Back to Main

October 2009

October 29, 2009

NJ Candidate Daggett Campaign Says Can't Reach Voters Online

If you think Obama's campaign changed everything and from now on political campaigns will never again question the value of using online ads to reach voters, build lists, or generate donations, think again.

The campaign team behind New Jersey independent dark horse candidate for governor, Chris Daggett aren't spending on Web ads. Yet, as Daggett has gained momentum among disillusioned Jersey voters, the opportunity has come -- and less than a week till the election -- nearly gone, to be there through advertising when people search for more info on Daggett, or read articles mentioning the candidate.

As former McCain campaign search ad guy Eric Frenchman put it, any momentum Daggett's campaign is experiencing, "doesn't matter" because "He has no online marketing." He goes into detail on his blog.

There's no question that different campaigns require different tactics. However, I rarely speak with any political or advocacy campaign or consultant (and I speak to them often) who doesn't see search advertising or other forms of online advertising as an important part of any campaign.

But, then again, I tend to talk to people who understand the Web, rather than traditional media consultants, some of whom still operate the way they did pre-Internet. (Which, by the way, serves them well because they tend to take home a nice slice of the TV media spend for their commissions.)

So, I'm not accustomed to hearing things like the Daggett campaign apparently has from its media consultants, as noted in a comment on Frenchman's post. This is from "Ali," who works for the campaign:

"From our research, we have discovered that NJ voters are primarily reachable via TV and other media -- not internet -- and that is why we have focused our efforts where we have. I can imagine you have strong opinions as to how we should be using our money, but actually the media company who has led every successful independent in this country is spearheading our efforts, so we are deferring to the experts."

So, think 2008 changed everything? As I demonstrated in the title of my book on the subject of paid digital media efforts of the '08 presidential campaigns, it was only "A Turning Point for Digital Media."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Yahoo, Microsoft Delay Search Deal Signing

Yahoo filed an extension last night to its self-imposed deadline for signing the pending search deal with Microsoft. When the deal was announced on July 29, the companies expected to complete the deal by October 27, but that didn't happen.

During its analyst day presentations yesterday, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz told financial analysts not to worry about the move, insisting it was just a matter of "running out of time."

"It's a 10-year agreement, so we'd like to get it right up-front," Bartz said. She said the delay should not impact the timelines Yahoo and Microsoft expect for regulatory approval.

According to the Form 8-K filing:

The Letter Agreement specified that the parties would execute Definitive Agreements by October 27, 2009, but given the complex nature of the transaction, there remain some details to be finalized. The parties are working diligently on finalizing the agreements, have made good progress to date, and have agreed to execute the agreements as expeditiously as possible.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

October 27, 2009

Banner Ad Turns 15, Earns Learner's Permit

On this day in 1994, HotWired.com made Internet history by becoming the first online publisher to display a banner ad. The unit was 468 x 60 pixels and was purchased by either Volvo, MCI, Club Med, Zima, 1-800-Collect or AT&T, all of which reportedly bought ad space that fateful day. The AT&T version above asked/promised, "Have you ever clicked your mouse right here? You will."

If the copywriter were given a do-over today, he or she might change the line to, "You will, for a few years anyway."

To say the banner ad has had an ignominious childhood and adolescence is to understate consumers' loathing for it. The format has been equated with deception and sleaze to such an extent that it's reputation today is worse than any other ad medium suffered at a similar stage of development. To make matters worse, the effectiveness of display ads has steadily declined on nearly every metric: click rates, interaction rates, brand recall, you name it.

Of course banners have had a few good moments along the way. Apple's "Get a Mac" campaign broke ground by synchronizing ad space on NYTimes.com. IBM brought live video chat to banner space. GE, American Express, and Pringles also come to mind as great banner ad brands.

And luckily, the banner's fortunes are bound to improve. No sane person would argue display advertising is endangered, however much they may hate IAB standard formats. More to the point: The past year or two have brought some striking developments in display media, which collectively promise to help this awkward teenager finally learn to drive like an upstanding medium.

A sampling of those developments, as reported on ClickZ:

-IAB Seeks Creative Rebirth for Banner Ads
-OPA Hopes to Spur Greater Creativity with New Ad Units
-Agencies Break Away From Ad Networks
-Google's Ad Exchange Opens for Business
-Study: Financial Display Ads Need More Human Touch

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Online Advertisers Misbeshavin'

Sadly, most of us have grown accustomed to seeing some pretty nasty images in online ads. Flabby bellies, yellow teeth, dominatrix chickens.

Well, I may have stumbled on the most bizarre, indeed grossest image yet. Today, while doing research on Facebook for a story (believe it or not, I actually do story research there), I stumbled upon a woman shaving.

Not her legs. Not her underarms. Not her...um...Her face!

OK, now unfortunately I've heard about some women doing this, but do I really need the pictorial?

We can thank American Laser Centers for this ad, which links to a lead gen page promoting free laser hair removal.

Oh, and please excuse my headline. I guess I've been inspired by the New York Post.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Gawker Falls Prey to Malvertising Scheme

Gawker Scammed By Malware Crew Pretending To Be Suzuki Ad scam is similar to one put over on the New York Times recently. Take an extra few minutes to read the WHOLE thread and comments section. (Business Insider)

Wall Street optimistic on ad outlook (Hollywood Reporter)

TopTenReviews Buys Space.com Tech product review site now owns Space.com, LiveScience.com and Newsarama.com after deal with consumer media division of Imaginova Inc.

Tourism Queensland disses 'Best Job' shop Agency behind winningest campaign at Cannes Lions is snubbed. (AdFreak)

Online Rally May Sidestep Newspapers (NYTimes.com)

Publicis sees better Q4 after Q3 sales fall (Reuters)

IAC Reports Profit but Ad Revenue Slips (NYTimes.com

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 26, 2009

AOL May be Building a Cheap Content Factory

Readers will remember that Tim Armstrong was a founder of Associated Content, a company that funds cheap content on a wide range of topics. The company runs a marketplace that links aspiring writers with sites that pay small sums for content designed to capture search traffic. Armstrong was a founder and early board member, but has since dissociated himself from the firm.

Why is this of interest now? Well, Armstrong appears ready to create a similar content operation at AOL. Speaking on-stage at the Web 2.0 Summit last week, he hinted at a new project.

As reported by CNET, he said, "It's a broader platform with more information around content and the creation of content. We see that platform evolving to a much higher scale."

This morning TechCrunch ran with the ball, reporting that the new project is a "content-management system (CMS) which will make it easier to produce and publish Web content across AOL's sites and perhaps beyond." Among other things, the new system would help AOL employ more contributors to write articles and videos on a range of topics.

While strictly accurate, calling such a system a CMS may be misleading. According to TechCrunch, the platform will track the number of views and the likely monetization for a given piece of content, and will pay freelance contributors based on that information. It goes a lot farther than your average publisher tool.

Associated Media is not the only firm building cheap content with search in mind. For an in-depth look at the complex mechanisms underlying another such company, check out Wired's excellent profile of Demand Media, published earlier this month.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 22, 2009

Anatomy of a Content Sweatshop (link buffet)

The Answer Factory: Fast, Disposable, and Profitable as Hell An in-depth look at the content factory that is Demand Media, and the complex search and ad data analysis that underlies its business.

Craigslist Isn't Liable for Erotic Services Ads--Dart v. Craigslist (Eric Goldman's Technology & Marketing Law Blog)

Controversial Amp App Gets Dumped By Pepsi (AdAge)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Which Blogosphere Does This Year's Technorati Report Reflect?

Last year, we reported that around 50 percent of bloggers have ads on their blogs. So, how could that number have dropped to 28 percent this year?

Well, according to Technorati, the publisher of the second-annual "State of the Blogosphere" report, the pool of respondents to this year's survey of bloggers is much bigger than last year, arguably producing findings that are more representative of the blogosphere.

Indeed, last year's survey included just 1,400 participants, while this year's included 2,900, according to Technorati VP of Marketing Jennifer McLean, whom I spoke with earlier today.

I'm sure some scientific statisticians have smoke coming out of their ears right now, but I think it's worth mentioning the disparity between the two reports since we did cover last year's numbers.

"Before we simply had a higher concentration of serious bloggers," McLean told me. This year, lots more so-called "hobbyist" bloggers - the ones who write blogs just for the hell of it and don't collect any ad revenue from them - took the survey. So, essentially, the ad-supported concentration was diluted this time around.

Here are a few other numbers from this year's (arguably) more accurate poll. Of those bloggers running ads:
- Around 40 percent run display and Google AdSense-type text ads (listed in the report as "search" ads).
- 36 percent include affiliate marketing links.
- 8 percent feature rich media ads or paid blog posts.
- The mean annual amount of ad revenue generated is around $42,500.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Real-Time Search Results vs. Real-Time Data Collection?

While much of the focus of yesterday's dueling announcements from Google and Microsoft that each search engine would be including real-time Twitter feeds in its search results dealt with the potential benefits to users, I think that's just a side-effect of the deal.

It would seem to me that the bigger benefit here is that the data from Twitter's so-called "firehose" of all current Tweets would be a boon to each search engine's organic search efforts, allowing them to create new algorithms that recognize trending topics more quickly, identify large-scale linking habits, and otherwise improve their overall search results, outside of any Twitter results.

Will this change people's Twitter habits? Well, there are already plenty of Twitter spammers out there, but this will only serve to encourage them more. Now that these spammers can potentially affect all search results, instead of just Twitter results, they will likely redouble their efforts.

For the non-spammers, this may lead them to think twice before posting something to Twitter, now that it will be more likely that their Tweet will appear in search results on Google or Bing, instead of fading into the obscurity of their Twitter stream.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 21, 2009

Bing Gets Closer to Real-Time with Twitter, Facebook Deals

Microsoft's Bing just got a little bit closer to delivering real-time search results through a pair of data deals with Facebook and Twitter.

Speaking on stage at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Dr. Qi Lu, president of Microsoft's Online Services Division, told the crowd that Bing will begin offering a real-time index of Tweets, tools for filtering Twitter search results, and the top Tweets on a topic.

The beta of Bing Twitter search is only available in the U.S.

A search on Bing Twitter will bring up the most recent Tweets on the search topic, as well as top links shared on Twitter about the topic.

Tweets can be sorted by time, or by a Bing-defined "best match," which will include factors like the Tweeter's popularity, "interestingness" of the Tweet, and "other indicators of quality and trustworthiness," according to a Microsoft spokesperson.

Bing Twitter will also include a listing of the hottest topics on Twitter, along with the top links shared on Twitter about those topics.

Details on the Facebook partnership are less clear. Dr. Lu said that the deal is coming, but a spokesperson would only say that a "global partnership with Facebook that will bring public Facebook status updates to Bing search results" will be available "at a later date."

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yanks' Posada Endorses Bloomberg in Web Ad

Chances are, if you're in NYC, you've spotted a lot of ads for Mike Bloomberg online in recent months. As part of the multimedia ad onslaught to re-elect the mayor for a third term, his campaign has placed ads on Facebook and across ad networks like Google's AdSense.

Lately, I've seen ads for Bloomie in online ad and Internet biz trade pub RSS feeds. But today I saw an extra special, extra-targeted ad for the mayor featuring Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. The ad turned up in my news reader in an uncharacteristic Silicon Alley Insider post about last night's Yankees/Angels game umpiring mishaps.

Was this creative part of the business audience-targeted buy, the baseball audience-targeted buy, or both? It's not clear. And frankly, the multiple attempts I've made to reach the campaign in the past months have been futile.

Still, despite my dismay as a die-hard Mets fan that our biggest adversaries -- Phillies and Yankees -- are close to making the World Series, I can't help but appreciate it when my online advertising, politics and baseball worlds collide.

You've gotta wonder, though, will the Posada ad be a liability, dissuading Mets fans from voting for Bloomberg? Or worse -- and I'm only half-serious on both these points -- all those Yanks fans angered by Posada's hapless base running last night?

Posted by Kate Kaye at 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YouTube to Stream Live U2 Gig

Rock band U2 has announced that its concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California on Sunday will be streamed live via YouTube. The gig will be broadcast live via the site to users in 16 countries, including the U.K., the U.S., Australia and Japan, with portions of content remaining available after the event itself.

The opportunities for brands to get involved with the event aren't exactly clear, but a YouTube spokesperson told me that banner ads will be served next to the live content, with in-stream and overlay ads being sold against the archive content. Users will also be encouraged to make donations to Bono's RED charity from the dedicated YouTube page.

YouTube hosted its own "YouTube Live" event back in November '08, from which it streamed live performances from artists such as Akon, will.i.am and Katy Perry. In addition, the Google-owned site announced a deal last week with U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, through which the majority of its content will be available to stream on demand via the site in the U.K.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 19, 2009

Google Acquisitions Likely to Target Mobile, Display Ads

Google Acquisitions Expected To Target Mobile, Display Ads Analysts believe revenue-generating companies are most likely targets. (Investor's Business Daily)

Twitter is Launching Its Own 'Fledgling' Wine Label (SF Weekly)

Cool Ad: "Dead Space" Roadblock Execution on GameTrailers.com (Banner Blog)

TV Industry Seeks Game Plan for Twitter (LA Times)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 16, 2009

Anti-Dobbs Ad Money Raised Online Won't Go to CNN

Last month, I reported on a campaign targeting Capitol Hill staffers, CNN employees, and staff members of other media companies on Facebook. An immigration advocacy group called America's Voices aimed to vilify CNN host Lou Dobbs. People listed on Facebook as employees of media firms including CNN, The New York Times, Politico, and AOL were served ads featuring images of the CNN anchor accompanied by text like, "Hey, Anderson Cooper, What's it like to work with a racist at CNN? Time to drop Dobbs."

Sounds like a publicity stunt? Sure. Part of the goal was to spawn earned media coverage of the campaign. The organization, however, also aimed to raise money for anti-Dobbs TV spots. They wanted - in partnership with progressive media watchdog Media Matters for America -- to run an ad implying that Dobbs is an anti-immigrant hatemonger during the network's upcoming "Latino in America" special.

"All of the advertising so far has been digital and whatever we raise will go to traditional media," Jackie Mahendra, director of online communications for America's Voices, told me last month.

Yesterday, the group announced it had raised "nearly $16,000" towards that goal, and would run the ads during the series. Now, America's Voices - and HuffingtonPost - report that CNN has refused to run the ad. According to HuffPo, CNN stated, "Contrary to reports, CNN has not accepted these spots and they will not air on the network."

An America's Voice press release from yesterday says they play to run the ad "on a competing network in the next week."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FTC Responds to IAB Letter on Blogger Guidelines

Yesterday the Interactive Advertising Bureau took a jab at the Federal Trade Commission's revised guidelines on online endorsements. Put simply, the guidelines call for online reviewers to disclose payment or affiliation with marketing campaigns or advertisers.

The way the IAB sees it, the FTC is unfairly favoring traditional media over digital media. In a letter sent to the FTC chairman, IAB prez Randy Rothenberg contended the FTC's call for disclosure of "material connections" between advertisers and endorsers in social media platforms will "shackle online media while exempting our offline cousins and competitors from equivalent constraint."

"I don't think that there is any favoritism based on the type of media," Rich Cleland, assistant director of the FTC's division of advertising practices told ClickZ News this morning. "The core here is do consumers understand the relationship that exists between the speaker and the seller." "Offline, if those lines are blurred, then there's a problem," he continued. "These are not new issues."

As iterated throughout his lengthy letter, Rothenberg and others fear that the FTC will now be on the hunt for bloggers reviewing and endorsing products, which he argues will squelch social media.

"In terms of bloggers and other endorsers...I don't think that there is any reason for concern," said Cleland, stressing, "We have explained on a number of occasions that we do not have civil penalty authority." In other words, he told me, the FTC is not planning an enforcement sweep against bloggers. Also, he confirmed, the FTC has no authority to fine anybody (despite countless erroneous reports to the contrary).

The IAB also suggested that the FTC guidelines are "perverse" and "constitutionally dubious," stating they imply "individuals writing in social media bear greater liability than do those writing for offline, one-way media."

"It's not clear what exactly the IAB thinks the constitutional issue is here," Cleland said. "The guidelines are in fact just guidelines and to the extent that they focus on [misleading] commercial activity and practices that are essentially promoting products in exchange for payments or free merchandise...we don't think that there's a constitutional issue."

As for the public hearing the IAB wants the FTC to hold to hash out the concerns, Cleland said, "We haven't made any determination on that.... We've already taken comments on this issue." Still, he added, "We don't want to preclude that we might do something in addition to [the comment period]."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 15, 2009

Voters Say Some Web Formats Don't Work, but Expect Candidates to Use Anyway

What's the best way for political campaigns to attract voters online? It may seem like a no-brainer at this point, but the official campaign Web site beat out other online formats and platforms as the best way for candidates to get voters' attention online, according to a just-released E-Voter Institute study.

Compared to Web ads, social sites, viral video and Twitter, the campaign site was deemed the most appealing online tool, says the "Persuading and Motivating Voters: What Will It Take in 2010?" report, published today.

The official site was considered the best ways to get attention by 54 percent of ultra liberals, 59 percent of somewhat liberals, moderates, and somewhat conservatives (referred to as moderates from here on out), and 58 percent of dyed-in-the-wool conservatives. Respondents could choose more than option.

That's pretty close to traditional platforms of TV/cable advertising and debates. TV ads were considered attention-grabbing by 59 percent of liberals, 65 percent of moderates, and 63 percent of conservatives. Debates: 56 percent, 59 percent, 60 percent, respectively.

Here's the breakdown for other online formats:
Social networking sites - L: 41 percent M: 28 percent C: 19 percent
Online ads - L: 39 percent M: 34 percent C: 28 percent
Viral video about a candidate - L: 28 percent M: 14 percent C: 13 percent
Twitter - L: 25 percent M: 17 percent C: 9 percent

The disparity between the "very liberals" and the "very conservatives" on most of these formats is striking. Even in the cases of social sites, viral video, and Twitter, moderates seem far less impressed by these formats than liberals.

Although a significant portion of survey respondents didn't think some online formats would get their attention, many still expected the candidates to use them. Eighty-five percent said they expect candidates to have Web sites, 60 percent expect online ads, 56 percent expect Web video on other sites, 49 percent expect social sites, and 42 percent expect Twitter.

Check out the full report, including methodology, here.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Malicious Banners: What's Old Is New Again

The recent alarm about malicious display ads began slowly, but has rapidly gained steam.

First The New York Times was duped by a "rogue" ad buyer (a security software company) that posed as a legitimate marketer (Vonage) to sneak some spammy, deceptive ads onto NYTimes.com. Then Microsoft filed five lawsuits against so-called malvertisers. This week, Starcom Mediavest Group and some of its sister agencies at Publicis started warning publishers of the risks and insisting ad sellers take steps to verify their insertion orders.

Said a Starcom rep: "It serves as an alert to our media partners who work with us to protect client investments, and it asks for their collaboration as we secure insertion orders and ad placements."

In a semi-related development, research Ben Edelman described finding some second and third tier publishers were serving loads of ads into invisible iframes -- a practice belligerent toward ad buyers if not toward consumers.

With all the attention being paid to the big bad wolves of the online ad market this fall, it's worth keeping in mind that malicious display advertising in one form or another has been around for years. A little walk down memory lane:

November 2004: Ad serving firm Falk became an unwitting agent of the Bofra virus, delivering the Internet Explorer exploit to users whose browsers requested ads within a certain window of time.

June 2006: Ben Edelman documents how a handful of lesser-known ad networks cause pornographic pop-ups to appear in odd places -- like, for instance, AOL's sign-up page.

June 2007: Finjan Malicious Code Research Center publishes a study finding cyber-criminals have begun using affiliate ad networks to infect computers with keystroke loggers, bot net software, and other malicious code.

September 2007: Ad exchange Right Media is used to spread a virus.

That's not to say the digital marketing community should be unconcerned. Safeguards such as those being taken by Publicis-owned agencies are an important step, and a sign of maturity for an industry inclined to quickly forget yesterday's screw-ups.

Incidentally, before this morning I had yet to see a malicious banner ad in action. Thanks to a new report and video from Anchor Intelligence, that's no longer true. The below clip shows the dirty deed. It's probably the closest thing this sector will ever have to a crime reality show.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 7:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 14, 2009

Ad Network Platforms vs. Demand Platforms (morning link buffet)

A few items ClickZ's editors are reading:

Ad Network Platforms vs. Demand Platforms (DarrenHerman.com)

IPG in Talks to Merge Lowe and Deutsch (MediaWeek)

Bloomberg Wins Bidding For BusinessWeek Reported sale price is $2 to $5 million. (BusinessWeek)

Triggit Reborn Relaunched product automates bidding on ad exchanges. (TechCrunch)

Yahoo Loses Connected TV Leader Patrick Barry (TechCrunch)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 9, 2009

YouTube to Partner with U.K.'s Channel 4 for long-form Video?

YouTube is close to agreeing to a landmark deal with U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, according to a report from the Telegraph. The partnership would see Channel 4 itself selling ad inventory around its long-form content, splitting a portion of that revenue with the Google-owned video site, the Telegraph says.

A Google spokesperson told me today the firm "does not comment on speculation," but Google and Channel 4 have been ramping up their partnership over the past year or so, so this seems a logical progression. Channel 4 and YouTube began trialing pre-roll ads together in May, and video syndication and rights management company Myvideorights signed its own similar revenue sharing agreement with YouTube in June.

According to the Telegraph, however, the new deal would see the majority of Channel 4's content available through the site, potentially opening up a range of high-value inventory for the broadcaster, and effectively snatching a large portion of the U.K.'s commercial video content from under the nose of rival Hulu which is yet to launch its product there.

According the Telegraph, the contract, which has been in negotiation for around six months, is due to be signed "imminently."

Posted by Jack Marshall at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo Now Filters Ads in Search Results Too

Last month, Yahoo debuted its new search results pages, which among other things allow a user to filter organic search results by site. Today, Yahoo added the ability for a publisher's ads to be filtered as well.

It's being touted as a benefit to users, but not all advertisers will be happy about the move.

Beginning today, if a user elects to filter results by a site, and that site is also an advertiser on a relevant keyword, the user will see both organic search results from that site, and ads from that site -- without competitors' ads, Jeff Hecox, client communications manager, writes in a blog post to the Yahoo Search Marketing blog.

For example, if a user is searching for "U2 concert" on Yahoo, the results include several sponsored search ads along the right-hand side of the page. But if the user opts to filter the search results to only those from StubHub.com, for example, most of the ads will disappear, with the only ads remaining those that were bought by StubHub.

According to Hecox, the domains Yahoo uses to filter results are chosen "based on a number of factors, such as their listings' quality, popularity and user response."

"All advertisers will still get the same chances at clicks before any filtering takes place. But those advertisers whose sites show up as a filtering option will get further opportunities for clicks when their ad shows up in the narrowed results -- without any competing ads. And the ads may be more relevant to consumers, as our systems take the user's choice into account," writes Hecox.

That kind of exclusivity could rile some advertisers, who are not privileged to be among the sites included in Yahoo's filtered content lists.

"I think it limits competition and gives a huge preference to big-name brands like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Buy.com, and the like." Melissa Mackey, online marketing manager at Fluency Media, told ClickZ. As an agency representing smaller clients, Mackey said she has often been able to "level the playing field" and compete with bigger advertisers through savvy use of PPC ads. "This effectively cuts off the lesser-known advertisers who may have a great product and offer, but lack the household name," she said.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 3:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Craigslist Fights Spammers in Cali (recommended reads)

A few stories ClickZ's editors are reading:

Craigslist Expands Legal Battle Against Spammers Files four federal suits in the golden state.

Kaspersky Lab Detects Use of YouTube for Video Spam Security firm discovers mass spam mailings with links to video ads hosted on YouTube.

Nielsen Calls Client Pow-Wow To Pitch Online Measurement Plans Will present agenda for measuring online video viewership alongside broadcast audiences. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Dennis Launches Online Ad Network

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YouTube Now a True Leviathan of Video, Cracks a Billion Views a Day

We don't usually cover traffic milestones here at ClickZ, but this one deserves a mention.

Three years to the day after Google bought YouTube, the video giant is routinely serving more than a billion video views per day. In fact, it's so happy at about the accomplishment that it's updated its logo. There's more over at the official YouTube blog.

Meanwhile, new insight has emerged into what motivated Google in that fateful acquisition. In a deposition related to the copyright suit filed by Viacom, reviewed by CNET, Eric Schmidt reportedly told the court he estimated YouTube's real value at only about $600 to $700 million. The actual price paid, $1.65 billion, suggests just how keenly the company wanted to keep the property out of the hands of its rivals.

Of course, the real question on everyone's mind now is when YouTube will cross that fateful two billion video mark. Why? Well, YouTube is already the undisputed king of empty-calorie content snacking. All the better when it's logo can reflect that with the updated tagline, "billions and billions served."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 8, 2009

Burst Media Buys Giant Realm

A few stories ClickZ's editors are reading:

Burst Media Buys Giant Realm Acquisition is all about the young guys. Giant Realm represents ads for a stable of gaming, comics, and fanboy sites.

Twitter in Talks With Google and Microsoft May license feeds to search giants. (AllThingsD)

You Better Have Devs in Your Creative Department (Mele's Musings)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

European Commission Voices Concerns over Behavioral Targeting... Again

The European Commission has once again expressed concerns over the use of behavioral targeting technologies in Europe, and reinforced its intentions to intervene if it feels the industry is incapable of regulating itself effectively.

Speaking at a lunch debate on the future of the Internet in Brussels on Tuesday, Viviane Reding, commissioner for information, society and media, said concerns about targeted advertising are being "repeatedly mentioned to the Commission these days," and that the Commission was "closely monitoring" the practice to ensure respect for users' privacy rights.

"European privacy rules are crystal clear: a person's information can only be used with their prior consent. Transparency and choice are key words in this debate... I will not shy away from taking action where an EU country falls short of this duty," she said, before highlighting the Commission's privacy-related action against the U.K. -- launched as a result of targeting technology trials conducted by Phorm and B.T.

The Commission has repeatedly expressed concerns over behavioral targeting and the collection of user data for advertising purposes. Meanwhile, the U.K. government's consumer protection body, the Office of Fair Trading, has also announced an investigation into the practice.

Nick Stringer, the IAB U.K.'s head of regulatory affairs, maintains that the IAB's work in regulating the space is being taken seriously by government departments, but the fact that its members collect and use data in varying ways, and in conjunction with different business models, suggests its ability to regulate the practice in a way deemed fit by the Commission could be hampered.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 7, 2009

Nielsen and IAB Display Ad Reports Off by $540 Million

A little addendum on some big numbers:

As a followup to my piece today on differences between online ad reports from TNS, Nielsen, and Interactive Advertising Bureau/PricewaterhouseCoopers, not only are the methodologies used by IAB far different from TNS and Nielsen, resulting in disparate ad spending growth rates, the actual dollar amounts estimated by Nielsen and IAB (TNS won't divulge theirs) are far off, too.

Nielsen's estimate for online display ad revenue in the first half of 2009 was $4.3 billion, according to my source there. The IAB, which measures several formats, estimated display spending ONLY in the same period at $3.76 billion. They include banners, rich media, video, and sponsorships in that number, yet the IAB's estimate is much more conservative: $540 million lower than Nielsen's display ad estimate in fact.

As I detail in my story today -- and in a previous piece about the Nielsen and TNS ad spending reports more specifically -- the IAB looks at ad revenue numbers provided by ad sellers and in tax filings, while the others estimate based on audience traffic, ad impressions and rate card prices.

I guess what I've been wondering lately, and why I've attempted to inspect online audience and ad measurement methodologies in recent years, is what are we supposed to make of these numbers if they're all so different? Publishers have been whining about third party audience measurement for years, but what about these spending reports?

They're among the few barometers we have for measuring the health of the online ad industry, and as far as I can tell, the state of the reports themselves could use a checkup.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Launches Smartphone Specific AdSense Units

In attempts to improve opportunities for advertisers and publishers on the mobile platform, Google is rolling out larger ad units for display on smartphones such as the iPhone and Android-enabled devices through its AdSense Mobile product.

Announcing the feature in a blog post, Google said the new units would "help to nurture the smartphone ecosystem by encouraging the creation of more mobile content and by helping advertisers to grow their businesses by reaching new audiences." It added that consumer experience would also be improved, since ads would load faster and fit better on smaller screens.

Mobile Internet access is growing rapidly in the U.S. and throughout Europe, largely thanks to the proliferation of handsets such as the iPhone, and the improved user experience afforded by the HTML-based browsers with which they ship. In the U.S., for example, mobile Web access grew 34 percent in the 12 months ending July '09, according to Nielsen Online.

With that in mind, it's unsurprising Google wants to enhance its mobile offering as it looks to replicate its dominant position in the desktop-oriented online ad world. The new units are live now in all territories in which AdSense is currently available, which is the vast majority of markets in which Google currently operates.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 6:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 6, 2009

Think Tank Hopes FDA Gets Clue on Pharma Web Advertising

Earlier this year the Food and Drug Administration sent letters to pharma companies, accusing them of violating regulations about presenting drug information to consumers in their search ads.

Today, free market think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute released a paper designed to influence the conversation about government regulation of pharma advertising online. In particular, the organization hopes to communicate its ideas and concerns as the FDA plans its 2-day public hearing on the subject.

Calling the upcoming event "a welcome development," the group warns, "if the FDA's evolving policy fails to take adequate account of the Internet's unique ability to present information in novel formats, it could have significant and adverse implications for consumers, Web service providers, and the medical products industry."

More from the report:

In other industries, the absence of an applicable statutory or regulatory policy generally means that businesses and individuals have the flexibility to innovate. But, when it comes to the FDA's regulation of drug and device promotion, the absence of clear guidance effectively works as a prohibition on the kinds of innovation that would deliver complete risk and benefit information in ways that take advantage of the Internet's unique capabilities. It is no surprise then that drug and device manufacturers are still uncertain how to proceed with many new media tools, such as banner ads, sponsored links, email messages to physicians and patients, social media like blogs, Facebook, micro-blogs such as Twitter, or any other form of Internet communication.

The group complains that the FDA fails to recognize the near-universal understanding among Web users that search ads are intended to drive users to a Web site, and are not an end unto themselves.

The agency appears unwilling to recognize that hyperlinks as an integral part of the Internet with which virtually every Internet user is familiar. Indeed, the very purpose of a key word search is to generate sponsored links to those sites where the searcher may find the relevant information he or she needs.

.....It is ironic that FDA's drug and device promotion policy allows for viewers of a television ad to be directed to a product's full risk disclosure on a website not directly connected with the TV commercial, but requires sponsored links to contain the risk disclosure on the face of an ad that directly links to the same website. Still, there is some reason to hope that FDA, upon further consideration, might be persuaded to adopt more rational policies for regulation of advertising on the Internet and other new media.

The CEI concludes that, "There is ample room, even under current law, for FDA to apply a more nuanced and flexible approach to the regulation of drug and device promotion on the Internet and other new media." The group hopes the FDA takes advantage of its upcoming hearings to bring its "1960s approach to prescription drug advertising and promotion into the 21st century."

Keep an eye on ClickZ News next month for coverage of the FDA hearing.

The hearing will be held on November 12 and 13 in Washington, DC.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is There a Smoking Gun in Viacom's Suit Against YouTube?

A few stories ClickZ's editors are reading:

Did Viacom Find Smoking Gun in YouTube Case? YouTube managers may have known of the existence of unauthorized content on the site without acting on it. (CNET)

Google Targeted in E-mail Scam Phishing scheme captures thousands of account names and passwords. (BBC)

'Hulu for Magazines' Idea Finds Traction with Publishers (AllThingsD)

Kit Digital Acquires The Feed Room for Dimes on the Dollar

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 5, 2009

Microsoft Trumpets In-Game Ad Performance (Recommended Reading)

A few stories ClickZ's editors are reading:

Microsoft Trumpets In-Game Ad Performance. Microsoft Advertising GM JJ Richards tackles what he says are misconceptions about the performance and effectiveness of Massive, the company's in-game ad network. (Microsoft Advertising blog)

Can Google Stay on Top of the Web? (BusinessWeek)

Ad Networks On Edge As Facebook Shuts Down Developers (AllFacebook)

Yahoo Buys Full Page Front Page Ad In Times Of India (TechCrunch)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

British Band Finds Viral Success with "Greatest Hits of YouTube" Video

This YouTube video was doing the rounds last week, and was initially brought to my attention via Twitter. Essentially it's just a montage of "the funniest" videos from around YouTube, but it has attracted almost 2.2 million views since it was posted on September 13th -- 700,000 more than when I first viewed it on Thursday.

What interested me, however, is the fact the video was created to promote material by British band Hadouken. The video is sound tracked by their new single, M.A.D., and features links to buy it online from download stores such as iTunes. It may not be the most original from of promotion, but millions of people have now been exposed to the band's music, the majority of which had likely never heard of them before watching. By comparison, the official video for the track has received under 200,000 YouTube views.

Speaking with me last week, the band's guitarist and creator of the video, Dan Rice, described how the band was looking for interesting (and cheap) ways to get their music heard. "Our music doesn't really have much of a chance of getting on mainstream radio, so we have to think of other ways to reach out to new fans," he said. "This seemed like a fairly fun and creative way of doing it rather than going down boring traditional advertising routes, which we can't really afford and no longer really engage the young people that are into our music anyway."

Rice said the inspiration for the video came while the band was recording its new album, during which he spent a great deal of time online. "I saw the video of [trials cyclist] Danny MacAskill which was getting lots of views at the time and featured a Band of Horses track. It had 10 million views and I just started thinking about how, even though they were already an established band with a large fan base, loads of people must have been hearing them for the first time whilst watching that video," he said.

The movie was edited and posted in two days using a MacBook laptop and iMovie -- video editing software that comes bundled with the majority of Apple machines -- essentially costing the band nothing. In terms of sales uplift, Rice says it's too early to tell what effect the video has had. In terms of awareness, however, he's already noticing results.

"Views on all our normal music videos and [streams] on sites like MySpace have gone up, so it has definitely raised the profile of the band," he said. "Our music isn't to everyone's taste and I'm sure there are lots of people watching it who love the video but hate the track...but if we can pick up a few new fans, then that's great."

What's more, it appears the viral effect of the video is only just getting started. On Thursday, when I first viewed the video, it had just shy of 1.5 million views. At the time of writing this morning, it has attracted a total of 2.2 million. It was picked up by the Guardian's viral video chart on Friday, and has been featured on the Time magazine site as well as Huffington Post in the U.S.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 2, 2009

Good-Bye to ClickZ's Erin Brenner

Over the past nine years out of ClickZ's 12-year history, Erin Brenner has been a guiding force here. As chief copy editor, she's played many roles. She's been a traffic cop, ensuring that online marketing practitioners who write ClickZ Experts columns file their copy on time -- or risk receiving a stern warning from her. She's been an advocate for clear and consistent writing and a stickler for grammar's finer points. Most important, she's been a passionate advocate for ClickZ readers, always keeping them in mind.

While we are sorry to see Erin leave ClickZ, we're excited for her, too. She's launched her own editing business, Right Touch Editing, and an early childhood music studio, Erin's Music Garden.

Best to Erin on her endeavors.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 1, 2009

Survey: 34% of Ad Agencies Plan to Hire

A survey performed by the Creative Group, a recruiting agency, found that 34 percent of the advertising and marketing executives surveyed plan to hire in the coming 12 months.

Another 55 percent said they plans to maintain current staffing levels.

The skills in most demand? One in two said they plan to hire staff in four areas: Web design or production, creative or art direction, interactive, and account services.

Least in demand? Only 10 percent said they were looking to hire workers for media services and only 23 percent for public relations, according to the survey.

"Many firms are interested in expanding their digital presence," Megan Slabinski, executive director, said in a news release. Rather than hire full-time employees, companies often bring in talent on a project basis, she said. That way businesses can avoid laying off workers if the economy loses momentum

According to the Creative Group, its survey was based on 250 interviews: 125 with ad executives randomly selected from the nation's 2,000 largest advertising agencies and 125 with senior marketing executives randomly selected from the nation's 2,000 largest companies.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

IAB Says Privacy Bill Must Consider Third Parties, Too

The U.S. House may have an online privacy bill introduced as soon as November - that is, if Rep. Rick Boucher, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet comes through with what he says he hopes to accomplish before Congress goes into winter hibernation.

"We are making rapid progress and hope to have a bill introduced before recess," he said in an interview with beltway pub The Hill on Tuesday.

"The key elements [of the legislation] are going to be that every website will have to disclose every piece of information that they collect from visitors and how that information is used by the website that collects it. And then users should have control over that process," added Boucher in the interview.

When reporting on this story yesterday, I was unable to get Interactive Advertising Bureau VP of Public Policy Mike Zaneis on the line. I figured he'd have a response to Boucher's recent statements about his plans for legislation.

You bet he did.

Mike sent me the following comment via e-mail this afternoon:

IAB welcomes the further delay in introducing online privacy legislation, as there is clearly more work to be done in helping Congress understand the interactive advertising ecosystem, especially the distinction between first party publishers and their third party partners. The current approach being outlined by Congressman Boucher is especially troubling as he seems to favor imposing strict liability on publishers for all data usage. You cannot address legitimate online privacy concerns by implementing a publisher-only solution, that approach ignores the operational realities of the Internet and misplaces many of the consumer protection obligations.

The IAB's membership consists mainly of Web publishers, so it's not surprising this is the angle the organization is taking. But no matter what the IAB's agenda, there's no question that third-party firms play a major role in all forms of online ad targeting, including behavioral. How they will be addressed in any future legislation remains to be seen.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Twitter Lists Present Cool Possibilities for Brands

If you haven't seen it already, Twitter has announced it's testing "Twitter Lists," essentially lists of users that can be categorized according to who they are or what they write about. According to a Twitter blog post yesterday, "The idea is to allow people to curate lists of Twitter accounts."

In non-pretentious language, that means eventually anyone will be able to assemble a group of Twitterers, allowing people to easily follow all those accounts.

So, I've been thinking about what this could mean for brand marketers. Well, if anything, it should mean that marketers will have a number of options when it comes to creating their own lists. For CRM or customer service, they can readily compile all their brand-related Twitter accounts into one. Think @ford/teamtwitter. Or whatever.

I also see a ready opportunity for cause marketing. Let's say a brand really wants to connect with charity activity around breast cancer, or wants to establish itself as a leader in the movement towards clean energy. If I understand Twitter's offering here, a brand could assemble a list of Twitter accounts associated with individuals or organizations it believes are influential in that particular category and promote the list on their own sites and through their own Twitter accounts. Think @google/netneutrality.

Of course, this could work for non-cause stuff, too. Say a brand wants to get noticed among running enthusiasts or among fans of Asian cinema. It could put together a list of Twitterers who post about those topics. How about @Asicsamerica/running?

This is akin to what Microsoft has already done in conjunction with Federated Media and Twitter in its ExecTweets site.

Then there's politics. The parties can compile lists of people or party organizations aligned with their side. Or a candidate could assemble a list of thought leaders he'd like to draw attention to (or he'd like to draw attention to him). Think @lpnational/thoughtleaders.

Though I think this offering alone presents some good opportunities to brands, it ultimately could become a good source of revenue for Twitter. A brand could sponsor an official Twitter List, for example.

So, now, before Twitter actually launches this feature, brands ought to start thinking about how they might want to use it.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Great Ad: Apple Assaults Wired.com

Apple Takeover of Wired.com from Ian Schafer on Vimeo.

Apple continues to be the gold standard in rich online advertising. Best known for its takeovers of The New York Times and WSJ, the company's high production value display ads (No, that's not an oxymoron) for Mac, iPod and iPhone have appeared on a slew of other properties. The above ad on Wired gives interruption a new name. Industry take note: If you're good enough, you can get away with that. (Courtesty of Deep Focus CEO Ian Schafer)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Omnicom Creates Unit to Oversee Digital

A couple stories ClickZ's editors are reading:

Omnicom Forms Unit to Oversee Digital Operations (WSJ)

GE said to entertain offers for NBC

GM, eBay End Online Sales Effort (WSJ)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

See More Posts From:

Today | This Week | This Month

• Send us feedback
|
• FAQ
|
• Technical questions or bug reports?
|
• Newsletter problems?
|
• Site Map
|
• ClickZ RSS feeds

• Incisive Interactive Marketing LLC. 2009 All rights reserved.
|
• Legal Notices, Licensing, Reprints & Permissions
|
• Privacy Policy