by Shankar Gupta, Thursday, Jan 18, 2007 6:00 AM ET
MICROSOFT WEDNESDAY PREVIEWED A NEW adCenter feature that will allow search engine marketers access to MSN data that can be used to predict demographic behavior, traffic, and how keywords will perform.
Microsoft will offer the feature, the Keyword Services Program, through a set of APIs, which are slated for release soon, the company said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters. Other new ad functions previewed Wednesday include a tool that predicts whether a search term is commercial or informational, and another that predicts the size of the demographic of a given keyword.
While adCenter's upcoming features potentially give the service a competitive advantage over Google and Yahoo, MSN also faces serious roadblocks, including relatively low traffic, downtimes and problems with customer service, said Greg Sterling, principal of Sterling Marketing Intelligence. "They're fundamentally challenged as their search share goes down, because it diminishes the inventory they have to sell," he said. "The features that adCenter launched with were next-gen features, but you have to get the fundamentals right, and I think they're still working through some of that stuff."
Earlier this week, comScore reported that MSN garnered just 10.5% of search traffic, compared to Google's 47.3% and Yahoo's 28.5%.
In addition to the search marketing tools, Microsoft also previewed video hyperlink technology, which will allow marketers to create ad links on products shown in videos. The company said it will make that technology available on MSN starting in the spring.
James Colborn, a product manager with Microsoft, also said the company is testing an ad network, similar to Google's AdSense, that allows search marketers to place pay-per-click ads on Web pages with relevant content. "One of the things we did want to do is offer people a content network which in principle is similar to what Google and Yahoo offer," he said. "At the moment, the content ads are in beta with a number of customers."
For now, Microsoft is testing the feature on Microsoft's network of sites, but the company plans to extend it to other publishers, Colborn said.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
MIVA Unveils MIVA Monetization Center
Posted: 18 Jan 2007 11:47 AM CST
MIVA, who is better known as one of the larger 2nd tier PPC search marketing networks unveiled at their headquarter in New York City yesterday their new service for publishers and webmasters, the MIVA Monetization Center.
The Service consists actually of three individual services that offer webmasters and publisher a number of alternatives to monetize their website. The individual services available through the MIVA Monetization Center are:
1. Content Ads
2. MIVA InLine Ads
3. Search Ads
Content Ads is a service similar to AdSense from Google or the Publisher Network from Yahoo! but also publishers to improve on the results by specifying relevant keywords to support MIVA in finding Ads that fit the content. This option is not available in Google’s or Yahoo’s service which rely to 100% on the page content for the determination of relevant Ads without the publishers ability to guide the services directly.
MIVA InLine Ads appear within the publishers content in form of hyperlinked keywords. When MIVA detects a relevant Keyword or Phrase in the publishers content, the phrase will be replaced by a link to an Advertiser and appear if the user hovers with the mouse over the text with the InLine Ads. Publishers can specify on a per page basis if they would like to use the Ads or not.
Search Ads are Ads that are 100% keyword triggered and are meant to be added into on-site search result pages as supplement to the search results returned for a users search query.
Publishers with multiple sites can maintain all of their sites from a single interface, pick and choose from the three services as they see fit and appropriate. For people that already experimented with services like AdSense, especially bloggers, this might be something worth trying out to monetize your Blog. How good the Content Ads system is by itself to determine which Ads are relevant remains to be seen. It is good to know that you have at least the ability to tweak the results my hand a little, if it is completely off, but for a long term success will it be important that the need for manual tweaking of the results will only become the exception and not the norm.
The Service is only available to publishers in the United States and United Kingdom at the moment.
MIVA, who is better known as one of the larger 2nd tier PPC search marketing networks unveiled at their headquarter in New York City yesterday their new service for publishers and webmasters, the MIVA Monetization Center.
The Service consists actually of three individual services that offer webmasters and publisher a number of alternatives to monetize their website. The individual services available through the MIVA Monetization Center are:
1. Content Ads
2. MIVA InLine Ads
3. Search Ads
Content Ads is a service similar to AdSense from Google or the Publisher Network from Yahoo! but also publishers to improve on the results by specifying relevant keywords to support MIVA in finding Ads that fit the content. This option is not available in Google’s or Yahoo’s service which rely to 100% on the page content for the determination of relevant Ads without the publishers ability to guide the services directly.
MIVA InLine Ads appear within the publishers content in form of hyperlinked keywords. When MIVA detects a relevant Keyword or Phrase in the publishers content, the phrase will be replaced by a link to an Advertiser and appear if the user hovers with the mouse over the text with the InLine Ads. Publishers can specify on a per page basis if they would like to use the Ads or not.
Search Ads are Ads that are 100% keyword triggered and are meant to be added into on-site search result pages as supplement to the search results returned for a users search query.
Publishers with multiple sites can maintain all of their sites from a single interface, pick and choose from the three services as they see fit and appropriate. For people that already experimented with services like AdSense, especially bloggers, this might be something worth trying out to monetize your Blog. How good the Content Ads system is by itself to determine which Ads are relevant remains to be seen. It is good to know that you have at least the ability to tweak the results my hand a little, if it is completely off, but for a long term success will it be important that the need for manual tweaking of the results will only become the exception and not the norm.
The Service is only available to publishers in the United States and United Kingdom at the moment.
adCenter Labs Shows off 'Breakthroughs,' Video Hyperlinks
adCenter Labs Shows off 'Breakthroughs,' Video Hyperlinks
Video Hyperlink demo
Microsoft is this week offering what it says is a "glimpse at the future of online advertising" and announced that its video hyperlink technology will debut ahead of schedule.
Microsoft's third-annual Demo Fest two-day gathering in Redmond is showcasing "breakthrough digital advertising tools" by Microsoft adCenter Labs, which is tasked with spawning innovations for Microsoft's adCenter platform.
Microsoft adCenter Labs will work with a national retailer this spring to bring the first Video Hyperlink ad pilot to MSN, Microsoft said. The ad will feature a video segment with embedded hyperlinks for featured products. Those who click on the products will be taken to a page on the retailer's website where they can purchase the item.
"At last year's Demo Fest we said that this technology would take us three to five years to get to market, but due to overwhelming community feedback we've been able to release it in just one year," said Tarek Najm, distinguished engineer and general manager of Microsoft adCenter.
The seven focus areas of adCenter Labs are keyword and content technologies, ad selection and relevance, audience intelligence, social networking, video, platforms, and devices. Among the technologies being developed by the 120 or so Microsoft adCenter Labs researchers and engineers are the following (as described by Microsoft):
- Keyword Services Platform. The platform provides a set of web service APIs related to keyword technologies, including keyword recommendation, forecasting, categorization and monetization, enabling developers to build more intelligent applications for online advertising and beyond.
- Commercial intent detection. Advanced keyword analysis helps differentiate consumers who want to make an online purchase from those who are searching for information about products or performing other tasks.
- Large display feedback. Vision-based technology creates interactive public displays that can measure the size of the audience, as well as track audience gestures and estimate demographics.
- Social video sharing. This is a next-generation video-sharing solution that features a synchronized "commenting" technology. The introduction of in-video, synchronized comments enables a new level of interaction between users, opening up the video as a medium for collaboration.
- Content classification. By accurately analyzing and matching the Web pages included in search results, Microsoft adCenter Labs technology helps increase the probability that the ads displayed during web searches are relevant to consumers.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Tacoda, comScore Combine Audience/Consumer Data
Behaviorally targeted online advertising network Tacoda has entered into a multiyear licensing agreement with comScore Networks to integrate comScore data with Tacoda's Audience Networks database of behavioral data.
The resulting data will contain insights about online audiences and allow advertisers to design stronger media plans and produce and place more relevant online marketing messages, Tacoda said.
"This is the first deal that integrates two of the largest repositories of knowledge about online consumer behavior. Our goal is to synthesize the combined information and offer it to advertisers in a way that will help improve their creative approach and media planning," said Tacoda CEO Curt Viebranz in a statement.
Anthony Psacharopoulos, SVP of comScore Networks, said the firm would be "providing our rich anonymous consumer data - including online visitation, e-commerce, and demographic details - to enhance the targeting segments available through Tacoda's Audience Networks service."
"This partnership will enable Tacoda to provide information that will change the way brand advertisers think about online media," Psacharopoulos said.
The resulting data will contain insights about online audiences and allow advertisers to design stronger media plans and produce and place more relevant online marketing messages, Tacoda said.
"This is the first deal that integrates two of the largest repositories of knowledge about online consumer behavior. Our goal is to synthesize the combined information and offer it to advertisers in a way that will help improve their creative approach and media planning," said Tacoda CEO Curt Viebranz in a statement.
Anthony Psacharopoulos, SVP of comScore Networks, said the firm would be "providing our rich anonymous consumer data - including online visitation, e-commerce, and demographic details - to enhance the targeting segments available through Tacoda's Audience Networks service."
"This partnership will enable Tacoda to provide information that will change the way brand advertisers think about online media," Psacharopoulos said.
Small Business Out of Search Ads?
Small Business Out of Search Ads?
Search advertising is expected to boom in 2007, but small and medium sized businesses may not be able to get in on the action. A new study indicates the bulk of search ads will go to larger companies and brands.
According to a report in Business Week, small brands are getting clickthroughs but they aren't getting the customers. That, in turn, is leading more small and medium businesses to actually cut back on search ad budgets. Why aren't they getting the clientele? Apparently as more users shop around online, the clickthroughs from search ads are wasted. For example, e-tailer BabyAge bought $1.2 million in search ads, received many clicks but actually netted fewer buyers than clicks. The result? They basically doubled their search ad costs.
On the other hand, big brands are seeing large increases in revenue because with their larger inventories they can lower prices - meeting the consumer's want of low prices - and taking those customers from smaller businesses. That drives the cost of their search ads down.
As more big brands move into search advertising, the smaller brands are moving to social marketing. Trying ads on blogs or niche shopping sites rather than trying to compete with big brands for a small piece of the search pie.
Critical Mass or Just Mass? Why Search Marketing Isn’t Exactly the Silver Bullet for Branding
If you’re a brand advertiser, how do you know that huge advertising budget you just sank into online ads will generate revenue? How do you determine an accurate ROI on winning price wars for online search terms? Analysis of this year’s advertising trends claim it’s a sellers’ market out there. Prices for online ad space continue to climb. When media buying becomes so difficult that ad sales reps aren’t returning client calls, it makes sense for ad buyers to re-examine their purchasing operations. Ad buyers representing brand advertisers face multiple hurdles: high client expectations, staggering costs, fierce competition for ad space, and dubious statistics regarding CPM, CPA, and subsequently, the validity of advertising investments.
Just like your Amazon Gold Box is full of stuff you’d never buy, most web sites you visit are full of annoying ads you’ll never respond to. Advertisers are reaching audiences, no doubt, but not necessarily the best targets for their products. How do you find the best target audience for your online ads without going bankrupt? And how do you reach that audience without bothering anyone else?
For brand advertisers, search-based advertising is not a silver bullet. Technology using search terms is limited by site content and misses the value of the actual audience for the site. For example, running ads for Tide detergent based on the search term “tide” could lead to ads being run on sites talking about tomorrow’s high tide at the beach. This audience of surfer dudes is probably not the exact audience Tide detergent wanted to reach. The Tide ad buyer would probably be better off advertising on sites where parents who make household product purchasing decisions congregate – sites talking about kids or schools, for example.
Since the scope of search-based advertising is enormous, brand advertisers can get better results for their ad dollars by finding their target demographic wherever these people congregate online. This is similar to advertising on multiple TV shows that all share a demographic and then running the same brand ads on these shows to raise mindshare among the advertiser’s target consumers. By analyzing and compiling the user demographics of multiple websites, and using this aggregated research to place ad buys, brand advertisers can better connect with customers across a broad base of websites. Specialty and niche sites stand to benefit the most from this approach. While these sites on their own might be overlooked by advertisers, combining hundreds, if not thousands, of sites with similar audiences creates a critical mass that makes them extremely valuable.
Want to make more money this year? Tap into that critical mass. No one doubts that there is plenty of room to expand the breadth and range of online advertising. According to a report by Internet consultant eMarketer, online ad revenues are expected to rise 19%, to $19.5 billion - but that figure represents only 6% of the overall advertising market. There’s a lot more money to be spent online if the value can be proven.
The future of effective online advertising is, quite simply, finding the people who want your stuff, not blanketing a huge population with messages they don’t want to hear. Brand advertisers spend millions figuring out who the best demographic for their products are – they should spend their online ad budgets based on this information for the best results. And the best way to do that is by finding your target demographic wherever they are online, not just dwelling on the search terms that got them there.
Just like your Amazon Gold Box is full of stuff you’d never buy, most web sites you visit are full of annoying ads you’ll never respond to. Advertisers are reaching audiences, no doubt, but not necessarily the best targets for their products. How do you find the best target audience for your online ads without going bankrupt? And how do you reach that audience without bothering anyone else?
For brand advertisers, search-based advertising is not a silver bullet. Technology using search terms is limited by site content and misses the value of the actual audience for the site. For example, running ads for Tide detergent based on the search term “tide” could lead to ads being run on sites talking about tomorrow’s high tide at the beach. This audience of surfer dudes is probably not the exact audience Tide detergent wanted to reach. The Tide ad buyer would probably be better off advertising on sites where parents who make household product purchasing decisions congregate – sites talking about kids or schools, for example.
Since the scope of search-based advertising is enormous, brand advertisers can get better results for their ad dollars by finding their target demographic wherever these people congregate online. This is similar to advertising on multiple TV shows that all share a demographic and then running the same brand ads on these shows to raise mindshare among the advertiser’s target consumers. By analyzing and compiling the user demographics of multiple websites, and using this aggregated research to place ad buys, brand advertisers can better connect with customers across a broad base of websites. Specialty and niche sites stand to benefit the most from this approach. While these sites on their own might be overlooked by advertisers, combining hundreds, if not thousands, of sites with similar audiences creates a critical mass that makes them extremely valuable.
Want to make more money this year? Tap into that critical mass. No one doubts that there is plenty of room to expand the breadth and range of online advertising. According to a report by Internet consultant eMarketer, online ad revenues are expected to rise 19%, to $19.5 billion - but that figure represents only 6% of the overall advertising market. There’s a lot more money to be spent online if the value can be proven.
The future of effective online advertising is, quite simply, finding the people who want your stuff, not blanketing a huge population with messages they don’t want to hear. Brand advertisers spend millions figuring out who the best demographic for their products are – they should spend their online ad budgets based on this information for the best results. And the best way to do that is by finding your target demographic wherever they are online, not just dwelling on the search terms that got them there.
MIVA Launches Publisher Network
by Shankar Gupta, Wednesday, Jan 17, 2007 6:00 AM ET
SEARCH ENGINE AND KEYWORD AD seller MIVA today launched an ad network for publishers, MIVA Monetization Center, that will offer pay-per-click search keyword ads, content-targeted ads, or in-text hyperlink ads.
The content-targeted ads appear in IAB-standard ad units, similar to Google AdSense content-targeted ads, while the pay-per-click search ads appear if a publisher places a MIVA-powered search box on the site. The in-text hyperlink ads appear as linked words within the content, and pop up when moused over.
Chrysi Philalithes, vice president of marketing and global communication for MIVA, said the company aims to provide more customization and transparency than larger competitors, and to give publishers a larger share of the revenue. She said that publishers' share of revenue will increase based on the ads' performance. Publishers will also be able to customize how the ads appear on their pages, Philalithes said. "Fonts, colors--we give a great deal of customization," she said. "It's really built there to get the publisher as much control and visibility as possible."
This new offering is unrelated to MIVA's recent decision to end a search ad partnership with Yahoo and replace the company with Google, Philalithes said. That deal affected only sites managed by MIVA Direct, which produces white-label toolbar and Web search.
SEARCH ENGINE AND KEYWORD AD seller MIVA today launched an ad network for publishers, MIVA Monetization Center, that will offer pay-per-click search keyword ads, content-targeted ads, or in-text hyperlink ads.
The content-targeted ads appear in IAB-standard ad units, similar to Google AdSense content-targeted ads, while the pay-per-click search ads appear if a publisher places a MIVA-powered search box on the site. The in-text hyperlink ads appear as linked words within the content, and pop up when moused over.
Chrysi Philalithes, vice president of marketing and global communication for MIVA, said the company aims to provide more customization and transparency than larger competitors, and to give publishers a larger share of the revenue. She said that publishers' share of revenue will increase based on the ads' performance. Publishers will also be able to customize how the ads appear on their pages, Philalithes said. "Fonts, colors--we give a great deal of customization," she said. "It's really built there to get the publisher as much control and visibility as possible."
This new offering is unrelated to MIVA's recent decision to end a search ad partnership with Yahoo and replace the company with Google, Philalithes said. That deal affected only sites managed by MIVA Direct, which produces white-label toolbar and Web search.
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