Online spending in the UK has broken the £2 bn barrier for the first time, overtaking newspaper ad spending in the process and accounting for 11.4% of all UK advertising spend.
The UK online market now has almost double the average global share of 5.8% and without the rise of online advertising the overall UK ad market would have posted a 2.9% fall, instead of posting a 1.1% rise.
It seems that it is good news all round for Internet publishers as advertisers pour money into the medium.
However, Google accounts for 43% of the £2.016 bn spent online, with the search giant attracting an amazing 75% of the £1.2 bn spent on paid search. Paid search itself grew by 52% last year.
It was once said that there are three kinds of lies: Lies, damn lies and statistics.
Reading between the lines it is good news that more advertisers are finding that online provides them with better ROI, but it is important for the health of the UK online sector that there is more diversity in order to avoid being labeled a direct response online medium.
Check here for the full breakdown of figures.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Cutting to the Click
Interesting to see Google testing out pay per action ad models in a move that would shake up its revenues and which would also stop click fraud.
Google is pretty good at catching fraudulent clickers and not charging advertisers for the clicks, but moving to a cost per action model would be a big step for the industry. At present it is only talking about using the model on its AdSense program, not the bigger AdWords market where ads sit next to search results on the search engine.
However, adopting the model of payment that has been used widely in the affiliate marketing world for many years could ultimately bring better revenues for Google as advertisers will find it more effective. Google just needs to find a way of balancing this against the negative impact it could have on publishers, who previously have shared revenue for every ad clicked.
If it proves a success expect other engines to follow suit.
Google is pretty good at catching fraudulent clickers and not charging advertisers for the clicks, but moving to a cost per action model would be a big step for the industry. At present it is only talking about using the model on its AdSense program, not the bigger AdWords market where ads sit next to search results on the search engine.
However, adopting the model of payment that has been used widely in the affiliate marketing world for many years could ultimately bring better revenues for Google as advertisers will find it more effective. Google just needs to find a way of balancing this against the negative impact it could have on publishers, who previously have shared revenue for every ad clicked.
If it proves a success expect other engines to follow suit.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
GoogleTube
Google moving into TV ads is an interesting proposition.
The lure of being able to create an automated ad serving system that can serve contextual ads to TV viewers is tantalising for both broadcasters and advertisers in the US.
Google’s trial with cable customers in Concord, California is only a first step towards this utopia, but it is an interesting one.
Sergey and Larry have already moved Google out of the online environment and onto mobile with great success, signing deals around the globe with major mobile operators like Vodafone. With the gap between what is PC and what is TV content becoming ever more blurred and even TV screens and PC screens becoming one and the same Google is hoping to get in at the ground level of what could be a very lucrative market.
However, simply taking the adSense contextual ad system and slapping it onto TV presents a big problem.
Creating multiple small rectangular text ads for different types of customers is not very expensive or time intensive. Creating multiple shiny TV ads is another matter.
It will be interesting to see how this issue is resolved and whether the model will need to be tweaked to better suit the brand advertising environment.
The lure of being able to create an automated ad serving system that can serve contextual ads to TV viewers is tantalising for both broadcasters and advertisers in the US.
Google’s trial with cable customers in Concord, California is only a first step towards this utopia, but it is an interesting one.
Sergey and Larry have already moved Google out of the online environment and onto mobile with great success, signing deals around the globe with major mobile operators like Vodafone. With the gap between what is PC and what is TV content becoming ever more blurred and even TV screens and PC screens becoming one and the same Google is hoping to get in at the ground level of what could be a very lucrative market.
However, simply taking the adSense contextual ad system and slapping it onto TV presents a big problem.
Creating multiple small rectangular text ads for different types of customers is not very expensive or time intensive. Creating multiple shiny TV ads is another matter.
It will be interesting to see how this issue is resolved and whether the model will need to be tweaked to better suit the brand advertising environment.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Honesty is the Best Policy
The furore caused by the premium rate fiasco is a result of TV companies wanting to interact more closely with their viewers.
Interaction with the consumer is a de facto part of online life and broadcasters have seen how well it has worked and want to have an ongoing relationship with their own viewers. They want a relationship that goes beyond the passive act of viewing and creates a two way conversation.
The reason that they have got it so badly wrong is that they forgot the fundamental principle of communication in the digital age, honesty.
Those companies that try to mislead their consumers or viewers are quickly found out online and when the blogosphere is mobilised it can generate a lot of bad PR, just ask Wal-Mart.
It will be interesting to see how many people voted on ITVs Dancing on Ice this weekend or how many will want to play Brainteaser again on Five after the recent revelations.
Interaction with the consumer is a de facto part of online life and broadcasters have seen how well it has worked and want to have an ongoing relationship with their own viewers. They want a relationship that goes beyond the passive act of viewing and creates a two way conversation.
The reason that they have got it so badly wrong is that they forgot the fundamental principle of communication in the digital age, honesty.
Those companies that try to mislead their consumers or viewers are quickly found out online and when the blogosphere is mobilised it can generate a lot of bad PR, just ask Wal-Mart.
It will be interesting to see how many people voted on ITVs Dancing on Ice this weekend or how many will want to play Brainteaser again on Five after the recent revelations.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Blog-A-Job Week
Is it me or are more and more job blogs springing up?
To coincide with the release of our book, Digital Marketing for Dummies, myself and co-author Ben Carter who blogs here are launching the UK's first-ever Blog A Job Week.
The idea is to get more people blogging and more specifically, more people blogging about what they do for their day-jobs. I've read countless blogs by paramedics, policemen, air hostesses and doctors but where are the dustmen, pilots and landscape gardeners?
Blogging can make you an unlikly celebrity and it's also a good way of blowing off steam though make sure you write under a pseudonym!
We're doing a radio tour early next week to get people blogging and we'll be charting the campaign's progress so watch this space.
Our top five favourite Job Blogs are (in no particular order):-
1- Policeman
2- Paramedic
3- Magistrate
4- Teacher
5- Traffic Warden
To coincide with the release of our book, Digital Marketing for Dummies, myself and co-author Ben Carter who blogs here are launching the UK's first-ever Blog A Job Week.
The idea is to get more people blogging and more specifically, more people blogging about what they do for their day-jobs. I've read countless blogs by paramedics, policemen, air hostesses and doctors but where are the dustmen, pilots and landscape gardeners?
Blogging can make you an unlikly celebrity and it's also a good way of blowing off steam though make sure you write under a pseudonym!
We're doing a radio tour early next week to get people blogging and we'll be charting the campaign's progress so watch this space.
Our top five favourite Job Blogs are (in no particular order):-
1- Policeman
2- Paramedic
3- Magistrate
4- Teacher
5- Traffic Warden
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