Is Cost Per Action coming?

Google have launched a new mobile ad format (see article for full details), which only charges the advertiser when someone actually follows through with an action - in this case - clicks through to the website or calls the business.

Is this going to be the future of ads, that after pay-per-impression, followed by pay-per-click, we get pay-per-action - where advertisers are only paying when they get positive actions back.

Read the full article here:
http://www.marketingvox.com/will-googles-new-mobile-ad-format-usher-in-cpa-on-a-wide-scale-047462/

The Reality of Augmented Reality

Have a read of this great little article that gives some advice on using Augmented Reality. A refreshing change from the reams of articles hyping AR with little substance.

http://www.marketingvox.com/5-tips-for-a-successful-augmented-reality-campaign-046752/

Battling Banner Blindness

I often wonder when creating banners how many of the X Million impressions that the banner will get, actually resulted in someone looking at the banner. Not only do people use ad-banner blocking software / plug-ins, but research shows that people quite effectively ignore banner ads or anything that looks like a banner ad.

So how do we get people to actually look at these ads? Or interact with them. Well there's not much we can do if people are using ad-blockers, but for those who are filtering them with their brain, there are a good list of suggestions in the article below.

Give the user something, use a simple design, keep the ads fresh and customise the ads for the viewer are the suggestions - and they're not bad suggestions! Have a read, follow their guidelines and hopefully watch click-rate increase!


http://www.marketingvox.com/4-tricks-to-battle-banner-ad-blindness-046498/

Online privacy icon agreed

The ad industry has come up with the icon above to signify "Interest based ads", which it is adopting on ads that have been targeted using behavioural data. The industry is adopting use of this icon in an effort to reduce interference from Washington and other parties.


http://www.marketingvox.com/ad-industry-agrees-on-online-privacy-icon-046078/

Positive predictions for onlines ads in 2010

Despite predictions that traditional advertising will fall in 2010, there are predictions of online advertising rising.

Read the article below for more details:
http://www.marketingvox.com/magna-2010-ad-forecast-online-to-have-strong-year-046018/

Increase in Online Video Streaming

Apparently Americans have taken to streaming TV show and movies online like ducks to water, according to the increasing online viewing stats.

I was particularly interested by the following line:
"This is more than two times the levels measured in September 2008, and indicates that - fueled by ad-supported websites that make it happen..."

They think that it's ad-supported websites that make it happen. Which would beg the question whether it was a good decision by various big players, notably Disney and Rupert Murdoch, to be making users pay for content online in the future.
Is the uptake good because it's free? Or because people actually want to watch these programmes and are willing to pay for them as well?

The monetisation of the web, whether it be video, news or music is a particularly hot topic at the moment, and one that I don't think anyone really knows how it is going to pan out. I'm sure that what people are willing to pay for will vary in different industries.

http://www.marketingvox.com/hulus-growth-fuels-rise-in-online-video-streaming-044799/

Murdoch makes you pay

Rupert Murdoch has said that he will introduce payment for content on all News Corp sites. This includes: foxnews, Times Online, The Sun, News Of The World, New York Post and Wall Street Journal (which already charges for content).

Murdoch wants to distinguish the journalism on the News Corp sites. By ensuring it is of a high-quality, he thinks that people will be willing to pay for the better sites. It is unsure of exactly how the payment scheme will work. This could be by subscription, or micropayments per article or both.

I'm unsure of whether this will ever be completely successful, especially when there are free sites such as the BBC News in the UK, but many sites are looking to subscriptions at the moment. See Spotify in Europe and Hulu in the US.


Read more:
http://www.marketingvox.com/murdoch-empire-to-charge-for-online-content-next-year-044800/

What other people have to say about it:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/06/charging-content-sunday-times-website

Guardian FAQs:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/06/charging-online-content-murdoch-faqs

Yahoo goes Bing!

What is it about these exclamations eh? YAHOO! BING! Now Yahoo search may be powered by Bing does that make it YABING? or BINGHOO?
Well whatever people are exclaiming, we've got to wait until next week to have this confirmed.

Read more:
http://www.marketingvox.com/bing-may-power-yahoo-search-044724/

Useful implementation of augmented reality

The US Postal Service are doing the first useful implementation of augmented reality that I've seen. You can find out which size bracket your parcel falls into. You can see a video of how it works here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpS3LeCiCtc

I've seen fun uses of it, the best being the music video for Ride My Star:
http://www.julianperretta.com/ride_my_star/

More information here:
http://www.marketingvox.com/augmented-reality-technology-brings-useful-service-to-usps-044353/

new iPhone ad units

Ahead of version 3.0 of the iPhone and its software, AdMob have announced three new types of ad unit.
The new units will be:

• Mobile Social Networking, which lets consumers access advertisers' social content from an ad, including their Twitter feed, Facebook page, Digg, MySpace account, Flickr photos, and Linkedin.
• Search, whereby users can run searches within an advertiser's mobile site straight from an ad unit.
• Multi-Panel Banner, which delivers multiple calls to action in one rich media ad unit.
• Scrolling Canvas lets audiences access more information about a product or service without clicking away from the application they're on.

Read the full story here:
http://www.marketingvox.com/new-iphone-ad-units-focus-on-social-search-fresher-rich-media-044269/

Germany and Turkey are biggest online

Germany has the most unique visitors of any country in Europe and Turkey is the most active, viewing the most internet pages.

Marketing Vox does a nice summary of the stats:
http://www.marketingvox.com/germanys-online-audience-europes-largest-turkeys-most-engaged-044230/

Twitter to remain ad-free

Twitter will stay ad-free says founder Biz Stone. Apparently they've still got plenty of money and therefore time to find a way to monetise Twitter. Time will tell if there is any money to be made, and if they can find it in time!

http://www.marketingvox.com/twitter-to-remain-ad-free-founder-says-044139/

Spotzer

I haven't come across Spotzer before, but they've got some interesting approaches to ad campaigns. You can develop and purchase campaigns on the site for mobile and online.


http://www.marketingvox.com/microsoft-spotzer-launch-multimedia-ad-deployment-platform-043907/

http://www.spotzer.com/microsoft/

http://www.spotzer.com

Have they finally twigged?

That we want nice unobtrusive ads that if we are interested in them and click on them, then we want decent content. Videoegg seem to understand this.
They have come up with twigs. These "stretchy ads" as marketing-vox calls them, can be used on long pages that scroll. They stay in position at the top or bottom of a page, meaning users don't just scroll past them.

Marketing-vox article on the subject:
http://www.marketingvox.com/videoegg-sports-stretchy-ads-for-social-sites-043812/

Their introduction to twigs:
http://www.videoegg.com/press/videoegg_twig

And here it is in action:
http://clients.videoegg.com/preview/twig/

Everyone wants to market via social media

The stats here read that marketers are fully into using social media as a way to market their business. Read on for more and all the statistics.

http://www.marketingvox.com/marketers-top-social-media-twitter-blogs-linkedin-facebook-043787/

Amazon makes a stand over bad-Phorm

Amazon has written to Phorm to ask for their site not to be scanned by their system. The controversial banner supplying system that scans every site that users go to and then serves banners depending upon their surfing habits apparently offers an opt out service, by emailing them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7999635.stm
http://www.marketingvox.com/amazon-uk-says-no-to-phorms-behavioral-ad-probe-043806/

Behavioural Targetting popular

There is much interest in behavioural targeting marketing, with clients willing to pay for it. Seems like there's a lot of buzz around it. Read the stats below:

http://www.marketingvox.com/behavioral-targeting-tops-list-of-exciting-search-trends-043748/