Sazbean

Software Development Management

Main navigation

You are here: Home / Archives for ads

ads

/

Pricing Online Ads

Futuristic Play @Andrew Chen has an interesting read: Internet Advertising Bureau and Bain on pricing in online ad markets.  One point for publishers stood out:

Need to better support the value of premium inventory – through more innovative offerings and/or reducing units available

Too often websites get greedy about making money and put ad placements all over their pages (what I like to call the “porn effect”).  Putting too many ads on a page is detrimental to all the advertisers because they have to fight for share of voice (SOV) or attention.  Visitors are more likely to ignore ads entirely if they are lumped together (they subconsciously know that area of the page is just “ads”).  It may seem a bit non-intuitive but creating an ad inventory – or set amount of ads and ad spots can help you increase their value.  As your traffic grows, more advertisers will be interested in advertising on your site.  If you sell out of spots, you’ll be able to raise the prices of your ad spots.  Selling out of spots also entices advertisers because it infers that your site is a valuable advertising placement.

If you have ads on your blog or website, what has been your experience with creating an ad inventory?  What about on other websites that you visit – what are your thoughts about their advertising?

Technorati Tags: , ,

/

Rich Media Ads – Advantages & Disadvantages

As discussed in Types of Online Advertising, rich media ads with which viewers can interact and may contain animation, audio and video. Rich media ads can be powerful way to convey your message, but these types of ads have some advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages

  • Communicate more information – through different types of media (audio, video, interaction). Rich media ads can have video, audio, animation and even small applications or games.
  • Collect more information – either by programming in more sophisticated analytics or simply by asking for information.
  • More clicks – As annoying as these ads are, they are more likely to be clicked on because they catch people’s attention (please follow IAB guidelines), at least during the first week or so.
  • Powerful branding – Even if the ad isn’t clicked on, viewers are still more likely to see and remember the ad than traditional display advertising.

Disadvantages

  • May slow down a website – These ads tend to be larger in file size, which takes longer to download. Even with faster Internet connections being more prevalent, you should be aware of your audience and how many are on slower connections. Even with faster Internet connections, an overly large file or many rich media ads can still slow down a website. If your website is too slow, people will just go elsewhere.
  • May annoy – Since these ads tend to be more visible to viewers, they also can quickly become more annoying. So stick with the IAB guidelines and place ads for short time periods (no longer than a month) to maximize the effectiveness of the ad.
  • More expensive – They are more difficult to create and require a higher skillset. These types of ads are usually more expensive to place on a website as well (because of the larger file size and annoyance factor).
  • May be blocked – Although most people have the software installed necessary to view these ads, it is fairly easy to turn off this option in most browsers and in some ad blocking software. However, as more websites use the same technology to increase their interaction and functionality, viewers are less likely to block the ads.

If you are aware of these advantages and disadvantages, you can make an informed decision about purchasing these types of ads (or allowing them to be displayed on your website or blog).

If you found this post helpful, please consider signing up for our free newsletter or subscribing to Sazbean.com through our RSS feed or email.

Need Help with Rich Media Advertising or Internet Advertising? Get started with a free consultation or contact us for a quote.

Technorati Tags: , , ,