Hasta La Gadget!

For some people, the Super Bowl isn’t about the game, but about the commercials. We saw a lot of them during this year’s game, and there was no shortage of advertisements relating to technology, cars, and movies. We decided to round up all of the Super Bowl commercials that we thought SlashGear readers would enjoy most, including ones from Samsung, Best Buy, GoDaddy, and even BlackBerry. We’ve embedded some of our personal favorites right in this post, with links to all the other ads that are relevant.

Samsung ended up going all out this year for their Super Bowl ad, taking up a full two minutes of airtime, costing them around $16 million after it was all said and done. Actors Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd, as well as NBA all-star LeBron James made appearances in the commercial, and discussed some ideas on what Samsung’s “next big thing” could be. BlackBerry (formerly known as RIM) aired their first-ever Super Bowl ad, spending a few million dollars on an ad showing off the new BlackBerry Z10, which according to the ad, will light you on fire, so be careful.

Best Buy ended up airing their own Super Bowl ad as well, and it features SNL alum and Parks & Recreation star Amy Poehler, who is pretty much the most adorable and funniest woman in show business right now, so we have to give it up for Best Buy for pulling off such a cute and witty ad.

We knew GoDaddy would make an appearance at the Super Bowl, as they do every year, but this time they aired two ads, one featuring the typical sexy theme that you know and love, and then there was an ad that actually wasn’t that bad. The company advertised their .co domain names, and the ad rings true of anyone with an original idea these days.

As far as the automotive commercials, it was a hit or miss mostly. Audi’s “Prom” ad was probably our favorite one out of the bunch, with Dodge’s “Paul Harvey” commercial at a close second. Other car ads included VW’s semi-racist Jamaican ad, Hyundai’s adorable “Team” ad featuring kids with super powers, Kia’s “Hotbots” ad, Mercedes-Benz with their celebrity-filled commercial (as well as one featuring Kate Upton), Lincoln’s Jimmy Fallon ad and “Phoenix” teaser, and an awkward Toyota ad featuring Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco.

Movie trailers were also hot stuff during Super Bowl commercial breaks. The Iron Man 3 trailer caught our eye the most, with Star Trek: Into Darkness also showing off a quick teaser for us. World War Z also made a quick appearance, and we also saw an extended teaser for Johnny Depp’s upcoming movie, The Lone Ranger.

Now we want to hear what you think. We know not every ad this year was amazing, and some were iffy at best. What was your favorite commercial from the Super Bowl? Which tech company blew it out of the park? Which one could’ve been better? What suggestions would you make to the creators of the ads? Sound off in the comments below!

SlashGear’s Super Bowl XLVII ad spot roundup is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While Google and France don’t always get along and agree with certain situations, the search giant is looking to patch things up by creating a €60 million ($82 million USD) fund for digital publishing “innovation” that it says will help French news websites make money off of online advertisements.

While Google doesn’t mention anything about a settlement in its blog post, we can only assume that the fund will resolve an ongoing case where news publishers claimed that Google’s practice of linking to news articles was copyright infringement. Along with the fund, Google has agreed to give French publishers discounted access to Google’s advertising platforms.

Google says that the new innovation fund was announced in France along with France’s president, François Hollande. The French government itself has been acting as a mediator for the copyright dispute between Google and French news publishers. However, it seems that the search giant and news outlets in France will live happily ever after for the time being.

This isn’t the first time that France and Google and tangoed, though. Back in October, Google threatened the French media that it would take block their search results from Google due to a new law that would force search engines to shell out money for content. And back in August, the company was in trouble with France over Street View data that wasn’t deleted, resulting in another cat fight between the two parties.

Google starts €60 million French digital publishing fund is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s no secret that Facebook wants to expand its advertising prowess, but according to anonymous sources, Facebook is currently in talks with Microsoft to purchase their Atlas advertisement platform. If true, and if they do end up making a deal, it would put Facebook one step closer to launching an ad network that could rival Google’s AdSense.

According to AllThingsD, sources are saying that Facebook is interested in purchasing Microsoft’s Atlas Solutions advertising platform, and are wanting to launch advertisements of their own, which could be used as a competitor to Google‘s DoubleClick and AdSense. Essentially, Facebook could use Atlas to display its own ads on third-party websites, giving the social network yet another revenue stream.

Not too long ago, we told you about how Facebook is planning to share your Facebook activities and habits with other websites in order to serve you targeted adds on these website. Facebook’s acquisition of Atlas may have something to do with these plans, although it seemed like Facebook wanted to build their own in-house network, but it’s possible that they decided that buying an ad network would be the easiest option.

However, even if it turns out to be true that the two companies are in talks, there’s obviously no guarantee that an agreement will be met, and the whole deal could simply just fizzle. However, if the deal does end up going through, changes at Facebook will be imminent, and it could completely change the way advertising is done online forever.

[via AllThingsD]

Facebook may buy Microsoft’s Atlas ad platform is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In a new advertisement focused on Internet Explorer, Microsoft addresses the elephant in the room, which is that the company’s web browser hasn’t been up to snuff in recent years, but Microsoft is slowly changing that by introducing new features that appeal to those who use competitors like Firefox or Chrome. Specifically, the add features a persistant internet troll who bashes Internet Explorer, but eventually comes around to accept that it’s getting better.

The overall message of the advertisement was “progress,” which appears at the end of the ad, and reassures users that Microsoft can’t build Rome in a day, but are making progress to improve their web browser and make it as feature-filled and fast as possible. Microsoft has certainly done that with their latest versions.

Anyone who has used Internet Explorer 9 knows that the browser took on a whole new meaning of quality, and the company continued their momentum with Internet Explorer 10. The video above tracks an internet troll throughout the evening, and shows him commenting on Facebook and various forums about how “IE SUCKS.” However, at the end, the troll is succumbed to admit that Internet Explorer has improved after seeing other comments that mention different new features.

While it was a great advertisement from Microsoft, it was a bold, but classy move on their part. Essentially, they admitted that their web browser actually wasn’t that great in the past, and instead of just saying, “it’s all better now! IE10 is now the best browser!,” they simply note that it’s improving and that progress is key for the company.

Microsoft takes on trolls with new Internet Explorer advertisement is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Opinions on ads are often polarized, with some users hardly noticing all but the most annoying of adverts, while others go to great lengths to block them altogether. For those who fall into the second category, the AdTrap might sound like a godsend. This small box, priced at $120, supposedly blocks all the advertisements you might encounter while surfing the web.

According to the device’s creators, AdTrap is a working prototype, which you can (maybe) get by pledging some funds on Kickstarter. If $150,000 in pledges are received by December 8, the creators will begin shipping the unit. Currently, there are a bit less than $20,000 in pledges and a little less than one month to the deadline.

AdTrap operates using Linux, and is designed to work in conjunction with the owner’s wireless network to pinpoint and block all advertisements, whether you’re surfing websites or listening to online radio, for example. Obviously, if this is indeed the case, the AdTrap would likely be online advertisers’ most hated device. If everyone used AdTrap, a lot of websites would lose their revenue.

The device is said to be open and capable of being hacked, allowing users to tailor it to their own needs if desired. Additional advertisement types can be added to the system as they arise, while exclusions can be added that will exempt advertisements on certain websites from being blocked. While all of this seems intriguing, it’s important to remember that this is a Kickstarter project, and as such, nothing is guaranteed.

[via Quartz]

AdTrap purports to block all ads for $120 is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.