WPP’s GroupM has created a new innovations unit called GroupM Next that will be overseen by Chris Copeland, the CEO of GroupM Search. The unit is designed to help clients at the company’s media shops -- Mindshare, MediaCom, MEC and Maxus -- better navigate the evolving digital sector and keep abreast of developments in areas such as social, mobile and addressable systems. It also identifies partnership opportunities between vendors and clients within the sector. According to Copeland, GroupM Next is not a new client offering; it is an operation designed to strengthen “the value of our agency and client relationships ... the primary focus of this unit is to amplify the efforts that are put forward by the collective of our GroupM agencies." “Every client wants to know how we can use the collective power of the organization to drive innovation that can benefit them,” added Copeland. Most clients are also looking for “first look” opportunities with the Facebooks and Googles of the world, but also with emerging players, like Spotify and Pandora. In some instances, GroupM Next will work with clients and newer platforms to create ad models that don’t yet exist. Pinterest, for example, has buzz -- but not a real ad product, he noted. The new group, which Copeland will oversee in addition to the search unit, is being folded within GroupM Next. It will also place an emphasis on new research to better understand how different digital platforms and technologies are impacting overall consumer media consumption. Separately, GroupM said it named Cary Tilds to be its Chief Innovation Officer, a new post at the media oversight arm. Most recently, Tilds was Mindshare’s North American digital leader. For now, she will remain based in Detroit. For GroupM Next, Tilds’ focus will be on technology and how the GroupM media shops can best interface with the latest platforms, while Copeland will oversee the research and insights efforts of the new unit. GroupM Next is based in St. Louis, where Copeland and GroupM Search are based. The unit comprises about 25 staffers spanning insights, research, technology and education, Copeland said. Most of the staff is in St. Louis and Detroit, but plans call for additional hires to be based on the East and West Coast. Part of the mission, he said, “will be to build on the thought and technology platforms” that currently exist within GroupM, such as social media specialist M80 and mobile shop Joule and research unit Kantar. The group also plans to hold a series of conferences designed to educate both clients and staff on the latest developments in the digital space. --
In one of the most enterprising efforts to leverage the vast pools of unsold online advertising inventory, a serial online ad entrepreneur Tuesday unveiled a new model that will give marketers free online advertising in exchange for research on the results of how well the ads performed. The new model, which was announced during Ad:Tech San Francisco by Neil Monnens, establishes yet another intermediary platform in the increasingly cluttered field of advertising technology, but also represents a unique solution for publishers looking for authenticated case studies proving the performance of ads on their Web sites to sell to other marketers. Monnens, who pioneered the online ad representative model in 1996 by founding WebRep, a model that early online ad industry executives initially looked askance at, said he’s finding similar initial reactions from some publishers that he has begun pitching his new model to -- but he says advertisers and agencies are very enthusiastic, and that he currently has more than enough commitments to roll out the service, dubbed Measurable Media Labs. The problem, he says, is convincing publishers to part with some of their unsold inventory to fund the case studies. While the model effectively is an “in-kind” exchange in which publishers are paying for research in exchange for unsold inventory, Monnens says their emotional reaction is that they would be giving it away for free. Monnens says that reluctance has come mainly from top-tier, “big brand” publishers who may be reluctant to signal that their inventory is “distressed,” but he notes that many of those readily participate in online exchanges, ad networks and other third-party platforms that effectively yield pennies on their premium ad dollars, largely because much of their inventory is unsold. He says he expects to have more success convincing mid-tail and smaller publishers who are eager to generate case studies that demonstrate their efficacy to big brand advertisers. Monnens says the model is simple, and that he initially will work only with big brands spending at least $500,000 online and with media plans that cover at least 10 publishers at any given time. His offer is simple: One of the publishers in the marketer’s mix contributes inventory valued at $50,000 to the advertiser’s schedule, and the publisher gains access to the back-end metrics of the advertiser’s results, including click-throughs, conversions and costs, creating an index for how well the participating publisher performed relative to the other publishers in the schedule. Measurable Media Labs’ fee for managing the effort and producing the case studies is 20% of the buy, or a $10,000 fee paid by the brand. Monnens, who serves as founder and CEO of Measurable Media Labs, says the goal is to create some “proof of performance” for publishers who are not necessarily as successful at getting the attention of major brands and agencies as the top-tier are. He says some advertisers have already asked him if they could place their entire online campaign budgets via the platform, but says Measurable Media Labs will limit any given brand to no more than two case study programs during any given period.
The search engine marketing industry should brace for consolidation this year, as enterprise brands look for a variety of SEM services and support from one company. The move could even consolidate a few small platform providers to compete with larger agencies, such as Havas and GroupM. SEM firm BoostCTR, a performance-driven ad optimization firm, recently launched an offering for enterprise businesses, following a move by BrightEdge late last year. The enterprise service from BoostCTR -- ad copy optimization -- won't compete with traditional offerings at Adobe, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, or Salesforce.com, but complement them, according to BoostCTR Co-founder and CEO David Greenbaum. Naming Google, Bing, Facebook and others in the same sentence, Greenbaum said BoostCTR will soon kick off a pilot to optimize ad copy that will improve click-through rates and return on investments for an unnamed engine that can control the algorithms around search results, but not the click-through rate profitability related to ad copy. When asked whether this type of thinking makes BoostCTR an acquisition target, he skirted the question by adding that the engines are looking for companies that can add these types of services. IgnitionOne President Roger Barnette also believes this year will bring consolation, attributing fragmentation of services to enterprise companies, in part, to the change. "The stakes are high right now," he said. 'Marketers are suffering. They are trying to sell stuff, and there are too many different companies offering services and industry jargon to get the job done correctly. You have 15 different companies." Enterprises want companies that can support all their needs. This trend, along with established companies with sophisticated or niche services, such as Boost, BrightEdge, and Kenshoo, an Israeli-born digital marketing agency, will drive consolidation in the SEM industry. Large brands want one expert to support search engine marketing needs, and companies like Google and Microsoft that may not offer these services likely will gobble them up. Late last year, the Israeli publication, Calcalist speculated possible acquisitions by Google, Microsoft and others led by venture capital firm Sequoia. The author suggests these companies were in negotiations to acquire Kenshoo, but discussions halted after a disagreement in the $300 million price tag. It's the sign of a maturing and saturated industry. Kenshoo declined to comment.
On the media side, AOL has a longstanding relationship with Mindshare Entertainment, the branded entertainment division of media services agency. But AOL plans to announce a first-of-its-kind deal Wednesday with Mindshare Entertainment’s creative team. “We saw a symbiotic opportunity to build and sell content in a differentiated way,” said Karen Cahn, general manager of branded experiences at AOL. “They are uniquely positioned next to clients ready to shift money to creative ideas on the Web.” Together the partners plan to create original programming -- the direction and quality of which will be based largely on proprietary data and insights, according to Cahn. “For example, we’re working a social content franchise that will speak to the budget-conscious woman through the lenses of fashion, beauty and DIY,” she said. “We’re also working on a social engagement platform that helps extraordinary Americans fulfill their wildest dreams across the globe.” Among Mindshare’s large roster of brand clients, Cahn promises to “carefully and organically marry [brands to] programming, but the user experience and the community come first.” According to Cahn, AOL’s partnership with Mindshare Entertainment is hardly exclusive. “We’re open to working with best creatives in the industry -- whether that’s other agencies or our internal creative team,” she said. “We want to work with the best and brightest people and agencies who understand brands. More broadly, AOL has been investing in every area of its ad business. Late last month, the company debuted a centralized platform for campaign optimization, expansion and real-time bidding capabilities. The AdLearn Open Platform (AOP) -- an extension of Advertising.com’s current AdLearn technology -- was, in part, AOL’s answer to the rise of real-time marketplaces. In February, meanwhile, AOL debuted a technology platform for marketers to customize the design, delivery and management of display advertising. Pictela Enterprise, as the new service is named, gives ad agencies a guided self-service interface to manage their clients’ brand assets and serve them directly into online display ads. Separately, the AOL, Mindshare alliance is loosely connected to the Digital Content NewFronts (DCNF), which several online advertising heavyweights plan to host later this month. Along with Digitas, Google/YouTube, Hulu, Microsoft Advertising and Yahoo, AOL is hoping to shape a new and practical marketplace for connecting digital content with brand marketers and their media and marketing agencies. “As we head into the NewFronts, you will see AOL make key announcements that show the value of what we can offer,” said Cahn. The Interactive Advertising Bureau is also expected to actively participate with DCNF, hosting collateral events and forums at the IAB Ad Lab through early May. During the same period, each founding partner will host an independent event in New York City -- the details can be found here.
Autotrader.com topped the ranking of local online ad revenue leaders in 2011, taking in more than $1 billion in sales on the strength of a rebounding U.S. auto market. The car site edged out perennial local ad powerhouse AT&T Yellowpages.com, with nearly $1 billion in revenue, followed by newcomer Groupon, at $650 million. Rounding out the top five were employment sites Monster and CareerBuilder, each with just under $500 million in ad sales. Borrell Associates annual benchmarking report for local online media also showed pure-play Internet companies overall continued to dominate the sector. They accounted for 46.2% of the $16.4 billion spent on local online advertising last year, trailed by newspapers (24.7%), directories (12.6%) and broadcast (12%). Among Internet-only companies, Groupon led the way in average ad revenue per market, at $5.8 million. But that reflects gross revenue from the sale of deals- -- half to 60% of which goes to the business client. Craigslist, which is only in 19 local markets, was second with an average of $4.75 million. Fourth on that list -- behind Autotrader.com -- was Yelp, which averaged $1.8 million across the 47 markets it serves. The Borrell report noted that traditional media players ramped up online efforts to try to outpace the decline of their legacy businesses. To that end, Yellow Pages companies, spent last year reorganizing their sales staffs and strategies to focus on digital sales. Local Edge, which operates print directories for Hearst Corp, for example, earned 51% of its gross sales from digital products in 2011. Newspapers are likewise adapting, holding steady with a quarter of the local online ad market and growing digital ad revenue last year by 20% to $4 billion. Borrell projects that newspaper online revenue growth will match last year’s rate, reaching $4.8 billion. Even so, the firm also predicts that if current trends hold, online media -- including banners, streaming audio and video, email advertising, paid search and mobile advertising -- will overtake newspaper ad revenue in two years. Currently, newspapers account for about 22% of the $91.2 billion spent on local advertising compared to 18% for online. Borrell predicts that local online ad spending will grow 21.1% this year to $19.9 billion. Local TV online ad revenues did not come close to those of Internet-only companies or newspapers, but continued to grow at a healthy clip last year, rising 41% to nearly $2 billion. Borrell expects that total to increase another 35% this year to $2.7 billion, on steady demand for streaming video commercials and mobile traffic growth. The firm also sees strong growth potential for online advertising this year in radio, which has been the slowest of the major traditional media to make the digital shift. After increasing online ad sales by only 6.1% to $303.7 million last year, Borrell forecasts a 35% jump this year to $404 million, fueled by greater pressure on sales for in-stream audio commercials and from increased election-year political ad spending. Among other trends highlighted in the report is the embrace of the so-called agency model by both traditional and new media companies to boost digital revenue. This means going beyond display ad sales to offer value-added services like SEO, SEM, Web development and social media marketing. Sales training was also stepped up last year. Trade groups such as the Local Media Association and individual companies launched online sales-certification programs to ensure that reps were properly trained in how to sell digital products. Yellow Pages publisher DexOne went so far as to fire 40% of its 1,700-member sales force and replace them with more Web-savvy reps, according to the report.
More than half of marketers who responded to a survey on the impact of attribution said understanding the path to conversion allows them to more accurately disburse budgets. Many, however, still don't understand how the process should work. Marketers have been working to understand how a variety of channels influence sales. In time, the promise of attribution will integrate offline activities, too, but for now this study -- "Marketing Attribution, Valuing the Customer Journey," released Tuesday from Google Analytics and Econsultancy -- looks to optimizing budgets and campaigns for more traditional models and stages. For those who do understand the process, 52% of client-side marketers report that attribution has led to an increase in spending on some digital channels, and 72% of marketers say that attribution leads to better return on investments. Once a linear path, the road to conversion becomes complicated as mobile, social, search, television, radio, billboards, automatic identification technologies and other channels join the process. Not understating attribution remains the biggest challenge in adopting the practice, according to Bill Kee, product manager at Google. Understanding how channels influence sales through attribution also means a cultural shift at most organizations. Marketers that still rely on the last-click attribution model continue to put most of the company's marketing budgets in channels closest to conversions, such as purchases. Some 51% of survey respondents named the lack of priority in marketing as the No. 1 barrier to attribution, followed by being unsure how to choose the appropriate model and a need to better understand the potential advantages tied for No. 2 at 42%. Other barriers include a lack of data or access to data to inform the process, 41%; new staff and resources, 37%; lack of budget, 33%; lack of management buy-in, 32%; and attribution technology not yet mature enough, 27%.
Online radio is the fastest-growing music-listening category among U.S. consumers, according to new findings from NPD Group. The market research firm found that 43% of U.S. Web users in 2011 chose to listen to music via Pandora, Slacker, Yahoo Music and other online radio services -- up nine percentage points from 2010. At the same time, music-listening on AM/FM radio and CDs remained relatively steady, at 84% and 74%, respectively. NPD’s annual music study found the number of online radio listeners grew by 18 million last year. The format is most popular among people in the 18-25 age bracket. But strong growth was also seen among people ages 36 to 50, which suggests that young listeners may be turning their parents onto digital radio. While demand for free online radio is increasing, the appetite for paid options remains low. Some 42% of Web users listened to free radio in 2011 compared to just 3% who paid for online radio. Sites like Pandora have benefited directly from the growing audience for online radio. Despite lower-than-expected revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter, the company still saw ad sales climb 74% to $72.1 million from a year ago. Privately held Spotify likewise made a successful entrance into the U.S. market last year. The U.K-based company, however, recently extended a promotion that allows U.S. users to continue to stream music for free, underscoring the challenge of converting people to paying subscribers. Outside the U.S., it also lifted a restriction imposing a five-song limit on free users. The NPD research indicated Facebook doesn’t play an influential role when it comes to online music. Only 12% of Web users listened to music integrated into Facebook or other social networks by services including Spotify and MOG. Spotify, for instance, has only about a dozen apps on its platform to date. “There’s no doubt that Facebook has helped drive music listening and discovery,” said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis at NPD. “But what is not yet clear is the platform’s importance, in terms of ongoing music usage and purchasing.” Facebook has long been rumored to start its own music service, but so far has relied on outside partners to supply music offerings through the site. The NPD study results were based on online surveys of 5,799 U.S. consumers age 13 and up, between December 14, 2011 and January 3, 2012.
TRUSTe is unveiling a new tool that mobile companies will use to target iPhone and Android users, while also enabling consumers to opt out of receiving in-app ads targeted based on their activity. To accomplish this, TRUSTe is offering app developers access to a software development kit that will place an identifier -- which it calls a Trusted Preference Identifier -- on users' devices. App developers also will employ that identifier to recognize and target users. If people opt out of receiving targeted ads, that information will be tied to their identifier. Mobile companies will be able to access TRUSTe's database of Trusted Preference Identifiers and determine whether users have opted out; if so, the mobile companies won't serve targeted ads to those users. Companies that have already indicated they will use the tool, called TRUSTed Mobile, include Electronic Arts, HasOffers, Human Demand, InMobi, JiWire, Medialets, Millennial Media and Nexage. In the past, mobile companies were able to track iPhone users through their devices' 40-character identifiers known as UDIDs (unique device identifiers). Some mobile ad networks allowed people to opt out, but the process required them to write down their 40-character UDID and submit it to the network. Apple recently began limiting developers' access to UDIDs, which has left mobile companies seeking alternatives. A few of the options to emerge -- such as tracking iPhone users based on their MAC addresses or their phones digital fingerprints -- are seen as privacy unfriendly, largely because people have no easy way of deleting a MAC address or digital fingerprint. TRUSTe CEO Chris Babel says that consumers who install the identifier can later effectively delete the data associated with their devices by "renewing" or "revoking" it. Consumers who "renew" the identifier will receive a new one that maintains their opt-out preferences, but isn't tied to their old identifier -- and, therefore, can't be linked to cookie-like data previously associated with their devices. People who "revoke" the identifier will simply receive a new one that doesn't include information about their opt-out preferences -- similar to what happens when consumers delete all desktop cookies, including opt-out cookies. Jules Polonetsky, co-chair and director of the think tank Future of Privacy Forum, praised the tool for giving consumers an easier way to opt out of in-app ad targeting than submitting UDIDs to ad networks. "By providing a clickable mobile opt-out, TRUSTed Mobile ads makes consumer choice much easier," he says.
Mobile startup shopkick has turned to Big Oil for its latest retail partner. Under a new deal, ExxonMobil will let customers that use the shopkick app at its gas station convenience stores earn points that can be redeemed at the stores of other retailers that work with shopkick. Unfortunately for consumers reeling from high gas prices, the rewards don’t include discounts at the pump. Customers using the location-based shopping app at 375 participating ExxonMobil locations in Miami, New York and Washington, D.C., however, will gain points, or “kicks” just by walking in the door. The kicks can be redeemed at one of shopkick’s other participating retailers, including Target, Best Buy and American Eagle Outfitters. Those points can be put toward in-store gift cards, song downloads, movie tickets, or Facebook Credits, as well as donations to 30 different causes and charities and more. The idea is that the incentive to earn additional points will help steer shopkick’s more than 3 million users to ExxonMobil stations, instead of competing gas stations. Besides brick-and-mortar retailers, shopkick has also struck alliances with brands such as Kraft Foods and Visa, as well as the CW TV network.
ACTV8.me, which powers second-screen interactivity synced with TV content, will launch apps linked with Fox shows such as “New Girl.” Fox has also taken an undisclosed stake in the company. ACTV8.me also has an undetermined relationship with a Mark Burnett production entity and has been running an app linked with NBC show “The Celebrity Apprentice.” The free Fox apps, which allow viewers to chat and answer trivia questions in real-time as a show airs, can be used on iPhones. In coming weeks, it will be usable on iPads and Android devices. ACTV8.me CEO Brian Shuster stated that the focus was to nurture new, compelling interactive and social features "that enhance the overall television entertainment experience and ultimately grow audience viewership." ACTV8.me is one of several entities, including Nielsen, trying to provide networks with systems allowing viewers to watch a show and interact with additional content (and other viewers) live on a second device. Networks can build engagement, as well as derive some ad revenue. An app for TBS’s “Conan” is sponsored by AT&T. “The Celebrity Apprentice” app offers contests, including one to win a Buick Verano. Buick is one of the advertisers that ACTV8.me said would sponsor its platform for the show this season. Others include Crystal Light and Walgreens. CEO Shuster added that there was an “overall goal of gamifying the second-screen experience."
The Attorney General of Ohio is asking a state appeals court to reject arguments put forward by Google in an antitrust case brought by shopping search company myTriggers, a former AdWords advertiser. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed last week, Ohio's top law enforcement official urged the appellate court to officially disagree with Google's contention that the federal law Act protects the company from antitrust liability based on which search results it displays. Accepting that position "would immunize an entire industry from the operation of this state's antitrust laws," Mike DeWine argues. The litigation stems from a lawsuit initially filed in state court in Columbus by Google against shopping search company myTriggers for allegedly failing to pay $335,000 in search marketing fees. myTriggers filed a counterclaim alleging that its quality score was wrongfully dropped by Google, resulting in a 10,000% increase in the cost of search ads. myTriggers alleged that Google did so for anticompetitive reasons. But it emerged in the course of litigation that myTriggers previously said in an insurance claim that server crashes spurred Google to raise prices. Judge John Bessey in Franklin County threw out myTriggers' lawsuit last year, ruling that the company didn't sufficiently allege that Google acted anti-competitively. But while Bessey ultimately ruled in favor of Google, he also disagreed with the company about whether federal law immunizes it from liability for decisions about which search results are displayed. myTriggers appealed Bessey's ruling, arguing that the case shouldn't have been thrown out. Google, although it won the case, is now asking the appellate court to rule that Bessey should have said that the company's actions were protected by the federal Communications Decency Act. Among other provisions, the Communications Decency Act's "good samaritan" provisions say that companies aren't liable for taking steps to remove potentially objectionable content. Google argues that its actions as a publisher -- including lowering companies' quality scores -- are the type of activity that's protected by the statute. "In applying its advertising quality standards and search algorithms to my Triggers' content, Google was acting voluntarily to restrict the availability of material that it considered objectionable," the company argues in its appeal. But the Ohio attorney general argues that the good samaritan provisions only apply when companies remove material for a narrow range of reasons, such as because it's obscene, lewd, violent or harassing. "Google's assertion that the immunity provision must be interpreted broadly is plainly foreclosed," the Attorney General argues. A ruling against Google on this issue could influence other cases, but won't necessarily change the outcome in myTriggers' lawsuit. That's because even if the appellate court agrees with the state Attorney General, that court could still find that Bessey correctly dismissed the case on the ground that myTriggers didn't adequately allege an antitrust violation.
The leading smartphone device maker, Samsung, has tossed its hat into the mobile ad ring with the announcement this week it would launch an ad exchange later this year. Samsung says it will work with OpenX to create a private ad exchange using real-time bidding (RTB) on mobile inventory. The Samsung AdHub Market, Powered by OpenX claims to be the first such private ad exchange aimed at global mobile inventory across both smartphones and tablets. Samsung is the largest maker of Android-powered smartphones, and it maintains a line of Android-powered tablets as well. Slated for a second half launch, AdHub will allow purchasing of inventory both from app developers as well as from Samsung directly. The RTB model is meant to appeal to developers, who can set minimum pricing on their inventory and let advertisers bid for each impression served on the devices in real-time. Samsung says that the market will allow developers to control their inventory and approve all sources of ads. The AdHub puts Samsung in direct competition with one of its chief partners, Google. Google not only makes the Android operating system that powers the most popular Samsung models, but it also runs the AdMob ad network that already serves inventory in Android app. The announcement indicates Samsung’s increased determination to take on Apple on multiple fronts. Apple already has the iAds ad network running within its iOS operating system. And while Apple continues to eye the TV market, Samsung has already launched a TV app ad marketplace, also called AdHub. Samsung is partnering with an established player in the Web ad technology arena. OpenX is extending into mobile with an ad serving platform that supports standard mobile ad formats as well as the newer MRAID rich media standards.
A majority of smartphone subscribers in the U.S. now use the Google Android operating system, according to the latest tracking reports from comScore. For the three months ending in February, comScore sees Android with 50.1% of the market, up 3.2 points since November. Apple’s iOS also increased its share of the market -- albeit less slowly than Android -- reaching 30.2%, up 1.5 points or less than half the growth rate of its major rival. And the numbers add up to a two-company race at this point, since Android and Apple now control more than 80% of the market. Other challengers are seeing their share of the market continue to diminish. The troubled Reasearch in Motion BlackBerry platform is off another 3.2 points in the period, now holding 13.4% of the smartphone market. And Microsoft continues its struggle to make Windows Phone a realistic contender. Microsoft has only 3.9% of the smartphone market here, off another 1.3 points. All categories of mobile content use continue to escalate, according to comScore’s sample of over 30,000 mobile users. Text messaging is approaching ubiquity, with 74.8% of all mobile users texting (+2.2 points). Digital content access is up across the board, with using an app and browsing the Web now done by almost half of mobile customers (49.5% and 49.2%, respectively). Digital content access by phone is on an especially striking trajectory, with increases in app use up 4.6 points and browser use up 4.8 points in a single quarter. Not all other categories of mobile data are also on the rise. Social networks now are used by 36.1% of mobile customers (+3.1 points), and 32.3% played a mobile game (+2.6 points). Finally, almost a quarter of users are playing music on their phones. Apple’s strong holiday sales of iPhones helped the company increase its share of the OEM market in hardware to 13.5% (+2.3 points) Samsung continues to lead the hardware market, however, with 25.6% share, followed by LG with 19.4%.