- Internet usage in the U.S. dipped about 20% during the Sunday night Super Bowl broadcast, reports Multichannel News. That compared with an average Sunday, and despite the "Social Super Bowl" hype. NBC’s online video feed of the game took 6.2% of all downstream broadband traffic at 9 p.m.
- Google Offers, the Internet giant’s answer to Groupon, has just launched in its 40th major city. With this week’s launch in Oklahoma City, Okla., and Omaha, Neb., plus ten cities in the two weeks prior (including Boston and Washington, DC), Google Offers has aggressively expanded in just six months. As WebProNews describes, Groupon turned down an acquisition offer from Google.
- Barclays Capital is guessing that an Apple HDTV, priced at $1,500, could quickly take 5% of the HDTV market—bringing with it the accompanying Apple ad platform. As MobileMarketingWatch describes, the Apple TV would be less of a television, than a delivery vehicle for gaming, video, content delivery and apps, all of which presumably will be funded in part by iAds.
- The Washington Post yesterday launched free iPhone and apps for its Facebook-powered Social Reader app, reports the Poynter Institute. With the apps, users have “mobile-optimized access” to articles that participating Facebook friends have read, not just from the Post but from more than 30 participating publications. The Post claims 11 million people are using the app on Facebook.com.
- Digital magazine publishers may see a plateau on eReaders, eMarketer forecasts, and based on stats from Verso Advertising and Burst Media. While almost 16% of U.S. Internet users surveyed in December, 2011, owned an eReader, those who plan to buy one is declining. The good news—for marketers anyway—is that eReaders are losing ground to tablet computers, with their larger screens and higher processing capacity. Tablets are expected to see double-digit growth, reaching 89.5 million users in 2014. However the eReader/tablet horserace ends, the mobile ad opportunity is still a powerful one.
Upfront Digital: NBC’s Straight-to-App Launch | Apple Targets App Bots | Subway Moves Digital Ad Buy
- NBC News launch its new documentary series “Hidden Planet” not on TV, but on the “Rock Center with Brian Williams” iPad app, reports Broadcasting & Cable in an exclusive. This will be the first time NBC has premiered a series that way. Episodes of the monthly series will be exclusive to the iPad app for one week, before it becomes available on RockCenterNBC.com. The series takes the veteran foreign correspondent to such exotic destinations as Timbuktu and the Sahara Desert—places generally off the news radar.
- Mobile app rankings (including those for digital magazines and newspapers) will not be manipulated, pledges Apple. As paidContent describes, the company has acknowledged that third parties are offering download-bot services to inflate app rankings; and to place favorable reviews on apps. Apple declined comment to paidContent, but quickly issued a statement on its developer site that “Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership.”
- Subway has moved its domestic digital ad business (including search, mobile and display ads) to MediaCom, and away from Publicis, reports ClickZ. The sandwich chain is reportedly consolidating its U.S. business, and MediaCom has managed Subway’s offline ad business since 2000. Kantar Media clocks Subway’s 2011 digital spend at about $12.7 million, excluding mobile, but the chain announced it will up that spending considerably in 2012.
- Elsewhere in digital/agency news, Ad Age discovered that AOL is searching for an agency to refresh its image and spread the word “why people should care about AOL again.” Supposedly, the company finds consumers vague on its value proposition. AOL struggles against competitors Google and Yahoo, has also struggled to support its Patch.com community news outlet, but has recently acquired online properties Techcrunch and the Huffington Post. AOL posted Q4 2011 display ad revenues at $363.8 million, up 10% year-over-year.
Mobile Ads: Mobile Becoming the Norm, Apple/Android Wrestle on Click-Throughs and Quality
Research by mobile ad network solutions provider Jumptap suggests that mobile devices will become the norm for Internet access, and that advertisers must take a cross-market approach to the Apple and Android operating systems: they must cater to both.
Tablet network traffic jumped 229% over an average projected for the day after Christmas, based on historical network traffic, Jumptap reported in its just-released January MobileSTAT report.
January 2, 2012 also saw a bump, with a 263% traffic increase (most likely from recipients uploading holiday photos and getting familiar with their devices).
Jumptap found that the Kindle Fire experienced the greatest tablet growth throughout December. The new device held 10% of tablet market share on December 1 and finished the year with 30% market share. This year-end surge suggests a 2012 trend for lower-priced tablets.
Mobile to overtake desktops, laptops?
"Mobile is quickly becoming the primary access point of the internet. Advertisers have seen this movie before with PC based digital advertising and are allocating mobile budgets that are larger and larger," said Paran Johar, Chief Marketing Officer, Jumptap. "The surge in tablet adoption rates and rise in mobile subscribers support the expectations that mobile will eventually outpace online."
In 2011, the mobile ad industry broke the billion dollar barrier for the first time. This month analysts at eMarketer changed their predictions about mobile ad spending growth, estimating the market would be roughly $6.5B by 2014, much higher than their September 2010 estimate of $2.5B by 2014. Jumptap believes even that revised estimate is conservative.
Android versus iOS: Neither can be ignored
In 2011 Android and iOS continued to battle for mobile OS share. When the dust cleared, Android had beaten iOS. The January MobileSTAT found that Android's share grew 21% (38% in December 2010 to 59% in December 2011), while iOS dropped 7% points (29% in December 2010 to 22% in December 2011). Still, iOS tripled in overall traffic on the Jumptap network of more than 95 million unique visitors, while Android more than quadrupled. The lesson to marketers, says Jumptap, is that both operating systems are growing at break-neck speeds and a cross-platform approach is essential to reach their audiences.
But, Android mobile ads and apps can be improved, the research suggests. While Android’s share is increasing, its click-through rate is dropping, compared to iOS. The latest Android 3.x has a .59% CTR, while iOS 5 has about .9%.
Apple earns that higher rate, says Jumptap’s Johar. "With every new iPhone release, he says, Apple's designers "seem to be optimizing the user experience. It's no secret that they are obsessed with design and usability. Their obsession with functionality and the user interface is paying off."
The challenge to Android is that it retains little control over the use of its ecosystem. It licenses out its operating system and device manufacturers customize it. Its open technology enables developers to create both elegant and irritating, poorly-working apps.
Advertise to Mobile Gamers With Rewards, Not Banners
Advertisers are finding that banner ads in mobile games are viewed as an annoyance, reports Digiday. Companies like Kiip and Appsavvy, and San Francisco-based Gimmie, have found an alternative: rewarding game players with coupons or points toward a purchase.
Advertisers using Kiip applications offer what Kiip calls “Real Rewards for Virtual Achievements.” A player who, for example, achieves a high score in “Slam Dunk Basketball” may receive congratulations and an offer from such consumer brands as Sephora, Carl’s Jr., Dr. Pepper and 1-800-Flowers.
Thusfar, no market research exists to quantify the benefits to those advertisers, or to the game developers who incorporate Kiip, AppSavvy or Gimmie (now in private beta testing). But Kiip CEO Brian Wong estimates the number of mobile game players in the U.S. is 15 million, and growing; and increasingly female. But in addition to those top brands, in-game reward developers are attracting heavy investment. Kiip was incorporated only in July 2010, and has since received $4.4 million in funding from True Ventures, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, and Crosslink Capital. Appsavvy has received $3.1 million in first round funding, also led by True Ventures, and a private investment by About.com Founder Scott Kurnit.
Sony Halts Production on Google TV Models: Low-Cost Ad Reach Still Elusive
Sony has halted production on its Internet TV with built-in Google TV platform. Frost & Sullivan Principal Analyst Dan Rayburn broke the story late yesterday on his streamingmedia.com blog. While Sony has made no such announcement, Rayburn reached out to Sony stores and Sony’s sales numbers. He did so after observing the Sony models disappearing from online sales channels like Amazon.com, where only 13 of the TVs were available and from third-party resellers—not from Sony.
Google introduced the platform in May of 2010, at its annual Google I/O developer conference, with the tagline “TV MEETS WEB. WEB MEETS TV.” As TechCrunch described, “The implications are pretty clear what Google is going for. That is, the 4 billion TV users worldwide. Or rather, advertising to the 4 billion TV users worldwide.” A commentator on the TechCrunch site grumbled “Hopefully ad agencies will start to realize that Google is just waiting to flip the switch and cut them out. But somehow I doubt it.” Google CEO Larry Page boldly predicted that before the summer of 2012, the majority of production televisions would have the Google TV platform embedded. But thusfar, and aside from Sony’s models, competitors LG, Samsung and Vizio have announced only five such models.
Sony has not abandoned the Google TV platform; it just released a Blu-ray Disc player with Google TV embedded, and at a modest $199. And the models that LG, Samsung and Vizio have announced are all 47-inch or more. Rayburn observes that competition from those makers is likely keeping Google TV down—they are competing with their own connected TV platforms, “And it’s clear they see the Google TV platform as a threat.”
At the time of Google TV’s release, Bloomberg BusinessWeek observed advertisers giving it a “warm reception.” As BusinessWeek did the math, an online video ad through the platform would cost $30 per $1,000 viewings and enjoy precise viewing analytics and have interactive capability; a TV viewer could “click to phone” or place an order then and there, without leaving the TV screen.
But, with competitive platforms from TV makers, Apple, and cable companies including Comcast, interactive TV is still feeling its way, and Google TV is showing no signs of becoming the standard the company predicted it would be.
Interactive Video Ads Strong in Completion, Action, Finds Benchmark Study
Interactive in-stream ads keep viewers attention found PointRoll, a marketing solutions technology provider and a Gannett Company. PointRoll has announced the findings of its 2011 Video Benchmark Study, which revealed that 78% of viewers completed 100% of interactive in-stream ads, compared to 69% who completed 100% in-stream ads without interactive elements. Further, interaction rates (wherein users took an action within the ad) were more than 300% higher than those of in-banner video ads. The study compared campaign results from April–December 2011.
In interactive ads, automotives are particularly strong in holding viewers attention. Fully 80.66% of in-stream interactive ad viewers watched the ads to 100% completion. Non-profits held strong interest as well at 70.66%, and entertainment at 69.77%.
Non-interactive ads paint a different picture. Consumer goods leads the pack, with 96.85% of viewers going to 100% completion, and consumer electronics second at 82.89%. Last in the field—restaurants and food service, at 9.03%.
A key metric is interaction rate, versus click-through rate. Automotives garnered a 12.29% interaction rate, but only 0.25% click throughs. Consumer goods achieved a 2.07% interaction rate, but only 0.62% in click throughs.
In-banner video is surprisingly soft at holding attention, with an average among all categories, with a 100% completion rate of 38.82%.
“Discrepancies” Abound in Media Impressions say Publishers, Advertisers, Agencies
Ask a publisher, ad agency or third-party measurement service for a tally of impressions, and chances are the numbers will not match. The discrepancy boils down to the ad server and measurements the organization uses, a panel of experts told AdExchanger.com. Even if they are within 5%, “I’m not willing to lose 5% extra revenue because of the agency’s choice of ad server,” said Jay Wright, Yield Management Group Leader at Cars.com, an online marketplace. AdExchanger posed the question "What's your take on trends you're seeing with discrepancies in ad delivery reporting today?" the responses boiled down, largely, to “Who is measuring?”
Mitchell Weinstein, director of ad operations at media agency Universal McCann, believes discrepancies stem from using multiple ad servers on a single campaign; one server handles rich media while another handles video, for example. So, “It’s important to identify up front where…billing numbers will come from.” Weinstein hastens to add that revised Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) guidelines of December 2009 did away with far greater discrepancies.
Wright of Cars.com also observes improvement, but still a lack of precision, which can cost a publisher. Cars.com found that some 3rd party servers can routinely return discrepancies of up to 7% between the publisher and ad advertisers’ measurements. Wright is in favor of paying on first-party numbers—picking one measure (perhaps the publisher’s or the advertiser’s) and paying on it; or, have a rate card based on an agency’s choice of server.
While discrepancies are improving with technology, “There still exists a fundamental difference in who’s counting an impression when,” said Daniel Davies, director, US ad operations for Adnetik. The Adnetik technology compiles and resolves data between exchanges, ad networks and publisher sites. “What we sometimes end up with is a handful of varying snapshots, all taken of the same thing, but at slightly different times,” and the number of entities making those measurements grows yearly. Davies sums up the solution very well for most of the panelists: technology and standardization have to keep pace. Davies observes that “computing muscle and stamina backing digital advertising” is keeping the discrepancies from growing in pace with the number of digital ad outlets . That number will not keep growing; it is the responsibility of the industry to find technology that keeps pace.
QR Codes in Traditional Ads Lure “Curious Consumers”
About half of all smart phone users have, at least once, scanned a QR code, reports eMarketer. But are they effective as an advertising vehicle?
Perhaps. A full 41% of respondents in a survey by research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey scanned a QR code to get more information about a company, product or event. Another 18% used it to find discounts, but only 6% used the code to buy something. The strongest purpose is that the smart phone user was simply curious what the QR code would do.
On the plus side, of those who regularly scan QR codes, 18% were moved to purchase. And consumer awareness of QR codes is on the rise, with eight out of 10 aware of them. Finally, consumers scan those QR codes from advertisements, most frequently from print advertisements in magazines, at 35%; billboards and signs at 11%, and direct mailers at another 11%.
Beauty Marketing Going Social, but Not Abandoning Traditional Advertising—Yet
Beauty product makers are clinging to traditional advertising venues: consider the ubiquitous Cover Girl and “Maybe It’s Maybelline” TV spots, and the still-thick ad-heavy Glamour, Vogue and Cosmopolitan.Still, marketers are hedging their bets with social and mobile campaigns, aimed at “going viral” and creating customer engagement, reports global market research consultancy Kline & Company.
During the 2011 holiday season, marketers ramped up viral campaigns to attract consumers, chiefly those looking for the best deals on personal care products. They turned to social and mobile media for discounts and promotions, and Kline believes “marketers are finding that mobile couponing offers significant advantages over paper-based forerunners in delivering higher redemption rates and encouraging impulse purchases.”
While broadcast and print media ads and coupons remained strong, marketers reported feeling “threatened” by new technologies that enable potential customers to screen out TV ads. For print advertising, they reported feeling constrained by inflexible publication dates and comparatively high costs. They enjoy the real-time adaptability and keyword-based targeting available in mobile and social media. Also, the relatively young and trend-setting demographic natural to those media. Still, those marketers and advertisers feel underserved by the metrics available from those media, and how they stack up against print and television. Kline has devised and a proprietary 5-point metric which it believes rates marketing methods on how critical each is for a given brand.
The study, Beauty Marketing 2011: U.S. Promotional Activities and Strategies Assessment, finds advertisers establishing presences in venues including Facebook, YouTube and the localized Foursquare, where they believe they can accurately target a given demographic. The marketers are tapping into the emerging potential of the still-in-infancy “Facebook commerce” (f-commerce) and “mobile commerce” (m-commerce), and treat these media as sales channels versus brand-awareness opportunities. They are also using those media to engage with enhanced loyalty programs and new sampling methods.
“Opportunities Abound” In Ad Support for Mobile Content
Mobile devices mean “More touchpoints for marketing messages,” observes eMarketer in some just-released research. The online journal/industry thinktank projects that revenues from ad-supported mobile music, games and video will grow 52.7% in 2012 to $433.8 million. eMarketer expects that revenue to top $1 billion by 2015.
eMarketer believes the double-digit growth is fueled in part by audience demand for advanced mobile content like games and music; and because mobile content providers are leaning more heavily on advertisements. Nearly 30% of their revenues will come from ads by 2015, versus the less than 20% of 2011. The remaining 70% will be from paid revenues like subscription and download fees.
Still, the dollar amount of those paid sources will leap from $1.16 billion in 2011 to $2.52 billion by 2015. All told, mobile music, gaming and video content should bring in revenues of nearly $3.59 billion in 2015.