Google Upping the Volume on Mobile Ads

Recently Google released its AdWords on mobile. Today it followed up by announcing the availability of AdSense for Mobile devices. Obviously their moves are to capitalize on the geometrically increasing numbers of consumers surfing the web away from their laptops or PCs. Unlike in the PC web space, in the mobile market Google is in the position of having to catch up to the other companies out there like AdMob who've built up a huge publisher network with tons of mobile-specific advertising. These recent moves into the mobile arena help Google quickly bolster its mobile ad inventory however the change has the industry buzzing. Here is what some are saying: Blogs - The Life and Times of ADMOB - "unexpected and unfortunate", Russell Beattie's Weblog - "Google's Mobile End Run"

Time Warner Cable Plan Multimedia Marketing Tool

Time Warner Cable Media Sales has asked Live Oak Interactive to develop a multimedia marketing tool that would allow the cable company to move seamlessly between traditional television advertising platforms and Internet-based marketing. The system is scheduled to be rolled out in two markets in September, followed potentially by a national launch. Link: Media Daily News, Aug 21, 2007 - TV Advertisers Adopt Systems To Play Cross-Platform Ads

Yahoo's future with 'Panama'

Yahoo hopes to put a weak 2006 behind it with the full release of its 'Panama' advertising platform in early 2007. The company would love to forget a year in which it lost search market share to Google, saw online ad revenues increase at a slower-than-expected pace and watched its share price plummet by 40%. But while Yahoo spent the last two years developing 'Panama,' which is supposed to narrow the gap with online search and advertising leader Google by increasing the accuracy of search-related ads and the accompanying click-throughs, companies like Google have already moved beyond search into 'non-premium' online ad venues, inking deals with social networking sites like MySpace while also encroaching into Yahoo's specialty, online branded advertising. Links: BusinessWeek Dec 26, 2006 - Why Yahoo's Panama Won't Be Enough, Blog - Don Dodge: Why Yahoo's Panama Project won't be enough

First Half - Ad Spending Increases

Advertising spending has increased by 5.1% during the first half of this year verse the same period a year ago, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Many media categories saw a bump, however the largest gains were led by internet advertising (+49%), Spanish-Language TV (+21.8%) and Local Magazines (+10.4%). Network TV increase 6.3%, while National Cable TV saw only a 0.4% rise. Spot TV in the top 100 markets was up 3.5%; however, the smaller DMAs were down -0.6%. Network Radio continued in its slump at a -3.5%, while Spot Radio saw a modest increase of +1.4%. The largest increases came in the telecommunications field, with AT&T leading the pack with a 51 percent jump to $964 million while half of the top ten advertisers reduced spending including overall No. 1 GM, down 3% to $1.7 billion. Link: MediaDailyNews 09/01/06 - Nielsen: First Half Ad Market Grows 5.1%

eMedia Exchange

e-Media Exchange could put the ad-buying/selling world on its ear. eBay is bringing its auction format to the ad world by connecting buyers and sellers of TV advertising in an online exchange. They are testing the new service, called the E-Media Exchange, with leading marketers, agencies and cable networks, including Toyota Motor, Wal-Mart Stores, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Home Depot, as well as a handful of media buyers including Interpublic Group's Magna Global. These companies are set to spend around $50 million combined to purchase ads on the exchange, which is supplied and managed by eBay. The test is located at www.admarketpilot.com. This move is intended as a first step in establishing a market value for TV spots, based on true demand. Links: AdWeek 08/04/06 - EBay Powers Online TV Ad Exchange, AdAge 08/04/06 - Marketers Release Details of Online TV Trading System

More Sports Viewing Moves Online

The success of online viewing of Sporting event are paving the road for the growth of Web companies like MediaZone.com and WCSN.com. They have focused on the small, but passionate fan base of so-called second-tier sports like tennis, cycling, beach volleyball and track and field and have built their business models around the online pay-per-view screenings of their events. This coming Monday MediaZone.com will begin showing the first of some 250 Wimbledon matches however since 2004, sporting events have generated more than 500,000 paid subscriptions. While MediaZone and WCSN charge viewers, CBS and ESPN opt for free programming with advertising. CBS had a huge success with their innovative move to webcast this years NCAA finals and ESPN is currently streaming World Cup games online. Pay-per-view or ad supported model aside we have definitely turned the corner for sports viewing on the net. Links: USAToday 06/23/06 – More Sports go online for a fee Past SMM Post: SportsLine.com Breaks Records 04/12/06 and Online Demand for CBS’s NCAA Tournament Surpasses Capacity 03/27/06

World Cup Internet Traffic Spike

Online viewership for Sporting events are breaking all the records this year, as broadband penetration continues to climb and viewer's become more comfortable with watching video on their computers. Today Broadcasting & Cable reports that ESPN's live streaming coverage of the World Cup game between the US and Ghana led to the largest spike in internet traffic so far. It's Net Usage Index found a noontime average of 7.2 million visitors per minute. That crushes the previous record spike of 5.4 million viewers per minute, set during March Madness this year. Link: BroadcastingCable.com 06/22/06 - World Cup "Nets Traffic Record

Internet Gains Eyeballs from Local TV Stations

This morning the Wall Street Journal reports that a broad shift of eyeballs and advertising dollars to the Internet is putting the pinch on profits at local TV stations. If that wasn’t bad enough for the broadcasters, there are few hit shows flowing in from parent networks, a trend that's driving viewers to other media. There is almost the prefect storm forming around the business as viewership declines and major ad categories, like automotive, are cutting back schedules. The buzz from industry exec’s is that a lot of the budgets that currently are moving online are strictly experimental, and the hope is that when the experiment is over, those companies that tried it will come running back to broadcast.

Wake UP!! The fact is, the number of consumers doesn't seem to be increasing at anywhere near the rate that each consumer's personal entertainment and information options are. This means further fragmentation, more competition and the need for new strategies to grab an audience and maintain/increase profits. Many stations are following the cash to the Internet themselves and are moving their website components away from the common “value-added”. Unfortunately in the race for stations to reinvent themselves many are proving that they just don’t know how.

Highest Growth Expected from Online Advertising

Online sales are expected to climb 20% this year to $211 billion, according to a recent study. While travel is expected to lead the way with more than $70 billion in sales, other categories expecting strong growth include computer hardware and software, cars, and apparel. Link: ZDNet/Reuters May 22, '06 - Online Sales expected to rise 20% in 2006

Lost in the Clutter - Changing Times

A survey released by Bolt Media suggests that 85% of people ages 16-34 spend their free time on the internet compared to 69% for watching TV. No surprise however they also uncovered that only one in four 16-18 year-olds can name all four major broadcast networks: ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. Please note: the survey was conducted by Bolt.com, a social networking and user-generated content site that's trying to attract upfront ad dollars. Anyone think they might be biased? Links: Bolt.com summary of the survey results - http://mediakit.bolt.com/research/, AdAge.com 05/15/06 - Study: Only One in Four Teens Can Name Broadcast Networks, BusinessWire 05/15/06 - Upfront Kicks off as Teens Tune out

CBS Launches 'innertube' Broadband Channel

CBS Corp. has launched "innertube," a new, ad-supported broadband channel offering a wide range of free entertainment programming to Internet users. Innertube launched yesterday with a lineup of original series produced expressly for the Internet, as well as new shows that are companions to popular CBS brands. Initial advertisers include Brinkmann Corporation, Cadbury Schweppes, Chili's, Pier 1 Imports and Verizon SuperPages.com. Innertube will also become a distribution outlet for streaming encore episodes from CBS's primetime lineup and for webcasts of content from CBS's library of 2,600 titles and 100,000 hours of programming. Link: CBSNews.com – CBS Launches Broadband Channel, CBS’s Innertube Site

Five Second Video Ads?

There is no doubt that the Internet as a medium has arrived as marketers increasingly utilize it as a way to reach and communicate to their current & future customers. Now with improving bandwidth and faster download speeds videos are catching the consumers attention. Sites like YouTube, Google Video, heavy.com and others are witnessing record traffic growth because of the popularity of videos. It is this background Metacafe has arrived with a new business model.

Metacafe is looking to carve out its own niche by going for the middle ground. Metacafe wants to play in the space between user-generated content at one end (YouTube and Google Video) and exclusive or edited video selections at the other (iFilm and Heavy.com). Metacafe manages uploaded content with “collaborative filtering” by its own viewers to enable the best videos, posted by users or professional video-content providers, to bubble up. In addition, Metacafe draws an older audience than the teen popular YouTube.

Arik Czerniak, chief executive of Metacafe wants marketers and ad agencies to tailor messages to the preferences of viewers of short-form videos online. He feels 5 second video advertisementnt before videos would be more meaningful than the 30 second videos. His business model is simple:150 million monthly video impressions with five-second ads at a $10 cost per thousand delivered randomly could bring in some $2.5 million a month. In his estimation, that’s more than enough to qualify as successful. Link: AdAge 04/24/06 - Are Five-Second Ads the Future of Web Marketing?

TV Networks Distribution Model Adapts

Over the past year we have followed the movement of video content from the Major Network and other providers to the Internet. Kenneth Musante writes for the interactive advertising blog Adotas.com. Here is an excerpt from a recent post: "... It’s obvious to anyone that the future of video is distribution via some form of the Internet. It’s not just traditional TV advertising that’s dying; it’s TV itself. It‘s not just about ratings and statistics. Video distributed over the Internet is interactive, engaging, and on-demand. While the Internet pipes aren’t yet big enough to warrant direct streaming of HD-quality TV shows, TV networks should at least be preparing for the day when their primary business of broadcasting content over the airwaves becomes pushed aside by the distribution of content over IP. With today’s online advertising technology, it should be possible to serve appropriate video ad segments according to a person’s viewing habits, how they found the video in the first place, where they are located, and what content is contained in the show. Advertising over the air, or even via cable is too static. All you can do with them is estimate the number of viewers by a score determined by a third-party rating service. In other words, a targeted video advertisement delivered via IP is worth more per second than a 30-second spot delivered to a broad, un-targeted audience via TV. ..." Link: Adotas.com - Watching the Nervous Little TV Networks

SportsLine.com Break Records

"From Madness into Masters," reads the company’s news release. As they touted early on and promised advertisers, CBS SportsLine.com has had a crazy few weeks. Their efforts and risk has been rewarded handsomely with record-breaking traffic to the site. During the month of March, the SportsLine.com brought in 8 million unique visitors, up 50% over 2005. Link: 04/12/06 - From Madness into Masters New Release Past SMM Posts: 04/05/06 – The 2006 Masters Tournament, 03/31/06 – NCAA Web Action wins big, 03/08/06 – March Madness Live on the Web

Yahoo is Influential

Yahoo is the top Search Engine when rated by Influence to Purchase
Media influence and/or engagement are hot topics in today's ROI driven ad world, and when it comes to the top search engines Yahoo! is the overall #1 choice for most influential on purchase decisions and Google is number 4. The findings are from BIGresearch's latest Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMMVII), which surveyed over 15,000 respondents. "When you look at the impact of Internet Advertising on specific purchase decisions and not just click throughs, the impact of internet advertising is a different story," said Joe Pilotta, VP/Research at BIGresearch. Links: BIGresearch Press Release