Internet Cookies Aren’t Evil: 6 Myths Busted December 28, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a commentVia Daily Bits Article HERE
Viruses, Trojan horses, worms, phishers, spam e-mails, and online fraud; these are the perfect ingredients to scare the unaware users of the Internet. And I am not talking about a certain group or country here. It seems like anywhere around the world, people have heard of such threats and have become more afraid to the point that they even take too much a precaution with (or against) their most trusted websites. Sadly, innocence played the bad guy’s role this time, and one of its victims is the tiny little chunk of data we call Internet cookie.
Today, let’s play myth busters and help our dear Internet cookies rid themselves of a number of accusations. Let’s investigate such misconceptions one by one.
Misconception #1: Internet cookies are a form of virus or worm that can cause damage to your computer.
For those who believe and are going overboard on thinking that Internet cookies are destructive viruses or worms, then I’m sorry for breaking the news to you. Internet cookies cannot cause damage, unlike a computer virus or worm. In fact, cookies do not really have anything to do with your computer system, as it is only composed of text understandable by both your browser and the web server that sent it. In short, Internet cookies are composed of only data, not programmed or programmable code.
Misconception #2: Internet cookies are spywares that give away your private information to the entirety of the web.
Don’t instantly believe your anti-spyware when it detects “something malicious” from certain websites, for it might just be judging your cookies by mistake. Internet cookies contain information like browser type, IP addresses, and some private information, like usernames, that you provided (out of your own free will, of course), and that fact makes you afraid of Internet cookies being spywares themselves. But fear not, for the reason why Internet cookies took such information about you is because they only want to customize your surfing activities to your own liking.
For example, most websites that require registration for you to visit them have an option of whether to remember you or not. This means that the web server of one of those websites can use Internet cookies to identify you among their database of users. The Internet cookie for that website will then customize your surfing activity by remembering your login information for you, so you don’t have to type them again. However, as mentioned in number one, Internet cookies are non-programmable and non-configurable, so there’s really no need to worry about them being spywares.
On a personal note, I must warn you not to fully trust such “auto-remember” features of a website especially when you are using public or office computers. My warning is not because your Internet cookie might be a spyware (which it is not), but you should avoid being remembered by the Internet cookie of a website because some malicious others can easily access your accounts once they use the computer where you are the last one who logged in to.
Misconception #3: Internet cookies produce pop-ups or allow their entrance to your browser.
This is definitely a “no-can-do” for Internet cookies. Simply put, pop-ups comprises an online advertising scheme that increase Internet traffic, as they are contained in a separate browser window once its link is clicked. I find it rather doubtful that an Internet cookie could be triggered, not to mention open a web browser and burden the fast-paced Internet traffic that has always been loaded with server requests and replies.
Misconception #4: Internet cookies give way to spamming.
Spamming, according to Wikipedia, is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages. In relation to Internet cookies, this, certainly, is not one of the functions of an Internet cookie, especially since an Internet cookie is just a group of data, not a programmed or programmable code (this seems to be the best explanation for all the misconceptions people have against Internet cookies). Also, they can only serve as informative tools browsers use for the computer user and nothing more.
Misconception #5: Internet cookies are for advertising purposes only, causing alarm on the consumer’s part.
Internet cookies serve a lot of purpose other than advertising. While it is true that advertisers somehow make use of the cookies’ ability to store browsing behaviors of users who click on their advertisements in a web page, Internet cookies are more than what we thought. Actually, Internet cookies care a lot about the consumers in this virtual market.
Like any form of media there is today, the Internet also runs on advertisements to make browsing websites free for consumers. It would be too hard for you, a consumer, if you need to pay a website before browsing it every single time, right? It would also be too hard for online publishers if they should generate revenues of their own, similar with advertisers if they cannot reach their audience. Internet cookies make this seemingly triangular problem by allowing advertisers to promote on different publishers’ websites for consumers. Through watching a consumer’s surfing behavior, the cookies ensure that, while keeping enough ads for advertisers to catch an audience and for publishers to generate income, consumers will not be bombarded by too much promotion.
This means that website publishers’ revenues will remain constant (if not increase), which will maintain the good qualities of websites and website contents. Also, advertisers will continue supplying resources to the publishers. In turn, Internet surfing will remain free of subscription for us consumers. I believe everyone will agree with me that the last premise is for everybody’s own good!
Misconception #6: The best way to avoid any damage caused by Internet cookies is to disable and delete them.
You don’t want to do this, believe me. Internet cookies make our virtual lives easier by giving us an option to remember all our seemingly repetitive details we keep on typing on websites’ textboxes. Imagine your Internet life without cookies to aid you. You have to type every single detail about you whenever you have to log on some website.
This holds true for online buyers who do not have time for sorting out details and figuring out where their desired products are. Online buyers tend to just browse at a specific category of online products, get some news on what’s latest about their purchase, learn about the stock prices, and know exchange rates and other involved fees. Internet cookies actually do all those things for online buyers because, as mentioned earlier, the cookies observe the surfing behavior of a person. In the case of our online buyer above, the cookies will give highest priority to the types of products the consumer usually look for, setting the web page to that product as if by default. Also, other online services the consumer is fond of requesting for will be “suggested” by cookies through website elements like advertisements and safe pop-ups.
In relation with hindering cookie activities, a lot of Internet users believe that they will be safe from computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horses if they do disable and delete their Internet cookies. That is so wrong, because cookies cannot carry any other information than that of your browser and its web host. Computer threats like viruses need not require cookies to infect your computer. We will discuss those computer risks some other time.
Companies behind it?
L
et me remind you that the misconceptions above are often abused by certain software companies for their gain. There are online software companies that overstate security threats because of the misconceptions above, persuading you to install their program to fight such “devilish tracking device” which we all know as Internet cookies. Don’t believe them, especially now that you know there is nothing to worry about regarding cookies. Be the harbinger of good news for Internet cookies, and educate those who are sticking with their false beliefs. I can only hope that someday, one of the online security organizations will look into this issue and bring Internet cookies to salvation.
Anyway, let me end this article with older findings of surveys that still speak the truth even up to now. In a study entitled “Users Don’t Understand, Can’t Delete Cookies,” by Brian Quinton of Direct Online Magazine last May 2005, a number of online companies and security watchers published reports on behavior of consumers towards cookies. Starting with a report by Jupiter Research, research entities published their own studies, all of which consistently points that roughly 35 to 50 % of online users delete their computer cookies at least once a month.
Moving along within the study, Insight Express, an Internet marketing research firm published all of their findings. Here are figures about how Internet cookies are wrongly perceived:
The indication that users are ascribing evil intent to cookies was made clearer in another portion of the InsightExpress survey. Asked to check off all the reasons that they delete cookies, two-thirds of respondents—66.5%– said they erase cookies to “protect my privacy/ prevent tracking.” That response was the second most widely given in the survey, following only “clean computer/ free up disk or memory”, something 77.4% of those polled said they agreed with.
At least the privacy/ tracking prevention answer has the virtue of being valid. Other choices from the list of reasons to delete cookies show a serious misunderstanding of the technology’s capabilities. About 57.2% said they get rid of cookies to “remove spyware/ adware” from their hard drives. About 43% said doing so “eliminates spam”; 38.7% said it prevents pop-ups; and 33.8% said it prevents computer viruses. Fifty percent of those polled also said they deleted cookies because it was “recommended”.
And finally, on June of 2005, BURST Media published a report about cookies entitled “Don’t Understand Them, Can Be Good, But, Should Be Deleted” and I would like to wrap this article up the same way they did. Here’s the last paragraph, a quote, from their report:
“Privacy and security issues taint online users overall perception of Internet cookies. Nevertheless, only one-out-of-four say they want Internet cookies ‘eliminated’,” says Chuck Moran, BURST! Media’s Market Research Manager. “There is significant opportunity for the Interactive industry – including content publishers, agencies and clients as well as third parties to build user understanding of and trust in Internet cookies.”
Happy Holidays from the Great White North December 24, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a commentFTC – Google – DoubleClick – AOL – Quigo – Daily Show – MediaBytes 12.21.2007 December 21, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a commentFTC Proposes Self-Regulation Rules for Behavioral Ad Players December 21, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a commentThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today released five proposed guidelines for self-regulation in the behavioral advertising industry.
The guidelines document suggests a general framework for how Web sites and other stakeholders in the behavioral ad space should communicate with Web users, gather data about their online activities and treat that data once they’ve collected it. With the release, the FTC opened a two-month comment period, after which the FTC may release formal guidelines.
The first and perhaps the most glaring of the proposals aims to make data collection more transparent to consumers, of whom “few appear to understand the role that data collection plays” in subsidizing free content, the FTC says. The suggested rule also calls for an opt-out mechanism on all sites engaged in behavioral targeting.
According to the proposed guideline, “Every Web site where data is collected for behavioral advertising should provide a clear, concise, consumer-friendly, and prominent statement noting that (1) data about consumers’ activities online is being collected… and (2) consumers can choose whether or not to have their information collected for such purpose.”
The would-be rule also indicates such sites should provide “a clear, easy-to-use, and accessible method for exercising this option.”
Other principles include one requiring “reasonable security” of consumer data; one proposing companies keep data only long enough to fill a “legitimate business need;” and another insisting data collectors only gather sensitive data such as information on a consumer’s health or children’s activities if they’ve obtained express consent.
If the language seems exceedingly non-specific, there’s a reason, said Eileen Harrington, the FTC’s deputy director for consumer protection.
“We are proposing broad principles and self-regulation… precisely because of the rapidly changing and evolving nature of these practices, including the parties and the nature of the parties that participate in them,” Harrington told ClickZ News. “These principles are intended to be broad enough and flexible enough to encompass anyone who is operating in that space.”
Two additional guidelines cover the use of data tracking for purposes other than behavioral advertising, and notifying consumers of policy changes regarding the use of behavioral data.
The complete proposed guidelines document is available on the FTC’s Web site.
Viacom and Microsoft Sign Advertising and Content Deal December 19, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a commentBy Kenneth Li
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp won an estimated $500 million, 5-year Internet advertising deal with MTV Networks owner Viacom Inc, giving the software giant a boost against rivals Google Inc and Yahoo Inc.
Microsoft will help Viacom place advertising on its network of entertainment Web sites in the U.S., such as MTV.com. Microsoft will also be the exclusive seller in the U.S. of remnant display advertising, which is ad space that Viacom has been unable to sell, company executives said on Wednesday.
The deal replaces online ad firm DoubleClick, whose services Viacom currently employs among other partners. Google, which Viacom sued for $1 billion for copyright infringement, is set to purchase DoubleClick for $3.1 billion.
The broad agreement involves Viacom’s online games, television shows and films. Microsoft will license long- and short-form television and movies from Viacom for Microsoft’s MSN Internet network and its Xbox 360 game system’s online network.
The deal is seen as a coup for Microsoft’s Atlas advertising platform as it makes inroads against Google Inc and Yahoo Inc in the overall online advertising business, which Microsoft has estimated at $80 billion by 2010.
Each company has raced to purchase new advertising businesses and lock in exclusive agreements.
Yahoo signed a deal in April with Viacom to provide search advertising for 33 of its Web sites, which remains in place. Viacom’s properties include the Paramount movie studio, and MTV and Comedy Central cable television networks.
Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft in August made its biggest purchase ever in the $6 billion acquisition of digital ad firm aQuantive in an effort to transform into one of the Web’s top two players in the online ad market in three to five years.
About 50 Web publishers have signed on to use Microsoft’s ad platform since it announced the aQuantive deal in May, said Kevin Johnson, Microsoft’s president of platforms and services. “This deal is another milestone in our quest to build a world-class advertising platform,” he said in a phone interview.
In October, Microsoft sealed the exclusive rights to sell ads outside of the United States for Facebook, and it also purchased a small stake in the popular Internet social network.
As part of the Viacom deal, Microsoft also agreed to buy ads on the media company’s broadcast and online networks over five years and to help Viacom establish itself as a publishing partner on Microsoft’s casual Internet gaming sites.
“We are always in discussion with Microsoft,” Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman said in a phone interview. “This broad-based relationship will lead to conversations in other business areas.”
Responding to a question of what other areas, Dauman said video games development could be one arena in which the two companies could work together.
Viacom, which also announced on Wednesday a splashy development deal with “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Top Gun” producer Jerry Bruckheimer, sees online games and those played on game systems as a major pillar of growth.
“What impressed me was the extent to which Microsoft is making the commitment, technological, financial and otherwise to be a winner in this space,” Dauman said.
Microsoft shares were up 20 cents to $34.94 in early trading on the Nasdaq, while Viacom shares were up 1.8 percent, or 76 cents, at $43.83 on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Kenneth Li; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Derek Caney)
Digitas Shoots For Photo Enthusiasts With Samsung Camera Phone Campaign December 19, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a comment| by Tameka Kee, Wednesday, Dec 19, 2007 7:00 AM ET | |
| DIGITAS IS AT THE HELM of a recently launched Euro-centric campaign for Samsung’s G800 mobile phone–a promotion aimed at showcasing the phone’s 3x optical zoom camera and its ability to get up close without degrading image quality. To court photography enthusiasts and a demographic Samsung has deemed “trendsetters,” Publicis’ digital boutique tapped JPG Magazine to add rich media, video and social networking elements to the campaign. The trendsetters were defined as communicators, bloggers and online content creators: “People who want the next cool thing because of what it can do for them with the features it has, not just because it’s cool,” according to Christopher Ray, vice president and associate director of marketing for Digitas.
Digitas chose JPG Magazine, a print and online publication geared toward amateur photographers, because the magazine fosters a community that is enthusiastic about taking high-quality pictures–pictures that aren’t typically associated with camera phones. Members submit their pictures for various categories or themes on the site, and the community chooses which ones will be featured in the next print issue. Since late November, Samsung has been a featured sponsor of several themes on JPGmag.com. Ray reports that the first theme they launched garnered over 1,000 new submissions within the first few days. Although JPG Magazine doesn’t offer the reach of a photo-sharing site like Flickr, the site’s focus on passionate photographers outranked Flickr’s critical mass. “Flickr is great, but users can take it as seriously as they want, which means that both the demographics and the image quality run the gamut,” Ray says. “JPG Magazine is for people who like to take great pictures, but it’s not as intimidating as an established brand like Popular Photography.” The experience extends beyond JPG Magazine. When users click on the Samsung banner, they’re taken to a microsite where they can craft text and picture emails to send to their friends. Dubbed the “Emotion Translator,” the site features images submitted by JPGmag.com members that focus on specific emotions and can be paired with messages. For example, users can send an “I’m sorry” email, complete with a black-and-white shot of a pensive man at the beach or a broken vase with water, flower petals and stems smashed on the floor. WPP’s London-based GHI & Partners was the lead agency behind the initial TV and print campaign, an effort that heralded the camera phone’s ability to help consumers “express [their] emotions perfectly” through premium-quality pictures. Fellow WPP shop Mindshare was the agency behind the campaign’s search execution and media placement. According to Ray, Samsung and Digitas will use multiple metrics for evaluating the online campaign’s effectiveness, including number of emails sent, time spent on the site and return visits. But raising brand preference and purchase intent are the main goals, and those metrics will be measured through research and questionnaires conducted by Dynamic Logic (the research arm of WPP’s Millward Brown).
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MediaPost -People On The Move December 18, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a comment| Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007 |
| Optimedia U.S. tapped FRANK FRIEDMAN to become head of local broadcast for the agency. He succeeds ELLEN DRURY, who recently left the agency. Friedman was previously senior vice president and managing director of Optimedia Indianapolis, and will continue to oversee that agency as he transitions to his new role. In addition, JAY SHEMANSKE, current vice president and director of strategic communications for Optimedia Indianapolis, will handle client responsibilities and day-to-day management of that office. |
| DREW WEICKER was promoted to team leader of strategic business development at REDBOOK magazine. |
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TBWA Worldwide announced that TOM CARROLL will succeed JEAN-MARIE DRU as CEO of TBWA Worldwide. Carroll will retain the position of president for TBWA Worldwide and Dru will take the position of chairman. |
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The United States Golf Association named CHRISTOPHER P. WIGHTMAN as managing director, communications. Wightman recently served as publisher of GOLF Magazine. |
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Boelter + Lincoln Marketing Communications hired ANDREW GROSMAN as interactive leader. Previously, Grosman worked as a Web master at RF Technologies. |
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mcgarrybowen is opening a Chicago office to be led by agency managing director, ADRIAN KEEVIL, who will split his time between New York and Chicago. As part of the office launch, mcgarrybowen has also tapped its first Chicago-based creative team, NED CROWLEY and JONATHAN MOORE, formerly executive creative directors at Leo Burnett. |
| Corder Philips elevated JENN HAUSMAN to associate media director. In her new role, she will assist in the overall development of media strategy and creation of all agency media plans, along with any new business development. |
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TARA MARSHALL was named director, integrated sales, Sundance Channel. Marshall was most recently at ABC Digital Media Sales where she sold properties including “The Academy Awards,” “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives.” |
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JEFF SELLINGER was promoted to senior vice president, CBS Mobile. Sellinger, who has been vice president, CBS Mobile since November 2006, is responsible for the overall operations of CBS’s Mobile business. |
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THOMAS GEWECKE was named president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. Gewecke most recently served as executive vice president, global digital business for Sony BMG Music Entertainment, where he headed worldwide digital business development efforts and oversaw the creation of new digital ventures. |
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Saatchi & Saatchi LA hired EDWARD YU as group account director on Toyota. Yu joins the agency from Doner in Newport Beach, where he was group account director on Mazda. |
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Fallon hired JOHN NUSSBAUM as a senior art director. Nussbaum will work on new business and assist on the Travelers and Equinox accounts. He joins the agency from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. |
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CHRIS LENOX and DAVE PACHENCE have been promoted to creative directors at Agent 16. |
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Draftfcb Chicago hired ANNETTE FONTE as vice president, global account director for Brown-Forman’s Casa Herradura Brands. She will be responsible for leading and coordinating the agency teams on global brand building efforts in all key marketing disciplines. Fonte joins Draftfcb Chicago from Miller Brewing Company, where she served as senior brand manager for Miller Lite Hispanic. |
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Cliff Freeman & Partners named TOM CHRISTMANN as executive creative director. |
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The VIA Group hired CHRIS AVANTAGGIO as an art director and JANINE ROCK as a client strategist. |
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Cramer-Krasselt named CRAIG LIKHITE as creative manager. Likhite previously served as partner/creative services director at JWT/Chicago working on clients such as Kraft, Nestle and Kimberly Clark. |
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ANTJE M. NEWBY and ELIZABETH E. ROACH have been named senior vice presidents and LESLIE M. BARANOWSKI, JASON MACEMORE, LYNNE G. SCHRAGE and JEANNE S. SENDA have been named vice presidents at Campbell-Ewald. |
| Stardust Studios named JONATHAN WU as art director for the company’s West Coast studio. |
MarketingVox- Consumer Groups Defend Right to Receive Mobile Adverts December 18, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a comment
You gotta fight for the
right to text ads!
Eight consumer and public interest groups filed a complaint with the FCC, protesting an incident in which Verizon Wireless blocked text messages sent by NARAL Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights group.
The petition states carriers should not be able to block texts sent by political groups or advertisers.
But the group also cites another incident, where Verizon blocked messages from VoIP provider Rebtel.
A correspondence from Rebtel to MarketingVox editors stated that in addition to blocking Rebtel media messages, Verizon also blocks informational texts containing local phone numbers its customers can use to call friends abroad.
“Verizon is deciding what its customer can and can not send to one another. That’s pretty Big Brother,” stated an associate for SparkPR, which represents Rebtel.
But if the FCC honors the consumer groups’ petition, it may liberate dramatic amounts of mobile messages — including spam and untargeted advertising — that carriers have held at bay.
Supposedly in the interest of subscribers, Verizon blocks between 100 million and 200 million mobile texts per month.
MarketingVox- Industry Buzz and Snippets: 12/18/07 December 18, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a comment
Olay done gone digital
Agencies and Ad Networks:
- Ad network AdReady secured $10 million in funding from a variety of venture capital firms, money it will use for marketing and new hires.
- Viewpoint, which purchased Springbox in October, has changed its name to Enliven Marketing Technologies Corporation. The “new” firm will focus on disseminating Premium Rich Media, in-game advertising, and widget marketing. The name change will take effect in January ‘08.
Campaigns of Note:
- Olay is launching Olayforyou.com, the online centerpiece for the launch of five new personal care products. The products and site will be promoted in a multimedia campaign.
- Chrysler created a new Facebook application that lets people send branded holiday cards promoting its new Dodge Grand Caravan.
- Microsoft’s Ultimate Steal campaign lets college students create avatars that interact with each other. This is an effort to push a low-cost version of Office for students.
Major Brands:
- Kimberly-Clark says it will begin developing campaigns that are more media-neutral, with multiple executions in mind and not just built around 30-second spots.
- The NFL and Ticketmaster have partnered to offer a ticket resale service to compete with existing players like Stubhub. The site will launch sometime in 2008.
Europe:
- Expedia is looking to more offer more services and products to European travelers as the US market for booking online travel arrangements matures.
- A service called TVCatchup, which allows people to record shows online and watch them later, is coming under legal scrutiny from the BBC and other broadcasters. One major grievance: The service is ad-supported.
- Odnoklassniki.ru (The Russian Classmates.com) has hit seven million registered, and 2.5 million daily active, users. Quintura calls it the largest social network in Russia and Eastern Europe.
Facebook:
- Researchers are examining Facebook interactions for glimpses into behavioral trends in the new media world.
- Some say Facebook has turned from a college hangout spot to an online force to be reckoned with, with the momentum to go up against the big boys in the online ad game.
Google:
- Google says its TV Ads program reaches 13 million households, much more than previously reported.
- European regulators say they’ll hold Google/DoubleClick hearings next month, marking the billionth story to this effect since Google’s decision to purchase it.
- Google wants to start indexing videos more completely. Toward this end, it created Video Sitemaps. Publishers may place it on their sites and index away.
- Brandweek interviews Google’s Kevin Kells on the company’s efforts to lure more consumer packaged goods advertisers into its programs.
- As 2007 folds shut, some have begun the annual sport of speculating on what Google will buy next year.
Miscellany:
- Mobile Messenger, the company behind myriad odd-sounding banner ads online, has become the top online advertiser in the US, just months after entering the market.
- Only six more years and blogs can drive, as the word “weblog” celebrated its 10th birthday yesterday.
- Ever wonder what equestrians wear on their wrists? Try Rolex, which has become the “Official Timepiece of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.”
- A firm called Peanut Labs claims virtual currency may one day outdo web research. Bill Cook of the ARF calls the idea “very interesting and germane” on the surface.
- In countries like the Philippines, which depend on mobile for mass communications (including political messages), the revolution will be text messaged.
Clients Push for Web Upfront Sales December 18, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a commentMike Shields
DECEMBER 17, 2007 –
Two years ago, MSN’s sales team started having talks with retailers in the spring about locking up key ad avails for the holiday shopping season. Last year, those conversations were pushed up to February. Now, according to Mike Hard, MSN’s vp, U.S. online ad sales, his team is spending the current holiday season talking about the next one, and in some cases is selling inventory a year or more in advance.
That flurry of advanced selling is indicative of an emerging trend in online advertising—a business typified by perpetual media planning. Even as the medium continues to expand and fragment, and as the industry preaches long tail and audience aggregation, sellers from top sites say that many brands have been pushing them for more upfront-style buying.
Many note that categories such as retail, pharmaceuticals, travel and packaged goods are following the lead of the automotive business, which for the past few years has seen advertisers commit significant portions of their budgets to the top handful of publishers in each segment on a yearly basis.
Several forces appear to propelling this trend. The Web is becoming a more crucial ad vehicle for traditional brands, and thus the dollars are getting more serious (eMarketer predicts growth of 29 percent in 2008). And, as many categories grow more competitive, brands risk being shut out of the most desired inventory if they don’t move quickly.
“We’ve definitely seen some pretty dramatic changes in the way people are doing upfronts,” said Hard. “It’s been particularly dramatic in the last three or four months.”
That’s not to say the Web is going the way of TV and brands will soon be dumping two-thirds of their budgets for the year during a single week in May anytime soon. Rather, sellers say online advertising’s version of an upfront turns the old model on its head. “What’s different is that advertisers are leading the upfront instead of the publishers,” said Scott Meyer, CEO, About.com. “They are inviting their key publishers in. It’s flipped around.”
Of course, as the number of pages consumed on the Web continues to grow, particularly with the explosion of user-generated content, there is no shortage of inventory. But, “there is not lots of quality out there,” observed Meyer. “It’s mostly low-rate, undifferentiated stuff. Marketers are realizing that quality stuff is going earlier and earlier.”
The quality of inventory that tends to go early, according to sellers, is super-targeted content (like the Web pages related to specific car models, for example), home-page avails, video and those ever-elusive “big ideas” that clients always seem to want. “More advertisers want custom packages,” explained Sheryl Goldstein, senior vp, sales, About.com, who spent the last several years at AOL. “And the only way to do that is selling upfront.”
One publishing segment where upfront selling is becoming prevalent is health, as online marketing becomes increasingly crucial to the pharmaceutical industry. Greg Smith, COO of Neo@Ogilvy North America, said that several years ago, he was encouraging pharma clients to sign deals with top health publishers like WebMD.com for as long as three years “to grab every single cholesterol impression out there.”
Michael Keriakos, co-founder and executive vp of Waterfront Media, the parent company of Everyday Health, said that for the first time his company was invited to several advertiser-led upfront events this year. As a result, the company has already locked up 35 percent to 40 percent of its revenue goals for 2008.
Wayne Gattinella, president and CEO of WebMD, said his site’s experience was similar, and that several brands committed 2008 budgets by September. “That was earlier than any time previously,” he said. “I wouldn’t categorize it as a tidal wave. But these are large commitments of scale.”
Beauty also is buying in early, according to Tessa Wegert, interactive media strategist, Enlighten. Wegert said that for her client Kao Brands (Bioré, Jergens), there are two or three core beauty sites, including style.com, that have become must-buys, and competition is fierce. “In the last few years, we found that we need to be buying way in advance of when we would for other clients,” she added.
A similar dynamic exists in the bridal space, according to Carrie Reynolds, publisher, TheKnot.com, which has participated in upfront selling for several years for many endemic brands. Lately, “what’s happening is that nonendemic brands are starting to adopt these practices,” she said.
Yet some buyers remain highly skeptical of this trend. In fact, many bristle when the word “upfront” is even uttered. Regardless, the consensus is that as online advertising matures, it’s become somewhat more cyclical. “Buying and selling is getting a little bit less crazy than it was,” said Jeff Ratner, North American digital director, MindShare Interaction. “But there is still a lot of opportunistic buying.”
Amanda Richman senior vp, director of digital services, MediaVest, wondered whether some sellers were overstating the importance of such upfront events. For digital buyers, “it’s a 52-week upfront,” she said.
