• by Michael Zimbalist , May 24, 2002

Consider that just one year ago newyorkjets.com employed an ad sales rep firm and was being pitched as “media” to agencies and you’ll realize how much the free flow of dot-com ad spending distorted the fundamentals of online publishing. In that respect we should all be glad that the bubble burst. Now that the shakeout is nearly complete, online media can go back to being media and compete on the basis of 1) brand strength; 2) quality of audience; and 3) advertising solutions available within each distinct editorial environment.

The best online publishers attract loyal audiences who come often and stay for significant amounts of time. These audiences don’t merely light upon the page for an instant before jumping back to a portal dashboard from which they navigate. These are audiences that seek out the publisher’s brand directly and come to consume content. They place greater trust in the advertising they see because they trust the editorial environment in which the advertising appears. This is important because all advertisers seek a relationship with consumers—and are best introduced to those consumers—in a setting where the consumer already has a trusted relationship with the content brand.

The best online publishers are rolling up their sleeves to help agencies and clients figure out how to make this a more effective medium for marketers. All the published research about online branding has been met with a great yawn because online ad units by themselves aren’t very credible as branding devices in comparison to the units available on TV and in print. The best online publishers are responding to this challenge with more innovative ad solutions that deliver results: Advertisers are lining up to try CNET’s new “Impact Launch Units”; USAToday.com’s “Pencil and Toaster” section fronts ads; “fixed positions” on Washingtonpost.com; “section sponsorships” on ESPN; and the New York Times’s surround sessions.

In conjunction with the introduction of more impactful ad solutions, the best online publishers are being mindful of the user experience and how it can be polluted by too much commercial clutter. The starting point for this is the clear separation of advertising and editorial content—and it should go without saying that the best online publishers are vigilant about maintaining this separation. But in 2002, we can expect to see a separation between publishers intent on bombarding their users and those that maintain the dignity of their environments—this not only respects the user experience, it also helps make the advertisers’ messages more effective. It’s time for the industry to develop some best practices so that we can reframe the discussion of online advertising intrusiveness into a discussion of effectiveness by proving that less can actually be more when the audience has staying power.

One final thing to expect of the best online publishers in the coming year: profitability. They have demonstrated business discipline. They’re controlling their costs. They’re diversifying their revenue streams beyond display advertising through the introduction of premium (i.e., paid) services and classified listing. And in the case of publishers who are part of larger media companies, they’re getting smarter about cross-selling their products through brick-and-click strategies that yield maximum returns on their investment in human capital.

Guest columnist Michael Zimbalist is acting executive director of the Online Publishers Association. He can be reached at mzimbalist@online-publishers.org.