• Just an Online Minute... A Holiday Wish
    At this time of year it's almost mandatory for columnists to look back at the last 12 months. Frankly, I have little desire to revisit 2001. It was a bad year. As far as the next year is concerned, we've all read the optimistic forecasts and mulled over the data from numerous research houses that predict recovery in the next 6 months. (For some reason, these researchers seem unable to work with any times frame other than 6 months, but that's another story.) Obviously, their crystal balls are no better than the Magic 8 Ball buried under heaps …
  • Just an Online Minute... Online Shopping Up 55%
    Jupiter Media Metrix today released the fourth installment of its weekly Holiday 2001 E-Commerce Series, revealing that the Media Metrix Online Shopping Index increased 55% last week versus the same week last year, climbing from 33.8 million to 52.3 million unique visitors. While the index is down one-tenth of a percent versus the week before, the year-over-year growth of 55% compares strongly to the 25% annual growth rate of the same week last year. "The growth trajectory increased each week during the first four weeks of this year's holiday shopping period, which is in marked contrast to …
  • Just an Online Minute... $18 Billion by 2005
    For those of us lacking optimism in the face of 2002, GartnerG2 today released some figures sure to inspire good cheer. Whether you believe in their crystal ball or not, GartnerG2 predicts that by 2005, online advertising will be an $18.8 billion market in the U.S., up from $7.9 billion in 2001. While advertising growth remains flat or receding in TV, radio and print, online advertising revenue is set to grow considerably, but it is only 3% of the total advertising market. Therefore, GartnerG2 advises online media firms to diversify their revenue streams in order to stay viable …
  • Just an Online Minute... Misspent on 'Branding'
    If one more person asks me whether I think the Internet is a good branding medium, I'll scream. The question has been asked at just about every industry gathering in online history and the answer is still 'yes' - depending on the specific objectives of your branding campaign, the web - in addition to other media - may very well be used as a vehicle to build brand awareness. But that's not what I'm fed up with. What concerns me is that marketers seem to have forgotten that building trust, loyalty and relationships with customers is what builds a …
  • Just an Online Minute... GRPs Online?
    While everyone keeps talking about simplifying the process of buying online media and thus attracting more traditional advertisers to the medium, one company seems to have taken it upon itself to actually do something to accomplish that goal. Atlas DMT, an advertising technology provider and operating unit of Avenue A, Inc., announced today that it has unveiled its GRP and Reach Forecaster - the first-ever Gross Rating Points (GRPs) tool for online media. GRP is the standard measurement for quantifying advertising exposure in traditional advertising (derived by multiplying reach by the average frequency for a buy), but online …
  • Just an Online Minute... Session Billing
    Much has been said and written in the past few weeks about surround sessions - NYTimes.com's new way of attracting advertisers to their site by allowing them to follow site visitors around with their ads during the entire visit. I've written enough of these columns to know that anytime I quote someone saying that they've invented something new and exciting, there will always be someone who will say they've invented the very same thing a long time ago. That was the case with a company called VIPCAST, whose president Vivek Dave emailed me a few days ago, …
  • Just an Online Minute... Lots of Data
    The many numbers released today by several research companies are enough to make anyone's head spin. The first came from CMRi, which said that online ad spending dropped 17.1% for the first three quarters of 2001 compared to the same time period in 2000, totaling $2.1 billion. This news was not unexpected, considering that two days ago CMR reported that offline ad spending dropped 7.8% for all media for the first three quarters. But it wasn't all bad news. Second, Nielsen//NetRatings and Harris Interactive reported that ecommerce spending in November 2001 jumped 10% from November …
  • Just an Online Minute... Cutting Costs
    According to the results of the 2001 Business Change Survey from MST Research, business leaders across the US plan to change their long-range marketing and sales strategies and reduce employees, trade show participation and business travel as a result of the economic slowdown and Sept. 11. According to MST's President Debbie Rapin, 60% of the business leaders surveyed said they are considering changing one or more of their key marketing strategies. "Nearly a third also plan to reduce employees by up to 15%. Their overall business direction is toward cost-cutting coupled with an increased pressure to realize ROI on …
  • Just an Online Minute... Across the Atlantic
    Based on many research studies of U.S. online ads in recent history, banners rule the U.S. digital advertising landscape. Apparently, that's not the case with some of our European marketing and advertising counterparts. According to DoubleClick's latest European Digital Marketing Study, European marketers use email more than banners. Data from this study, conducted by Ecom Interaction and Benchmark research, shows that 31% of European marketers participate in email marketing, whereas 27% are engaging in targeted banner advertising. In the UK 58% of marketers use email marketing and 50% participate in targeted banner advertising. Spain is a close second …
  • Just an Online Minute... Streaming Radio Tested
    A few weeks ago, interactive radio company RadioCentral, Inc. completed a study of its online radio delivery model at the P&G Future Home Lab - a model of a futuristic home complete with networked web access and computerized appliances. Keeping in mind that the study is tinged with self-servitude, the results seem encouraging enough to report here. In all, RadioCentral found that more than 90% of the participants documented a "high" or "very high" degree of interest in the RadioCentral online radio offering. The three primary reasons for this high degree of interest, the study revealed, were …
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