Earlier this month, the Online Publishers Association announced that a broad set of its members would be adopting new larger ad units. The initial list of participants is fairly impressive, including more than 2 dozen top tier publishers such as CNN, The NY Times, WSJ Network and ESPN. The full list of publishers reaches over 66% of the total Internet audience, or roughly 108 million visitors. These heavy hitters are adding some truly massive units to their arsenal of ad units.
The “Fixed Panel” – a 336×860 pixel banner. It’s wider than standard skyscraper and follows users as they scroll down the page.
The “XXL” – a 468×648 pixel box with expandable video capability.
The “Pushdown” – a 970×418 pixel unit that takes up over half of a page before rolling up.
There’s little doubt that these ads performed in tests leading to rollout. On a limited basis I’m sure they resulted in a lift in CTR, engagement, and possibly even conversions or transactions. It’s hard to disagree with the OPA’s intent to foster innovation and efficacy in the online space, but this particular move is a dangerous one that could easily backfire in the long term.
Last night the UsableClicks guys dropped in at the Boxee meet-up at Webster Hall. We killed two hours with a thousand other Boxee fans (if you don’t know what it is, think of it as a complete entertainment portal for your Apple TV or computer that pulls in web content like Hulu in a Tivo-like format) learning about the new upcoming features and listening to the intense Q/A from the audience. Why do we do it? Why do we kill hours on end learning about products that only a relative handful of people use, that right now has minimal, if any, opportunities to leverage for marketing? (more…)
Over the last year there has been an increased focus on brand’s needs to openly embrace the consumer. Brands that have fostered an open dialogue with their audience, have been celebrated as understanding the culture shift and stepping into the modern times of marketing, while brands that continue to dictate to their audience and ignore the feedback have been demonized as likely to fail in the long run.
There is a lot to be said about the best methods for brands to embrace social media and making the transition to consumer-friendly communication, but right now I am interested in taking a look at what caused the culture shift itself.
With manydocumentedcases of publishers reporting drops in ad revenue, now is the time for media buyers to shine. If you still have a job, and still have a client who is in the need of online media, now is your chance to be a hero. And by hero, I actually mean you have the chance to capitalize on the misfortunes of publishers.
For the past few years publishers have been holding the premium price tag over even the most simple of media buys. I know this very well from both sides, as a publisher of a health and fitness destination and as a media buyer on-behalf of clients. The premiums were easy to understand; with good inventory scarce and the digital ad boom well under way, it was the best way to crank up the revenue. All conversations with top tier publishers typically included a “custom” or “big idea” opportunity. It should be obvious that, although you only buy what you want, certain types of desirable inventory was locked away for big budget only media buys. This locked out advertisers who were solely interested in a specific audience within prospective sites.
I am here to announce, and should have months ago, that those days by and large are dead – for now. Media planners all over the internet should be gobbling up severely discounted rates wherever they can. In a regular market planners have the power to dramatically alter any campaign by executing on-target partnerships and inventory buys with publishers, but in this environment they have the power to be a marketing super hero! PlannerMan to the rescue!
During News Corp’s quarterly earnings call earlier this month, global media mogul Rupert Murdoch explained his long-term position on Internet advertising. He states that the almost infinite increase in ad inventory is putting a constant downward pressure in prices, making it difficult to monetize audiences, especially with ad spending on the decline.
A large chunk of my responsibilities at Yahoo! deal with this exact problem. In an environment where online advertising is becoming a commodity, how do you maximize the selling of premium inventory while using networks and exchanges to monetize the gaps? All while achieving the highest possible rates the market will bear. In an ideal world, exchanges and adservers would maximize network traffic to monetize each impression to its fullest. The truth is that the imbalance between supply and demand, as well as the relative immaturity of exchanges is causing a huge gap, and impressions are selling for bargain bin prices.
I am a Senior Strategist at SS+K. I handle digital & social media strategy for a number of clients. I also keep a personal blog here. View Kevin Skobac's profile
Last night the UsableClicks guys dropped in at the 
During News Corp’s quarterly earnings call earlier this month, global media mogul Rupert Murdoch explained his 
View Kevin Skobac's profile