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Web Advertising with a Bang

Do you ever tire of the advertisements flying at you from every which direction? Or, do you even notice anymore?

Each and every day we are hounded with messages from companies trying to sell us their products. Ads are impossible to escape. Even the bottoms of the security bins at the airport are covered with media these days. But, the Internet and new technologies like DVRs (which let us fast forward through those often pesky ads) have changed the advertising landscape, making advertisers, and the media companies who host their ads, scramble to find new ways to get their messages out to key audiences.

According to a recent article by the Associated Press, many traditional media companies, with CBS in the lead, are taking risks with what’s being called the “Big Bang Theory” – offering incentives on the Web to get people to watch programming and tune into ads elsewhere, like on their TVs at home. 

The goal is to increase online viewership without jeopardizing traditional TV ratings and DVD sales, while making more money off of Web programming.  Though such a structure, companies can acquire new revenue streams online, and can ask for more money from advertisers, as the Web provides a better mechanism for demographic targeting and tracking viewer numbers, and provides the ultimate added benefit of letting viewers immediately act on ads by clicking through to make purchases.

Other forms of online media, such as live video broadcasting (courtesy of sites like Ustream.TV), also provide advertisers with compelling new ways to reach viewers. Much like TV, live video shows on the Web – e.g. a snowboarding tournament or a live concert - many times offer natural breaks in programming that allow for mid-roll ads. This gives marketers the opportunity to appeal to viewers while they wait for their show to come back online. And, unlike TV these ads can’t be avoided by pressing fast-forward on the DVR.

Of course the Internet is still somewhat unchartered territory for advertisers. But, as they determine how to navigate the landscape, and get better at targeting us with the messages that matter - both online and off - hopefully we'll reap the benefits.

Either way, brace yourself. Because love them or loathe them, advertisements, much like the Big Bang theory, won't be going away any time soon.

Click Fraud and the Golden Age of PR

Check out Steve Rubel’s post on Click Fraud and the source article in BusinessWeek. According to the article, click fraud is “a dizzying collection of scams and deceptions that inflate advertising bills for thousands of companies of all sizes. The spreading scourge poses the single biggest threat to the Internet’s advertising gold mine and is the most nettlesome question facing Google and Yahoo, whose digital empires depend on all that gold.”

Says Rubel: “My take on all of this is that advertising is clearly at a major crossroads. The old model of throwing stuff up there and seeing what sticks is dying. Search engine marketing, while certainly effective, can have its challenges too and clearly can be gamed. Over time, people are going to say “enough.” They’re going to want companies to engage them in conversation before they are convinced they should buy. This is why I believe we’re about to enter the golden age of PR.”

Rubel is right. Unless Google, Yahoo, and others change their practices, the click advertising model is likely to collapse in upon itself. It’s not just about scammed advertisers abandoning the model. Search for an item, say ping pong tables, and you get more links to more tables from more sellers than you can possibly assimilate. It’s unpleasant and intimidating—unless you are already dealing with a select group of trusted retailers.

Which is why Rubel is right that relying purely on search engines will likely be replaced with something more conversational, which paves the way for trust. Still, the “golden age” of PR may be a bit further off than we hope. While many of the experiments in community—and Eastwick is involved in several—are extremely successful and point us in the right direction, companies need to be more tech savvy and invest more time and money to create a community. And while large retailers and tech companies will move more quickly to adopt new models and reap the benefits, new tools and partnerships will be needed to help smaller retailers and non-tech companies to participate.

 

In the Good Old PR Time

“PR in the Internet Age: Same As It Ever Was?” asks BusinessWeek’s Rob Hof while commenting on Robert Scoble’s complaint that Google passed up the blogosphere and briefed only a few, mostly print, news outlets on Google Apps for Your Domain.

Writes Hof: “It does seem ironic that the world’s most prominent Internet company – one that’s specifically trying to get us all to do our work online instead of on the desktop – chose to brief mostly print publications. Maybe I should be glad even Google thinks print matters. But for such an innovative company, the tactic sure looks like a throwback.”

Well, yes, PR is the same as ever. While we often focus on how new technologies are changing the way we communicate and do business, good PR pros will use any technology and any technique they think will be most effective. Doing what’s expected – even if it's usually effective or very cool –  is not required or necessarily the best strategy, and employing a “throwback” can itself generate buzz – witness all the attention Google’s strategy is getting. In fact, by its willingness to comment on everything, the blogosphere continues to create more opportunities not just to innovate but also to experiment.

Take a look at “Street Stunts On The Digital Highway” and the power of blogs to turn a street corner billboard into a media event.

Eyeballs in the Age of Algorithms?

“It’s an affliction plaguing everyone from master marketers such as Coca-Cola (KO ) and Ford (F ) to ad agencies to newspaper chains, TV and radio networks, even Internet powerhouses like Yahoo and Microsoft's (MSFT ) MSN. They’re all scrambling to answer the central conundrum of their existence: How do you reach folks who don’t sit still long enough to see or hear ads -- and who use their iPods and TiVo (TIVO )s to vaporize them instantly?”

Susan Berfield pulls together some emerging answers in this BusinessWeek Online article. Will technology eliminate annoying mass advertising in favor of providing relevant information on the things specific individuals really need? Or is it simply dumping more noise over the signal?

RSS Advertising

Gotta watch this one. Will this evolve into a fine form of permission-based marketing, or spam?

Many Advertisers Still Leery of Blogs

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal says that blog ads are on the rise, yet many advertisers are still uncomfortable about a medium they can't control.

[M]any companies are wary of putting their brand on such a new and unpredictable medium. Most blogs are written by a lone author. They are typically unedited and include spirited responses from readers who can post comments at will. Some marketers fear blogs will criticize their products or ad campaigns. And, like all new blog readers, companies are just learning how to track what's being said on blogs and which ones might make a good fit for their ads.