Above the Clutter - A Different Approach to Marketing.

January 24 - Survey: Users Confuse Search Results, Ads

2005-01-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

BizReport Newletter


	BizReport News \| January 24, 2005 \| Issue 8/2005

TOP STORY

Survey: Users Confuse Search Results, Ads

Only 1 in 6 users of Internet search engines can tell the difference between unbiased search results and paid advertisements, a new survey finds. The Pew Internet and American Life Project reported Sunday that adults online in the United States are generally naive when it comes to how search engines work.

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Search Marketing Metrics Guide

169 Useful Charts on SEO & PPC

Do you know if your search marketing clicks and conversions are as good as they should be? Or, if you're budgeting the right amount of money on optimization and/or paid search ads?

Find out what 3,007 marketers revealed about their budgets, optimization results, click rates, cost per click, and conversions from search traffic.

Click here to get your own copy!

NEWS

Government & Law

Tech Firms to Seek Legal Protection From Pirating

Several large technology corporations will urge the U.S. Supreme Court today to continue to shield businesses and innovators from legal responsibility if their products or services are used by consumers for illegal acts.

Search Engines

Free From Google, Updated Photo-Editing

Google is giving away a new version of its Picasa photo software, which sold for $30 before Google bought its creator last summer and made it free.

Business

Microsoft Struggles to Sell Self as Growth Stock

After transforming itself into a blue-chip stock with predictable dividends, Microsoft Corp. faces its toughest sales pitch ever -- convincing investors it's still a growth stock.

Business

Industry Aims to Deliver Music Everywhere

A generation after the birth of portable tunes on the Walkman, technology has made music available nearly everywhere for today's on-the-go consumer - and the recording industry sees a new wave to ride.

Business

E-Loan in Finance Deal with EBay

Online lender E-Loan Inc. on Monday said it entered into an agreement with eBay Inc. to provide financing to consumers who buy cars and motorcycles through the online auctioneer, sending E-Loan shares up as much as 34 percent.

Business

Apple ITunes Sells 250 Million Songs

Now selling at a rate of more than a million downloads per day, Apple Computer Inc. said Monday customers have purchased a total more than 250 million songs from its online iTunes Music Store.

Business

Windows Minus Media Player to Be Shipped

Microsoft Corp. said Monday that it will not appeal a December court ruling that it immediately ship a version of Windows stripped of the company's music and video player and also divulge some software blueprints.

BIZREPORT RESEARCH LIBRARY

Most Popular White Papers:

1. Tech Marketers: Use the Marketing Mix to Build Awareness plus Demand

2. Building a Powerhouse Marketing Machine: A How-to Guide for Creating and Sustaining E-business Relationships

3. Using Proven Personalization Techniques to Drive Measurable and Profitable Online Behavior

4. Analytical CRM: A Marketing-Driven Organizational Transformation

5. Maximize the ROI of Your Search Engine Marketing by Measuring beyond Click-Through

More...

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January 21 - AOL Enhances Search Function on Free Site

2005-01-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

BizReport Newletter


	BizReport News \| January 21, 2005 \| Issue 7/2005

TOP STORY

AOL Enhances Search Function on Free Site

America Online Inc., seeking to boost traffic to its free Web site and generate more advertising dollars as its paid subscriber base declines, said Thursday it is enhancing its search functions.

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Email Marketing Metrics Guide: All-New 2005 Edition

MarketingSherpa's new Email Metrics 2005 Guide brings you real-life campaign stats from 2,293 marketers:

-> Open rates for all types of campaigns

-> Clickthrough rates

-> Conversion rates (exclusive!)

-> B-to-B versus B-to-C email stats

-> Newsletter and sales alert results

Grab your copy now!

NEWS

Internet

Cable Broadband to Lose Out Against Telcos - Survey

Europeans will get their broadband Internet connections mainly through upgraded phone networks by 2010, while cable television operators will see their market share decline to 15 percent, according to a survey.

Government & Law

Bertelsmann to Settle Napster Lawsuit

Bertelsmann AG has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by a music publisher over the German media conglomerate's one-time role as investor in the now-defunct Napster Inc. file-sharing service.

Marketing

GM's Cadillac to Launch Ad Campaign

General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac unit will announce on Friday a television and Internet marketing campaign focused on the zero-to-60 mph acceleration of its V-Series cars, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Security

Review: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Ineffective

You'd think the world's largest software company, which presumably knows its own Windows and Internet Explorer code, would have long ago come up with something to repair PCs possessed by malicious programs. Think again.

Government & Law

FCC Chairman Powell Says to Step Down in March

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell said on Friday he plans to resign after four years of mixed success in pushing a deregulatory approach to the telecommunications and media industries.

RESEARCH LIBRARY

New Research & White Papers

Google Mini

Presenting the Google Mini. Designed to help small businesses make the most of their digital assets, the Google Mini brings Google search to your internal or public website.

Published by: Google

Google Search Appliance

With the Google Search Appliance, your company's search engine can be just as good as Google's - and just as easy to use.

Published by: Google

Enabling Secure Access to Your Network

This paper discusses key aspects of endpoint security, describes elements that should exist in a comprehensive quarantine or scan-and-block system, and details associated benefits.

Published by: PatchLink Corporation

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January 20 - Global Digital Music Market Boomed in 2004

2005-01-20T07:46:00.000-08:00

BizReport Newletter


	BizReport News \| January 20, 2005 \| Issue 6/2005

TOP STORY

Global Digital Music Market Boomed in '04

The market for digital music on the Internet and mobile phones boomed in 2004, according to a report released Wednesday that showed the global recording industry collecting significant revenues from the segment for the first time.

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NEWS

Business

Microsoft to Sell Outlook E-Mail Program

Microsoft Corp. will begin selling its Outlook e-mail program as a subscription to Hotmail customers, in a bid to persuade people to pay for add-on services and better compete with rivals such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.

Search Engines

Yahoo Japan Profit Jumps, Links with Bank

Yahoo Japan Corp. reported a 39.2 percent jump in third quarter net profit on Thursday, helped by its online auction and advertising businesses, and said it expected to finish the year on a strong note.

Business

Firm Quietly Finds Wealth in Information

ChoicePoint Inc., an information industry giant that became an all-purpose commercial source of personal information about Americans, is transforming itself into a private intelligence service for national security and law enforcement tasks.

Business

Technology Guru Joins Venture-Capital Firm

Bill Joy, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems Inc. and one of Silicon Valley's best-known technology gurus, has teamed up with venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the firm announced Tuesday.

Search Engines

Yahoo's 4Q Profit Nearly Triples on Ads

Internet giant Yahoo Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit nearly tripled and easily beat Wall Street expectations, reflecting a worldwide boom in online advertising and the addition of some 800,000 new paying customers.

Government & Law

FBI Retires Controversial E-Mail Surveillance Tool

The FBI has all but retired its controversial e-mail wiretap system formerly known as Carnivore, turning instead to commercially available software, according to two recently released reports to Congress.

Business

EBay 4Q Profit Soars but Misses Expectations

Online auctioneer eBay Inc. said Wednesday that its profit jumped 44 percent in the fourth quarter as the company saw a record level of auction listings and a sharp rise in buyers and sellers.

Government & Law

Two Plead Guilty to Online File-Sharing

Two men pleaded guilty to federal charges in what authorities said were the first convictions for online file-sharing of music, movies and software over peer-to-peer networks.

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January 18 - Verizon Teams Up With Yahoo for Content

2005-01-18T06:13:00.000-08:00

BizReport Newletter


	BizReport News \| January 18, 2005 \| Issue 5/2005

TOP STORY

Verizon Teams Up With Yahoo for Content

Subscribers to Verizon Communications Inc.'s high-speed Internet services will be able to access customized and premium content from Web giant Yahoo Inc. under a multiyear agreement that combines the companies' offerings into a single brand.

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NEWS

Search Engines

Google Adds Features to Picasa Photo Service

Web search leader Google Inc. said late on Monday it has added a variety of new features to its Picasa digital photo service, including the ability to e-mail pictures via its Gmail service.

Marketing

High-Tech Marketing May Confuse Customers

Euphemism and allegory have always been common in business - where few get fired, but plenty get "downsized" - but some say the tongue-twisting technology industry has gone too far. High-tech companies don't release products anymore, they provide solutions. And those solutions don't simply run a program or play a song. Instead, they enable experiences, optimize agility or make people's passions come alive. Say what?

Marketing

Some Overused Tech Buzzwords

Even the most tech-savvy admit their brains sometimes grow fuzzy with overused buzzwords. For those who lack the bandwidth to provide robust, scalable solutions, here's a list of some worst offenders.

Business

Intel Reorganizes, Creates Two Divisions

Intel Corp. on Monday said it was reorganizing, forming three groups to lead its efforts in platforms for mobility, the digital enterprise and digital home as part of its efforts to drive development of complete technology platforms.

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Ad Information

2004-07-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

the media drop*
adverblog
marketingVOX
paid content
bag news notes
wordbiz report - debbie weil
ad-rag
duct tape marketing
viral meister
bushout.tv: 2004 campaign ad news
inluminent/weblog
adtunes - tv commercial music
executive summary
blogads
caffeine goddes
ana marketing musings
mediasavvy
websense
poelog
seth godin
snark hunting
red door
the bivings report
ttr2 viral site
reality blurred
ana regulatory rumblings
influx insights
industry standard
tvgasm
adware report - spyware removal tools
the hidden persuader

Google Ad New Links

2004-07-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

Google Ad News

advertising
advertising campaign
internet advertising
marketing
online advertising

Feedster Ad Related Feeds

2004-07-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

Feedster Ad Feeds

ads
ad campaign
ad campaigns
advertising
marketing
spoof ads

7 Things RSS Is Good For

2004-07-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

7 Things RSS Is Good For

1. Saving time
2. Convenience
3. Access to a richer pool of material
4. Zero in on the info you want
5. RSS can serve as an alert service
6. RSS levels the playing field
7. RSS drives conversation

JD adds:

Why is RSS useful to publishers and corporations? Here are ...

5 Reasons Why Companies Should Publish an RSS feed:

1. Multiple gateways. It's another doorway or distribution channel for getting your content in front of readers.

2. Self-syndication. It allows publishers to syndicate content without the involvement of third parties.

3. The predictability principle. By far the most important reason is this: Just as with newspaper subscriptions, RSS subscriptions mean your content is guaranteed to be seen on a regular basis rather than via sporadic pull behavior. On a typical news site, a reader stops by an average of three times per month.

4. Loyalty. RSS can forge a closer relationship with readers if done in conjunction with a weblog or community feedback tools.

5. Future revenue streams. RSS could be a great way of distributing classified advertising and other targeted marketing opportunities as long as the user requests it and finds it useful.

When is a deal a deal?

2004-07-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

A deal is a deal when both parties agree it's a deal.

pretty simple, huh?

80% of one of the most coveted demographics says they'll exchange info for custom content.

I'm telling ya' right now, direct to customer (read: adware) can and will work if done right.

In fact, done correctly I think it can be the most powerful marketing channel anywhere.

The trick, IMO is not to straddle the line between adware and spyware. No, that's stupid. The way to do it is to come right out, be honest, declare you've got adware, follow the guidelines currently being developed and/or recommended, and lay out all the custom content and other benefits you trade for the right to converse with your customers.

Survey: Personalization shouldn't come at the expense of privacy
A ChoiceStream survey found that 80% of respondents were willing to release personal information for customized content, but the percentage fell with a rise in age and with an increase in the amount of information required to be released. The study found that 18-24 year olds were most interested in personalized content. MediaPost Communications

Benefits of New Internet Advertising Technology

2004-07-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

Introducing A New Internet Advertising Technology:
Presence Aware, Direct to Consumer, Based on Permission, Privacy, Preferences, Relevance and Non-intrusion. Places Rich Media Ads on Page 1 of Search Results on Google, MSN, Yahoo, AOL, Ebay, etc. etc. Also Places Text, Image or Rich Media Skyscraper Ads Next to Any Specific URL, and Provides Direct to User Communication Channel Desktop Direct.

User Benefits:

* No spyware. Permission download does not record or transmit personal info.
* Faster search results. Graphically enhanced Result Preview
* No Popups! Sponsored Content served in a non-intrusive manner.
* Does not obstruct any site content.
* Relevant Content Targeted by Keyword Search or URL Navigation.

Advertisers:

* Serves Rich Media Ads Targeted by Keyword or URL Search.
* Additional Targeting by Frequency, Daypart, Geography, Category.
* Displays Ads on the First Page of Results on IE Browsers.
* Works on Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL & Ebay.
* Does Not Obstruct Content or Serve "Intrusive" Ads.
* Cannot be Blocked Using any Current Technology.
* Pricing by CPM, CPC, CPA or Flat Rate Plan.

Publishers:

* Improve user loyalty
* No Popup, popunder or interstitial ads.
* Non-intrusive; Does not obstruct site content.
* Creates additional ad inventory.
* Hosted on our servers.

Investors:

* Own Part of an Exciting New Technology.
* Huge Market
* Enormous Demand.
* Exclusive Product.
* Active or Passive Ownership.

Can be installed with desktop apps, toolbars, RSS readers or as a stand-alone download.

If interested in partnering with us in any way, please contact:

Steve Tobin
XML Media
1797 Wingfoot Place
El Cajon, CA 92019
+1-619-213-1003
info @ xmlmedia.net

How AOL can earn revenue from quitting subscribers.

2004-07-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

AOl ad rev jumps 23% while losong 668,000 subscribers.

One way to continue earning ad revenue from fleeing - or fleeting - subscribers is to give them the benefits of a direct to user communication channel, permission based of course, that includes our feedsense platform. Include the usual proprietary info, rss feeds and news headlines, bundled with our proprietary direct to user software that is based on permission, privacy, preferences, relevance and non-intrusion. They can keep it at no cost when they leave your network, portal or site - and continue to benefit from the software and rss reader.

Also remaining in the software is the direct to user messaging component, which targets by search keyword, url navigation, daypart, geography etc.

The ads will be served non-intrusively, and be relevant to the user. They will also be guaranteed to be placed on the first page of search results on AOL, MSN, Yahoo, AOL, Ebay etc. etc.

and that could be with a large skyscraper ad , not a tiny text ad,
although we can do those too.

That way, when there gone and no longer going to your site for any reason, you'll still earn revenue from their clicks on the ads.

How would you measure that ROI?

AOL, if you're interested, you can contact me at

XML Media.net
1797 Wingfoot Place
El Cajon, CA 92019
619-219-1003
info @ xmlmedia. net

The New Internet Advertising Technology

2004-07-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

The new, non-intrusive and non-obstructing internet advertising technology. Based on permission, privacy, preferences, relevance & non-intrusion; targeting capabilities such as keyword search, url navigation, geography, daypart, etc. Frequency capping and self-service ad planning included in ad managment platform. Pricing available by CPC, CPM, CPA & custom plans for your company.

You can even purchase your ad next to any website for an entire year, 7/24/365! on a flat rate plan. Save thousands compare to adwords now!

Contact:
Steve Tobin
XML Media
1797 Wingfoot Place
El Cajon, CA 92019
+1-619-219-1003
info @ xmlmedia.net

If you won't do this you'll never have excellent customer service.

2004-07-27T22:51:00.000-07:00

Gordon Bethune is pure.

Contact Us

2004-07-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

I'd love to hear from you. Especially if you:

have any ideas, suggestions or referrals on how I can make our new internet advertising service better, or
Know some companies that might benefit from what we do, or
Know some companies that would like to partner with us, or
Have any ideas or referrals that might help me raise capital for this project. I am interested in seeing what this can do if enough people get to try it out. I am not interested in having the best product no one knows about. I am not interested in owning 100% of a great idea that can't get off the ground. I would be more than interested in owning 20-30% of a company that can change the way companies have conversations with their customers. I just want to make a difference.

Thank you,

Steve Tobin
XML Media
1797 Wingfoot Place
El Cajon, CA 92019
619-213-1003
stevetobin @ gmail.com

Politics and the new internet advertising technology

2004-07-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

What would happen if one party controlled an internet advertising technology that could do this:

Display skyscraper ads on the first page of every major search engine, for every possible keyword related to politics, the election, health care, terrorism, the economy, and well, any other keyword you can think of?

Display skyscraper ads next to every website that discusses those very same issues?

Display skyscraper ads next to every opposing party, candidate or PAC website?

Display rich media rebuttal ads next to every media website voicing the opposing view?

Display rich media skyscraper ads next to every blog blogging on politics today?

And, what if they could do this every minute of every day, from now until the election?

What if they could do that without obstructing any site content they display their ad next to.

What if they could do it with the permission of the voters?

What if it had a built-in grass-roots viral component, so they could spread the word?

What if they could control the technology that can do that, 100%?

And, finally, what if they could use this technology to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in future campaign funds every year - from now on?

hmmm, just wondering if there would be any interest in something like that.

If anyone out there knows a decision maker, let them know we can do all of that.

Thanks.

Adware for Affinity groups?

2004-07-27T16:45:00.001-07:00

The more i think about it, the more i think one of the best uses of our software will be for affinity groups.

why?

well, due to the fact that it IS adware, and therefore requires an install, i'm thinking the installs will be much easier to acquire for enterprises that have a large customer/member/associate base.

and the value to such an organization could be substantial. The XML nature of our software allows for dynamic updates which can consist of any content, not just ads. So it provides another point of contact, or touchpoint with the members. It could be a good communication channel, and would provide a method for the organization to be "front-of-mind" with their base, and provide that base with timely communications critical to their mission. Notices, surveys, word-of-mouth campaigns, announcements, product/service releases, coupons - you name it.

Any company could private label the meta search, and provide themselves with a powerful branding opportunity as users access their computer for internet searches. The program can easily be part of either a toolbar or deskbar app - furthering the branding.

Integrating RSS feeds can enhance the speed of conversation with members/customers, improve feedback response, and increase loyalty. It can also be used with postings and comments to build an ongoing knowledge base that can be referenced as FAQ's.

Additionally, the ad serving capability can benefit them in 2 ways.

1.) They can generate an additional revenue stream through affiliate partner ad sales; and

2.) As part of a private label deal, we could provide them with as many keyword and url targets as they need under a licensing deal.

Let's add it up:

Valuable for customer acquisition, customer engagement, and customer retention.
Leading to increased transactions, increased transaction size and/or frequency.
Leading to a higher lifetime customer value.

The advertising media shift is here.

2004-07-27T16:42:00.000-07:00

Gone are the days of the internet getting 3% of ad spend. The media shift is here. The internet works. RSS will make it explode even more than we can imagine.

Given the new targeting, tracking and content technologies, the growing adoption of online marketing by fortune 500 types, the coming surge in local search advertising and the amazing growth of RSS and blogging, I think the growth we see in online marketing can exceed even the highest estimates of the most optimistic among us.

We just need to make sure we do it right.

I truly believe our technology, based on permission, privacy, preferences, relevance and non-intrusion, implemented with direct-to-customer presence aware technologies, positioned as a popup replacement, an inventory creater for publishers and as a key element in a long-term customer attraction, acquisition, engagement and retention strategy - has a place.

There has to be companies out there that would place some kind of value on that.

Doesn't there?

RSS news

2004-07-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

SETH GODIN'S ADVICE TO PR INDUSTRY: "FOCUS ON P, NOT R"PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA"As PR Machine evangelizes the integration of weblog and RSS feed technologywith public relations to advance client brands, we agreed with the viewpointsthat ...<http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/7/prweb143739.htm>IT Heavies Lifting Dollars For BlogsInternetNews.com - Darien,CT,USA.... Using aggregation technologies of the day such as XML, (define) RSS,for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary (define) and Atom,blogs and personal ...<

Where do we go after search growth slows?

2004-07-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

U.K. Net Adspend Gaining Momentum
Thursday, July 22, 2004
The Register: Online ad spend on the up-and-up
The Interactive Advertising Bureau's (IAB's) U.K. division reported that online spending grew 80 percent from 2002 to 2003. The 350 million British Pound spending was heavily weighted toward the last half of the year. According to the IAB, major spending drivers included the fact that the web surpassed radio's gross audience numbers and the discovery that the web is the second most used medium for those with access.
U.K. media sellers cautioned that the industry would need to attract brand advertisers before this trend could continue much further. NewMediaZero quoted MSN's Chris Ward as saying that "the biggest driver in online ad spend has been search, which is great, but the challenge is to get similar growth out of the branding side." AOL's director of interactive marketing agreed that the branding budgets were the "huge pot of money that we haven't been able to get our hands on."
More details are to be announced tomorrow.

The problems with Internet Advertising

2004-07-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

Even with the huge turnaround growth in online marketing, and the exciting prospects brought on by fortune 500 adoption, new technologies and new segments such as local search, the online marketing industry still faces a few challenges:

Popups: Popups are dead. CTR's are down, blockers are up, and publishers are starting to notice that their users hate them. Therefore, they are starting to implement blocking technologies and other strategies such as frequency capping to limit their use. Doesn't matter, they're dead anyway. It's only a matter of time. Declining reponse and the growing awareness by marketers that they're experiencing up to a 30% ad spend degradation using popups will only hasten their demise. And it will come not a minute too soon.
Inventory: Publishers are starting to discuss this new problem and how they intend to address it. As they eliminate popups and institute frequency capping, they will be able to charge more for the remaining inventory they have left. This is also related to point #3.
Keyword Inflation: The good news is more and more companies, big and small, are getting involved with online marketing. The bad news is that the current keyword auction model is custom built for bidding wars and inflation. We've already seen it with some words like "diet" going from $2 to $75. What will happen when the big boys start to play?
Adware: Adware is not spyware. Done right, it can be part of the next huge wave in online marketing. But it must be done correctly. I'm glad companies like Claria, Whenu, Google and Verizon are starting to come out with adware guidelines. I hope the industry, through the IAB, can pull everyone's ideas together to compile some strict but reasonable guidelines for adware. This absolutely has to happen. We can't afford to let the uneducated public or the ill-informed legislators destroy the appropriate use of a powerful technology. Again, adware is not spyware. Spyware is bad. Adware can be good, and it can be unbelievably good if done right.

I'm not sure if it can exist somewhere in the middle of the permission/privacy/targeting implementation model. I think, for it to be at its' most effective, it should be used as a permission, privacy, preferences, relevance and non-intrusive based method to attract, acquire, engage and retain customers. It should be positioned not as a sneaky way to get eyeballs, it should be positioned as the ultimate way to begin and conduct conversations with your customers. Those conversations are what will help marketers develop loyal customers, the kind with lifetime value to the companies willing to talk to them.

I think, more and more you'll see the companies that "get it" start to implement portions of their ad campaigns to this type of marketing. But we'll slowly evolve from using the term adware to using the phrase, "direct to consumer software".

My blog is everywhere

2004-07-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

Not that it matters, but i think it does. You know, if a tree falls in the forest and there's no one there, does it still make a noise?

of course it does. At least i think so. Well, if a blogger blogs in the blogiverse, but no one reads his blog, do his thoughts still make a difference?

Well, who said, "when i make a pot of coffee, I change the world."? Sartre? I can't remember. I'll bet it's on Wikepedia.

Everything we do makes a difference, whether anyone sees it or not. In fact, some might believe that the things we do in secret are more telling than those we do in public.

but i digress.

My only point here is that I'm new to blogging, and therefore I check out as much as I can about the media, and that includes trying out different blog publishing tools.

So, I have posts laying all over the internet on different blog hosts. One of these days, in my spare time, I'm going to figure out how to combine them all on one host.

not that anyone cares, but as much for my own reference as anything, my blogs are:

crosschannel.blogspot.com (my first attempt)
crosschannel.squarespace.com (some neat features)
abovetheclutter.blog.com (also some cool features)
radioland: http://radio.weblogs.com/0139881/ (if dave winer made it, I'm trying it.)

if anyone knows how to import, export, combine etc. i'd sure love to know how.

That is, if anyone is even within blogshot of my voice.

Truth in advertising?

2004-07-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

C.A.N.I.

2004-07-26T22:37:00.000-07:00

We're either constantly striving to get better, or allowing ourselves to get worse.
There's no such thing as staying the same.

The japanese have long had a name for it, "CANI"

Constant And Neverending Improvement.

i picked this up from Tony Robbins 13 years ago.

Online users have a low tolerance for interruptive and intrusive ad units.

2004-07-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Online ad clutter can negatively impact brands. This article by BURST! Media says users are intolerant of more than two ad units per web page. This is further evidence and support for a new ad format that is non-intrusive.

The coming inventory problem for publishers could beg the question,

Could we be on the right track?

Simplifying Digital Media

2004-06-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! News - Simplifying Digital Media

Why are online ads booming?

2004-06-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

here's an answer.

It all comes down to 0's and 1's.

2004-06-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a site that streams all types of data. Imagine where we can go with this...

Behavioral targeting technology

2004-06-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

Privacy vs. behavioral targeting technologies.

Reid Goldsborough's view of the Internet battleground

2004-06-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

The metaphor comparing the business world to a battle-ground is often overused. But it's not trite to say that a fierce struggle is raging between Web advertisers frying to capture your attention and Web consumers who want to surf unfettered...

Ronald Reagan and small business

2004-06-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

President Reagan had a unique way of looking at things, and an incredible gift for communicating his ideas. Check out his musings on entrepreneurs at Small Business Trends.

Left brain, right brain...

2004-06-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

How do you connect with customers. What are your touchpoints. How do you use rational and emotional connections, and what results do you get?

speaking of the brain, ever heard of "Broca's area"?

fascinating stuff.

Now, that's what I'm talkin' about!

2004-06-10T22:35:00.000-07:00

this whole technology thing just keeps gettin' cooler and cooler.
check this out.

How to create word of mouth

2004-06-10T22:10:00.000-07:00

Overcoming media commoditization

2004-06-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

don't miss this excellent read.

Digital Media Networks in Retail?

2004-06-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

Tim Manners at http://www.reveries.com writes,

"Mazda imagines the kiosks will draw shoppers into a transaction, and the big-screen televisions will help keep them around long enough to seal the deal. It is a potent mix of sales and marketing -- of retail stores, the internet and television -- that we are bound to see more of in the future."

Thanks, Tim. You've touched on something near and dear to my heart; exploring and developing web-based technologies to assist offline retailers in customer acquisition, engagement and retention.

my take is to look at it like this: retail stores, the web, and the customer.

i need a name for it, like...DRN: The Digital Relationship Network.

let it be known you heard it here first.

;)

Gmail poses a dilemna for publishers.

2004-06-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

Bill McCloskey points out that Gmail - like my MS Outlook 2003 - automatically blocks all images in emails by default. You can change that, but many of us see no reason to do that.

That means that, while your ad is technically being served, many users are not seeing it. In much the same way you pay for popup ads that are blocked, this represents another form of ad spend degradation, not to mention the skewing of tracking reports.

Newsletter and ezine publishers should take note, and the smart ones will develop contingency plans in the event this becomes a problem.

Our exclusive messaging delivery channel will be well positioned when this occurs.

good point, Bill.

Signs of interest.

2004-06-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased to note that i've received some positive inquiries about our new internet advertising technology. Since the software resides only on our computers at this time, I'm setting up a way for people to demo it by using "gotomypc". Now i need to keep searching for capital.

Hey, wouldn't that be a great search engine? "Search, click and fund your startup!"

This is not the way to do it.

2004-06-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

Good grief. How long is this going to go on? Do advertisers really want to be associated with unscrupulous and surreptitious advertising. It just furthers the growing user discontent with advertising. I do note that many advertisers are probably unaware of the ad serving mechanisms employed by advertising companies.

For every marketer employing these tactics, there's gotta be a hundred that believe in doing it the right way.

Adware guidelines

2004-06-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

Three separate cases question legality of these ad units -- here's how to stay out of trouble.

2004-06-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

Whenu Google results. Do you think people like them, or not?

Public Customer Feedback works wonders.

2004-06-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

check this out, it's borderline brilliant.

The Idea.

2004-06-07T14:05:00.000-07:00

Slowly, without anyone looking, a hallmark of modern advertising for the last 50 years has all but disappeared:

Good resources re online marketing & advertising

2004-06-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

Good blogs on marketing and advertising:

Adrants
http://www.adrants.com

Seth Godin's Blog
http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/blog.html

AdLand
http://ad-rag.com

MarketingVOX
http://www.marketingvox.com/

PR

CanuckFlack
http://www.canuckflack.com

PR Machine
http://prmachine.blogspot.com/

b-to-b marketing

Dana's Blog
http://www.danavan.net/weblog/

B2B Lead Generation Blog
http://blog.startwithalead.com/

Small Business Marketing

Duct Tape Marketing
http://www.DuctTapeMarketing.com/weblog.php

re:invention Blog - Biz and marketing soundbytes for women entrepreneurs
http://www.reinventioninc.blogspot.com

Online Marketing

Search Engine Lowdown
http://www.searchenginelowdown.com

Adverblog Web & wireless advertising in a Blog
http://www.adverblog.com

Strategic Public Relations
http://prblog.typepad.com

A banner space personal marketing channel

2004-06-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

Our new technology in development will be be sort of like this...but with more features.

The desktop is heating up

2004-06-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

more and more, advertisers are realizing the power of the desktop in maintaining a communication channel with customers.

The desktop is heating up

2004-06-04T09:07:00.001-07:00

more and more, advertisers are realizing the power of the desktop in maintaining a communication channel with customers.

done correctly, that is with permission, notice and consent - adware can be transformed into a powerful direct to customer channel with an array of applications and benefits.

i predict you ain't seen nothing yet.

The Rise of RSS!

The desktop is heating up

2004-06-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

more and more, advertisers are realizing the power of the desktop in maintaining a communication channel with customers.

good for a chuckle

2004-06-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

hey, you can't work all the time.

Could this be the template for the next big thing in online advertising?

2004-05-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

The new internet advertising technology is more than that.

It's also a new internet advertising philosophy.

Why not design an ad format that is entirely customer centric. Everything about it is put together with the customer experience in mind.

Highest on the list of priorities are Privacy, Permission, Notice and Consent, Clear Branding of content and promotion, Preferences, Relevance and Non-intrusion.

When Mr. Ramsey in the article refers to the consumer and any of the new digital, portable devices they may own he mentions that the devices are configurable.

of course they are.

But why not design an ad format that is configurable by the customer?

That is what i'm going to do.

On this last day of Ad:Tech, SF, it's only fitting to ponder some overall trends and who better to identify them than Geoff Ramsey, CEO and co-founder of eMarketer, the Internet researcher and data aggregator. Yesterday during a panel on TV, print, radio and online media, Ramsey identified several emerging trends industry types should think about:

1. Consumers are skeptical of advertising and resistant to it.
2. Consumers are in control. (To be sure, this is a trend that keeps popping up at all advertising and marketing conferences in the last six months).
3. Media fragmentation is a fact. (We've heard this one before too.)
4. Granular targeting is increasingly supplementing broad-based awareness advertising and marketing efforts.
5. Marketers and their agencies are being held to higher forms of accountability than ever; the all-important return-on-investment metric is not going away. (We've definitely heard this one before.)

Ramsey, always equipped with a laundry list of data, cited a Yankelovich study that finds 65 percent of the people surveyed "feel constantly bombarded with too many marketing messages." Consumers are increasingly taking control- signing up for the federal Do-Not-Call list and arming themselves with personal, portable devices that they can configure to their own liking.

American Idol Advertising

2004-05-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

fascinating results about behavioral advertising relating to american idol, both on television and online. For a 30 second ad on the finale for american idol, featuring fantasia barrino and diana digarmo, companies spent $1 million dollars.

they reached whatever percent of 31 million people who weren't using that time to do something else; getting something to drink, eat, go online, use the bathroom, etc. etc.

out of those that remained, how many were actually a prospect for their product or service?

for a million dollars i can put them on page 1 of keyword search results - on google, msn, yahoo, aol, ebay, altavista etc. - for every keyword they want - for as long as they want to be there.

oh, and i can also display their rich media ad - in a non-intrusive manner - right alongside any website they choose - for as long as they want.

now, add up those keyword impressions, and all the hits to the targeted websites, multiply that by the hours, days, weeks, months and years ahead, and compare that to the 30 seconds of exposure they get by spending a million dollars on the american idol finale, won by fantasia barrino.

if 30 seconds is worth a million bucks, what is that worth?

Working on a business model

2004-05-20T16:04:00.000-07:00

The typical method of adware distribution involves bundling the software with other prorgrams, skins, screensavers, games etc. through the use of a click-wrap license agreement.

Although they may be technically permission based, many times the process is completed without the end user's knowledge.

This, along with the fact that many users have unwittingly downloaded spyware that hijacks their homepage, changes the default search engine and collects and transmits personal info - while serving those annoying popup ads - has created an environment where everyone from users to legislators are calling for action to stop the insanity.

Sometimes i think people just don't get it.

I don't know, maybe it's because i spent 20 years working in a regular, good 'ol fashioned brick 'n mortar retail store.

you know, the kind where you have a couple of thousand people a day coming in to buy things, look around, talk to you, complain, ...

When you face those people every day for 20 years, talking with them, trying to engage them and develop a relationship with them, you learn a few things. Like; people want respect. they want privacy. they want relevance. they want choices. they want information. they want a fair deal.

they know you're making a profit, but it's okay because you're straight with them.

If you do that, they will appreciate the honesty and reciprocate. Their reciprocation may be that they accept things about the product/service/store that may not be exactly in line with ALL of their preferences.

Like maybe agreeing to look at some advertising as they shop.

I think - at least to some degree - that the adware situation is not entirely different. If a download was based on permission, notice and consent, privacy, relevance, NON-INTRUSION, preferences and value - i don't think people would have a problem with viewing some relevant, targeted ads.

Why don't the spyware people get that?

The adware program i'm developing will be based on those principles, and adhere to all industry guidelines (Google adware guidelines) while still providing advertisers a method of serving targeted, rich media ads to users.

It targets by keyword or url, serves the ad in a non-intrusive manner by creating "previously unavailable real estate" on the user's browser, and guarantees page 1 SERP.

While i think the potential for this technology is far greater, the market for popup ads alone is in the neighborhood of 500 million annually, depending on which report you read.

I'm betting that publishers, advertisers and end users would be more than happy to find - and use - an ad serving technology that could replace popups with something better.

wanna bet?

Ad Targeted by URL navigation

2004-05-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

ad served by url navigation. Look over on the right hand side of the screenshot, and you'll see our skyscraper ad for Mary Kay, served by navigation to www.clinique.com. In this type of ad, we can include all types of content up to and including html.

How many ad firms are there that currently serve popup ads?

Here's a technology they may be interested in. Instead of intruding on the site owners "real estate" and obstructing their content, and running into copyright issues, we serve a targeted ad in "previously unavailable real estate."

check it out.

A Replacement for popups?

2004-05-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

The new ad format we're developing will serve ads like the one you see in the post below this one.

Over on the right hand side of the screenshot you'll see the skyscraper ad served nest to the Google results for "herbalife".

So far, we've found our new advertising technology works on all major engines, e.g. Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Ebay, etc. etc.

Our technology allows our clients to display their ad on the first page of results, and we can serve any kind of ad; text, image, rich media, html - you name it.

Yes, we can even display full html within the window we create.

hey, that's sort of like "dueling websites"

Targeting can be done by keyword search or url navigation. The screenshot below demonstrates an example of keyword targeting.

The next screenshot I put up will show an example of an ad served by url navigation.

check it out, and i'll be back.

2004-05-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

herbalife keyword search result

Keyword Advertising inflation?

2004-05-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking about something. as online advertising continues its' recovery, and larger fortune 500 type companies begin shifting increasing portions of their huge ad budgets from other media to the web, what will happen to the bidding process for keywords?

It seems to me that that old basic - supply and demand - will kick in, and there will be rapid inflation in the bids for top placement for keywords.

As the keyword advertising frenzy kicks into high gear, we'll have more and more advertisers bidding on keywords. Then, when the big boys decide to play, they'll easily outbid the smaller folks, and prices will rise.

Either your ad expense is going up, your clicks are going down, or both.

Could be bad news for your clicks, traffic, conversions and sales, not to mention that pesky little detail - ROI.

Could there be an opportunity for an advertising format that can place you on page1 of search results for a flat rate price?