Posted by Shanthi Sarkar on Tue, Apr 29, 2008 @ 07:53 PM
Today, ContextWeb announced the launch of the ADSDAQ Reach Extension Program. This program will enable publishers to access targeted reach on a risk-free, on-demand basis – and most importantly, ContextWeb’s real-time scan of the pages will ensure that this inventory is provided in a brand-safe manner.
The industry trends show that the online user base is getting highly fragmented as users spend more and more of their time on long tail sites. This makes it challenging for marketers since they can no longer access all their potential consumers by going to the lead publishers in their category. Publishers are attempting to solve this problem by building out their own network of sites with content endemic to their brand property (as seen by the launch of Martha’s Circle and Forbes Audience Network). Building their own network is a significant amount of work and effort for publishers and a distraction from their core business of creating great content. To date, companies such as Adify (acquired today by Cox Enterprises) have attempted to meet this need by providing a white-label vertical network infrastructure.
With the ADSDAQ Reach extension program, site publishers now have an out-of-the-box solution to create their own branded network on the Exchange, without all the cost and effort of building and maintaining their own network.
Read More: MediaPost -”ContextWeb’s ADSDAQ Exchange Adds Reach Extension Program”
-- Shanthi Sarkar
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Posted by Jay Sears on Mon, Apr 14, 2008 @ 07:16 AM
When it comes to the effectiveness of online advertising, most people just think that if an ad for a product or service runs on a page of content directly related to that ad, it will be noticed, read and/or acted upon more than the same ad run in unrelated content, out-of-context; pudding if you will. But how do you prove it?
We started by working with some pros - OTX, a leading global consumer research and consulting firm (http://home.otxresearch.com/) that specializes in measuring and testing the impact of advertising messages on brands. In fact, we have done two, separate industry category studies on the effectiveness of contextual advertising with the folks at OTX; one with a leading personal consumer electronics advertiser and have just completed a second with a leading consumer packaged goods advertiser (Download the PDF).
The results prove what many have thought, but very few have ever tested: context works.
Our study tested the same skin care ad for three separate placements; on a general news page, on a page of content from a general news site specifically about skin care, and finally on a website specifically about skin care. 600 women between the ages of 18-65 saw each ad. The results conclusively show that the ads seen on pages of content directly related to the product produced significantly higher brand recognition for both the product and the advertiser than the ad seen in out-of-context content. (Read the press release here.).
Sometimes some of the most effective solutions in advertising are right in front of us. There certainly are a number of targeting options available for advertisers and their agencies. Geographic, demographic, behavioral, time-of-day are just some of everyone’s favorites. But as audiences continue to pursue their interests out beyond the portals, on the millions of vertical content sites (we like to call that the “Passion Tail“), smart brands will do well to start “in context,” before heading to the pudding.
Read more in Ad Age: “Contextual Targeting Boosts Loyal Following“
-- Jay Sears
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Posted by Ken Lauher on Fri, Apr 04, 2008 @ 05:00 PM
Yesterday, Jay Sears of ContextWeb, creators of the ADSDAQ Exchange, and Steve Ustaris of Carat Fusion, participated in a morning conference at Hotel Nine Zero offered through the Boston Interactive Marketing Association (BIMA).
Attendees from BIMA, and Boston-area agencies such as Media Contacts, caratm Hill Holliday, Holland Mark, Partners + Simons, Mullen, Fulgent and direct advertisers such as TJX, Staples, Fidelity and more discussed the rapidly fragmenting online advertising marketplace and the possible solutions ahead for advertisers in the conference entitled, “Wandering Audience and What Advertisers Can Do About It.”
It was an apropos topic considering the recent discussions in the news media about ad exchanges and networks, brand publishers and advertisers, and the evolution of online media which was covered again yesterday by Jon Fine of BusinessWeek. Mr. Fine paraphrased ContextWeb Board Member, Wenda Harris Millard:
“In an appearance earlier this year she warned traditional media players that if they allow ad networks to mediate the buying of their Web sites’ ads, they run the risk of commoditizing these ads’ value as if they were the media equivalent of “pork bellies.”
If you would like to download a PDF of the presentation, click here.
To view photos of the event, visit our Flickr site here.
The full presentations made by Jay and Steve as well as the Q&A are available here in three parts in video format below: (with MP3 audio-only at the bottom of the page):
Part I
Part II
Part III
To download the audio-only, MP3 file of the presentation, click here.
-- Ken Lauher
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Posted by Ken Lauher on Wed, Apr 02, 2008 @ 05:21 PM
On Monday, executives from ContextWeb’s ADSDAQ Exchange presented to advertisers, publishers and other interested members of the online advertising community at the highly anticipated, “IAB Marketplace: Ad Networks & Xchanges” at New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel.
Michael J. Kelly, our just-announced Senior Advisor to the ContextWeb board, gave a compelling closing keynote entitled, “One view: What’s next?” where he discussed the ongoing fragmentation of the online marketplace.
William Morrison and Robert Coolbrith of ThinkEquity provided a thorough overview of the challenges and opportunities in online advertising as a whole and with advertising exchanges and ad networks, in particular. They closed their presentation with important questions for the marketer. We have those questions available for download here.
As pointed out by the Media Two Interactive blog, the speed dating format was another important part of the day’s activities.
Robert Daniel, SVP of Sales and Publisher Development, and Ryan Becker, VP of Publisher Development, were ContextWeb’s “speed daters.” With just 15 minutes per presentation, a clear, concise overview was critical but did not always allow enough time for Q&A (Feel free to add your questions below. We’re happy to respond!).
Among the most important topics of the day was the “pork bellies” or commoditization issue around ad networks originally raised by ContextWeb Board Member and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia President of Media, Wenda Harris Millard. Searchblog and Federated Media’s John Battelle has been referencing Wenda lately, too:
“To paraphrase Wenda Harris Millard, Chair of the IAB, we must not trade our brands like pork bellies.”
Battelle’s popular meme builds upon comments made by executives at ESPN who said they are turning off ad networks according to Mike Shields at MediaWeek.
The concerns of the brand advertiser are well-founded and one reason the ADSDAQ Exchange provides an excellent fit to many current, brand advertiser clients.
The premium inventory offered to advertisers on ContextWeb’s ADSDAQ Exchange is made available through page-level contextual technology that reads the web page, categorizes it - and if it is not appropriate for our brand advertisers - passes it to the next advertising exchange or ad network in the publisher’s daisy chain. This brand safe environment along with the reach of 93 million+ U.S. uniques (Feb. 2008, ComScore) is a powerful combination required by many brand marketers in the increasingly fragmenting world of online advertising.
For more photos of the “IAB Marketplace: Ad Networks & Xchanges,” visit our Flickr site here.
If you would like to view video of our sales and publisher presentations from the IAB Marketplace, please view the following…
Robert Daniel, SVP of Sales and Publisher Development - the Advertiser presentation
For an MP3 audio only download of Robert’s presentation, click here.
Ryan Becker, VP of Publisher Development - the Publisher presentation
For an MP3 audio only download of Ryan’s presentation, click here.
-- Ken Lauher
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Posted by Ken Lauher on Wed, Apr 02, 2008 @ 11:00 AM
Last night, John Pavley, CTO of ContextWeb, and Derek Brinkman, VP of Product Development, presented the ADSDAQ Exchange self-service publisher portal at Scott Heiferman’s New York Tech Meetup.
With the able coordination of Dawn Barber from the NY Tech Meetup, John and Derek were pleased to be a part of the jam-packed agenda which included the following exciting, New York-area technology companies and technologists - check ‘em out!
- Steve Rosenbaum: http://magnify.net
- Oliver Hurst-Hiller: http://DonorsChoose.org
- John and Derek: http://exchange.contextweb.com
- Mark Ghuneim: http://www.trendrr.com
- Ben Kaufman: http://kluster.com
- Ben Satterfield: http://twiddla.com
- Justin Ouellette: http://muxtape.com
- Nate Westheimer: http://bricabox.com
To view the video of John and Derek’s complete presentation at the New York Tech Meetup at the IAC building, 555 West 18th Street, please click below:
-- Ken Lauher
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Posted by Ken Lauher on Tue, Apr 01, 2008 @ 08:57 AM
Jay Sears, SVP of Strategic Products and Business Development at ContextWeb, is this week’s guest on the Advertising Show with hosts Ray Schilens and Brad Forsythe.
Jay discusses the ADSDAQ online ad exchange and the fragmenting online advertising industry among other topics.
Click here to download the entire show in MP3 format.
Tonight, John Pavley and Derek Brinkman will be presenting at Scott Heiferman’s New York Tech Meetup where area technology companies demo their new technology. John and Derek will demonstrate the new self-service publisher portal for the ADSDAQ Exchange.
On Thursday, April 3, Jay Sears will be presenting to the Boston Interactive Marketing Association on Media Fragmentation.
Event details are here:
BIMA, Roundtable Breakfast Event
- » Hotel Nine Zero, 90 Tremont Street
- » Boston, MA 02108
- » April 3, 2008, 8:00-10:00AM
- » http://www.bima.org/
-- Ken Lauher
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Internet Advertising blog, follow
ContextWeb on Twitter and join the
Ad Exchange Traders Group via LinkedIn.