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Despite ratings falling by 8% last year, 30-second commercial costs for the 2012 Academy Awards have stayed flat at $1.7 million. Fan-favorite Billy Crystal is back as host, but without a blockbuster like ‘Avatar’ in the mix, the Oscars may struggle to draw the casual viewer in again this year. Regardless, with media buying rates 14x higher than ABC’s normal primetime ad rates, this year’s Oscars are definitely going to be a huge event for advertisers.

Often referred to as ‘The Super Bowl for Women’ amongst advertisers due to the demographics that tune in to the broadcast, let’s see how the events compare for advertisers in our updated infographic:

MyLife.com has been named as an OnMedia Top 100 company by AlwaysOn. A company gets selected to the list by exhibiting leadership in their sector and using innovative new approaches to “disrupt existing markets and entrenched players.”

The five main criteria for inclusion on the Top 100 list were media buzz, stakeholder value, innovation, commercialization and market potential.

The top 100 companies went through a 3-month selection process after being nominated by industry leaders, investors and journalists from all around the world.

Overstock.com can’t stop winning awards for their great service. Earlier this week it was for their website’s performance, before that it was for being the best at customer service and now it’s for their commitment to the environment.

CarbonFund.org has given Overstock the ‘Planet and People’ award for the retail category for their Worldstock Fair Trade service. Overstock uses carbon neutral shipping practices at no extra cost to the consumer for all Worldstock Fair Trade purchases.

Overstock.com has been awarded the 2011 Compuware Best of the Web Gold award for their commitment to excellence. Overstock won the award for the ‘Retail Product Order Transaction’ category for setting the standard with their website’s commitment to performance and customer satisfaction.

This marks the third time Overstock has won the Best of the Web award for their website’s performance.

MyLife.com has introduced a great new feature to their Personal Relationship Manager service to help you better manage your email. With the new email integration options, you can manage every email account you have from one centralized hub. Add to this the service’s features that put all of your social network profiles under one management system, and the Personal Relationship Manager is your one-stop destination to manage your online life. There is even an Android app to manage everything in one spot on the road.

“The average person belongs to more than 3 social networks and has more than 3 email accounts, which on-average contain over 200 unread emails,” said MyLife CEO, Jeff Tinsley. “Maintaining everything has become a full-time job. That’s why we introduced the MyLife Personal Relationship Manager to help people easy manage their multiple services all in one place.”

Priceline is updating their free Hotel Negotiator Android app to include its great new Tonight-Only Deals service. With Tonight-Only Deals, Android users can save 35% on published hotel prices at the last minute in most major cities around the country.

Posted from 11Am to 11PM, Tonight-Only Deals are great for last-minute travel plans. Hotels are all three or four star-quality hotels and can be booked for up to four nights at the deal cost.

You can learn more about the app in this commercial from our media buying campaign for Priceline:

Building on their record setting sales from 2011, MINI USA had another great month in January, up 21% over the same period last year.

In total, 3,334 new MINIs were sold in January, up from 2,751 in 2011.

"The January results are the springboard for a year that will be full of new model launches” said BMW of North America President and CEO Ludwig Willisch.  "Nationwide, inventories are low after the extraordinary sales in December and we're replenishing our dealers as fast as we can to meet the strong demand for our vehicles."

Overstock.com, no stranger to customer service awards, has received yet another. Reported by STELLAService and Compuware Corporation, Overstock.com delivered the best overall customer service during the Holidays.

A major component of Overstock’s great customer service rating was their quick phone calls. The average caller was only on hold for 40 seconds. More than that though, the average caller had their queries sufficiently answered in an average of 45 seconds. Overstock customers were able to get back to their busy days in less than 90 seconds!

With this year’s Super Bowl taking place in Indianapolis, Angie’s List, with headquarters in Indianapolis will be offering its parking lots for public use. Angie’s List’s 600 parking spots will all be available to the general public at $20 a spot, with proceeds going to charity.

The lots are right by a bus stop that will get people to the big game, and roughly thirty minutes away from the stadium by foot. While that may seem like a long walk for a cold, Indianapolis afternoon, Angie’s List suggests budgeting more time because of all the great entertainment options along the way.

“We’re as excited as everyone else about the game,” said Angie Hicks, founder of Angie’s List, “Opening up our parking lots over the weekend benefits those headed downtown for the game and festivities while supporting the Handy Helpers.  It’s a win-win for everyone.”

The ‘Wanna Play?’ Awards, presented by the National Association for Music Merchants, celebrates companies that best use music products in their TV advertising. The awards are designated for companies on the outside of the music industry that inspire more people to get involved with music.

This year, freecreditscore.com was one of the eight companies awarded for their use of music in their advertising campaigns. Their ‘Credit Fail’ ad was specifically recognized for its great use of original music. Freecreditscore’s contests and band searches for its commercials have also inspired new musicians.

Mark Hriciga, vice president of advertising and user experience at Experian Consumer Direct, Mark Hriciga, was on hand to accept the ‘Wanna Play?’ award for freecreditscore.