The Adify Blog

Blog Posts by Author: Joelle Gropper Kaufman

Targeting, fear and reality

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on August 11, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Behavioral Targeting

Today I wrote on the Adify Media blog about behavioral targeting, and why in reality, people shouldn't be afraid. 

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Know your networks

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on July 27, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Vertical Ad Networks

John Gaffney puts a stake in the ground on the distinctions between conventional ad networks and vertical media networks. Gaffney recommends that advertisers seek out and leverage vertical media companies for their superior content – and admonishes networks to be clear about if they are a content company or a targeting company first. That doesn’t mean one shouldn’t target within premium content or that a targeting company shouldn’t access the unsold inventory of premium publishers – it’s about the core of the value propositions.

Like Mr. Gaffney, Adify believes that vertical ad networks (vertical media networks, content networks) are first about identifying and curating the very best content on specific topics that engages specific audiences.  Conventional ad networks are first about optimization and targeting to find the audience most likely to convert (click, buy, engage) across unsold inventory from many publishers. 

One of the ways to distinguish a vertical media network from an ad network is if they offer end-to-end transparency specifying their content partners before, during and after a campaign is delivered. A vertical media network or content network is proud of its content partners and is selling engaging placements in context. These vertical media networks perform as branding vehicles where advertisers can engage with their target audience without waste and in a memorable way.

One of the comments stated that the real problem is not the distribution method but rather that consumers ignore online advertising.  Advertising out of context in ANY media is ignored – even if it might be interesting to the consumer in another context. Banners are supplemental - integrated packages that make the advertiser stand out and enhance the consumer experience are noticed - and are what vertical media networks offer and recommend rather than pure run of network or run of category banners.

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Can machines build brands?

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on June 15, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Main, Media

There are two topics that are all the rage in online advertising - machine-based buying and redirecting TV dollars to online. The two conversations frequently overlap (see article in MediaPost), but it’s more than possible that machine based buying will keep TV branding dollars off the internet. In fact, display advertising seems to have an inferiority complex to search advertising – and is trying to be more and more like search. Publishers need to be wary that chasing search will lead to their demise.  Success is leveraging what you do that is unique and valuable.

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Adify Joins Elite Group of MRC-Accredited Companies

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on June 02, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Serving, Performance & Measurement

We are pleased to announce that Adify has received accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC) for its display advertising impressions and clicks measurement. Adify joins Microsoft’s Atlas Media Console as being one of the first to receive this accreditation in the last 12 months.

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Place Ads Where People Spend Their Time on the Web Page

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on May 07, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Performance & Measurement

comScore, Microsoft Advertising and Eyeblaster announced the results of a yearlong study to find out how conversion results were impacted by ad interactivity, associated content, and viewing time. The study was designed to demonstrate the impact of Eyeblaster’s Dwell analytics capabilities. The research proved, once again, that the winning combination for online advertising success is to pair quality creative with relevant content that keeps users engaged.  It’s simply not about the algorithm.

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Transparency Means Trust

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on April 15, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Brand Advertising

Lack of transparency is keeping advertisers from spending an additional $2B annually on display advertising, reports AdSafe Media in MediaPost, based on a study "Beyond the Grey Areas: Transparency, Brand Safety and the Future of Online Advertising," which was released Wednesday by the Winterberry Group. The study cites examples of “message misalignment” (being out of context) and “dangerous” placements as the fears of advertisers.

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Privacy and What Advertisers Want to Know

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on March 23, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Main

The other day, I was shopping for a gift for my daughter’s third birthday. My mother wanted to know what to get for my daughter and I was going to send her a link to the American Girl doll, Rebecca. I visited American Girl’s product page, but I didn’t buy the product.

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Reconciling Performance and Privacy

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on March 04, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Main

Ari Rosenberg highlights how the very strategy that online advertising used to capture initial advertising spend in the 90s is undermining us.  His analysis focus on the inevitable privacy quandary for online advertising.  As a member of NAI – Network Advertising Initiative – Adify is striving to protect consumer privacy and gives consumers choices.

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Creating Value When the Supply is Endless

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on February 09, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Publishing

Jeff Jarvis’ Feb 8, 2010 post “Stop Selling Scarcity” points out a few obvious, but rarely discussed truisms:

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Display Revenue Rebound

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on October 26, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Main

Display revenues are coming back. That's good news for the online advertising industry. However, display revenues aren't coming back to newspapers. That's dire news for the already-hurting newspaper business.

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Creative Counts

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on October 21, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Main

Every time I meet with a prospective advertiser for Adify Media or consult with Adify Network Builder customers, I remind them of three things:

 

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Quality Counts

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on October 13, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Main

 

Great content that people want to read drives traffic…everything else is a game.  Vertical ad networks help great content grow its audiences.

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Transparency Can Defeat Invisibility

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on October 12, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Networks, Brand Advertising, Ad Inventory

Today the Wall Street Journal ran an article about the newest form of fraud to hit online advertising – invisible ads.  Harvard Business School assistant professor Ben Edelman discovered the ads, which were found on websites in several popular ad networks.

 

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Print Publishers Looking for Premium Online Network Solution

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on October 07, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Main

Ad Age’s Nat Ives published today that major magazines are considering joining together in a premium ad network.  Advertisers need scale without compromising quality (we wrote about this yesterday).

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All Advertising and Ad Networks Should Not Be Treated Equally

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on September 22, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Networks, Publishing

Yesterday Emily Steel of The Wall Street Journal wrote about the increasing tension in the display ad market between publishers and ad networks.  An insightful comment by Jeff Levick is right – all advertising should not be managed equally.  Publishers must understand the value of their audience and their placements and choose a sales channel accordingly.  Relying on only direct sales and remnant ad networks may sell out your inventory, but as the growing tension has demonstrated, it may also bring down the overall value of your site to advertisers.  There are a growing number of monetization options for both large and small publishers to earn fair rates for their content. Supply and demand must be managed to optimize price and profitability, but the web has introduced significantly lower barriers to entry in publishing and audience acquisition.  Reducing the number of ad units may help.  So does increasing the number of impressions you generate for premium ad spaces, whether you “own” them or if they are your partners – like members of your vertical ad network.

And just as all advertising should not be managed equally, nor should all ad networks.

Blaming ad networks for driving down CPMs leaves out the fact that some ad networks focus on premium, targeted inventory like Viacom’s MTV Tribe Network, and other vertical ad networks like Martha’s Circle or Forbes Business and Finance Blog Network.  These networks are actually helping to support premium CPMs with their focused content, engaged audiences and ability to implement standout creative.

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Vertical ad networks are worth the hype

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on August 31, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Networks, Behavioral Targeting, Vertical Ad Networks

In today’s Digiday: Daily, The President and CEO of Audience Science attempts to de-mystify the current enthusiasm for vertical ad networks by claiming that behavioral targeting does the same thing, at scale, as a vertical ad network.

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CPMS Up or Holding Steady According to New Adify Data

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on August 19, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Spending

Bookmark and Share

Think online CPMs are trending down? Think again.

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Black Friday is Coming – Start Your Advertising Engines

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on August 07, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Holiday, black Friday, Thanksgiving, season

It’s the middle of summer but your attention should be on November. That’s right, it’s time to plan for the biggest offline and online shopping days of the year – the Friday and Monday after Thanksgiving.

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More on why the click is a false prophet for online advertising

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on August 03, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Performance & Measurement, Brand Advertising

More on why the click is a false prophet for online advertising –

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Disney and CBS Turn to Science to Improve Online Advertising

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on July 27, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Performance & Measurement

The New York Times reported that Disney has made a low seven-figure investment in a CBS-owned Austin, TX facility that is observing how consumers consume media – specifically which ad formats and timing capture the most of the consumers’ attention.  CBS originally developed the facility to test TV programming pilots, and is now expanding into online advertising testing.

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Where is Advertising Spending Going?

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on July 23, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Niche Sites, Vertical Ad Networks

PricewaterhouseCoopers released its 2009-2013 Global Entertainment and Media Outlook on June 16, 2009. The forecast showed that overall advertising would grow slowly in the next four years – and that only Internet (including mobile), Out-of-home, and Video games would have positive growth (see table).

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Remembering David Ogilvy

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on July 22, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Brand Advertising

July 22, 2009 is the 10-year anniversary of David Ogilvy’s death. On this day, everyone in advertising should take a moment to reflect on Ogilvy’s insights and contributions to our field.  Although Ogilvy didn’t live to see the explosion of online advertising and its myriad of creative implementations, his admonishment to “Mad Men” and their brands still resonates:
"Never forget: advertising is about selling.” — David Ogilvy

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Increasing the Effectiveness of My Online Advertising Campaign

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on July 09, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Effectiveness, OPA, comScore, Engagement

Measuring the effectiveness of advertising is frustrating if you cannot do anything to improve it. Yesterday, I measured the effectiveness of our recent Adify Media launch campaign using the comScore/OPA recommended formula. The story isn’t complete without the optimization angle.

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New Ad Effectiveness Formula Needs One More Variable

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on July 08, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: New Ad Effectiveness Formula Needs One More Variable

Every advertising buyer asks, “Did my ad click?” and, “Was it worth the money?” I know I ask those questions whenever I assess the advertising we do on behalf of Adify and Adify Media. The click-through rate is a tantalizing measure – and very hard to ignore. However, the comScore study (see the presentation here) released by the OPA on June 18th and blogged about yesterday by Henry Blodget, both argue that I really should ignore that metric.

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Awareness and Engagement is delivered by great creative on vertical ad networks.

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on June 24, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Main

Cory Treffiletti’s June 24 Online Spin artfully discusses the dichotomy between beliefs that online advertising is effective for engagement but not for awareness. Television is effective for concentrated mass reach – with very limited targeting. Online is effective for targeted mass reach.

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Adify Media for Advertisers – Top 5 Differences with other Ad Networks

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on April 28, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Adify Media, online advertising, ad networks, advertisers

  1. Adify Media serves 100% of your ads on sites within our network, with no brokering.
  2. Adify Media is fully transparent: You see a full site list before campaigns run, and view delivery and performance on a site and line item level, anytime. 
  3. Adify Media audiences are more engaged. comScore shows that audiences on Adify Media sites spend twice as much time with our publishers than comparable portal sections.
  4. Adify Media delivers high impact ad campaigns – IAB standard plus overlay video, expandables, interstitials, and more.
  5. Adify Media puts your brand in front of passionate influencers – the publishers of over 10,000 quality, independent sites.

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Adify Media for Adify Network Builders – Top 5 Differences with other Ad Networks

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on April 27, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: online advertising, ad networks, Adify Media, Adify Network Builder platform

  1. Adify Media shares its pipeline, in real time, with all Network Builders using the Adify Network Builder platform.
  2. Adify Media enables Network Builders to opt in or out of every campaign or line item.
  3. Adify Media campaigns are only offered to publishers whose price minimum is met.
  4. Adify Media campaigns enable publishers to preview the creative and accept or reject content – providing an extra layer of publisher control.
  5. Adify Media campaigns deliver IAB standard banners and breakthrough creative such as expandables, overlay video, and interstitial ads.

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Portals Trending Downward in Razorfish Annual Report

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on March 12, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: online advertising, ad networks, portals, performance, brand advertising

Razorfish's annual digital outlook report went out this week, and it reveals a notable shift of budgets away from portals to alternative sources for reaching niche target audiences at scale, specifically vertical ad networks. According to the report, portals claimed only a 16% share of Razorfish clients' ad budgets in 2008 (down from 19% in 2009), compared to a 37% share for networks. Meanwhile, as the report notes, "...advertiser concerns about transparency and efficacy have resulted in spending growth within broad premium environments or 'branded networks.'"

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Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on March 06, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Main

Media Daily News reports that "A task force under the aegis of the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Interactive Advertising Bureau that examined how to alter business practices for interactive advertising failed to come to an agreement on who owns performance data generated from online campaigns," and goes on to say that this particular tempest over rights to data highlights the difficulty we face as an industry in standardizing how we do business. 

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Adify Ad Ops cited with comScore Study

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on March 05, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Main

Adify’s Media Operations team was cited in the article for their efforts to rapidly identify and resolve campaign issues – even when the error is on the agency or advertiser side of the relationship.  Vertical ad networks on the Adify platform are helping advertisers reach their targets with a much higher degree of success through pre-targeted niche inventory available at scale AND dedicated service professionals who go the extra mile for our Networks, Pubilshers and Advertisers.  Check out the article here.

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Waste Not, Want Not? Better Think About Ad Ops

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on March 05, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Online Advertising, ad operations, waste,

ClickZ quoted me this week on a topic near and dear to my heart: the power of ad operations to make or break waste. According to ComScore research, a paltry 20 percent of impressions may reach their intended audience. The wasted remainder? Often the result of ad operations failing at their responsibility to "just think" about what’s being placed, where. Read the full article here.

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SmartMoney is…Smart: How Cutting Ad Spaces Can Increase Revenue

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on March 03, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: online advertising, performance, revenue, publishing, ad inventory

AdAge just reported that SmartMoney increased their click-through rate (much as we don't like that metric, it's still widely used) and re-engaged key advertisers. How? By studying the performance of each ad unit on their site and eliminating below-the-fold, low-performing/low-value ad space. The results were happier advertisers, better performance, and users who stick around longer.

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Don’t Take Sloppy Seconds. Understand What “Remnant” Really Means.

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on February 27, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: online advertising, vertical ad networks. remnant inventory

Today I was talking to a media buyer who was struggling to understand the difference between buying on vertical ad networks, like those powered by Adify or sold through Adify Media, versus traditional ad networks. This media buyer’s confusion lay in the meaning of remnant inventory. He said he had asked a traditional network whether it delivered remnant inventory. That network, which aggregates inventory from the top sites on the Internet, claimed it wasn’t delivering remnant inventory because the network paid for the impressions.

Huh?

This is a misleading way to determine whether a network offers remnant inventory. Of course that network pays for the impressions—the sites they sell are not sites they own.

Here at Adify, our founders created the first large ad network with Flycast, and we’ve been in this business for a long time. The easiest way to understand whether a network is offering “remnant” inventory or not is to ask  this question: Does your network give you the first impressions on the sites it represents, or does it only offer the impressions those sites couldn’t sell through their primary sales teams? If you’re getting impressions that a site couldn’t otherwise offload, you are getting remnant inventory, plain and simple.

Why does this mean for your brand? When you buy on a network and you see the names of large sites that call on that network directly, you need to be aware that the inventory those sites allocate to the ad network is NOT the same inventory they would sell you in a direct media buy. Instead, you’re getting the publishers’ remnant, unsold, sub-premium inventory.

In contrast, when you buy on vertical ad networks—or through Adify Media, our in-house trafficking team, which creates customized placements across verticals—you are buying through the primary sales team that represents the niche, independent sites in those vertical networks. More importantly, you’re buying the first impressions on those premium pages, making vertical networks a smart buy. 

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How Vertical Ad Networks Can Help Interactive Marketers

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on February 20, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: online advertising, interactive marketing, vertical ad networks, ad networks, performance & measurement, ad spending

Forrester Research's recent report detailing "Online Advertising Predictions for 2009," forecasts a rough and tumble year ahead for interactive marketers. Here are three key issues that interactive marketers will face -- and a look at how vertical ad networks (like those powered by Adify) are uniquely poised to help:

Issue 1: Proving budgets and moving the needle.
"In 2009, interactive marketers will be charged more than ever with proving their online budgets, driving sales, or moving the needle on key brand metrics." To prove their value, says Riley, savvy interactive marketers will need to "turn to ad networks to find bargains."

She's right: Vertical ad networks, like those powered by Adify, can deliver the premium audiences of quality mid-tail publishers, at a significant savings compared to portals. Consider Martha's Circle, a collection of interior-design-related publishers, marshaled together under the flag of Martha Stewart, the doyenne of home décor. As noted in the February 17th Forrester report "Ad Networks for Brand Advertisers," vertical ad networks like Martha's Circle offer "access to quality inventory at prices below premium brand name publishers' with the service level of a direct sales force." Premium audiences with less waste? Clearly that's a smart buy.
 
Issue 2: Data ownership as a means to manage efficiency. Riley forecasts that interactive marketers will want to move data ownership in-house, for optimal analysis. This is another area where working with the Adify platform offers advantages, as we clearly recognize that the party that generates the data owns the data -- whether it's the publisher or the advertiser -- so there's no difficulty in doing the analysis you need to do with the numbers you own.

Issue 3: Testing early forms of attribution measurement as a means to keep tabs on ROI.
It makes sense that in today's tight economic times everyone is focused on making dollars go as far as possible, with minimal waste. That's why upcoming releases on the Adify platform will include features that give interactive marketers the kinds of  insights they need to understand the value of their campaigns on the network. We can't reveal everything yet -- but stay tuned for exciting announcements in the coming weeks and months.

Clearly it won't be the easiest year we've faced as an industry, but as attention swings to stretching the dollar, vertical ad networks are delivering on the promise of budgetary value, data ownership, and ROI analysis in a way that the big portals simply can't match.
 

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Three Ways Publishers Can Win the Fight for Premium CPMs

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on February 17, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: online advertising, Adify, vertical ad networks, paid content, publishing

In a recent heated discussion about the future of journalism—and Google's role in driving the demise of newspapers—the panelists took Google to task:

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Making Content and Advertising Profit Online

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on February 11, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: online advertising, content, publishing, advertising, paid content

On February 9, 2009, Jon Stewart interviewed Walter Isaacson on the subject of his Time Magazine article, "How to save your newspaper." Isaacson prefers micro-payments for articles. Henry Blodget, in contrast, recommends subscriptions for full access, with individual stories fully indexed and freely accessible, i.e., the Wall Street Journal model. Daniel Lyons, a successful blogger at The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, recently disclosed how little direct money he actually made from advertising on the blog.

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Are You Buying Premium, Trusted Inventory? Three Questions to Ask Before You Buy

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on February 04, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: online advertising, ad inventory, ad networks, ad buying

Three years ago, Adify created the first infrastructure to seamlessly create and manage vertical advertising networks. We recognized that quality, independent sites were attracting passionate audiences and we believed that if we provided the right infrastructure and services to motivated experts, they could attract the best independent sites into next generation networks. Turns out we were right. Not only does Adify's infrastructure ensure that the included sites are expertly curated for quality and relevance, but our services also ensure that Network Builders can monitor the content, design, and ad placement of their independent publisher partners on an ongoing basis. That's true transparency.

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Click Fraud and the Need for Transparency

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on January 28, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Performance & Measurement

ClickForensics reported this week that 17.1% of all clickthroughs on web advertising are fraudulent, with about 30% of that coming from automated bots. As noted on TechCrunch:
    
“Click fraud for ads on content networks like Google AdSense and Yahoo Publisher Network was up to 28.2% from 27.1% last quarter…”

The numbers sound grim – but identifying and reducing click fraud is yet another area where Adify’s commitment to transparency and curated content offers advantages to conventional “blind” ad networks. How so? While robotic impressions are relatively easy to identify (if it looks like a “bot gone wild” party, it probably is) -- other sources of click fraud aren’t as easy to spot with technology alone  (the IAB is leading a working group to develop standards to help address this growing problem.

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Jupiter Research on Horizontal vs. Vertical Networks, Advertising Executive Needs

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on January 08, 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Networks, Behavioral Targeting, Content Syndication

Barry Parr of Jupiter Research (now a Forrester company) has published “Ad Networks for Media Properties” (January 2009) to clearly distinguish the role and capabilities of horizontal and vertical ad networks.  The report highlights the necessity for large media companies to work with horizontal ad networks, but to ensure that their premium inventory is going to premium advertisers.

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Keywords for the next evolution of the Web

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on December 01, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Targeting, human algorithm

Keywords for the next evolution of the Web – “Semantic Web”, “Contextualization”  “Specialization & Editorialization”

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Adify, Cox and Prop 8

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on November 03, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Main

ValleyWag posted a blog this weekend that “Forbes, Cox pay blogs to run anti-gay-marriage ads”.  “Yes on Prop 8”, a political action committee promoting a vote in California.  “Yes on Prop 8” bought media to run on Networks powered by Adify.  Adify, owned by Cox, is an infrastructure company and does not make editorial choices about advertising – unless it is pornographic, hate speech or otherwise illegal.  Adify offered this campaign with full disclosure to our Networks who in turn offered it with full disclosure to their Publishers – the people who do make editorial decisions about content. 

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Publishers' Bill of Rights

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on June 03, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Publishing

At Adify, we hold these truths to be self-evident that all publishers are entitled to expect that the advertising they invite onto their sites adhere to a reasonable bill of rights detailed herein:

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Advertisers' Bill of Rights

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on June 03, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Brand Advertising

At Adify, we hold these truths to be self-evident that all advertisers are entitled to expect their advertising campaigns to adhere to a reasonable bill of rights detailed herein.

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Online Marketing Budgets Holding Up in Economic Downturn

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on May 21, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Spending, Brand Advertising, Transparency

Despite a worsening US economy, the portion of marketing budgets devoted to online marketing has remained strong, according to a May 2008 study by The CMO Club. Seventy-one percent of chief marketing officers surveyed do not plan on cutting their overall marketing budget, while only 14 percent said they would. When asked to specify which portions of their budget they are least likely to cut, the CMOs named online marketing and search engine marketing.

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Enough Already - Figure out the difference between performance and vertical ad networks

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on April 17, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Networks

In the last couple of days, very smart reporters have written articles deploring the proliferation of ad networks in light of announcements from Forbes and ABC SOAPNet and others. The problem isn't the proliferation of ad networks, but rather the proliferation of web sites and the audience tendency to spend more than 60% of our time on smaller sites that address specific interests we have at that moment. Performance ad networks have existed since the mid-1990s to aggregate together unsold, remnant inventory from large sites into packages that delivered incredible reach for direct response advertisers. There are many of them and media buyers have to decide which combination of inventory and technology will meet their direct response needs.

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Ride the net's long tail through tough times

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on April 04, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Spending

These past few weeks there has been a lot of talk about the changes happening with the world's financial markets. In January 2008, the NASDAQ bounced around, falling 317 points (12 percent), and even the venerable Google, the bellwether of online advertising stocks, fell from 685 to 584, an almost 15 percent loss. Tuning in to the evening news, you can hear talk of the R word (recession), and Google Zeitgeist reports a huge jump in that term's search popularity in 2008.

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Intra-network content syndication with Adify Widget Share

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on March 24, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Networks, widgets, content syndication

What distinguishes a vertical ad network from a performance ad network? Three things:

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Vertical Ad Networks and Ad Exchanges

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on March 10, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Networks

With new vertical ad networks launching (almost) daily and confusion about the role of Vertical Ad Networks, Performance Ad Networks and Exchanges, Adotas published Adify's analysis and analogy to help advertisers and agencies create a balanced, high return portfolio for their online advertising spending.

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Everything in its valued place

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on February 27, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Targeting

MediaPost's Behavioral Insider featured an interview with Adify CEO Russ Fradin about Making a Place for Placement in considering Behavioral Targeting.

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Einstein and Online Advertising Measurement

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on February 25, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Brand Advertising, Performance & Measurement

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." – Albert Einstein

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Piggyback on Superbowl Ads

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on February 10, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Brand Advertising, Creative

If you are like me, you were probably watching the Superbowl this past Sunday, trying to pay attention to the ads amid the actual excitement of the game. One week later, I have a hard time remembering and associating some of the brands with their commercials and with their products. I’m not the only one in this situation. Studies found that brand recall for many advertising participants in previous year’s game suffered quite a bit. It’s no surprise given the sensory overexposure associated with the event and the fact that the game itself was such a compelling distraction. There is no question that there is value in the nearly 100 million eyeballs this past Superbowl offered because of pure reach. Sometimes, it’s enough to be associated with the NFL and the Superbowl to make it worth your $2.7 million ad budget.

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Adify IS IAB Ad Measurement Audited and Certified by IM Services Group

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on February 05, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Serving

Last week, Adify was proud to announce that we achieved IAB Ad Measurement Auditing and Certification. This audit and certification were completed by IM Services Group, an auditor listed on the IAB web site. The IAB does not certify or audit any company, but does accept certification letters from third party auditors confirming that a company complies with the IAB's Ad Measurement Guideline. Our announcement was covered by MediaPost . This morning, MediaPost wrote a correction with the headline Adify Not IAB Certified. IAB’s own web site refutes that claim.

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Problems and Possibilities in 2008

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on January 15, 2008 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Spending, Ad Networks

US media companies are starting 2008 facing a US advertising slow-down and a writer’s strike crippling television – a scary start to the year. In 2008, more people are spending more time online on many more sites than ever before. To reach those consumers and to help those consumers find more relevant content, vertical ad/content networks will proliferate. In fact, specialty vertical ad networks have the possibility of being the sort of compelling, creative, low risk value ad for media companies to offer their advertisers – a bright spot in a dismal landscape.

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Distinguishing unique premium ad networks and repackaged premium ad networks

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on November 15, 2007 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Networks

There is a new category of ad network – the premium ad network – that delivers very engaged, passionate audiences on high quality sites selected by editorial experts who associate their valuable brands with the sites they associate with (see blog post). These premium ad networks address the problems of fragmentation for advertisers and publishers – efficiently bringing the highest quality, unduplicated publishers to quality, brand advertisers.

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Welcome to the world of premium ad networks

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on November 15, 2007 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Networks

There’s been a lot of buzz this week about the proliferation of ad networks with reporters and pundits asking the question – why are there so many networks and doesn’t this seem like the bubble du jour? There certainly are a great number of ad networks and many of them are seemingly undifferentiated performance networks. But what’s been announced recently represent a different type of network – the premium ad network integrated with and anchored by high quality online destinations.

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Are you ready to Adify?

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on November 04, 2007 | 0 Comments

Tags: Events

Next week, at the Hilton hotel in Manhattan, the online ad world will converge to scope out what's new, hot and creative at Ad Tech: New York. There will be insightful speakers and colorful exhibits. Just in case your bags aren't packed, here's a quick check list to make sure you are Ready for Ad Tech:

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The Ad Network is the Answer for Entrepreneurs and Media Companies

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on September 19, 2007 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Networks

Google buys Doubleclick. Yahoo! buys Right Media and Blue Lithium. Microsoft buys adECN. AOL buys Advertising.com and Tacoda. What do all these acquisitions have in common? All four of these online “giants” have realized that to serve the needs of advertisers, they must reach beyond their premium sites and bring advertising to the audience wherever that audience is on the web. Adify’s customers who are building expert Vertical Ad Networks recognize the opportunity in the continued fragmentation of the online audience. In fact, Adify’s Network Builder customers are bringing together the most elusive audiences on the web – the audience passionate about specific topics who seek out experts and communities on those topics and spend less time on broad sites.

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Media Planning Matters

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on August 27, 2007 | 0 Comments

Tags: Brand Advertising, Performance & Measurement

TiVo announced this week that the most popular TiVo Stop|Watched advertisements were from Cort Furniture Rental, Domincan Republic Travel Bureau and Bowflex (http://www.businessweek.com/brandnewday/). According to BusinessWeek, these ads were very clearly selling a product and often with an 800 number as well. And the reason they succeeded was they were placed exactly with the content that attracted their audience. Media planning and campaign message were perfectly aligned to get results.

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Adify and Ad Servers

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on August 10, 2007 | 0 Comments

Tags: Ad Serving

What’s the difference between Adify and an ad server? Adify offers a world-class ad server AND Adify has layered significant network management, advertising optimization and payments technology into our ad server. The difference is that without Adify, network builders would have to create or integrate those technologies to build, manage, and maximize a vertical ad network.

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Why the world needs branded expert networks

Posted by Joelle Gropper Kaufman on August 03, 2007 | 0 Comments

Tags: Brand Advertising

It's been a dramatic few weeks in the online advertising world. News Corp. bought the Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118463978304868582.html. AOL bought Tacoda http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6198613.html. Adify announced that over 35 branded expert ad networks have launched in under six months.

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