http://wisestartupblog.com/make-money-online/free-site-traffic-analytics-with-doubleclick-ad-planner/4601/ http://www.digitaltrainingacademy.com/documents/traffic_academy_prospectus_2.pdf http://www.addeliverysolutions.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=31 http://wisestartupblog.com/make-money-online/free-site-traffic-analytics-with-doubleclick-ad-planner/4601/
http://interactiveadops.com/
http://interactiveadops.com/archives/93
http://www.webmasterworld.com/google_adwords/
http://www.webmasterworld.com/google_adwords/3627022.htm
http://www.iab.net/iab_products_and_industry_services/1421/1443/1455
http://www.iab.net/iab_products_and_industry_services/1421/1443/1476
http://www.iab.com/index.php
http://www.clickz.com/
http://www.clickz.com/3490271
http://www.clickz.com/3625716
http://www.knexusgroup.com/tracking
http://www.businessballs.com/market.htm
http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/44213/294909115.pdf?sequence=1
http://www.webmarketcentral.com/Agencies.htm
http://www.ego7.com/#pageID=579
http://www.serversidedesign.com/ppc-news.php
http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/018064.html
http://www.submitedge.com/index.html
http://blog.mywebgrocer.com/index.php/2009/01/
http://blog.madisonavenue.com/advertiserinformation/
http://www.netprofitstoday.com/articles/85/1/Contextual-Advertising-Alternatives-to-Google-Adsense/Page1.html
http://killeraces.com/z-list-ad-networks-affiliate-programs-and-more
http://www.adtags.info/features/an-introduction-to-online-marketing.html
http://www.247realmedia.com/EN-US/us/campaign-management.html
http://www.chmlsrucnoc.com/
http://www.mediamath.com/articles.html
http://www.promotionworld.com/marketing/article/EffectiveE.html
http://servicexen.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/online-advertising-effectiveness-measurement-part-9-of-9/
http://www.mastheadonline.com/news/2009/20090316717.shtml
http://www.opentracker.net/en/articles/hits-visitors-pageviews.jsp
http://www.jellyfish.co.uk/paid-search-ppc-specialists/pay-per-click-ppc
http://www.performics.com/about-us/who-we-are
http://www.zoommetrix.com/reporting/
http://www.mrweb.com/results/artsrch2009421215728.htm
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/
https://cache.trustedpartner.com/docs/library/000297/News/PublishingWhitePaper.pdf
http://webanalysis.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html
http://advertising.haoask.com/
http://www.jiad.org/article117
http://xonmarketing.com/2007/09/05/dont-let-the-last-cookie-crumble-your-campaign-2/
http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/2006/08/competitive-intelligence-analysis-metrics-tips-best-practices.html
http://www.marketingevolution.com/downloads/industry_related/me_white_paper.cross_media_methodology.pdf
http://www.slideshare.net/qsirnawaz/brand-advertising
http://directory.excite.co.uk/business/marketing_and_advertising/internet_marketing/marketing_services
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.printEdition&art_send_date=2003-11-4&art_type=13
Ad Trafficking
http://www.blogcatalog.com/post-tag/learn+ad+trafficking/
http://www.blogcatalog.com/post-tag/learn+ad+trafficking/
http://www.trafficsolution.com/pub_terms.html
http://www.invesp.com/blog/seo/top-15-site-analytics-tools-to-help-optimize-your-site.html
http://technotarget.com/find-out-who-is-visiting-your-site-website-traffic-tools/
http://www.digitaltrainingacademy.com/adtraffic/
http://www.google.com/Top/Business/Marketing_and_Advertising/Internet_Marketing/Traffic_Measurement/
http://techmagazine.ws/track-website-traffic-40-great-tools/
Search Engine Optimization :
http://seo101blog.com/2007/06/27/seo-vocabulary/
http://www.weseo.com.au/seo-onsite-optimisation-website-optimisation
http://www.magical-seo.blogspot.com/
http://www.searchforecast.com/
http://www.naturalsearch.co.in/seo.asp
http://www.semexpertise.com/google-analytics/
http://blog.performics.com/search/search_marketing_strategy/index.html
http://www.seroundtable.com/
http://www.thesemblog.com/search_engine_marketing/index.html
Standard Placement Sizes : http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=imagesamples.html
Advertising Terminology :
http://www.rethought.net/glossary.htm
http://www.webtrendslive.com/Resources/WebAnalyticsGlossary.aspx
http://www.valueclickmedia.com/pub_display_glossary2.shtml
http://www.adglossary.com/
http://www.netprofitstoday.com/articles/154/1/Glossary-of-Internet-Marketing-Terms/Page1.html
http://www.ultimatesitepromotion.com/free-dictionary-online-marketing-terms.htm
http://www.opentracker.net/en/support/faq/definition_faq.jsp
http://www.davechaffey.com/E-marketing-Glossary
http://en.mimi.hu/marketingweb/insertion_order.html
http://www.glossarist.com/glossaries/business/management/marketing.asp
http://www.acromediainc.com/glossary_interactive_web_development
http://www.smartbiz.com/article/view/1257/1/54
http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/
http://www.myadbase.com/cgi-bin/terminology.cgi
http://www.marketing-online.co.uk/glossind.htm
http://www.themediateam.com/lib.htm#libGeneral
http://www.nielsenmedia.com/glossary/
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci211535,00.html
http://www.udel.edu/alex/dictionary.html
http://econsultancy.com/reports
Digital Marketing, Privacy & the Public Interest : http://www.democraticmedia.org/current_projects/privacy/adwatch_archive
http://www2.aaaa.org/Portal/Pages/default.aspx
Web Analytics :
http://www.bruceclay.com/web_analytics.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_analytics
http://webserviceswiki.org/Website_Analytics
http://www.webanalyticsworld.net/2008_05_01_archive.html
http://www.webanalyticsassociation.org/
http://www.webtrendslive.com/Resources/WebAnalyticsGlossary.aspx
http://webanalyticsindia.net/blog/2008/08/future-trends-kpi-online-travel-industry/
http://www.conversationmarketing.com/web_analytics/
Publishers report
http://www.mindbranch.com/Publishers-Profit-Contextual-R575-0002/
http://www.valueclickmedia.com/Publishers.shtml
http://top10.mangoxl.com/weblog/?p=16
http://www.marketingvox.com/untapped-online-ad-revenue-opportunities-await-publishers-037815/
http://www.mosaictraffic.com.au/services_publisher.html
http://www.lucidmedia.com/blog/tag/publishers/
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2008/07/09/increase_online_ad_revenue_professional.htmhttp://www.adrants.com/subject/publishing/
http://www.abacusepublishing.com/section.asp?catid=99&docid=350
http://publishing2.com/2007/06/13/can-online-publishers-take-back-control-from-ad-networks/
http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/publishers/
http://getanswers.co.in/faq
Online Ad Performance Report
http://www.affiliatefuel.com/advertisers/adterms.html
http://www.cybage.com/IndustryFocus/Cybage_InternetAdvertising.htm
http://www.capstonemedia.com/images/Third_Party_Ad_Servers.pdf
http://militarytimes.com/advertise/files/2009OnlineTCs.pdf
http://www.adify.com/
http://www.theadnetwork.net/
http://www.advmediaproductions.com/newsletter/NL_Online-Media-Planning-Buying.html
http://www.openx.org/
http://advar.tybit.com/content/faq
http://vadpay.com/publisher/faq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance-based_advertising
http://www.everyone.net/private-label-email/agreement_ad.html
http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/performance-based-ads-to-increase-in-%E2%80%9809-7919/
http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=134787
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3ic19bb33a86fd66429b985553373d44b0
http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/marketing-advertising/5293787-1.html
http://www.reelseo.com/ad-performance-eyeblaster/
http://www.adhub.co.nz/blog/2009/03/11/razor-fishs-digital-outlook-report/
http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1113603/customer_acquisition_networks_interclick_rated_nations_fastest_growing_internet_ad/index.html
http://www.f5.com/f5world/articles/volume5/F5World05-adGame.pdf
http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpindustry/advertising/advertising.html
http://www.articlearchives.com/marketing-advertising/marketing-advertising/33567-1.html?
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/442/RipOff0442589.htm
http://www.vinnylingham.com/special-report-profit-sharing-the-performance-marketing-model-of-the-future.html
http://www.signalversusnoise.com/internet-marketing-news-001/VN-4002-091707-02141692076482.shtml
http://www.masternewmedia.org/
http://www.marketresearch.com/browse.asp?sortby=dd&categoryid=291&g=1
http://ezinearticles.com/?Advertising-Writing-Tips-And-Strategies---Squeeze-Top-Performance-From-Your-Ads-In-All-Media&id=905553
http://searchenginewatch.com/3631079
http://www.libraries.uc.edu/research/subject_resources/business/research_res/marketing_us.html
http://www.mkhoj.com/home/terms/publisher-terms/
http://blog.rightmedia.com/category/right-media-ad-network/
http://blingads.biz/pub_terms.html
http://www.adexchanger.com/
http://www.agencysearch.ca/Publications.asp
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/tag/publisher/
http://www.addynamix.com/media/pw_publisher_tc.pdf
http://www.marineadvertisingnetwork.com/publishers-terms.php
http://www.advertisingz.com/terms.htm
http://www.sabione.com/view_category.php?intcatID=3
http://www.cpago.com/terms.html
List of Top Ad Networks
http://www.richsage.com/top-100-ad-network/
http://www.freakitude.com/2008/01/03/best-cpm-network-top-10-cpm-ad-networks-highest-cpms-program/
http://www.myseoblog.net/2008/02/29/lists-of-advertising-networks/
http://www.o-a.com/archive/0302/6841.html
Ad Formats :
http://www.clicksor.com/adformat/
http://adverlicio.us/
Ad Agency Informations -
http://www.adendum.com/search_engines/web_interactive_agencies.htm
http://www.thelogofactory.com/Advertising-Agencies_res.html
http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/class_syllabi/data/2526
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=DZfFCVXd7xIC&pg=PA116&lpg=PA116&dq=%22directory+of+ad+agency%22&source=bl&ots=-HjNQE2tQ0&sig=aAqF172P8mvqfy5UGJfHR_mAZtE&hl=en&ei=uecLSr2mLcuXkQWDt7CzBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4
http://www.siu.edu/~aaf/agency.html
http://www.allbusiness.com/advertising-agencies/3061255.html?cmpid=40528120-1045945930-10051520-2899296220-1
Ad DELIVERY IN GENERAL
http://www.omstrategy.com/70/how-to-calculate-your-roi-return-on-investment
http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/3/
http://www.247realmedia.com/EN-US/tech/oas/57/EN_OAS57_IM-TechOverview_Rev-A.pdf
http://www.slideshare.net/kbex/roi-dashboard-for-online-media-and-social-media-applications-presentation
http://www.medbanner.com/technology.html
http://marissalouie.com/2008/10/17/172/ 10 types of targeting
http://www.o-a.com/archive/0008/2226.html
http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=%22online+media+marketing+and+advertising+%3E+advertiser+agency+publisher+adserving+tools%22&btnG=Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_serving
http://www.thelogofactory.com/Advertising-Agencies_res.html
http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/class_syllabi/data/2526
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=DZfFCVXd7xIC&pg=PA116&lpg=PA116&dq=%22directory+of+ad+agency%22&source=bl&ots=-HjNQE2tQ0&sig=aAqF172P8mvqfy5UGJfHR_mAZtE&hl=en&ei=uecLSr2mLcuXkQWDt7CzBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4
http://www.siu.edu/~aaf/agency.html
http://www.emarketer.com/Reports/All/Targeting_may06.aspx
http://js.docstoc.com/docs/951966/The-Buyers-Guide-to-Ad-Exchanges-and-Netowrks
http://www.allbusiness.com/advertising-agencies/3061255.html?cmpid=40528120-1045945930-10051520-2899296220-1
http://adgroups.com/
Banner
Bluestreak Video, DoubleClick, Eyeblaster, Flash, HTML, PointRoll, Unicast, Viewpoint, AdMotion, United Virtualities, Real
Media
Expandable/Out-of-Banner
Atlas, Bluestreak, DoubleClick, Eyeblaster, PointRoll, Unicast, Viewpoint, AdMotion, United Virtualities
Floating Ads
DoubleClick, Eyeblaster, Atlas, Viewpoint, AdMotion, United Virtualities
Approved Research Vendors
Dynamic Logic, Insight Express
atlas, bluestreak, doubleclick motif, eyeblaster, eyewonder, eyereturn, flashtalking, mediaplex, pointroll, tangozebra
http://www.coolwhois.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/
http://www.aboutus.org/
http://www.who.is/nameserver/yahoo.com
The agencies serving on this year's Re-Imagining Interactive Advertising task force include:
- Barbarian Group
BBDO Worldwide
Carat Interactive
Cars.com
CBS Interactive
Condé Nast Digital
Digitas
Disney Interactive Media Group
Google, Inc.
McKinney
Microsoft Advertising
New York Times Digital
Ogilvy Interactive
Platform-A
Razorfish
R/GA
ShortTail
Time Inc.
Turner Broadcasting System
Universal McCann
Univision Online
Yahoo
The 27 participating publishers are:
- BabyCenter
- Bizjournals
- Bloomberg
- BusinessWeek
- CBS Interactive
- CNN
- Condé Nast Digital
- Discovery Communications
- ESPN
- Forbes.com
- FOXNews Digital
- IDG
- iVillage Network
- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
- Meredith Interactive
- msnbc.com
- MTV Networks
- NBC Universal
- New York Media
- The New York Times
- Reed Business Information
- Reuters, Time Inc.
- USA Today
- The Wall Street Journal Digital Network
- Weather.com
AD SPECS
http://www.rogersdigitalmedia.com/ad-guidelines
http://www.parisnewvideo.com/full/banner.html
http://adspecs.yahoo.com/index.php
https://www.google.com/adsense/static/en_US/AdFormats.html?hl=en_US&gsessionid=DN2ZPB4yEYufdeEZKUo4wA
http://www.eyeblaster.com/content.aspx?page=Ad_Formats&pageNum=1
http://www.wsworkshop.com/money/ad-formats.html
http://www.devlounge.net/extras/the-designers-list-of-ad-formats
http://www.adspeed.com/Knowledges/40/Ad_Serving/Support_All_Ad_Dimensions.html
http://hk.solutions.yahoo.com/adspecs/ad70.html
http://adverlicio.us/chevy_camaro_transformers_bumblebee_camaro_sweepstakes_160x600
http://mediakit.go.com/abcotv/standard/index.html
http://www.evolveitv.com/banners/WB_ccf_viral_300x250_violet.html
http://sales.marketwatch.com/ad_specs.htm
http://www.kayak.com/h/advertising/technical.vtl
http://www.kayak.com/h/advertising/technical.vtl
Maximum expansion size (pixels) and direction:
Initial Ad Size Max Expanded Size Expanded Direction
728x90 728x360 Down
120x240 240x240 Right
120x600 240x600 Right
160x600 320x600 Right
300x250 500x250 Left
300x600 No expansion permitted
http://www.alchemyuk.com/resources/online_advertising_formats.php
Online Advertising Formats
There are many different formats used in online advertising in today’s market. We, at Alchemy Interactive have put this guide together to highlight the main types used in the creating, planning, buying and selling of interactive marketing and advertising.
NOTE: All dimensions are in pixels.
Rectangles and Pop-Ups
| Recommended
Maximum
Initial
Download
Fileweight | Recommended
Animation
Length
(Seconds) |
300 x 250 IMU - (Medium Rectangle) | 40k | :15 |
250 x 250 IMU - (Square Pop-Up) | 40k | :15 |
240 x 400 IMU - (Vertical Rectangle) | 40k | :15 |
336 x 280 IMU - (Large Rectangle) | 40k | :15 |
180 x 150 IMU - (Rectangle) | 40k | :15 |
300x100 IMU - (3:1 Rectangle) | 40k | :15 |
720x300 IMU – (Pop-Under) | 40k | :15 |
Banners and Buttons
468 x 60 IMU - (Full Banner) | 40k | :15 |
234 x 60 IMU - (Half Banner) | 30k | :15 |
88 x 31 IMU - (Micro Bar) | 10k | :15 |
120 x 90 IMU - (Button 1) | 20k | :15 |
120 x 60 IMU - (Button 2) | 20k | :15 |
120 x 240 IMU - (Vertical Banner) | 30k | :15 |
125 x 125 IMU - (Square Button) | 30k | :15 |
728 x 90 IMU - (Leaderboard) | 40k | :15 |
Skyscrapers
160 x 600 IMU - (Wide Skyscraper) | 40k | :15 |
120 x 600 IMU - (Skyscraper) | 40k | :15 |
300 x 600 IMU - (Half Page Ad) | 40k | :15 |
The Guidelines:
Format Category | Format (WxH) | Max Initial Load File Size * | Add’l
File Weight (Polite Download) | Flash Specifics | Audio Initiation | Maximum Animation Length | Controls | Web Site Labelling
& Other Items |
In-Page Video Units | See IAB Ad Unit Guidelines, for example, 300x250 | 40 KB | 1.2MB** | 18 fps | User Initiated (on click) | Anything up to 15 seconds | • Control = “Close X”, Play, Pause, Rewind, Volume
• Font = 16 pt | • Label = “Advertisement”
• Font = 16 pt |
Expandable/
Retractable Units | User-initiated Expandable Ads: See IAB Ad Unit Guidelines.
Landing Spots: Maximum width of 2X the initial ad size* | 40 KB | 80 KB | 18 fps | User Initiated (on click) | Anything up to 15 seconds | • Control = “Close X”
• Font = 16 pt
• Location = On Edge of Original (non-expanded / expanded) unit
• Feature = Enable Mouse-Off Retraction | • Label = “Advertisement”
Font = 16 pt |
User-initiated Retractable Ads: Maximum width of 600 pixels.
Landing Spots: See IAB Ad Unit Guidelines | Expansion:
• 3 seconds,
if no user interaction
• Up to 15 seconds within ad |
Pop-Up or Pop-Under Units | Pop-ups: 250x250; 300x250 | 40 KB | 80 KB | 18 fps | User Initiated (on click) | Anything up to 15 seconds | Provided by Browser Window | See IAB Pop-Up Guidelines for more details |
Pop-up Large: 550x480 |
Pop-under: 720x300 |
Floating Units | Variable Landing Spots for Floating Ads: See IAB Ad Unit Guidelines | 80 KB | 160 KB | 18 fps | User Initiated (on click) | Floating:
• 10 seconds max, if no user interaction
• Up to 15 seconds within ad | • Control = “Close X”
• Font = 16 pt
• Location = Fixed placement at the location of the first completely visible frame
Not Applicable | • Label = “Advertisement”
• Font = 16 pt |
Between-the-Page Units | a.k.a., Transitional Ads: See IAB Ad Unit Guidelines | 80 KB | 160 KB | 18 fps | User Initiated (on click) | Transitions:
• 10 seconds max, if no user interaction
• Up to 15 seconds within ad | • Control = “Skip Advertisement”
• Font = 16 pt
• Location = Above the Fold in Lower Right Corner of Ad | • Label = “Advertisement” or “Brought to you by”
• Font = 16 pt
• Location = Above the Fold and at Top of Ad |
*300x250 ads only need to expand to 500x250
**If video is part of any other rich media units, polite download file weight should adhere to In-Page Video Limit of 1.2 MB.
http://img.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/miscellaneous/sales/WebMD_Tech_Specs_for_Ads_on_Consumer_Standard_Pages.pdf
http://www.casalemedia.com/ad_specifications/
http://adspecs.yahoo.com/search.php?site=none&adunit=300x250&position=none
http://www.autotrader.com/adspecs/adUnitSpecs.jsp
https://www.google.com/adsense/static/en_US/AdFormats.html?hl=en_US&gsessionid=t4Ih3T6dbUVpF-R3lbHrng
http://www.burstmedia.com/performance_advertisers/creative_specs.asp
http://blog.mywebgrocer.com/index.php/tag/online-advertising/
http://www.webmarketcentral.com/ad_networks.htm
http://www.adtech.info/publishers/
http://www.adendum.com/search_engines/web_interactive_agencies.htm
http://mediakit.philly.com/pages/specs.html
http://uk.adinfo.yahoo.com/euroadspecs/adspecs/stdads.html
http://www.adoperationsonline.com/2009/05/06/iab-to-revise-interactive-ad-unit-standards-brings-together-task-force-of-top-talent-to-re-imagine-interactive-advertising/
http://pulse.heartbeatdigital.com/archives/digital_marketing/index.html?c=35
agency works closely associated with advertiser, in terms of developing plans, building their creatives, getting best deals, publisher works closely with site to get good revenue.
Revenue share % of sale btn publisher and a site or type of contract btn publisher and site.
Descrepancy report : publisher
Advertiser pays – agency pays (keeping comsn) publisher
Self – thirdparty/ self
ROI (net revenue) spend-revenue(income) divdided by spend
Descrepancy
http://www.google.com/support/admanager/publisher/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=79231
http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&ei=XS8eStaMEJeMkAXK_qmHDQ&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=1&q=how+to+calculate+discrepancy+of+ad+delivery%3F&spell=1
http://www.google.com/support/admanager/publisher/bin/search.py?ctx=en%3Asearchbox&query=discrepancy+reporting&temp_query=discrepancy+reporting
http://www.business-advertising-publicity.com/advertising-agency.html
There are many web analytics tools out there, choosing a right web analytics tools is depending on your budget and business objectives. The following are some of the web analytics tools:
- WebTrends
- WebSideStory (HitBox/HBX)
- CoreMetrics
- Omniture SiteCatalyst
- Urchin
- Visual Sciences
- IBM SurfAid
http://www.searchengineprojects.com/web-analytics-services.htm
Creating an Online Revenue Budget
The budgeting process is built around three elements.
- Inventory
- External Market Conditions
- Sales Strategy
Inventory
The purpose of identifying, segmenting and quantifying the exact amount of inventory to sell is to arrive at a solid estimate of the number of impressions available to sell in future months for each classification of inventory.
The budget process is driven by building an inventory catalog for the entire site one page at a time, one month at a time.
Identifying Inventory
Identifying the site’s inventory is the process of knowing the specific ad placements available on different types of pages and their position on the page.
For example, the site’s home page may offer a 728x90 leaderboard, two 300x250 skyboxes and a 160x600 skyscraper. One of the two skyboxes is above the fold and one is below the fold.
The main pages of each section of the site may offer a slightly different configuration, for example, one skybox and one skyscraper.
If the site is properly tagged, an analysis of the server logs will reflect the usage of the overall site on a granular level. For example, the data will show how many visitors in a specified time period visit each page. This is reflected by how many times the requested page loads, or is viewed by a visitor.
Applications such as Omniture and DART, which report server log data, are useful for this process.
For example, the data may show that the home page generates an average of 5,000,000 page views a month. This means that theoretically there are 5,000,000 leaderboard, 10,000,0000 skybox, and 5,000,000 skyscraper impressions to sell each month.
Projecting for Delivery Discrepancies
Sales managers should recognize that a publisher typically enters into an agreement with each client where impression deliveries are measured by a third-party ad-serving source, such as DoubleClick or Accipiter.
This practice creates a scenario where it is not unusual for campaigns to under-deliver in the 5-10 percent range, which prompts the publisher to incorporate a commensurate degree of over-delivery. The under-delivery occurs because of the difference between the data provided by a publisher’s server logs and the logs of the ad-serving source.
To account for this, sales managers should recognize that the total available impressions, net of discrepancies and anticipating under-delivery issues, may be 5-10 percent lower than first estimated and make appropriate adjustments early in the budgeting process to account for these differences
Thus, sales managers should budget for a 10 percent discrepancy and lower their revenue estimates from estimated impressions by 10 percent to be on the safe side.
Projecting Future Inventory
Past impression data, properly interpreted, serves as a prologue for future impression delivery.
But just because a site delivered X impressions in October, 2008 doesn’t mean it will deliver X impressions and a projected percentage increase in October 2009. Sales managers should look beyond the numbers and understand content, context, and events driving usage.
This concept is important because the estimated number of impressions available to sell must be delivered to an advertiser. Few miscues anger clients as much as under-delivery.
What does “looking beyond the numbers” look like?
Let’s take any site in the tech vertical. The introduction of the first Google mobile phone in October, 2008 may have created short-lived spikes in traffic that are not projectable to October 2009.
The process of projecting inventory growth should involve the careful analysis of usage. This is best achieved as a collaborative exercise between sales management and editorial management.
Along with an analysis of past traffic, it is important to know what new content, features and tools will be launched in the upcoming year, and attempt to reasonably quantify how these will impact site traffic and impressions delivery. And when you present your revenue budget, it is important to state your assumptions about new content and features that might impact delivered impressions.
Building the Revenue Budget Page by Page: Getting Granular with the Inventory
Assigning a projected value to each piece of inventory, and projecting a percentage of sellout will lead to an understanding of the value of the page, and how impressions and revenue should be projected against a given page, or group of pages.
Using the home page example and assigning arbitrary CPMs, the standard currency of major publishers’ online display advertising, we can arrive at a rough revenue projection.
Inventory Impressions CPM* SO% Revenue
Leaderboard 5,000,000 $12.00 100 $60,000
Skybox (ATF)** 5,000,000 $14.00 100 $70,000
Skybox (BTF)** 5,000,000 $9.00 100 $45,000
Skyscraper 5,000,000 $15.00 100 $75,000
Total $250,000
* Net, after agency commission
** Above the fold and below the fold.
Repeating this page-by-page process for each page on the site will help develop a monthly revenue total for the site. But this is only the first step. There are other considerations to be made to arrive at a reasonable and attainable revenue projection.
Percentage of Sellout
Our first pass that projected $250,000 net monthly revenue from the site’s home page assumes 100 percent of all classes of inventory will be sold at premium rates. If only half the inventory is projected to be sold, revenues need to be adjusted accordingly.
Inventory Impressions CPM (net) SO% Revenue
Leaderboard 5,000,000 $12.00 50 $30,000
Skybox (ATF) 5,000,000 $14.00 50 $35,000
Skybox (BTF) 5,000,000 $9.00 50 $22,500
Skyscraper 5,000,000 $15.00 50 $37,500
Total $125,000
By researching historical sales data, managers can identify what classifications of their inventory generate the strongest demand. Analyzing this not only helps sales managers arrive at a realistic revenue projection, but also allows them to:
- Increase pricing in high demand areas.
- Direct the sales staff to put a greater emphasis on packaging inventory that generates lower demand.
These considerations can help create a more accurate revenue projection.
Inventory Impressions CPM (net) SO% Revenue
Leaderboard 5,000,000 $12.00 50 $30,000
Skybox (ATF) 5,000,000 $14.00 80 $56,000
Skybox (BTF) 5,000,000 $9.00 10 $4,500
Skyscraper 5,000,000 $15.00 50 $37,500
Total $128,000
Monetizing Creative Units: Rich Media
Another revenue projection consideration: what share of total inventory sold will be rich media, which commands a pricing premium, versus static banners.
A sales manager may determine that she can sell 25 percent of the overall inventory to partners running rich media, and that these campaigns will allow her to charge a 20 percent premium.
Because she believes the demand for rich media units is strong, and because she is projecting an overall lower number of impressions to be sold, she projects a higher sellout percentage than for the static units.
Inventory Impressions CPM (net) SO% Revenue
Leaderboard 3,750,000 $12.00 50 $22,500
Leaderboard R 1,250,000 $14.40 80 $14,400
Skybox (ATF) 3,750,000 $14.00 80 $42,000
Skybox R (ATF) 1,250,000 $16.80 90 $18,900
Skybox (BTF) 3,750,000 $9.00 10 $3,375
Skybox R (BTF) 1,250,000 $10.80 30 $4,050
Skyscraper 3,750,000 $15.00 50 $28,125
Skyscraper R 1,250,000 $18.00 80 $18,000
Total $151,350
Along with estimating revenues derived from rich media, the sales manager should consider supplemental revenues from units such as video, audio, roadblocks, takeovers, and interstitials.
Network Revenue
Many sites work with online ad networks to supplement revenues. Typically, the networks sell remnant inventory at low CPMs. It is typically a commodity play.
If a partnership with a network, or networks, is in place, sales managers projecting revenues should make sure network revenue is accounted for.
The following scenario assumes that 100 percent of the site’s unsold inventory will be sold by a network partner or partners. (For the purposes of this projection, rich media for network sales is not taken into account, although it could be.)
The 100 percent sellout for network inventory is based on the unsold percentage of each ad unit. In the case of the leaderboard, the 1,875,000 units sold represents 100 percent of the 50 percent unsold by the publisher.
Inventory Impressions CPM (net) SO% Revenue
Leaderboard 3,750,000 $12.00 50 $22,500
Leaderboard R 1,250,000 $14.40 80 $14,400
Leaderboard N 1,875,000 $1.00 100 $1,875
Skybox (ATF) 3,750,000 $14.00 80 $42,000
Skybox R (ATF) 1,250,000 $16.80 90 $18,900
Skybox N (ATF) 1,875,000 $1.00 100 $1,875
Skybox (BTF) 3,750,000 $9.00 10 $3,375
Skybox R (BTF) 1,250,000 $10.80 30 $4,050
Skybox N (BTF) 1,875,000 $1.00 100 $1,875
Skyscraper 3,750,000 $15.00 50 $28,125
Skyscraper R 1,250,000 $18.00 80 $18,000
Skyscraper N 1,875,000 $1.00 1.00 $1,875
Total $156,975
Additional Revenue Sources
Standard inventory does not encompass all of the assets a site can monetize. Custom sponsorships, permanent placements, video players, text ads, broadcast e-mail, and interstitials represent potential opportunities.
Creating sponsorship opportunities in advance of flight dates does three things.
- It turns an intention into a financial goal by attaching projected revenue.
- It allows for necessary lead-time to sell.
- It gives salespeople an opportunity to collaborate with the client on tailoring the sponsorship to address specific marketing objectives, and becoming truly custom.
Continuing with our modeling of home page revenue, let’s create two home page sponsorships. Each provides a permanent placement for the partner and some degree of integration available only with the sponsorship.
Because the advertiser’s brand messaging has been woven into the site’s content, the publisher is justified in seeking a long-term relationship.
For the same reason, because this marketing environment is, by nature, differentiated by the manner in which it is built and integrated, it should be differentiated in the manner it is priced. A flat fee rather than an impressions-based model is appropriate.
Inventory Impressions CPM (net) SO% Revenue
Leaderboard 3,750,000 $12.00 50 $22,500
Leaderboard R 1,250,000 $14.40 80 $14,400
Leaderboard N 1,875,000 $1.00 100 $1,875
Skybox (ATF) 3,750,000 $14.00 80 $42,000
Skybox R (ATF) 1,250,000 $16.80 90 $18,900
Skybox N (ATF) 1,875,000 $1.00 100 $1,
Skybox (BTF) 3,750,000 $9.00 10 $3,375
Skybox R (BTF) 1,250,000 $10.80 30 $4,050
Skybox N (BTF) 1,875,000 $1.00 100 $1,875
Skyscraper 3,750,000 $15.00 50 $28,125
Skyscraper R 1,250,000 $18.00 80 $18,000
Skyscraper N 1,875,000 $1.00 1.00 $1,875
Sponsorship 1 50 $17,500
Sponsorship 2 50 $17,500
Total $191,975
In this model, the staff has two sponsorship opportunities to monetize. Each is priced at $35,000 monthly. The sales manager assigns each campaign a 50 percent chance of selling, so we project $17,500 revenue for each.
Seasonality and Trends
The scenario we are using assumes a constant availability of impressions month-to-month. This balance is not typically seen by publishers. The reality: seasonal spikes in traffic because of the topicality of content.
It is prudent to create monthly revenue projections using month against month data. An entertainment site may generate five times the traffic in April that it does in May because of its Academy Awards coverage.
It is also prudent, when negotiating deals, to spread impressions between start and end dates, not allocating them specifically by month, so that the publisher retains full flexibility and the advertiser gets guaranteed impressions.
External Market Conditions
Conducting a Prudent Analysis of Financial Data
A watchful eye on external market conditions is essential. It is good to have a sense of the strength of the online advertising market as it relates to pricing and knowledge of competitive situations.
But sales managers should be cautious and discerning when using third party sources to project revenue.
eMarketer is a good source of revenue projections. However, the sales manager should be cognizant of a number of factors that makes the notion of a rising revenue tide lifting all boats a flawed concept.
Large sites such as AOL and Yahoo! often absorb disproportionate shares of marketers’ online budgets. Leaders in verticals such as ESPN.com are sometimes able to leverage offline assets to secure similarly disproportionate shares of advertisers’ budgets.
Certain verticals and content categories may inherently outperform others. And the Google factor, where enormous amounts of money are funneled into a large number of relatively small search campaigns, needs to be taken into account.
Understanding these situations helps the sales manager use industry forecasts as a general barometer rather than a specific compass.
Sales Strategy and the Budgeting Process
The strength of an organization’s sales strategy will largely determine the extent to which revenues can be maximized.
In an environment where proactive selling leads to client-side relationships where key marketing challenges can be identified and tailored solutions developed, presented and sold, revenues will be higher than in an organization of reactive order-takers.
In this type of organization, where the creativity exists to build innovative sponsorships and integrations, less pressure will be placed on standard ad units.
Less reliance will be placed on commoditized CPMs booked via RFP-driven deals. Similarly, the dependence on low cost network CPMs will be lessened.
A sales strategy that rewards salespeople for selling higher CPMs and customized solutions can help insure the achievement of higher revenues, as demonstrated by the impact of sponsorship revenue.
Summary
Creating an online revenue budget is replicating a series of small steps.
Using pages as building blocks and incorporating quality data on page visits, sellout percentages, and pricing, a thoughtful forecast can be created.
Revenue projection data from third-party sources should be carefully interpreted and discrepancies accounted for.
And publishers can most effectively maximize revenues by having a sound sales strategy in place.
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