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Advertising
This material was prepared initially by Patrick Beeson.
Introduction
Online advertising is the primary vehicle for news Web site revenue currently. And in the case of media with legacy products, such as a print newspaper or television broadcast, online advertising is potentially the savior, or at least a method of slowing losses, of traditional revenue streams.
The goal of Scripps newspapers for 2012 is to have online advertising pay for all editorial content (print and online): New York Times: Scripps Tries to Steer Local Ads to Papers’ Sites
Important concepts
Online advertising is not much different than print advertising. An ad of a certain size and design is bought by an advertiser, and displayed to site visitors on specific pages.
But online ads do differ from their print counterparts in the following areas:
Sizes and construction: Most online ads are sold according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) specifications. This is to allow ad networks to exist, where ads can be run on any site within the network. It also standardizes online ad sizes for the benefit of advertisers.
These types of ads are referred to as "display" ads, or "banner" ads. They will also allow users to click through to the advertisers' Web site.
Online ads can be built using Web graphics (gif, jpg), but can also be Flash or video. Ads using Flash for interaction are often called "rich media" ads.
The ad design is called the "creative."
Online video ads are often shown (based on the same specs as with display ads) when a visitor plays a video. These ads are often referred to as the following types:
- Pre-roll: When a video ad is displayed before the video begins.
- Post-roll: When a video ad is displayed after the video ends.
- Overlay: A type of interactive ad displayed in the lower-thirds of a video. It allows the user to interact, while pausing the video.
- Static: A simple static, image based, ad that is shown during a video.
Management: Online ads are generally served using an ad management system that allows ads to be scheduled according to how they were sold, most commonly on an impression basis. An ad "impression" refers to each time an ad is viewed.
How they're sold: Online ads, as previously mentioned, are commonly sold on an impression basis (using cost per thousand, or CPM). They can also be sold using the following criteria:
- clickthrough rates (CTR): The percentage of times that a person seeing an ad online clicks on the ad.
- cost per action (CPA): A type of ad in which the advertiser only pays the publisher for each time someone completes a transaction, whether that's registering for a site or buying a product.
- pay-per-click (PPC): An ad in which the advertiser only pays for each click made by viewers, with the price set by bidding against other advertisers online. Used by Google prominently.
- behavorial ads: Advertising that's served up according to a person's recent online web surfing, matching their interest even if they are not currently on a relevant site.
Online ads are unique compared to other ads in that they can be targeted to specific sections (business, sports, entertainment) or individual pages, such as a news story. This allows advertisers to get a better return for their expenditure.
How they're priced: Online ads are not priced according to print circulation or broadcast viewers. Rather they're priced according to the site's traffic numbers, using metrics such as page views, visits and time spent. The more traffic a site has, the more they can charge advertisers.
And because the Web is the most trackable medium, sites can use a variety of traffic data to lure advertisers -- things such as visitors' location (local or national), time of visit and visit depth all come into play.
How it works
Here are the steps in which an ad might be sold, and run, on a news Web site:
- Local advertisers buys an ad after being contacted from a sales person. He wants to purchase 10,000 impressions for a big box ad targeted to UT women's basketball content on the site.
- The ad information is inserted in the ad management system (a Web application), and scheduled to run when the impressions are available (this should be confirmed before the sale).
- The ad appears on the site, but only on stories or content involving UT women's basketball. Each time the ad is viewed, an impression is counted.
- At the end of the total impressions bought, the ad falls off the site. The customer is sent an ad delivery report showing the statistics for their ad.
Additional resources
- Media Shift: Your Guide to Online Advertising
- IAB ad unit guidelines
- IAB: Digital Video Ad Format Guidelines & Best Practices
- Web Analytics Definitions (PDF)
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Copyright ? Jim Stovall 2008-9
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