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August 31, 2008 - September 6, 2008

September 5, 2008

Obama/McCain Ad Number Confusion

Yesterday, comScore released a report on the number of online ad impressions run by Barack Obama's and John McCain's presidential campaigns in 2008. As regular readers of ClickZ's Campaign '08 section know, we've been getting ad impression data among other related info from Nielsen Online's AdRelevance for months now. I figured I'd delve into previous AdRelevance reports and compare ad impression info from the two. I put together a chart displaying comScore's and Nielsen's ad impression data for the last 6 months (below).

Discrepancies? Oh yes.

Now, to be fair, comScore and Nielsen usually don't see eye-to-eye on anything. So, variations between the two can be expected. However, there are some real whoppers here when it comes to disparities.

Perhaps the most glaring difference is in the June numbers. AdRelevance says the Obama camp ran around 80 million, but ComScore pegged it at around 244 million ad impressions -- three times the AdRelevance number. And check out January '08. AdRelevance said McCain ran 19 million ad impressions, while comScore says it was more like 4.5 million. Confused?

I would be too. Though I'll continue to report this stuff, the impression numbers truly have to be taken as broad estimates. No matter whose numbers you look at, you'll find Obama's campaign is running more Web ads -- a lot more. And if you haven't seen my story today on how much he's spending on online ads, it hit $5 million sometime around July.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Seinfeld Plays Opposite Man of Silicon in New Windows Spots

The first of Crispin Porter + Bogusky's ads for Windows Vista, starring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, has aired, and the result manages to charm without packing much punch. The biggest thing missing: any hint of a reason the viewer should, oh say, try the OS.

In the ad, Seinfeld catches Gates shopping in a discount shoe outlet. The dialog is surreal in true Crispin fashion: Seinfeld asks Microsoft's outgoing chairman if computers will ever be "moist and chewy like cake." To this Gates replies with a secret, hands-free adjustment of his boxer shorts.

Funny. But not to the level of John Hodgman's PC in Apple's worshiped Get a Mac ads. Which have the additional advantage of being all about the products.

You may recognize this version of Seinfeld from American Express ads from 2004
in which he plays opposite the man of steel. They pal around together in a restaurant, visiting the Grand Canyon, watching movies. Once again, here we have Everyman Seinfeld mucking it up with a legendary hero.

Not that there's anything wrong with that (to steal a line). The comic's aimless banter is legendary; it's why he pulls the big bucks (Seinfeld's reported take here is $10 million).

But is aimless banter enough to stem the tide of consumers to Apple products, or to head off the looming threat of Google's hosted applications? It's too early to draw big conclusions, given the new spot is just an icebreaker to "reintroduce Microsoft," the company said. But, well, Jerry's only work since 2005 was the unloved Bee Movie. With respect, shouldn't Microsoft try something, or someone, with a bit more sting?

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

First Seinfeld/Gates Microsoft Spot

The first of Crispin, Porter's highly anticipated spots is about .... nothing.
But the infamous teenage mugshot of Gates is a nice touch, no?

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 4, 2008

U.K. Marketers Neglecting Site Usability, Blinded by Paid Search

Businesses are focusing too much of their online marketing budgets on paid search instead of ensuring they have usable and customer-friendly Web sites, according to research commissioned by U.K. digital consultancy Rawnet.

The company's 2008 Online Conversion Report, released today, suggests that 78 percent of British consumers have been put off from dealing with companies because of usability flaws on their sites. In addition, one in five people have found that the most creative and spectacular sites are usually difficult to navigate, the report says.

Rawnet's managing director, Adam Smith, believes that marketers are too "preoccupied" with search rankings and expensive paid search listings, than they are with converting subsequent leads to sales.

Speaking with me yesterday, he said, "It's easy to just throw money at Google, but marketers can put their budgets to better use. In tighter economic conditions getting that lead, sale, or enquiry is far more important than simply boosting your Web site's traffic."

He added, "A shocking number of companies are losing out on a massive amount of potential business simply because their Web design agency has focused too much on what looks great, or too much on non-essential technical features, and failed to actually produce a Web site that works for the business."

The research report was commissioned by Rawnet and conducted by YouGov, which polled a sample of around 2,000 U.K. adults.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Indispensible (Free) Tool for Media Buyers, Sellers and Planners

Do you buy, sell, or plan media? Then you owe it to yourself to download the incredibly nifty Swiss Army knife of calculators the Laredo Group is giving away...for free.

It slices. It dices. It calculates Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)...and so much more. This nifty JavaScript tool also can figure out reverse ROAS, compare scenarios, total campaign impressions, CPM, effective CPM and media cost.

Interactive advertising sure requires a lot of figgerin'. This nifty tool takes a lot of work out of that brain-busting chore. You can download it here.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 3, 2008

Gannett Takes Controlling Interest in CareerBuilder

Gannett's now the majority owner of CareerBuilder, having picked up a 10 percent stake in the recruiting site from Tribune for $135 million. The purchase gives it a 50.8 percent controlling share of the firm.

The transaction is reminiscent of Gannett's acquisition in July of its rivals' ownership shares in ShopLocal, the online shopping circular provider previously owned by a triumvirate of newspaper publishers. In that purchase, Gannett bought all outstanding interest in the firm from McClatchy and Tribune.

Tribune, which previously held a share of CareerBuilder equal to that of Gannett's, now possesses 30.8 percent of CareerBuilder. McClatchy meanwhile owns 14.4 percent, and Microsoft has 4 percent.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Quote of the Day: Google as Agency Virus

“...they’re almost like a virus, going to work their way into specific agencies and replace the DNA of those agencies with a more analytic orientation while trying to maintain some of the client relationships.”

-Peter S. Fader, professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, quoted in the New York Times.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Google Chrome Should Force Some Soul Searching on Tabbed Browsing

While Google's entry into the browser wars has few, if any, direct implications for advertisers, indirect ones are easy to spot.

Take the elevation of tabbed browsing to the core of the user experience. While Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 both support simultaneous tabbed navigation, Google Chrome is built on it. Tabs have been elevated to the top of the interface, and Google has introduced separate processes for each tab, so one tab's glitch doesn't crash the whole browser -- as is the case with IE 7 and Firefox. Here's a screen grab from the comic book, created by the great Scott McCloud, that Google used to unveil Chrome:

Clearly Google believes the future of the Web lies in toggling -- between static pages and rich applications, between entertainment content and productive tasks. If it proves to be correct, and consumers increasingly channel their attention through numerous tabs residing shoulder to shoulder in the narrow confines of a browser, marketers will be forced to reconsider how they deliver -- and measure the impact of -- their display ads.

Among the questions such a presumed future raises: What is the impact of simultaneous browsing on metrics like page exposure time and ad exposure time? How does it affect the overall number of ads served to any given Web user, as well as the effectiveness of those ads?

Also, what are the best ad placements to leverage a tab-addicted society? For instance, some publishers claim users of IE7 and Firefox have exhibited higher click-through rates on horizontal banner ads at the top of Web pages. But the evidence is anecdotal. Very little research exists on the effect of tabbed or simultaneous browsing on digital ads.

That may change. JupiterResearch hasn't yet looked into the phenomenon, according analyst Emily Riley. However she indicated it hopes to do so in the future.

Until that happens, advertisers can only guess at the impact of tabbed browsing on their ads.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 2, 2008

Sadly, Michael Palin's Wiki Entry Left Untouched

So, over the past few days everybody's been abuzz about Sarah Palin, and more specifically alterations made to a wikipedia entry on the new GOP vice presidential nominee. A whole bunch of changes were made to the page by a user with probable connections to the campaign right before the announcement that the Alaskan Governor would be John McCain's choice for running mate. Or, maybe it was Palin herself.

Then again, maybe it was Tina Fey....

TechPresident lamented the lack of speed with which the McCain camp got search ads up and links to pages with relevant biographical info on the candidate. Quite possibly, the news may not have been made privy to McCain's search ad folks soon enough to make that happen as rapidly as it could have. Now a search on "Sarah Palin" or "Palin" brings up an ad reading, "Get The Facts on Governor Sarah Palin. John McCain's VP Choice!" It goes to a Palin-centric page.

Stories in the Washington Post and NY Times also analyze the wiki situation. The Times report notes, "In modern politics, where the struggle is to 'define' yourself before your opponent 'defines' you, Wikipedia has become an important part of political strategy. When news breaks, and people plug a name into a search engine to find out more, invariably Wikipedia is the first result they click through to; it is where first impressions are made."

That pretty much hits the nail on the head; there's not a heck of a lot more to say than that, really. But now that political observers will be watching wiki entries of all likely VP nominees for changes, in four years campaigns may have to alter all of them to the same degree just to throw the bloodhounds off the trail.

As for the coverage this seemingly insignificant online occurrence is getting, I guess we can expect every single use of every single Web application (candidates on Facebook, Obama's VP text announcement, Palin twittering, etc.) to be over-analyzed by just about everybody – except the majority of voters.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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