With memories about how the recession of 2000-2001 decimated the Internet sector, we’ve been looking for signs that the current economic turmoil is again going to melt the wings of the current crop of Internet high-fliers to fall back to earth. I’m going to say something that makes me cringe: it really is different this time. As you recall, most of the online ads in 2000 were the most baseless form of branding: dot coms that wanted to make enough noise to justify a public offering, or big companies that were trying to ... lire la suite
With memories about how the recession of 2000-2001 decimated the Internet sector, we’ve been looking for signs that the current economic turmoil is again going to melt the wings of the current crop of Internet high-fliers to fall back to earth. As you recall, most of the online ads in 2000 were the most baseless form of branding: dot coms that wanted to make enough noise to justify a public offering, or big companies that were trying to show they “got it.” When things got tough, all these campaigns got the ax. That’s not to say that Internet companies this time around are immune from the effects of a recession. They aren’t. But the Internet economy right now has become a lagging indicator of the health of the economy. And this time, however bad it gets in the economy overall, it will probably affect the online companies a bit less. So far, there is little evidence of pain: Google, the biggest advertising company online (and offline), had a strong first quarter and said that it doesn’t see much impact from the economy now on its business. The mood from AdTech the big advertising convention in San Francisco last week was optimistic. And my anecdotal conversations with people in various parts of the online ad business confirms much the same picture. Yahoo and some other online ad companies will report their results in coming days so we’ll have a better view soon. Right now, we are in the middle of a significant shift of marketing money to the Web. After a decade of testing and dabbling, marketers have found some online methods actually can bring them sales. Moreover, they are catching up with customers who spend a greater percentage of their time online than most advertising budgets accord to the Internet. Second, much of Internet advertising is tied closely to what people are actually still buying, rather than the hopes of marketers that they will buy more. There doubtless is some wishful thinking in all this. If the economy really slows, everybody will share the pain. And there is opportunity cost: Even if online is growing, it is growing more slowly than it would if the home builders were still erecting a McMansion every five minutes.
Four leading US newspaper companies are to announce a new joint company today to sell targeted local online advertising on their respective sites.Complete Story »
Online advertising spending will reach $25.9 billion in 2008, up from $21.1 billion in 2007. Search marketing accounts for 40 percent of that amount. Video ads, about 10.2 percent of the market this year, will account for 18.5 percent by 2012. Display advertising's share, at 21.1 percent, will remain flat through next year. [paidContent]
newVideoPlayer("/Millard.flv", 506, 423,""); Is Martha Stewart co-CEO Wenda Harris Millard, a former Yahoo executive, a bit ungrateful? In this excerpt from an interview with BoomTown's Kara Swisher, Millard explains what's wrong with what Google's made everyone believe about online advertising. The story, as it's conventionally told here: Silicon Valley owes its rebirth to Google. Google's distributed ad network, AdSense, allowed startups to fund themselves before venture capitalists recovered enough from the bust at the turn of the century to take notice of them. Google's auction-sold search ads have earned the company so much cash, it can spend it almost willy-nilly. The problem: Google's impact on online advertising has been otherwise disastrous. Google will put AdSense against almost any content. Watching Google make its billions, rival ad networks decided they should too, flooding the market with inventory sold at ever-dropping rates. The problem with Google search, in which ads only show up when customers literally ask to see them, is that now all ad-supported Web companies and ad networks think they can create technology that will target advertising equally as well — even though Google search-ad targeting is just a crude keyword match, constantly improved by click-through data.
Microsoft has stated it’s ambitions to be a big player in the world of online advertising and in my quest to stay abreast of all things new and technical I’ve tried to keep up to speed with this business. It’s hard though - there is a whole new language where terms like inventory, agency and publisher are used a lot and seemingly interchangeably at times. Fortunately Microsoft is full of smart folks and in Ian Thomas I have a pal who “gets” this industry. I spent some time with him recently and he explained the minefield of terms in a simple, elegant way. Even better, he did a series of posts about it on his blog
We're very aware that not everyone who's using adCenter Analytics or reading this Web Analytics Blog is necessarily interested in online advertising. We’ve made a conscious to make sure the content here is not too advertising-heavy as there’s nothing worse than getting sold stuff you don’t need, especially if you’re quite happy with the rich information the tool is providing you with. However, Microsoft Advertising’s flurry of activity over recent years in the online advertising space, buying...(read more)
The online marketing industry saw double-digit growth for the last 5 consecutive years. eMarketer had predicted as late as August that the industry would grow from $24.5 billion in 2008 to 28.5 billion in 2009. The Interactive Advertising Bureau reported a 15.2% growth in online advertising spending during the first semester of 2008, which is in line with eMarketer's predictions. However, despite the fact that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong,” we have to consider the implications (...) - Blog / Europe, USA & Canada, Research & Figures, Marketing & WOM
“One need look no further than search advertising to see that despite Microsoft's size, technical prowess, and strong incentives, it has been unable to compete effectively with Google in search and that Google's lead in search advertising has continued to grow because of network efforts.” But the next flood of advertising money is coming online for display ads - flashy photos or videos that are used to generate brand recognition rather than immediate clicks for advertisers like Pepsi and Nike. And display ads will provide the next battleground between Google and its foes. “Significant companies like Microsoft, Time Warner and Yahoo! that continue to make investments in non-search advertising will be unable to counter the anticompetitive impact of this transaction.” You can count on Google’s lobbyists giving a good fight against a marriage of its closest two competitors. Microsoft, after all, did its best to block the Google-DoubleClick deal. The technology giant hired the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller to create a group called the Initiative for Competitive Online Marketplace.
Philip Kaplan's FuckedCompany, the site that chronicled Silicon Valley's downfall at the turn of the millennium, is mercifully back in spirit as FuckedGoogle. But Saul Hansell doesn't think the site will find material during the latest economic downturn. In a Bits blog post discussing the prospects of a contraction in the advertising market, he writes: "I'm going to say something that makes me cringe: it really is different this time." Below, the post is cut down from Hansell's 650 words, so you can get back to selling ads all the faster. Online ads in 2000 were baseless branding: dot com noise to justify a public offering, or big companies trying to show they "got it." When things got tough, all these campaigns got the ax. This time, however bad it gets, it will affect the online companies less. We are in the middle of a significant shift of marketing money to the Web. Marketers have found some online methods actually bring them sales. Internet advertising is tied to what people are buying. Somebody is going to buy a car tomorrow, so if you are a carmaker, you don't cut back your Google ad for the keyword "convertible" or your banner on that hotrod site. You may scale back that expensive TV campaign. The publisher of a big site said his business will hold up this year, but if the economy continues to languish next year will be much tougher. (Photo by stallio)