Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
Google Releases Campaign Insights
Ad Age’s Michael Learmonth looks at Google’s answer to Microsoft’s engagement mapping called “Campaign Insights.” According to Learmonth, Google compares data from the advertiser’s ad server and marries that to data from the Google Toolbar (- so that’s what it’s for!). The toolbar provides anonymous tracking of users who have been exposed to the ad and their habits such as what searches they did and sites they visited. The results are then compared to a similar group that hasn’t been exposed to an ad, and voila, two weeks later the advertiser gets an idea on how display budgets effects search. Two weeks though… that is a long time. As the timeline gets tightened up, the data will become much more useful. Read the article.
Time For Scarcity!
Media Link LLC consultant Wenda Harris Millard intimates that it may be time for MySpace to consider introducing scarcity to its ad model. In an interview with Mike Shields of MediaWeek, Millard says, “The notion of advertising in a social environment is by nature intrusive. [That kind] of advertising doesn’t really work.” Read more.
Baker On Real-Time Bidding
Following up on their recent webcast, DataXu’s CEO Mike Baker defines real-time bidding on ClickZ in the first of a series of columns. Bakers says RTB benefits include cost efficiency, yield management, actionable insights, retargeting, creative optimization and performance. Read the article.
Eric Ries points to a new article by Inc.’s Darren Dahl who highlights the value of lean product development and “just getting the d*mn thing out there” – better known as Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Dahl notes the way many startups use the opposite method of “stealth” where the startup fully develops the product behind closed doors and hope that the consumer likes it. Read more.
AOL Talking Content
As its new strategy is rolled out, AOL is apparently leading with content rather than AOL Advertising (was “Platform A”) as Ad Age’s Michael Learmonth covers recent “agency summit” efforts by the Vienna, Virginia-based company to distinguish itself with media buyers. Some marketers suggested that AOL has too many niche properties that consumers don’t really know. AOL responds that it will be looking to integrate the AOL brand more. Read the article.
Yahoo! Aiming At Content
Tom Krazit of CNET says that Yahoo! – like AOL – is aiming at reviving its content business even though it’s already enormous. Entertainment is singled as one area where Yahoo! would like to create more content and continue to grow – the only snag has been getting advertisers interested. Read more.
Agencies On Microsoft/Yahoo! Search Pact
According to Jessica Hodgson of Dow Jones Newswires, the heads of WPP Group, Publicis, Interpublic and Omnicom provided a show of support for the Microsoft and Yahoo! search pact currently under review by the Justice Department. The letter penned by the AAAAs chief executive, Nancy Hill, and signed by each holding company leader, read that the combination of search platforms and technology “is good for advertisers, marketing service agencies, website publishers and consumers.” Read more.
Nielsen To Add Web Meters
In an effort to keep better count of audience on the web, the core of its online subscription service, MediaPost’s Joe Mandese says that Nielsen will be adding “Internet meters” to its TV meters that are already installed as part of its panel-based counting system. An interesting idea – I guess cookie deletion issues are getting trumped by the old world meter method? Unfortunately, it would seem this turns Nielsen to the world of guessing audience through estimates as opposed to actually counting it. Read more.
Mike On Ads On RTB Speed
AppNexus CTO Mike Nolet looks at serving speed for real-time bidding starting with how the browser normally downloads ad server information and that RTB is not necessarily about doing it all faster. For example, there is a persistent TCP connection and no DNS lookup (it’s cached) with RTB. Read more.
Unica Pursues Universal Tag
Unica launched its new Interactive Marketing OnDemand tool which brings together “web analytics, customer analytics, email marketing, and web personalization in a single application” as another company drops into the attribution space. With so much data at the marketer’s fingertips, Unica hopes to bring different feeds together and quickly create decisioning opportunities – where to boost spending, tweak campaign emails, etc. Read the release.
Protecting Brands In UK
The IAB in the UK looks at the ad network consortium, IASH, and how its looking to create a new code of conduct around websites that will include a “introducing centralised site vetting, and revising the Code of conduct to create tighter controls over classifications of inventory.” Read the article.
Virtual Currency Meets Real Currency
Virtual currency company, Sometrics, announced that the company has received $4 million in additional funding lead by Walt Disney Company-affiliated Steamboat Ventures to seed further development of its social gaming platform designed to jumpstart publishers in the virtual currency business. Read more on TechCrunch.
The Next Google Cash Cow
Seeking Alpha’s Harmit Kamboe looks at what he sees as the next cash cows – and potential earnings boosts – for Google. Kamboe postulates that display advertising and DoubleClick Ad Exchange is a such a cow, “The introduction of the ‘View Through Conversions’ could offer display advertising to the vast numbers of businesses (small and medium) that currently use Google mainly for ‘search marketing’.” Read the article.
The Optimization Of Posting
The optimization dial is everywhere as Media Kitchen’s Barry Lowenthal writes about posting rates in Ad Week – such as those on social media sites’s fan pages. Lowenthal says about one client’s experience, “The client who was tasked with overseeing the page noticed that when he posts at a certain frequency more people unfriend the page. A modern-day churn rate.” Read more.
