Online Advertising Trends in 2012

So far in 2012 online advertising has seen several trends as the amount spent on advertisements is reaching an all time high. Search engines such as Google are seeing an increase in the number of clicks on ads on Google searches because now "users can select results that are more relevant to them compared to a past reliance on blanket keyword advertising". Search engines that were declining in popularity, such as Yahoo and Bing are seeing an increase in the number of advertisement clicks based on their ability to take vague keywords and match them to exactly what the user is looking for. Due to these results advertisers may start investing more money in these types of ads.


Another trend so far this year is mobile searches. Roughly 12% of all search advertising spent in the first quarter of 2012 was spend on mobile ads. This includes searches made on mobile phones as well as tablets, whose growing popularity is creating a new platform for advertisers. In the remainder of 2012 it is estimated that companies will focus more money on search engine ads than they have on social networking sites in the past, since mobile devices and tablets are starting to have full web browsers. 

http://www.cluepaidsearch.com.au/sites/paidsearchcomau/assets/gfx/search_yahoo.jpg


http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/9538-online-advertising-trends-in-q1-2012


http://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2012/04/10/search-will-still-trump-social-in-online-ads-this-year/

2012 Presidential Campaigns Using Online Advertising

With the presidential election coming soon, presidential candidates are aiming towards reaching all voters through every promotional means. Not only are they embracing the traditional commercial advertising, but President Barack Obama, Rick Santorum, and Mitt Romney are also incorporating online marketing as well.

The Obama campaign has targeted potential voters by purchasing Google ad space next to searches such as “Obama bracket, Obama birthday, and Warren Buffett.” Not only is the technique providing President Obama with an advantage such as increases in small donations, but it is also very costly. According to Farnam, the Obama campaign has spent approximately $12.3 million on Internet advertising; which totals to more than his television, radio, and telemarketing promotions. Romney and Santorum also bought ad space next to search results.

The same way companies target a specific demographic is the same way the presidential candidates are promoting to online users. With the millions of online users daily, the candidates’ advertisements are likely to appear at least once throughout one’s Internet activity.

Farnam, T. (2012, April 6). Obama Has Aggressive Internet Strategy to Woo Supporters. Retrieved April 8, 2012, from The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-has-aggressive-internet-strategy-to-woo-supporters/2012/04/06/gIQAavB2zS_story.html 

http://www.infographicsarchive.com/wp-content/themes/LondonLive-new/thumb.php?src=http://www.infographicsarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/140Proof-PoliticalSpending.jpg&w=340&h=192&zc=1&q=100

Who Monitors Internet Advertising?

The answer is simple: The Interactive Advertising Bureau. The organization was created in 1996 to develop industry standards, conduct research, and provide support for online advertisers during legal disputes. The IAB has created formats for online ads, including the Video Ad Serving template and the Video Player-Ad interface definition format.

The IAB provides us with guidelines, standards, and best practices of online advertising. They have these for topics such as ad verification, email ads, game ads, and social media. The IAB also provides insight on what should go into a websites Terms and Conditions. The standards they set are necessary to create a virtual advertising world that can function in a way that is both helpful to both consumers as well as advertisers themselves. 

PepsiCo Becomes Social

As it appears, PepsiCo actually listened to consumers. They made experts predictions a reality, giving more interactivity. April 27th, 2011 PepsiCo launched a Social Vending Machine. Apparently, people have been anticipating this invention for quite some time. I however, had no idea this existed. Not even the thought. 

Have a look: 

They found a way to have a consumer interact with the product AND service... while also having them interact with the end user! Who knew a vending machine could be so sociable? 

PepsiCo used online commercials which applied modern technology to produce their product, promote their product, price it, and place it. Customers can closely manage inventory levels and delivery scheduling remotely, and update the digital content online which allows them to change messaging and media content as needed. 

Their desire was to create innovative online advertising and become part of social networking in todays society. Though it needs a few tweaks with privacy,  I would say they did a swell job with this innovation. 

However, I think that this process can make getting a Pepsi fairly difficult. What if I want a drink and a group of girls are giggling while recording a video to send to a friend with a gift... for 20 minutes. I feel as though this could frustrate people, having a machine with social capabilities. 

Would you use this machine? 

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/05/05/social.vending.machine.pepsi/index.html

One of the benefits of online advertising is the opportunity to promote using media. Pictures are a common use of media for advertisements. Rarely do you see an advertisement without some form of a graphic. Despite whether the consumer realizes it or not, images have a strong impact on society especially in how we view gender equality and sexuality.

These day’s most online advertisements consist of pictures with beautiful women and most these ads are catered to women. These ads hold false promises of products that will make you look more beautiful. These ads also support the delusional idea that happiness only comes from material things. Sadly, women who view these ads realize that the look they desire from the ads is unattainable and can lead to major issues. Perhaps the product did not make them as beautiful as they wanted or maybe they can’t afford the fancy product that was advertised. The beautiful women in these ads have left women feeling inadequate and have also lead to depression and eating disorders as well as many other issues.

Studies show that female buyers are aware of the way women are being depicted in advertisements. And the way these women are portrayed is affecting buyer’s decisions. But despite some of the awful issues that have happened to female buyers, advertisers are still moving forward with advertising unrealistically beautiful women. The goal of the advertisement is to make money and unfortunately this overshadows the negative effects of these ads.

What do you think? Have you ever fell for a product simply because a beautiful woman was on the advertisement? Did this persuade your decision to purchase the product?

Works Cited

Plakoyiannaki, Emmanuella, Kalliopi Mathioudaki, Pavlos Dimitratos, and Yorgos Zotos. "Images of Women in Online Advertisements of Global Products: Does Sexism Exist?." Journal of Business Ethics. 83.1 (2008): 101-112. Print. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25482356>.

Google Adwords

Search engines make most of their revenue by incorporating online advertisements onto their websites. Google’s main online advertisement programs are called Google AdWords and Google Adsense. Google AdWords allow advertisers the capability of having their websites appear next to relevant search results. The program allows businesses the capacity to control their costs by organizing the amount that they want to spend on a daily basis, with no required minimum spending. There are several benefits of advertising with Google’s AdWords such as it allows advertisers to target a specific audience based on their demographics, interests, etc., the businesses can choose where their ads appear such as on specific and partner websites, and their ad will reach “80% of Internet users in the US”.  Advertising with Google can have a significant impact on ones business since it is the most widely popular and used search engine.

Google. Adwords Overview. 2012. 23 March 2012. http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1704410&topic=1713894&path=1710534&ctx=leftnav.

http://www.ibizclicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/google-adwords-management3.gif

Facebook Advertising: The Beacon

In November 2007, Facebook launched a new advertising campaign called the Facebook Beacon. The beacon was a partnership with 44 other websites, including Blockbuster, Ebay, and Overstock, and posted external data from these sites to Facebook on an individual's news feed.

The beacon automatically posted information to people's walls without their consent. If you purchased jewelry on Overstock, or win a bid on Ebay, everyone would know automatically. The beacon was seen as a major privacy issue as it released private information onto the social networking site. After a class action lawsuit, the sites were required to have the users approval before being published online for all their friends to see.

As many of the partners who were under the impression that the beacon was an "opt-in" service discovered that it was not, they began to withdraw from the program. Facebook adjusted the beacon to be "opt-out" but did not recover any of the partners business.

For Facebook and it's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, it was all downhill from there for the Facebook beacon. In 2008 another class action lawsuit was filed against Facebook and several of the remaining partners. Facebook had to pay out settlements to nearly 20 individuals who filed claims against them for violating the Video Privacy Protection Act, Electronic Communication Privacy Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and many other consumer protection laws.

On September 21, 2009 Facebook officially shut down the beacon and CEO Mark Zuckerberg referred to it as a mistake. Facebook paid out $9.5 million dollars into a fund for supporting privacy and security online as a result of their major mistake.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/081308-facebook-faces-class-action-suit-over.html
http://www.darden.virginia.edu/corporate-ethics/pdf/Facebook%20_A_business_ethics-case_bri-1006a.pdf

Click Fraud

There are multiple types of click fraud, listed below are three:

1. Bots, which are online robots that click fraudulently on the ad.
2. Low cost workers from foreign countries may be hired to click on ads.
3. Employees of rival companies click fraudulently on the ad. 

Fortunately large businesses are able to budget this advertising expense, although it causes unneeded expenses. Small businesses may not be so lucky and have to find alternative methods of advertising.  The cost of pay per clicks most likely will exceed their allotted advertising expense. 

There may be companies such as Click Report that monitor your pay per clicks and may prevent fraudulent clicking.   This company allows you to gain reports of the pay per clicks every day, and give you notifications when your ads are being clicked on multiple times per day.


http://news.cnet.com/Exposing-click-fraud/2100-1024_3-5273078.html
http://clickreport.com/?crtag=YahooBing
http://www.clicktrue.net/stop-ppc-click-fraud.html