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Fear of Preroll Ads Eases

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

New Study Helps Dispel Belief That Online Video Viewers Will Surf Away
AdAge
By Emma Hall

Published: August 18, 2008
LONDON (AdAge.com) — The perils of preroll appear to have been vastly overstated, according to Nate Elliott, research director at Jupiter, who suggests audience loss as a direct result of prerolls could be as little as 5%….

…Europeans prefer to watch free ad-supported online video than paid online video, with 48% opting for ads and 26% preferring to pay. Marketers can capitalize on this new acceptance as long as they obey a few golden rules, Mr. Elliott said…

…Clutter is also off-putting and needs to be controlled. A preroll, plus companion banners, plus as many as eight other ads on a page will frighten consumers off. And lastly, creative rotation is also key for a better user experience…   Full Story

The Critical Advertiser - I’m just saying, is a value-exchange standard that eliminates all the clutter far behind?

Filed in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Will Pandora Play ‘The End’ Soon? Royalty Rate Hikes Could Be Its Demise

Monday, August 18, 2008

paidContent.org
By Matt Kapko - Mon 18 Aug 2008 12:37 PM PST

…Last year, the Copyright Royalty Board ordered per-song performance royalties to be doubled for use online. Rates will increase from 8/100 of a cent per song per listener to 19/100 of a cent per song per listener by 2010. Pandora’s royalty fees this year are projected to hit $17 million, about 70 percent of its projected revenue for the year. The fee increases don’t effect traditional or satellite radio, but SoundExchange, an organization that represents artists and record companies, is trying to up those rates as well.

“We’re losing money as it is,” Westergren told WaPo. “The moment we think this problem in Washington is not going to get solved, we have to pull the plug because all we’re doing is wasting money.” Pandora makes its money from ads placed on its website – no ads run between songs, but it plans to start airing brief sponsor ads in the audio feed that will say “something like ‘the next half hour is brought to you by …,”

…Pandora developed an extremely popular iPhone application that’s successfully brought many new users on board, but innovation and positive user experiences only go so far. While the company cherishes the fact it was founded and started by musicians, it’s not operating Pandora for purely altruistic measures. There is some opposition growing at Congress, but it could be too little too late. And the outlook doesn’t look great on that front anyway. Will Sirius XM face similar rate hikes as it looks to push its reach further beyond satellite receivers and onto the iPhone, for example? Access to music is converging around all of these technologies. Perhaps a single, universal rate should be legislated across the board. After all, wouldn’t that create the healthiest competitive landscape for all players? What do you think?   Full Story

The Critical Advertiser - The revenue potential of each platform is not equaled, therefore a flat rate doesn’t make sense. Pandora has tremendous opportunity to earn huge revenue because they operate on a two-way interactive appliance, the Internet. Sirius can only rely on increased subscription rates or ad support via commercials which would cause channel surfing.

Pandora requires the user to start the music stream. Engagement opportunity #1 for advertiser. After it plays for a while, the music stops and it asks “are you still listening?” The viewer again needs to touch the computer.

If Pandora would turn to a value-exchange model, where the viewer “earns” the music stream after completion of a brief full-screen ad, they could deliver huge metrics for advertisers and create an unstoppable financial engine.

Don’t take my word for it… which I’m sure you won’t…. or better yet ask the user, if their choice is to see their music go off the air - OR - trade their attention for free music streaming, which will they go with? Dare I say Pandora could even offer a subscription product for users who want to unstoppable music ad free.

Filed in Music | Comments (0)

Video Ad Study Shows High Engagement Rates

Monday, August 18, 2008

MediaPost
by Mark Walsh, Monday, Aug 18, 2008 7:00 AM ET
Video Ad StudyCompletion rates for pre-roll video ads approached 90% and click-through rates averaged 10% in a new study of video ad units by Break Media and video ad technology provider Panache.

The companies said those figures and strong results on overlay ads demonstrate high levels of user engagement for video ads, and help to validate spending in the emerging ad category.

In particular, the research was intended to provide fresh data backing up new video ad standards adopted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau in May.

“Our research was a result of our desire to provide data about the effectiveness of those new standards to our clients and partners, and to lay a foundation for future research initiatives to build and expand upon,” said Break CEO Keith Richman, in a statement.

Despite the widely touted promise of online video, a dearth of professional content, lack of standard formats, and concerns about alienating viewers with overly intrusive ads have proven to be hurdles to monetization. The new IAB standards were aimed at streamlining and expanding media-buying for Web video.

The Break-Panache study, conducted between May 20 and Aug. 2, involved four types of IAB-standard video units: pre-rolls, interactive pre-rolls (including a call-to-action), non-overlay ads (running at the top of screens), and overlays (running in the lower third of screens).

The test featured campaigns for the Honda Element, T-Mobile’s Side Kick Lx, and cable network truTV’s “Most Daring” reality show. The spots were placed “run of site” across Break.com, a video site geared to a young male audience and offering user-generated, “prosumer,” and professional video.

The study included a total of 5.85 million impressions.

Both types of 15-second pre-rolls had an 87% completion rate. The click-through rate for interactive pre-rolls was 11% to 35% higher than the average 10% rate for standard pre-rolls.

For overlay ads and non-overlay banners, about 78% viewed the ads for at least 15 seconds. Non-overlays had click-throughs of 0.08%, while overlays were higher at 0.65%–five times the industry average for standard display ads.

The study also found that making an entire interactive pre-roll clickable led to click-through rates four times higher than when just the call-to-action was clickable. The use of rich media and bold colors also led to higher click-throughs, including triple the rate for non-overlays.

At least one media buyer thought the 10% click-through rate the study had for pre-rolls was unusually high. Adam Kasper, senior vice president of digital media at Media Contacts, said 1% to 2% was more typical on pre-rolls, with 6% to 8% at the high end. “I wouldn’t tell a client to expect 8% [click-throughs],” said Kasper.

But he added that the completion rates for pre-rolls and click-through rates on overlays cited in the Break-Panache research seemed to be on target.

As a separate comparison, online video ad network BrightRoll in July showed a 77.8% completion rate on 15-second pre-rolls and a 0.54% click-through rate. BrightRoll CEO Tod Sacerdoti said the network has never run a video campaign with a click-through higher than 6.1%.

A Break Media spokesperson acknowledged that 10% was a high rate, but noted that Break.com has a highly targeted audience and that the advertisers were very relevant and their campaigns had strong creative.

The report emphasized the importance of tailoring creative development to marketing objectives. “It’s about picking the right ad units and the right mix of units,” said Steve Robinson, CEO of Panache.

EMarketer last week dramatically lowered its forecast for online video ad spending in 2008 to $550 million from $1.4 billion, based on changes in methodology. The revised estimate is much closer to Interpublic unit Magna Global’s projection of $555 million in Web video ad dollars this year, a 54% gain from 2007. Link to Story

The Critical Advertiser -  About Panache:  “Founded in 2006, Panache is a privately held company headquartered in Los Angeles. The Panache technology enables Internet video sites and networks to dynamically deliver any ad format directly into video content from a third-party ad server or ad network…”

Pushing their own agenda maybe?  BrightRoll hasn’t come close to these metrics and they’ve been doing this for years.

Filed in Online Video | Comments (93)

LA Times Names Former DirecTV Head Hartenstein As Publisher; Zell Says LAT’s A Keeper

Monday, August 18, 2008

paidContent.org
By Rafat Ali - Sat 16 Aug 2008 12:52 PM PST

…Hartenstein has never run newspapers, though he is considered the father of satellite TV industry. He led DirecTV from its inception in 1990 until late 2003. More recently, he was the CEO of a SPAC called HD Partners Acquisition Corp., a company that raised about $150 million to buy companies in the media, telecom or entertainment sectors, but dissolved earlier this year, according to SEC filings.

Nikki Finke: “OK, so why Hartenstein for LA Times publisher? I’m told it’s because he understands subscription-based product and new media distribution after taking DirecTV from zero to 12.5 million subscribers despite very stiff competition from cable.”

LAT’s own story puts the challenge for him in perspective: Whether Hartenstein’s success at building a business from scratch translates to a declining industry that’s under assault from a range of newly sprouted competitors remains to be seen. Those who have worked with him say he’s adept at choosing effective lieutenants, which could help compensate for his lack of publishing experience.

Staci adds: And how did he push that subscriber base up at DirecTV? For one, with exclusive programming—for instance, spending nearly $3 billion for exclusive rights to NFL out-of-market football over the course of the contracts signed while he was there. … Full Story

The Critical Advertiser - Say it isn’t so… is the media really uttering the “S” word?  Subscriptions?  What word did you think I meant?  This should get very interesting.

Filed in Publishers, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Facebook Tests Ads Packaging Video, Comments

Friday, August 15, 2008

MediaPost
by Mark Walsh, Friday, Aug 15, 2008 7:00 AM ET
In its latest experiment with social advertising, Facebook has launched new ads combining in-banner video with the ability for members to post comments visible to friends on the social network. The video ads occupy the new “sponsor” placement on the right side of the home page that Facebook introduced as part of the site’s recent redesign. A Facebook spokesman said the new features are part of ongoing tests of different interactive features for ads in that space…

Questions surrounding the ads that invite user comments have less to do with privacy than advertisers’ willingness to accept possibly negative feedback undercutting marketing messages.

Inside Facebook’s Justin Smith said in a post Thursday that while he saw a few “‘Lame!’” comments about “Tropic Thunder,” “the ad comments powerfully take advantage of Facebook’s social dynamics to draw attention to an ad in a way that is impossible without the social graph.” Full Story

The Critical Advertiser - Banners turn to towers, turn to interstitials, turn to peel aways, turn to expandables, turn to floating ads, turn to overlays, turn to little bird icons.. turn to another novel idea to “draw” attention until this one burns out in the market place too.

Are advertisers going to pay more for this? If so how much? If the ad, like AdLife’s version, allows people to click inside the ad, will that constitute a click so the advertiser pays on that action? How do you quantify those clicks versus ones that are product driven?

Call me cynical, call me doubtful, call me Critical, The Critical Advertiser that is!

Filed in Online Video | Comments (5)

ComScore Offers Potential and Actual Reach

Thursday, August 14, 2008

ClickZ
Posted by Enid Burns at August 13, 2008 5:18 PM

ComScore said today it changed the way it’s reporting on ad networks, effective with the August 2008 data. You’ll get a chance to see the changes when they are released in mid-September.

Where previously comScore only provided data on unique audience, the new reporting will provide two sets of data measures: “potential reach” and “actual reach.”

Potential reach is defined as “a calculation of unduplicated visitors all sites with which each ad network has contracted to deliver advertising,” according to a comScore statement.The information will be based on written documentation provided by each of the networks.

Actual reach will represent the number of ads served by the network during a stated reporting period. Networks must provide comScore with identification protocols defined by the research firm for rendered ads to participate in the actual reach report.

See for yourself. Here’s a look at comScore ad network rankings from earlier this year. Full Story

The Critical Advertiser - Maybe we need to go back to the definition of what is, is.  Because defining reach feels like a reach.

I recommend four categories:

1. Potential Reach - unduplicated visitors
2. Actual Ads Served - Represent the number of ads served
3. Percent Ads Shut Down Using Skip or Close Function (that have that function)
4. Percent Ads Generating Interactivity

Filed in Publishers | Comments (0)

Olympics Give NBC Universal First Crack at Cross-Media Metric

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Network to Provide Data on Audiences Across All Screens
By Brian Steinberg
Published: August 13, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — NBC Universal displayed its first attempt to measure consumption of the Olympics across diverse media platforms today, suggesting that views of the Beijing Games via mobile devices and the web were gaining serious traction…

TV still rules
Mr. Wurtzel said TV remained the largest driver of viewing activity, representing more than 90% of total audience exposure on the first four nights of Olympics broadcasting. He said viewers appeared to be using online media to sample events they hadn’t seen or to review highlights.

Initial ratings for the event have impressed media buyers, with Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Magna determining that the opening ceremonies for the current Beijing games snared more households than any other opening ceremonies since the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. The ceremonies also represented the “highest-rated kickoff telecast for any Olympics held outside the U.S.,” Magna said in a research note.

While NBC will make TAMi information available for all of its programs, don’t expect advertisers to buy and sell ad time off of it, said Mr. Wurtzel. “It gives you an insight that you normally wouldn’t have about TV viewership across platforms,” he said.  Full Story
The Critical Advertiser - Crack is what you’d have to be on to:

1. Pay $900 large for the rights to the Olympics
2. Slap in hundreds of prime time commercials while featuring volleyball
3. Lock people out of online

And then claim TV still rules!

Filed in Online Video | Comments (0)

Does your ad network make the grade?

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

iMediaConnection
By Robert Tas
It has become increasingly difficult for marketers to identify which network will make the best long-term partner. Get some relief with this handy checklist to gauge if your ad network has what it’s going to take

1. Site quality
2. Transparent site lists
3. Reach
4. Targeting options
5. Cross platform opportunities
6. Growth Trends
7. Exclusive site representation agreement
8. Reporting capabilities
9. The people

The Critical Advertiser - Good thing Robert didn’t include anything about ad units.  We wouldn’t want to use a network that actually had a way to communicate with the people.

Filed in Ad Networks | Comments (0)

UK ISP’s New Music Service Will Pay Labels For ‘Illegal’ Downloads

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

paidContent.org
By Robert Andrews - Tue 12 Aug 2008 11:29 AM PST

One of the UK’s top ISPs is preparing to launch an unlimited music service that would see it pay record labels for songs illegally downloaded by its customers, paidContent.org can reveal.

Playlouder MSP (music service provider), which first tried the model for itself back in 2003, said it will facilitate the service for the broadband operator, starting early next year. Co-founder Paul Sanders would not name the ISP, but a source last month told paidContent:UK Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED) was holding some kind of talks with the vendor.

Now that the biggest six ISPs have pledged to reduce illegal downloading on their networks, they need commercial alternatives that will prove similarly enticing - and subscriptions offering tunes-on-tap are emerging as the front runner for consumers already plucking free music from the “celestial jukebox”.

Playlouder’s service lets users legitimately download from channels like Gnutella, BitTorrent and more - the list goes on…

More detail at paidContent:UK…

The Critical Advertiser - Hey Jim, how fast can you fashion me one of those fake IP addresses that we can use through a public Wi-Fi address so no one can track me.  But Bob… that would be ILLEGAL.   You wouldn’t want to take part in something as illegal as this?    Oh that’s right, you’re already stealing and have no morals.

Filed in P2P | Comments (0)

Honda’s ‘Last Comic Driving’ Promo Gets Pre-Empted

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

NBC Finale Didn’t Air in Three of the Top 25 TV Markets
AdAge
By Brian Steinberg

Published: August 12, 2008

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — …Crafting ads that are tailored to specific programs, plots and characters is a practice that is gaining more popularity as networks and marketers try to thwart ad-skipping and goose ratings for commercial breaks. Under ad-sales chief Mike Pilot, NBC Universal has placed more emphasis on this technique, even created a division that is housed on both the East and West coasts and assigning an executive to shepherd projects between both ad-sales and creative executives.

The risk
As the “Last Comic Standing” glitch reveals, this initiative also comes with challenges: Ads that tie in to a particular piece of content rise and fall not only on the success of the show but the myriad factors that can knock the program off the air.

Advertisers and networks who tap this method are blazing new trails. For years, after all, the way to use TV was to spray TV commercials everywhere for the broadest possible reach. These days, as groups of consumers begin to fragment around a dizzying array of media outlets, more marketers and TV networks are opting to drill down and target the audience that coalesces around “Heroes,” for instance, or the Lifetime cable network, or a website aimed at aficionados of grilling outdoors. Reaching these viewers in new ways is tough work. These ideas require weeks if not months of planning. Last year, for example, NBC and Publicis Groupe’s Starcom met months in advance of the upfront market to devise a way to have a message from insurer AllState tied to a specific episode of “Friday Night Lights.”


The Critical Advertiser - Glad everyone is “pleased”.  Didn’t they measure anything?  How many Pilots did they sell?  How about qualified leads to the dealers?   Quick quotes filled out?

Do you really think viewers want to see their favorite stars in “paid-to-peddle-advertising” that is clearly scripted and not a real endorsement of the product.  Name me one contestant from American Idol that is hopping into their Ford Edge right now… other than David Archuleta… the mamby pansy.

Endorsing products is a serious business and high paying actors are not going to do it for nothing.  And they certainly will be very critical of the product.  That’s why you get start up shows with “unknowns” crafting these commercials.

I maintain that the average person watches one of these ads about as long as it takes them to realize it’s an advertiser trying to thwart ad skipping.  Then, the viewer skips the ad.

Filed in Branding | Comments (0)