If you're an independent female voter living in Ohio, and boast more than 100 Facebook friends, the two presidential campaigns have spent as much as $50 to advertise to you in the last four months. Conversely, if you're a registered Democrat living in New York who never uses the social networking service, the campaigns have spent as little as $5 in ads directed to you. That's according to privacy company Abine, which released a tool this week that allows people to estimate how much their vote is worth to the presidential campaigns, as measured by ad dollars. The interactive tool asks users to enter factors like gender, voting history, state of residence, number of Facebook friends, and how often they visit news sites. The tool then calculates an estimate of the amount of ad spending in all media by campaigns to reach that user; spending in online media accounts for approximately 6-9% of the total, according to Abine. To arrive at the estimate, Abine started with the premise that average ad spending by campaigns per U.S. voter comes to $22. The company adds up to $7 to that figure for users who live in battleground states like Ohio, and subtracts the same amount for those in solidly blue or red states, like Massachusetts. Beyond state of residence, the tool also looks at how many Facebook friends people have, how many news sites they tend to visit, and voting history. "Higher values are all about influence," Abine privacy analyst Sarah Downey writes on the company blog. "You’re worth more to the campaigns if you have a lot of influence in your social circles, and if they think you can be influenced to switch your vote." Robert Shavell, Abine co-founder, says that the company believes that campaigns are willing to pay as much as a 25% premium to reach Facebook users with many friends in the same age group. Shavell says that estimate is based on information Abine has gleaned from its relationships with advertisers and ad tech companies. He adds that campaigns also want to target people who read a lot of news stories online -- especially those who tend to visit the same sites, where they can be shown the same ads. "The mantra is that if you can get people to see the same ad five to 10 times, as opposed to one time, the value of that ad goes up," he says.
In the latest twist in the rapid evolution of online content marketing, a new platform will add a fourth term to Madison Avenue’s Holy Trinity of paid, earned and owned: appropriated. The new platform enables marketers to sort through the torrent of so-called “expert” content -- stories written by professional journalists or bona fide bloggers -- about their brands, filter them based on sentiment, and then automatically feed the most positive ones into their own paid advertising. While the concept of feeding professional, third-party content into ads is not entirely new, the new platform -- dubbed inPowered -- accelerates the speed, scale, and ease of doing it in a way that will further blur the line between advertising and editorial content. “It’s expert media being distributed by paid media,” says Peyman Nilforoush, CEO and co-founder with his brother Pirouz, who serves as president of inPowered. In other words, Nilforoush says, advertisers can use the platform to quickly find what professional journalists are saying about their brands and “amplify it” by putting their own advertising dollars behind distributing the most positive stories. The brothers -- who co-founded and continue to operate NetShelter, a network of technology-focused blogs that also uses expert content to promote brands in a conventional way via display advertising -- say inPowered is the next logical progression for brands and consumers alike. And they are backed up by new research they commissioned online ad effectiveness researcher Marketing Evolution to conduct, which shows dramatic increases in a brand’s “KPIs,” or key performance indicators, when they pull expert content as a form of third-party endorsement into their own ads. To a certain extent, the Nilforoushes say the concept is as old as ads for movies or TV shows that republish positive headlines, clips and sound bites from professional critics, but with speed and scale that can be used for brands in any category. During a preview for Online Media Daily, the brothers showed a live example for Samsung, a beta customer of inPowered, that sourced thousands of “expert” reviews of its “smart TV” products on-the-fly and in real-time via an easy-to-use, self-serve dashboard that is the command center for inPowered. The platform then filters the content for “positive” sentiment and enables brands to place it directly into two “paid” formats: conventional display ads distributed across inPowered’s advertising network of contextually relevant publishers, or so-called “native” formats that look just like the editorial content of some of those publications. The mix and budget are up to advertisers and agencies to manage, and the brothers say they will only be charged based on content that is actually “consumed” by consumers, not just served into an ad on a Web page. As a result, they are charging a hefty premium of $5-per-user, or a CPM of $5,000, making it one of the priciest media buys ever. “But it’s based on a consumption versus an impression,” explains Peyman Nilforoush, adding: “It gives advertisers the ability to take the stories that are already generating positive impressions for them, and put their own money behind giving them greater distribution.” While inPowered was conceived to “amplify” the weight of positive editorial coverage, the brothers acknowledged that there is nothing to stop brands from utilizing it the opposite way, by identifying negative stories about their competitor’s brands and utilizing their own ad budgets to amplify those impressions -- a concept known as “conquesting.” “Technically, there’s no reason why you couldn’t do that,” acknowledged Pirouz Nilforoush, adding, however, that it was not the intent or spirit in which the platform was developed.
Barack Obama's and Mitt Romney's campaign teams spent more than $1 billion in advertising, but a study shows that both failed to take full advantage of online media. The biggest misstep points to a lack of coverage around key issues discussed during the debates, such as economy, taxes and budget. Election filings show the Obama campaign spent more than $47 million for online advertising and marketing, compared with Romney's $4.7 million, reports Politico. Jason Tabeling, partner and head of Rosetta's search and media practice, said the team began assessing Obama's and Romney's online media campaigns based on the same criteria they would use to review brand campaigns. Rosetta measured performance from Sept. 10 through Oct. 23. Obama's campaign responded well to perceived wins and losses by the media through paid-search ads and landing pages. He was specific about calls to action and responding to specific topics. Search ads pointed to landing pages supporting his points, but Romney's camp didn't really take full advantage of that tactic, Tabeling explains. Rosetta monitored keywords for paid-search ads before and after the debates. Candidates did not use many keywords they should have, according to the analysis. For example, in Ohio, a key swing state, Romney held 3% coverage, whereas Obama had 41%. The difference indicates a key focus in response to specific issues discussed throughout the debates. Tabeling defines coverage as the percentage of times the candidate's ads serves up connected to a keyword in a search query or display advertisement. Typically, online marketers shy away from telling clients to bid on competitive brand terms for search marketing campaigns, but the two presidential candidates did just that. Romney bid on Obama-related terms about 35% of the time. Obama bid on Romney-related terms about 17% of the time. Many of the keywords attempt to capture undecided voters. Prices are higher and conversion rates lower when bidding on competitive brands. "People know the brand they want to buy, and it's difficult to persuade them to switch," Tabeling said. Interestingly, each candidate protected searches for their own brand, but Obama had more exposure for searches related to foreign policy and health care subjects -- more than 37%. Romney spent more on vice president-related terms -- over 58% -- and bid on Obama-inclusive searches. Romney had no measured exposure for health care and Obamacare-related terms. Obama gained the most exposure from online banner ads in the first and second quarters of 2012, while Romney dominated in Q3 and Q4. President Obama gained nearly five times the total number of impressions of display advertising ad units during 2012. Romney continues to close the gap in Q3 and early Q4 with a more aggressive strategy, according to Nielsen's AdRelevance Tool. The political war for exposure through paid, owned and earned media became a major battle for the candidates.
By 2016 local online, interactive and digital advertising revenue will reach $38.1 billion, according to BIA/Kelsey's Annual U.S. Local Media Forecast, 2011-2016 report released Monday. The analyst firm expects 12.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2011 and 2016, compared with 0.4% CAGR for traditional advertising revenue. The report analyzes market segmentations such as ad revenues for search, display, and SMS. The sluggish 2012 U.S. economy led BIA/Kelsey to lower projections. Initially, the analyst firm estimated the local media market to total $136.2 billion in 2012, but now expects it to deliver $134.6 billion. Even with an increase in significant political advertising spend this year, BIA/Kelsey estimates a little more than a 1.5% increase from $132.7 billion in 2011. The firm expects the economy to improve somewhat in 2013, but that lack of political advertising will lead to lower growth estimates in 2013 of slightly more than 0.7%. U.S. mobile ad spend will reach $9.92 billion in 2016 -- up from $1.62 billion in 2011, according to the report. Local mobile advertising, a subset, will reach $5.8 billion in 2016 -- up from $664 million in 2011, representing a 54.2% CAGR. The local mobile market represents a 0.6% share of local media ad revenue in 2011, growing to a 3.1% share in 2016. It points to smartphone penetration, mobile Web use and increases in ad inventory as growth drivers. The report suggests that while mobile ad inventory outpaces advertising demand today, analysts believe it will begin to accelerate increasing overall ad spend and ad rates, such as CPMs and cost per clicks (CPCs). Today, they are lower than desktop ads as a result of an abundance of inventory. The analyst firm also forecasts that new forms of mobile and social advertising will drive demand, pointing to mobile advertising from Facebook, such as sponsored stories, ZIP code level targeting, and offers-based campaigns. And self-service tools will spur adoption. Google has begun to bundle mobile ad placement with AdWords search marketing, for example.
Due in part to a weaker digital ad business, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia on Friday said third-quarter revenue was $27.6 million -- down from $33.2 million during the same period last year. The news comes amid broad efforts by MSLO to shed operating costs and recast itself as a digital media company. “We are transitioning our content operations to digital, mobile and video platforms that feature lower fixed costs and align with evolving consumer preferences for how and where they engage with our content,” Lisa Gersh, President and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, explained on Friday. In September, MSLO announced that it had expanded its content business with new video partners Hulu and Hulu Plus, The AOL On Network and Fullscreen. The new agreements reflect MSLO's strategy to redefine its video business by providing content across multiple platforms, especially online, according to Gersh. “We are seeing some encouraging early results, particularly in video,” Gersh said. According to comScore, total unique visitors across MSLO's Web sites increased 42% in the quarter, compared to the same period in the prior year. Of note, however, the company’s most recent deal with Hallmark TV expired in May 2012 and was not renewed. More broadly, MSLO reported a third-quarter operating loss of $50.7 million on Friday. The loss included a $44.3 million non-cash impairment charge reflecting the write-down of goodwill related to the company's publishing segment, and which result from continued softness in the print publishing industry overall and, specifically, a decrease in the company's ad revenues. Total revenues were $43.5 million in the third quarter -- down from $52.2 million in the third quarter of 2011. On Thursday, MSLO said it plans to lay off 12% of its roughly 600 employees -- cutting around 70 positions -- as well as cease publishing Everyday Food as a stand-alone publication, and put another title, Whole Living, up for sale.
Repair crews are working around the clock to get cell towers that are damaged or deprived of power due to Hurricane Sandy running again, and these heroic efforts are beginning to show results, according to FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief David Turetsky. He said that the proportion of cell towers that are out of service in the region affected by Sandy has fallen from 25% in the immediate aftermath to 19% at the end of the week. Although it is rare for cell phone towers to topple over in high winds, electronic and structural elements are vulnerable to windblown debris and flooding at ground level, and emergency backup generators may also begin to run out of fuel. According to The New York Times, state and federal authorities have reached agreements with major fuel suppliers to secure enough gasoline and diesel to enable further emergency operations, including search and rescue, cleanup, and repair work. Presumably some fuel has also been set aside for generators powering communications networks. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski noted that “the supply of fuel to generators is essential to keep communications service up and running, and we’re working with federal, state, and local authorities to speed fuel delivery. This is a priority because our commercial communications networks are essential to emergency response and recovery efforts, as well as to commercial activities and connecting with family.” Of course, continuing power outages can also render individual mobile devices inoperative, further disrupting communications networks. According to Reuters, on Friday afternoon over 1.2 million homes and businesses in New York State and 1.5 million in New Jersey were still without power, including 569,000 in New York City and Westchester County, NY. Across the Northeast a total of about 3.6 million customers are without power, down from 8.5 million immediately following the storm.
Facebook’s stock jumped last month, once it began to generate real money from mobile advertising -- $150 million, or 14% of its total third-quarter revenue of $1.26 billion. On its own third-quarter earnings conference call Thursday, LinkedIn said a quarter of its overall traffic now comes from mobile. The company, however, is just testing advertising and other initiatives to monetize usage on the mobile side. But in contrast to Facebook, its go-slow approach to making money from mobile has not caused a problem for LinkedIn on Wall Street. The professional network boasting 187 million members posted strong financial results in the latest quarter, with revenue up 81% to $252 million, and adjusted earnings of 22 cents a share. Both figures beat analysts’ expectations. But the underlying difference is that LinkedIn is not mainly an ad-driven platform like Facebook. It has a three-pronged business model, in which its hiring business, called “talent solutions,” is the largest- and fastest-growing revenue stream. That unit accounted for 55% of LinkedIn’s revenue in the quarter; it doubled revenue to $138.4 million as companies spent more on the site to recruit new employees. LinkedIn’s marketing solutions business, including advertising and marketing, accounted for a quarter of overall revenue, while subscription-based services contributed about 20%. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner reiterated that the company is taking steps to extend each of its three business lines to mobile. “We are now showing jobs in our mobile apps, continue to test display ads on our iPad app, and are now enabling members to sign up and pay for premium subscriptions directly from their mobile devices,” he said during the conference call. He also noted that the 25% of weekly traffic coming through mobile in the quarter is up from 13% a year ago. Asked during the analyst Q&A session how long before mobile monetization catches up with the desktop, LinkedIn CFO Steve Sordello indicated the company would ramp up those efforts in the next year. Unlike Facebook, there is no urgency to speed up its mobile ad push. “LinkedIn has executed well in its core business, and I think investors are willing to give the company some time to make sure they optimize the mobile ad experience based on the particular form factor -- smartphone, tablet, etc.,” said Tom White, an analyst covering the company for Macquarie Securities. LinkedIn has the cushion of continuing high demand for its desktop inventory, easing the urgency to capitalize on its growing mobile audience, he noted. Weiner also suggested that LinkedIn could make a smooth transition to the iPad in particular when it comes to advertising. “The larger amount of screen space affords us the ability to really leverage very similar marketing solutions that we see on the desktop."
Deaf Web user Melissa Earll is seeking to revive her lawsuit against eBay for allegedly violating a discrimination law by requiring sellers to use a telephone to verify their identities."Plaintiff implores the Court to allow her to continue her fight for her civil rights," Earll's lawyer argues in recent court papers.The case dates to 2010, when Earll alleged in a potential class-action lawsuit that she was unable to register with eBay because the company verifies identity through telephone calls.She says that eBay gives would-be merchants telephones with passwords that they must enter online. Earll alleges that she spent two months in the summer of 2008 corresponding with eBay in hopes of convincing it to use an alternative verification system. In late 2009, she tried to register as a seller and again was unable to do so, she alleged.Earll argues in court papers that eBay should revise its procedures by allowing sellers to "choose whether to receive a phone call, a text message, or an email for off-site identity verification."This August, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, Calif., ruled that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act -- which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities -- doesn't apply to online companies like eBay. The 1990 statute says it applies to "places of public accommodation."Davila dismissed several of Earll's claims with prejudice, meaning that she can't refile them. But the judge left open the possibility that Earll can refile a claim alleging that eBay violated a California civil rights law called the Unruh Act. That law prohibits intentional discrimination.Earll is now seeking to revive that claim by alleging that she met in person with eBay's lawyers in July 2010. "Despite having verified Ms. Earll’s identity in person, eBay still refuses to allow Ms. Earll to register as a seller," she argues in recent court papers. "If eBay’s real purpose were to verify identities or prevent fraud, then surely an in-person meeting would suffice."For its part, eBay says Earll still hasn't hasn't alleged sufficient facts to prove intentional discrimination.eBay isn't the only Web company to face discrimination claims. Netflix also was recently sued for discrimination based on its failure to provide closed captioning online. The company recently agreed to settle that case by adding captions to its streaming video.
With more than 1 million spots aired to date during the 2012 political advertising season, according to a report released last week by the Wesleyan Media Project, much of the political media analysis has been focused on the impact of television. But another form of video -- the online kind -- is also playing a greater role in influencing the views of American voters. More than half (55%) of registered voters have watched political videos online during the presidential campaign season, according to an analysis released Friday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Among registered voters who utilize online media, the percentage was even higher -- 66% -- with a slight edge going to Democrats (69%) versus Republicans (64%) and Independents (65%). Not surprisingly, the study found that social media is a major factor in the distribution and discovery of political online videos, with 62% of the respondents citing recommendations from others. “As with watching online political videos, there are few partisan differences when it comes to having others recommend online political video content. The one exception pertains to social networking sites,” reads the report. “Liberal Internet users who are registered voters are significantly more likely than Moderates or Conservatives to have had others recommend online political videos for them to watch on social networking sites.” Political biases aside, the primary content of political online videos were news reports (48%), speeches, press conferences of debates (40%), informational or issues-oriented (39%), and humorous parodies (37%), while online video advertising was an also-ran (36%).
Time Warner Cable has inked a carriage deal with the Al Jazeera-owned beIN Sport Network, which carries some U.S. national team World Cup qualifiers. The cable operator, along with Bright House Networks, will offer English- and Spanish-language feeds. Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network also offer the fledgling network away qualifiers for the U.S. and a slew of European and South American soccer rights. TWC and Bright House will make the network available on-demand and via TV Everywhere services. The network did not announce how many TWC/Bright House homes would offer the network, saying it would “vary by market.” The network carried its first U.S. game Sept. 7. It could be a substantial bidder for future rights, such as some Major League Soccer games, although NBC Sports recently locked up the English Premier League domestically. With the NBC deal and Fox and Telemundo acquiring 2018 World Cup rights, soccer programming continues to be more coveted by networks. ESPN3 is a significant soccer player, too. With the TWC deal, BeIN Sport has agreements with the two satellite providers and two largest cable operators. While soccer is clearly the network’s focus, it bills itself as an “international sports channel.”
While the paid digital video marketplace -- those subscription video on demand services and other services -- are showing gains for smaller competitors, Netflix still has a large lead.When asked what paid video services consumers watched in September, Netflix had a 82% score among 1,115 North American consumers, with Amazon Instant Video at a 22%; iTunes,16%; and Hulu Plus, 8% -- according to ChangeWave.Netflix was down from 84% a year ago -- while all its competitors grew. Amazon was at 17% a year ago; iTunes, 15%; and Hulu Plus, 6%.The survey says many consumers are now buying multiple services. For example, 18% of Netflix subscribers also have Amazon Instant Video. This is up from 14% a year ago. One possible reason: some shifting programming. EPIX, the traditional pay TV service which now has a strong digital video presence, is available to both Netflix and Amazon Instant Video subscribers. It had been the exclusive property of Netflix.Customer satisfaction remains nearly equal among consumers among the bigger players, with "very satisfied" scores for Netflix (23%), Amazon (22%) and Hulu Plus (20%). But iTunes remains the most satisfied option, at a 35% number.Some 17% of Netflix consumers are "more likely" to cancel the service; 65% remain unaffected; and 16% don't know.The leading digital device continues to be the iPad, now 32% -- up from 25% a year ago. Blu-ray Players, are next at 31%, down from 29%; iPhones, are at 25%, up from 20%; video game consoles, 24%; formerly 25%; Apple TV, 13%, up from 9%; and Roku, 13%; also up from 9%.
Various measurement services have been dancing on both sides of this psychological tipping point for the smartphone market for the past year, but this week comScore joins the chorus of bean counters who say that a majority of adult cell phone subscribers in the U.S. are now working with smartphones. Nielsen marked the tipping occurring back in March numbers. Pew in September still had the overall penetration rate at 45%. Still, everyone seems to agree that key youth and affluent demographics passed the halfway mark a while ago. Your smartphone mileage may vary according to target. Whatever we may think of the fragmentation that resulted from Google’s open platform strategy with Android, it surely has paid off in raw platform reach, complex as that may be. On a worldwide basis, Android owns over 75% of the market in recently purchased smartphones. According to comScore, the U.S. picture is less lopsided. Google has a 52.5% share as of September, compared to Apple’s 34.3%. RIM’s nosedive continues predictably with a 8.4% share (-2.3 point in a quarter). And Microsoft’s costly charge into the mobile market continues to underwhelm, with a 3.6% share. As the politicos like to say about the latest polls, it is the internals that really count. Regardless of smartphone penetration, key mobile activities are well past the majority mark. Now more than three-quarters of Americans use SMS (75.5%), 54% use apps and 52% use the mobile browser. Considering that cell phone penetration now is at 234 million Americans, those are mighty numbers indeed. More specific mobile activities such as social networking (39%) and game playing (34.4%) now occupy more than a third of users.
Hi, Bob: I hope this note finds you well. As you know, Tooboozoob has just received a first-round investment from Prodigal Group Venture Partners for its cutting-edge networking platform that dynamically merges demand-side data optimization with FGB inputs for maximum transparency and scalability. In beta, the FGB matrix outperformed equivalent low-threshold file-conversion metrics both on demand-side and third-party acquisition. Real-time data disintermediation enhanced transactional “feed stimulation” and reduced signal bias by almost 30%. We are very excited about the prospects for full integration of our proprietary network-delimiting trading applications by Q3 2013. Our CEO, Sree Gustaffson, will be in New York next week and would love a chance to introduce you to the team. Joining Sree will be CMO Garry Dunleavy, who recently came to Tooboozoob from SKUlootions and before that DataDoo Digital and before the Dunleavy Group and before that, from November 2011 to February 2012, MicroVroom. Also eager to meet you is McKenzie Feldman-Graff, our sales lead, who has years of experience in the space, lifetime Advantage Platinum and legs up to here. The team would be happy to visit you at the Adweek offices or at Sree's hotel or in your colon. There is not a single thing we would not do for a little buzz, considering we are getting the daylights beaten out of us in this space by AppSeeDaisy and ScrooGeezix every single day. If you can fit us into your busy schedule, Sree will firmly shake your hand and show you our deck, which is filled with slides. His eyes will be slightly glazed and he will sometimes call you “Mike.” We are also offering a bylined article titled “Predicting the Presidential Election with Low-threshold File Conversion Metrics Both on Demand-side and Third-party Acquisition.” Or, after Tuesday, you may be interested in another article: “Predicting the Super Bowl with Low-threshold File Conversion Metrics Both on Demand-side and Third-party Acquisition.” We don’t care which you use. Mike, we are desperate. Tooboozoob has been funded for only 30 days and already the VCs are up Sree’s ass like suppositories in khakis. They are looking for a quick exit at terms that would make your eyeballs bleed. Tooboozoob needs publicity by any and all means. I beg you: Write about them, or if not, please call the police. Sree is beside himself. He dropped out of college to write code and, being candid, even he doesn’t understand what the hell Tooboozoob does. His burn rate is like phosphorous and he has zero social skills to fall back on. Thank God the Prius and foosball table are leased, but the company’s PR bills are 120 days past due. Looking forward to meeting you. Once again, we are extremely excited about Tooboozoob. Kindest regards, Selena K. DiPietro RightUp! Public Relations