Blog Posts by Author: Bryan Sise
The Concept of Customer Intimacy
Mercedes Benz truly understands the value that influencers have. That was clear to me as I watched their VP of Marketing Steve Cannon speak in a magnificent Upper East Side ballroom at the recent ANA Brand Innovation Conference.
Peer Influence and the 80-20 Rule
If any phenomenon ever followed the 80/20 rule, it’s word of mouth marketing. As described in Laurie Sullivan’s recent article in MediaPost, only 11 million people (just 16% of the US online population) are responsible for 80% of the 500 billion “influence impressions” seen in 2009. An influence impression is a consumer’s exposure to another consumer’s reaction to a brand or product (positive or negative).
Social Media Audiences: Rent vs. Buy; Build vs. Collect
In her recent video post on New Media Minute, Daisy Whitney describes an important emerging trend: rather than renting social media audiences, major advertisers are beginning to buy them.
Release 4.2 is here
We’re happy to announce Release 4.2 of the Adify platform! The focus of this release is inventory tagging, a flexible way to manage and target inventory based on words or phrases that are associated with groups of sites and ad spaces. Also included are enhancements to forecasting granularity and new integration opportunities.
Here are some of the features that we rolled out with the release:
- Inventory tagging – associate words or phrases – called inventory tags – with ad spaces or sites to create groups of inventory that make sense for your network
- Tag-based targeting – flexibly and precisely pair your advertisers' brands with chosen content in your network by targeting campaigns to inventory tags or combinations of inventory tags
- Tag-based reporting – track performance information for campaign line items targeted to inventory tags
- Tag-based inventory forecasting – estimate how many impressions your network can offer for a given inventory tag or combination of tags within a given time period
- Campaign trafficking APIs (beta) – integrate your company’s systems with the Adify Platform to programmatically inject campaigns and accounts
- Inventory forecasting by line item – understand inventory availability by line item
Whoever Runs the Network, It's All About Quality
In a recent PaidContent.org article, The New York Times’ Michael Zimbalist provides an insightful analysis of the industry buzz around demand-side networks.
Media Decision Makers Optimistic for an Online Ad Rebound
A poll of 200 "media decision makers" conducted by Advertiser Perceptions Inc. in early July shows soaring optimism for a rebound in online advertising, including online display.
Blind vs. Transparent: Making the Distinction Clear
A recent MediaPost article by Ari Rosenberg rails on blind remnant networks, and contends that their businesses are built on lies and addiction. Adify's Joelle Kaufman jumps into the debate, arguing that all networks shouldn't be lumped into the same category.
The Little Features Matter Too
Whenever we debut a new release of the Adify platform, we tend highlight the “big” features in the release, with scarce mention of those “little” features that incrementally enhance the efficiency and usability of our applications. With our recent 4.0 and 4.1 releases, we’ve spread the word about impactful innovations like interaction tracking, share of network optimization, international minimum price, publisher APIs, non-eCPM prioritization, and historical pivot reports, but these features have been accompanied by scores of tiny enhancements, created with our customers’ feedback in mind. Below, we describe a small selection of them.
1. No applications go unnoticed
Some Network Builders field hundreds of applications per month from publishers who feel they have what it takes to join their network. Keeping track of all those applications can be a challenge. Now, in addition to their existing tools for managing pending, accepted and rejected applications, Network Builders receive a “You have [quantity] publisher applications pending review” notification in the dashboard of their Network Management Console when they first log in. Clicking this notification will take them directly to where they can review the new applications and take accept/reject action. This dashboard notification expedites the response time from application to decision.
2. Site payouts set right, every time
Our Network Builders have already had the ability to set any default payout they want to make for a given site, anytime – whether that payout is a percentage revenue share or a flat CPM. Now, they can be certain that every site gets set up with the payout arrangement the Network Builder prefers, from the very moment the site joins their network. The moment they accept a site’s application, or the moment they finish setting up a site on behalf of a publisher, they’ll be prompted with a dialog box, where they can set the default payout.
3. The freedom to change one’s mind
Sometimes our Network Builders will reject a publisher who applied to their network, then will decide later that the publisher’s site quality has improved to a level that meets their standards. Occasionally also, a Network Builder might accidentally click the Reject button, when they actually meant to accept. Now they have the ability to accept sites they’ve previously rejected. They just check the box next to a site they previously rejected, and click the Accept button.
4. A floor and a ceiling at the same time
Network Builders use our suite of inventory forecasting tools to understand the future supply and demand dynamics of their network, and to communicate available inventory to advertisers. The forecasts can be filtered by geography, campaign, ad size, ad space type, and/or price. Up until recently, when a Network Builder filtered on price, they selected a price minimum, and the resulting forecast filtered out all impressions below that minimum. Now, they can specify both a price floor and a price ceiling, and the forecast will include only impressions within their chosen price range. The result is a forecast that is fully informed by the prices a Network Builder expects to negotiate with advertisers.
As we further deepen our collaboration with Network Builders and leverage their feedback on our applications, we’ll continue to enhance our platform with features large and small.
Northwestern Report on Ad Networks: 50 Cents or 50 bucks?
A new report on ad networks by the Media Management Center at Northwestern University opens its discussion with a thought-provoking statement:
A thousand online ad impressions could be worth 50 cents – or they could be worth 50 dollars. For a publisher, the difference may well lie in how well you manage your relationship with advertising networks.
The report covers horizontal “remnant” networks (e.g. ValueClick Media, Advertising.com & Specific Media) and vertical networks (e.g. Forbes Business Blogger Network, Glam, Martha’s Circle & Jumpstart Automotive) in detail.
In the section on horizontal networks, the report discusses a recent IAB/Bain study that examined four online publishers whose CPMs from impressions sold by horizontal networks were 1/16th the size of those sold by the publishers themselves. The proportion of inventory these publishers gave to the horizontal networks was 25% of their total inventory, while the revenue from network-sold impressions was less than 2% of their total revenue.
As it covers discusses vertical networks, the report notes, “Vertical networks tend to outperform horizontal networks.” Gay Ad Network (GAN), a vertical network powered by Adify, is profiled in a side panel, revealing that GAN reached 4.1 million users in November 2008, with 116 million ad impressions from advertisers such as Just for Men, Focus Features, Paramount Pictures, and Bridgestone.
Also contained within the report is an explanation of ad serving technology, and a number of insightful recommendations for how publishers can optimize their relationships with ad networks, or build their own ad networks. Take a look – the report is publicly available here.
Announcing Release 4.1 of the Adify Platform
We’re excited to announce Release 4.1 of the Adify platform. This release has a number of features to increase Network Builders’ efficiency, strengthen the guidance they give their publishers, bring them more control over campaign configuration, and give them new insights about campaign performance.
The release includes, but it not limited to, the following features:
Inventory Forecasting and Walking the Other Way
When you run an ad network composed of many sites, should you approach your estimates of future available inventory in the same way as you would for a single site that you own and operate?
New Insights into the Agency Mind
With his recent research report What Agencies Want from Online Media, Mark Mulligan of Forrester Research reveals several insights into the minds of advertising agency managers.
Adify's Kaufman Dishes on Displacement of Networks
"Will ad exchanges eventually displace ad networks?" A recent Adotas article covers a discussion of that question with Joelle Gropper Kaufman, SVP Marketing & Corporate Partnerships at Adify.
Release 4.0 Highlight -- Share of Network
With the recent 4.0 Release of the Adify platform, we’re launching a unique innovation we call Share of Network.
Release 4.0 Highlight -- Publisher Dashboard
Publishers within Adify-powered networks such as Break Media Network and Gourmet Ads already have access to a full-featured online application where they can do everything from set rate cards for their ad spaces to view campaign performance reports. Now, with the 4.0 Release of the Adify platform, publishers get a visually-appealing snapshot of all their sites’ activity the moment they log in.
Announcing Release 4.0 of the Adify Platform
Today we’re announcing Release 4.0 of the Adify platform, which will bring advertisers, Network Builders and publishers new ways to track brand performance, optimize impression delivery and yield, and heighten publishers’ effectiveness and value-add.
Sexiness and Desire
At one of our recent all-company meetings, our co-founder and president Russ Fradin told us that "We provide the infrastructure and services with which companies can build vertical ad networks. It's not sexy—we stay behind the scenes and give companies the tools to create a network that fits perfectly with their own brand."
Second OPA Study Reaffirms Effectiveness of Buys on Original Content Sites
The Online Publisher’s Association has released a second study, using Dynamic Logic data, that shows how ads on original content sites are more effective at engaging audiences and driving purchase intent than ads on portals or horizontal ad networks.
2009 Prediction: Growth of the Curation Economy
Steve Rosenbaum, interactive media industry pundit and CEO of Magnify.net, has ventured several predictions about trends that will shape the media industry in 2009. His first prediction: “The Growth of the Curation Economy”. Curation refers to the selection, filtering, packaging & monitoring of online contact produced by numerous sources.
"Things I've Noticed" Blog Heightens Ad Review Power with Adify
In his Things I've Noticed blog, "UH2L" describes how he's achieved heightened control over which ads appear on his site by becoming a member of an Adify-powered vertical ad network. In contrast to Google AdSense (the "backup" network he uses in cases when a paid ad from his Adify-powered network isn't available), UH2L is able to set minimum prices for his ad inventory with Adify, and can review each ad campaign in detail (including the rate he'll get for the campaign) before it runs on his site. This is especially important for UH2L, who, for example, prefers not to run ads that promote the sale of meat products. In his post, UH2L ponders some of the ethical decisions that online publishers face, and notes:
Blogs Are Now Major Drivers of Purchase Intent
A recent New York Times article explores how blogs are now a leading place buyers go to research their purchases. The article covers a recent Jupiter Research & BuzzLogic study that found the following:
Adify Video Launch Described in Advertising Age
Adify's new technology for distributing and monetizing video across a vertical ad network was covered in a November 17th Advertising Age article. The technology is an out-of-box, end-to-end video solution for the Network Builders who are running ad networks on the Adify platform.
Introducing Behavioral Targeting Inventory Reports
As part of our coverage of Adify’s 3.3 Release, we’re providing more detail on the value and functionality of selected product enhancements.
Introducing User Permissions
As part of our coverage of Adify’s 3.3 Release, we’re providing more detail on the value and functionality of selected product enhancements.
Introducing Widget Share 1.0
As part of our coverage of Adify’s 3.3 Release, we’re providing more detail on the value and functionality of selected product enhancements.
Adify's Release 3.3
We're excited to announce Release 3.3 of the Adify platform.
Google AdWords Sued over Low-Quality Inventory
A class-action lawsuit is in the works against Google over the issue of inventory quality. Attorney Hal Levitte recently filed a federal lawsuit in California, claiming that 16.3% of the clicks driven by a recent AdWords campaign to promote his law firm were from parked domains and 404 error pages. According to the lawsuit documents, none of these clicks resulted in conversions.
Lehman Research Looks to the Future of Online Advertising
In its latest equity research report, the investment bank Lehman Brothers has identified “what is becoming an increasingly important component of the online advertising value chain – vertical advertising networks.”
Comparing Apples to Oranges with Google AdSense CPM
Publishers are often striving to optimize their earning potential, and they face difficult choices while evaluating different ad network partners. If they’re considering the possibility of joining a premium ad network, or evaluating the performance of the networks they’re currently using, it’s critical that they compare performance metrics consistently across networks. If they have to make “apples to oranges” comparisons, they may form an inaccurate perception of which network is delivering real value for them.
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"I’ve found that Adify’s approach to working together with network operators in partnership, opposed to a typical company/client relationship was a huge selling point to me. An example of this is apart from supplying me their ad serving technology, Adify has worked hard to promote and market the Gourmet Ads Network as well as undertaking advertising sales in new markets, allowing me to sell 100% of my inventory at the highest possible rates. " Benjamin Christie
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