In order to name the best online publishers in ten different categories, we had to decide what an online publisher was. First, know that we limited our selections to the more than 8,000 ad-supported websites, since they are the ones of interest to MEDIA Magazine’s readership of online planners and buyers. Naturally, you’d expect to find the big-name offline (read: old-line) publishers with web franchises—the newspaper, magazine, and entertainment conglomerates. Then there are the newly established Internet brands, principally the portals and search engines (it’s getting hard to tell them apart, as they acquire or morph into one another). We’ve …

Founded in 1998, Penn Media isn’t a rep firm or list broker; it publishes and aggregates email newsletters. Penn serves more than 62 million opt-in subscribers via 937 publications—85 of which are owned and operated by Penn itself and represent 10 million subscribers. Readers sign up to receive specific content in 13 categories (including sports, technology, humor, entertainment, and family) and then double opt-in. After the initial opt-in, subscribers receive a confirmation email that they must also respond to in order to complete the process. This prevents someone who knows your email address from signing you up. Penn …

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 …

If you ask me, 2002 is off to a good start as far as the online advertising industry is concerned. For one, the Interactive Advertising Bureau finally came through on a promise they made in mid-1997 and put some measurement and auditing guidelines in place for us all to follow. The guidelines deal with issues that have long plagued the online ad industry: measuring ad impressions, clicks, page impressions, and visitors and verifying ad delivery. Granted, the industry’s response to these has so far been very mixed, but at least things are moving in the right direction: consensus. More …

Receiving formatted text, links, and graphics in emails has become an everyday occurrence for most people with email accounts. Here’s how they work. Your email client (Microsoft Outlook or Netscape Messenger) treats HTML email the same way your Internet browser treats web pages. This works because that’s what HTML email is: web pages that happen to appear in your inbox. In order for your client to recognize this, the email has to possess certain characteristics. All emails have headers that contain information on where the email is from, where it’s going, the subject, etc. One of these, the “Content-Type” …

The American Advertising Federation is a nationwide network of ad professionals, from agencies to local advertising clubs. Its website, www.aaf.org, is a comprehensive look at the organization, the events it sponsors, and initiatives it promotes. The main page has links to news, upcoming events, and streaming media. AAF.org covers government affairs and reports on the AAF lobbying efforts to protect and foster advertising. The site also profiles the organization’s promotion of and commitment to multiculturalism and diversity in the advertising industry. The corporate section of the site explores how AAF brings together advertisers, agencies, and media to yield …

Pop-up ads increasingly appear when you open web pages. Soon they may begin popping up when you start your computer. “The technology enables marketers to put content on the PC at boot-up time," says Ian Cross, vice president of marketing for Turn On Media, a division of Insyde Software of Westborough, Mass., that introduced Turn On Media last month. After the ads play, users can click a link to go directly to an advertiser's web page or hit Escape and return to the boot-up process. The technology is a player, a piece of software users load into their computers …

StreamingNet Radio Ad Sales by Ken Liebeskind, MediaPost Staff Writer The major problem with selling advertising for Internet radio so far has been audience size. With small audiences, it’s hard to sell advertising and radio stations tend to not sell it at all, leaving ad sales to the streaming providers who do it in addition to streaming the signals. “The cume on the Net is a small percentage of what they have on air,” says Joseph Rozenfeld, senior vice president of product development for Chaincast Networks, a radio streamer that acquired StreamAudio earlier this year. “If the cume …

I/PRO report highlights how advertisers evaluate media and what it will take for the Web to command more ad dollars. In large part, the success of the commercial Web lies in the hands of advertisers, says Internet Profiles Corporation (I/PRO), which recently commissioned IntelliSurvey to conduct a survey to help understand what fuels the demand for online advertising — and where its biggest failings are. According to the resulting report, titled "Assessing Measurement Systems Online and Off," both online and offline advertisers (including Internet, print, radio, and TV) found the Internet to be a less effective vehicle than the others, …

Hollywood Embraces the Web The look of fear on Jody Foster’s face was palpable. And if you were one of the estimated 130 million Web surfers who ventured onto the Yahoo! network in March, it was hard to miss images from Foster’s current motion picture, Panic Room. The Sony Pictures Entertainment production, the object of one of the heaviest movie promotions ever on the Internet, roared into theaters March 29 to the biggest Easter Weekend opening on record. "We employed some pretty sophisticated tactics to monitor buzz throughout the Web," says Dwight Caines, vice president of Internet marketing …