the old Facebook Connect library, this new plugin should make implementing the Like button easy for WordPress site administrators.

Pierre Chambon, the developer of the WordPress Like plugin, has told us that the add on has seen significant traction over the weekend as it has been translated into 5 languages and will be translated into an additional 3 in the near future. There’s also an interesting option to create separate Facebook Pages for each of your articles, although this is something that Facebook has advised against.

Instead, Facebook prefers that Open Graph objects (which are subsequently turned into Facebook Pages) be a reflection of “real-life things”. As they state within their Open Graph documentation, “users don’t want news articles and other transient content as objects on their profile”. Despite not wanting this, there is clearly an incentive for developers to essentially spam the Open Graph system, something that I’m sure Facebook will create further restrictions around.

While best practices are still being developed for the Facebook Open Graph API, owners of WordPress blogs can now easily implement Facebook’s like button, with this simple plugin. Go download the Facebook Like plugin now and let us know what you think!

Also, if you’re interested in learning about developing for the social web, come check out Social Developer Summit this June in San Francisco!

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