Google Ad Sense for Video

In the past couple of years we’ve seen Google jump into audio, TV, and newspaper advertising. Yet these three currently account for only a small fraction of Google’s 21 billion dollars in advertising sales. Rather Google generates nearly all of its ad revenue from the small text ads that appear beside searches performed on Google. Yet the internet giant has recently taken another giant step in online advertising.

Google will now be offering Ad Sense for video. Ad sense for video will be set up as a contextual marketing channel, meaning that the commercials that appear within the video will be relative to the content of the web site or the video. For example, Garmin Outdoors newest portable GPS and fish finder unit may appear in a fishing video. However, unlike most advertising for videos that play before the feature, Google’s newest endeavor will place the ads within the video as either text or a smaller video. Google feels this imbedded advertising will lead to improved ROI.

Google has partnered with more than 20 web sites including aggregator sites like Blip TV and Revver as well as video sites YuMe and Brightcove. These partnerships along with Google owned UTube will provide substantial opportunities for companies wanting to advertise on this new medium. UTube is already demonstrating the effectiveness of internet video advertising. Following the Superbowl, most advertisers placed their commercials on different video web site including UTube. These web sites have experienced millions of impressions since the ads were placed. This demonstrates that internet video is in high demand. Content providers just need to develop entertaining video and there will be an opportunity to include textual or video ads within the programming.

Contextual Marketing

Imagine you Google the word Orlando and a banner ad for American Express pops up saying “Earn Points for a Free Trip to Disneyworld”. Below that is a second banner ad that states “Visit Universal; Studios, SeaWorld, and Busch Gardens for as little as $99”. These are just two examples of Contextual Marketing on the internet. Contextual marketing can be defined as marketing your product in context to the interests of the customers.

The concept of Contextual marketing is not new. It has been used in traditional advertising for many years, but is truly being perfected through the internet. NASCAR advertisements on radio and television have some great examples of contextual advertising. NASCAR race broadcasts are a great place to advertise NASCAR tickets, raceway hotel accommodations and even special NASCAR airline tickets. Yet the internet, especially Google, has taken contextual marketing to its next chapter.

Google’s Contextual marketing tool Ad Words allow users to reach up to 75% of the world’s unique internet users. Companies wanting to advertise to people using Google search engines select key words that are relevant to their business. For example, Continental Airlines may want their “Direct Flights to Orlando from 52 Cities” banner ad displayed on Google’s site when someone does a search for “Disneyworld”. Contextual advertising in this manner is highly targeted with very little marketing waste. Continental may also want the same ad placed on the site for Orlando’s SeaWorld which Google may have permission to place.

Contextual Marketing costs are normally based on (CPC) cost per click basis. The more people that click on your banner ad, the more your business will be charged. The cost of a click varies greatly from as little as $.10 to as much as $2.00 per click. Companies use AdWords to bid to establish the position and placement of their ad on the website. Therefore both Continental and U.S. Airways may bid for top placement on SeaWorld’s web site through AdWords. This unique way of establishing costs allows advertisers a unique way to track advertising results while providing the necessary metrics needed to insure a good ROI.

Podcasting, Is it working?

Being in the radio business, Andrew Hampp’s a recent article in Advertising Age caught my eye. The article, “Marketers and Content Providers Tune into Podcasting’s Potential” explores the marketing potential of podcasting. With radio advertising sales flat during the past few years, any new revenue streams are now being quickly capitalized. This was not the case just a few years ago. Radio was threatened by the thoughts of listeners downloading podcasts and not listening to the radio. Yet radio was the perfect entity to partner with this new media. Radio already had the content as well as the ability to easily produce podcasts, yet they steered away from it with only a few companies dabbling into the new medium. What they failed to realize was that podcasting offers one feature radio has always been criticized for; listeners can’t control the timing of programs. Now those same listeners can download a podcast and play it back at their leisure.

Currently companies like Acura, Toyota, and MasterCard are purchasing advertisements within National Public Radio and ESPN Radio podcasts. During a poorly attended seminar at the National Association of Broadcaster’s Radio Only Conference, the person in charge of NPR’s podcasting provided a bright outlook for a partnership between radio and podcasting. Many in the room questioned the young man’s theories insinuating he was siding with the enemy. Yet today those same naysayers are watching NPR and a few others capitalize on the marketing opportunities of podcasting while trying to play “catch-up”.

Podcasting is a very viable marketing opportunity for business for many reasons, mainly due to the ease of podcasting. Just a few years ago one had to manually download podcasts as MP3 files. Today these files are downloaded automatically with the help of ITunes and the newest versions of Windows Media Player. This allows listeners the opportunity to listen to the files on their computer, portable MP3 player, cell phone in their cars, at the office or at home when they have the time. Downloads of their favorite audio programs with one or more advertiser’s marketing message included is a one of the many new digital advertising opportunities available today. In 2002, NPR was able to sell 18 million dollars in total podcasting ad revenue. Today that number exceeds 46 million.

Podcasting as a viable marketing medium is growing faster than anyone expected, especially “mainstream” media like radio and television expected. This growth will only expand more quickly as smart phones such as apples IPhone storms the market. No longer do you have to sync up your portable player with your computer to download your podcasts. These Wi-Fi enabled wireless phones already have the ability to download and save your favorite podcasts. You don’t have to do anything. They are ready for you to play when you want them. This includes not only audio podcasts, but video as well. This unprecedented opportunity for marketing will quickly change the way we look at podcasts and their ability to reach a targeted audience. It also creates new opportunities for radio and television stations yet will the embrace it?

Blogging for Pay

A good newspaper writer or reporter is paid a salary based usually on their years of experience, stories they’ve covered, headlines they’ve scooped, and their ability to drive newspaper readership. In most cases, it takes reporters years moving from smaller to progressively larger paychecks and papers to reach the top of the ladder.

Now take that same reporter and allow them to start a blog. Now every time someone clicks on their blog, they receive compensation. Rather than waiting years at a newspaper for “the big check”, today’s writers can be earning a substantial compensation in a few months or years. Several years ago this would have been unheard of. Blogging was originally designed as a form of individual expression. Individuals basically kept an online journal that they shared with family and friends. How quickly those times have changed. Today there are hundreds of thousands of blogs on nearly any topic you can think of, and advertisers are taking advantage of the traffic by marketing their products to blog readers.

A recent article in Advertising Age (January 14, pg. 16) explores the world of paying bloggers based on the number of click-throughs made to their blog. Why? Because the more people that click on a blog, the more likely it is that readers will see and respond to the paid advertisement on the blog. Advertisers pay companies like Blogger for the amount of time readers spend at a site as well as the number of click-throughs the site receives. Good writers who are able to draw a large audience of readers are compensated for their abilities, while poor writers receive much less.

Paying blog writers based on their ability to gather and retain an audience brings accountability to this digital media. It gives the blogging companies as well as marketing managers an analytical tool they can use to justify marketing expenditures with blog companies like Blogger or Gawker Media. This in turn will help grow blogs as an accountable advertising medium. So while many in the blogging world are upset with the idea of paid clicks and ads on blogs, I feel it is this commercialization that will lead to their continued improvement and success as a medium. Your thoughts?

Roadblocks to Marketing with SMS

Traditional mass media like newspaper, radio, and television are struggling to maintain their share of the marketing budget. Meanwhile, new media marketing budgets are growing by leaps and bounds. Marketing via SMS (Short Message Service) is currently one of the fastest growing forms of marketing communication in the United States. Yet companies embracing SMS are encountering road blocks as they attempt to expand their services and offerings.

Last year during American Idol, 74 million Americans voted for their favorite artist via their mobile media and SMS. Yet many in the U.S. who tried to vote via SMS short codes found that their cellular company did not recognize the short codes. Therefore, millions of potential marketing messages were drawn to the wayside due to message roadblocks.

It seems hard to believe, but every SMS short codes needs to be "approved" by individual cellular providers before their cellular network will be able to receive the short code from a mobile user. This process can take anywhere from six to 12 weeks. The company providing these services is called a cellular aggregator or mobile transaction network. MBlox, the largest aggregator in the United States and Canada, has aggregated agreements between thousands of SMS content providers and more than 500 mobile operators in 180 countries.

Yet often the aggregators are a roadblock to successful SMS marketing campaigns. Take MSnap Interactive for example. MSnap is a mobile marketing technology company that enables traditional media and advertisers to engage consumers in an interactive dialogue. Founded in 2006, MSnap's mobile ad delivery and management platform utilizes the largest national network of affiliate radio stations - with the potential to reach more than 100 million listeners per week. Yet MSnap’s short code will not work with the cellular provider Unicell. While relatively small, Unicell still has nearly a million customers. Those same customers cannot join the reality TV crowd in voting for their favorite American Idol, Big Brother Choice, or even to the latest CNN poll.

Before SMS marketing becomes truly mainstream, these roadblocks must be overcome. Everyone in the U.S. must be able to send short codes and SMS texts without problem. If people do continue to experience problems after numerous attempts, they will just assume “it doesn’t work” and give up. This will certainly slow the development of SMS and mobile marketing as a whole throughout the U.S.

Event Marketing Using New Media

Imagine you are waiting for the concert to start. Half the crowd is down front close to the stage, while the other half rests on lawn chairs or hay bales. It's an outdoor rock festival Somewhereville USA.

The Jumbo-Tron next to the stage suddenly displays text saying "text the word "concert" to 1-2-3-4 for your chance to win V.I.P. passes to next year's event. You know you have as good of chance as anyone else, so you send the text. Within minutes a reply comes back letting you know you are entered into this contest brought to you by your favorite local beer company.

The second half of the message states "turn on Bluetooth and set it to "find me" to receive a free ring tone from tonight's headline band "Zoey and the Shapshifters". You figure why not, I've got nothing else to do, so you turn on Bluetooth and set it to be found and immediately you are connected. Next comes the message asking you if you want to connect to the concert. You say yes and see a menu allowing you to download ring tones, video from last night's concert, download a coupon for your favorite beer company. You can even surf the web and check email via your cell phone without using the cellular provider’s slow system.

You download a video and ringtone from your favorite brand, pick up a beer coupon, and check your email right from the concert via Bluetooth. All you need now is to ad in local radio station commercials reminding listeners about the contest, promotion from the stage announcer, and some hand outs, and you have a marketing strategy that will impress any sponsor. This is the future of event marketing, but its here now. This summer you will see this or a similar scenario played out many times throughout the U.S. as new media continue to come to market.

From Party Lines to Cell Phones to Who Knows?

If you are forty or older, you may recall something called a “party line”. On a party line, users in a neighborhood shared one phone line. Whether the call was for you depended on the number of rings. Maybe your house was one long ring followed by two shorts. With party lines, as many as twenty people would share one phone line which seems crazy today. Party lines were also not very private as you could pick up the phone and listen to your neighbor’s conversation.

Party lines however did have one unique feature, the General Call. In most communities, the general call was 5 long rings. This meant that everyone was to pick up their phone and listen while the operator addressed the entire community. This was how the community was alerted of fires, school closings, town meetings and more.

Needless to say, phone systems have certainly advanced in the past 50 years. Call waiting, caller I.D., teleconferencing, private lines, VOIP, and many more features have been introduced in the past couple of decades. Yet the biggest advance in the phone industry, the cell phone may lead to the death of traditional phones as we know them. Mobile Only Going Mainstream seems to be the trend today. A recent report from the Department of Health and Human Services states that homes with wireless only households have been rising steadily since 2005. In the first six months of 2007, one out of every eight adults lived in wireless only households. One year before, that number was one in 10.

It’s not uncommon today for every member of a family to have their own cell phone. Text messaging, ring tones, SMS, MMS, email, phone books, web capable phones, camera phones, Bluetooth and more are now standard on most phones. Yet ten years ago, none of these features were found. In fact, go back twenty years, and we had no cell phones.

Just as we laugh at the thought of a party line today, will our grandchildren be laughing at the cell phone as something they couldn’t imagine having to use? What will they be holding forty years from now? It certainly won’t be what we have in our hands today.

Further Reading:

Cell Phone Spending Surpasses Landlines

Think twice before you cut the cord