Know Where Your Ads Are Running, Whom They're Reaching, and How Much You're Paying?

Most advertisers today are going in blind and getting deceived in online advertising. Amid the rise of programmatic online media buys, somehow transparency has deftly managed to slip through the cracks.
Brands and agencies at a recent Digiday event were asked to identify their single largest concern regarding online advertising. Once all votes were in, ad fraud and viewability emerged as the top industry issues keeping execs up at night.
With bots, suspect placements, and cost-transparency issues looming large, heads of digital are beginning to take a closer look at exactly where, when, and what their agencies and ad tech partners are running in their ad placements.
The opacity of the online advertising industry hasn't been adequately scrutinized until now. New technology in the form of placement quality monitoring and video-by-video location databases is beginning to force the realization among advertisers that the somewhat sketchy way things have been so far may not be the way they'll always have to be.
As an advertiser, you have the right to know where your ads are running, whom you're reaching, and how much you're paying. You need clear reporting that boils down to the KPIs that matter for your business.

What you don't need is a "trusted" ad partner charging you an arm and a leg for display ads running at 4 AM in countries where you don't do business or for ads that never get seen anywhere.
Moreover, Google's first-ever ad viewability report [PDF] revealed that 56% of online display ads are never actually seen by consumers. Are you 100% certain that you're getting all the views you're currently paying for?
Who ultimately is responsible for ridding the online ad market of deception and disappointment?
Here's what advertisers should at least consider as they continue to shift media budgets online and search for the perfect technology partner.
Strict Standards 
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) may define viewability as a minimum of 50% of pixels showing for at least one-to-two seconds, but that doesn't mean you have to. If a 60% video view-to-completion rate is important to you, communicate that KPI to your agency or ad tech partner.
Don't be afraid to get specific about what metrics represent success for your business. The more clearly you lay out what you want at the beginning, the more likely you are to actually get it in the end.
Relationship Economics
Money talk can be tough, but unfortunately, it's up to you to ask how much margin your agency or ad tech provider is making from each media buy. Paying a small percentage to ensure top-quality service, premium inventory, and continual campaign optimization is one thing. Getting practically robbed is quite another.
Finding the One
The same principle should be applied when serving your ad to relevant audiences online. Not all views are created equal, and your ad tech partner needs to spend your ad dollars targeting the right type of consumers for your brand.
Most people wouldn't feel comfortable paying for a lackluster meal at a Michelin star-rated restaurant. Make it clear that you are not willing to pay for low-quality or wildly off-target views either.
Placement Politics
Asking political questions may be taboo in most social situations, but having a conversation with your ad tech partner about precisely where your ads are running online needs to become the norm.
Google's 2014 ad-viewability report notes that above the fold placements have a 68% viewability rate, while below the fold ads have a 40% rate. If your partner can't produce a site-by-site or video-by-video list of placements, it's time to break off the relationship and find someone who can.
* * *
The worldwide media-buying arm of WPP, Group M, has forecast that 50% of the UK's ad market will be digital in 2015. So, make sure you understand where your ads are running, who they're reaching, and what you're paying for.
Join over 600,000 marketing professionals, and gain access to thousands of marketing resources! Don't worry ... it's FREE!

#SocialSkim: Facebook Topic Data, Where to Post Various Video Types, Why People Unfollow, More!

See the top brand video spreading across socnets, learn more about Facebook Topic Data, and find out why people unfollow brands—and what kinds of engagement to expect for your social media content. Skim to keep in tune.
A fitting end for a well-penned life. Prolific fantasy author Terry Pratchett passed on after a long struggle with Alzheimer's, and users took to their socnets to pen tributes to him. But we were most touched by the memorial from his assistant, who shares Pratchett's Twitter account, @TerryandRob. In true storyteller style, Rob introduced the character of the Grim Reaper into Terry's last few tweets, concluding, softly but definitively, with The End. The father of Discworld would have beamed.
Love has no labels. At the top of the Viral Video Charts is the Ad Council's effort for Valentine's Day. A public panel shows two skeletons playing, hugging and kissing, after which their owners appear, breaking down stereotypes in the name of blind love. On Facebook alone, the original post was shared 1.3 million times.

Say hello to Facebook Topic Data. Facebook's opened a new analysis feature, Topic Data, to select partners. It "shows marketers what audiences are saying on Facebook about events, brands, subjects and activities, all in a way that keeps personal information private," Facebook says. If you're part of the trial, use this data to produce posts optimized by relevance and create more granular product road maps. It will also be easier to measure brand sentiment, decide what products to stock, and find out which demographics are discussing various facets of your product. Long live Big Data.


60 Twitter tools and tips. Hurtin' for a new cross-account programming platform? How about a link shortener or a trends analyzer? Here are 60 tools and tips made just for Twitter. A few we love: Topsy (for searching through and analyzing trends and tweets), Storify (for building a story that involves a lot of people—then sharing it), MyTopTweet (the 10 most popular tweets of any account) and twtpoll, for polling people who follow you. Tweet away!

Where do you put that video? @TheBuzzer, a show created by Fox Sports network for social platforms, explains where it puts its videos and why. Twitter is for in-the-moment stuff: Instant replays, or stoking the fire around a given topic. Facebook is where "second-day" stories, or its analysis of recently broken news, live. And YouTube is for less topical, evergreen stories (whereas timely stuff is pushed to either Facebook or Twitter). If you're hunting for a social video strategy, this one's a good start.
What interactions will you get for your content? News Whip took a look at how content types affect interactions on Facebook. First discovery? It depends what kind of page you're running (celebrity news, politics, gaming, etc.). The headline also affects whether people will simply Like or actually click through, so be sure to A/B-test. For example, stories or titles for which the subject or outcome are clear, like celeb news or breaking news events, might get a Like but not a click-through. Political news generates lots of comments, as do long-form articles, especially paired with click-baitish titles (like the one below). Listicles and interactives? Total share-bait.

Want more e-commerce sales? Stack up on social reviews. A report (PDF) from Bazaar Voice demonstrates how more social reviews drive higher purchases. A hundred could boost conversions by up to 37%, whereas 200 could push that figure up to 44%. It also shows how different ratings can contain different insights: one- or three-star reviews can reveal product flaws, while three- to five-star reviews are rich fodder for new products or features. What's more, customer-written content keeps sites dynamic, boosting SEO. Dig in!

Why are people unfollowing me? Don't feel forsaken. Fractl and Buzzstream surveyed 900 social media users to learn the answer to this question. (See the full infographic.) 21% of users said they unfollowed because of repetitive, boring content; 19% because the brand posted too often (over six times per day). Unfollows can also result from offensive activity or content you post that's irrelevant to your service. Time to start cutting down on Caturday posts.

44 social tools for pros. Need to boost your social media game? This comprehensive list of pro tools covers everything from tying your networking back to social media sites (Discover.ly), creating social calls to action (Snip.ly]), and designing social media-friendly images (Pablo).

We'll wrap with some storytelling inspiration. On the heels of a Gap microseries, Comedy Central's launched the first episode of a short-form Web series via Instagram account @atmidnightcc. The cleverly-named "Plot Twistagram" is like a choose-your-own-adventure: Each week, producers ask fans to submit ideas for the next episode's plot in the comments section of the current episode. Showrunners produce their favorite one. Below you'll find the first episode. How can you use Instagram to flaunt your storytelling skills?

Plot Twistagram Episode 1 - Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Tell us what YOU want to see happen next! We'll choose our favorite idea and shoot it! This is a new interactive series exclusively on Instagram brought to you by the @atmidnightcc digital pod. Every Monday we'll release a new episode based on what you decided should happen. Leave your suggestions in the comments section below. Good luck and get creative! #PlotTwistagram

A video posted by @Midnight (@atmidnightcc) on Mar 9, 2015 at 5:54am PDT

Join over 600,000 marketing professionals, and gain access to thousands of marketing resources! Don't worry ... it's FREE!

---

Eye-Tracking Study: Native Ads vs. Banner Ads

Mon, 16 Mar 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Kindle

Native ads in digital news feeds receive significantly more visual attention from consumers than banner ads do, according to a recent report from Sharethrough and Nielsen.
The report was based on data from a study in which mock banner and native ads from five advertisers were shown to participants in a video simulating the experience of scrolling through an editorial feed. Using a combination of EEG data—measurements of neural activity in the brain—and eye tracking, Nielsen quantified where and how the participants' focus was directed.
In-feed native ads in the desktop simulation received 25% more attention from study participants than banner ads did; on tablets, the native ads received twice as much visual focus as the banners.

Native ads and banner ads were also processed visually in different ways by study participants.

The banner ads displayed received little to no visual focus on the text; instead, study participants processed the ads in the peripheral field of vision, similar to how they viewed images.
With the native ads, visual focus was on the text rather than the thumbnail, similar to the surrounding editorial content. In other words, the native ads were read in addition to being seen.

About the research: The report was based on data from a study in which mock banner and native ads from five advertisers were shown to participants in a video simulating the experience of scrolling through an editorial feed.
Join over 600,000 marketing professionals, and gain access to thousands of marketing resources! Don't worry ... it's FREE!

Ayaz Nanji is an independent digital strategist and the co-founder of Inbound ContentWorks, a marketing agency that specializes in content creation for businesses and brands. He is also a research writer for MarketingProfs. His past experience includes working for Google/YouTube, the Travel Channel, AOL, and the New York Times.
LinkedIn: Ayaz Nanji
Twitter: @ayaznanji

Plus 10 More Stories in This Week's Roundup

#SocialSkim: SXSW Reveals What's Next in Social, Plus 10 More Stories in This Week's Roundup

Fri, 20 Mar 2015 14:00:00 +0000

SXSW happened this week, offering up a deluge of what's next in social. Get the scoop on Meerkat and on Tinder's epic SXSW score. Also: how Snapchat affects Millennials, Facebook's peer-to-peer payments, and what Twitter is up to. Skim to stay current.
Some SXSW Highlights
The social scene's favorite music, film, and interactive extravaganza happened in Austin, and this week's social headliner was a little app called Meerkat (more on that below).
What else drove buzz? Squirl.co, a Foursquare-style app for books; Mophie, a smartphone accessory vendor that sent Saint Bernards hither and yon to rescue people from the blight of dead smartphones; and Plotagon, an app that lets you invent stories and transform them into instantly shareable animated videos.

To motivate you while perusing all these yummy new tools, NPR's prepped its annual Austin 100: A free playlist of music from the best musical acts at the festival. Oh, SXSW! It's Santa's workshop for geeks.
1. Close to the Machine
Tinder was, of course, in heavy use during SXSW this week—and many men encountered an apparently innocuous and pretty 25-year-old user called Ava. Once they made a match with her, she engaged them in conversation, after which she drove them to her Instagram... where they discovered what Ava's really all about.

2. What's Friendlier Than a Meerkat?
The talk of Austin was Meerkat, an app that lets you tweet live video. Once you start recording, it starts tweeting; you can broadcast to your Twitter fanbase as well as friends you've added on the service. Its blazing status happened right on the heels of Twitter purchase of a competing live-streaming service, Periscope, which probably explains why, the day after SXSW started, Twitter cut off Meerkat's ability to port Twitter friends over to its own service.

Founder Ben Rubin remains undaunted, revealing that clicks on links in Meerkat streams now number in the hundreds of millions, and its user base consumes video like crazy: Over 20% of them watch over two hours a day, 8% watch three hours a day, and 4% watch four hours a day. (Journalists have notably become huge users.) As for Twitter throwing shade?
"There's not going to be one winner in this space," Rubin said. "So we don't look at it as a rival. In fact, we're very happy to see a big company moving in this space."
If you aren't yet convinced by the importance of video on social, consider this: Facebook stands to make over $3.8 billion in revenue from video ads alone by 2017. Cameras at the ready!
3. Say Hello to TV Timelines on Twitter
Twitter's launched a TV conversation tool, accessible in limited quantities on the latest iPhone update. Use a show-related hashtag, a character's name, or a phrase from one of the key shows it tracks, and a dialogue box might pop up and invite you to try out TV Timelines. If you accept, you'll be driven to an interface that lets you review three columns: "Highlights," "Media," and "All."
Media, for example, shows you photos, Vines, and videos related to the show. The objective? To let you dive wholly into the world of the show without having to deal with anything else.

4. Cash in on Friendly Debts
Via Facebook! In a bid to eat up Venmo's friendly payment share market, Facebook Messenger's app now lets you transfer money. Just hit the $ sign above the keyboard to access a payment interface, which lets you select how much you want to send, then tap "Pay." Per Recode, Facebook briefly holds the money until your friend links a bank account, after which the cash is transferred.
Expect the feature to roll out over the coming months in the US; other countries will have to wait a while. But Facebook's likely got big plans for all those credit card details it'll be collecting...
5. Facebook Acquires TheFind
...and immediately shuts it down. AdWeek breaks the buy down for businesses: TheFind was a personalized commerce search app that melded search data to location-based purchase data, the better to serve more relevant product suggestions. A big win for retailers on social, it means comparison shopping is around the corner; and it strengthens Facebook in the local and mobile shopping space.
Who stands to lose? Google AdWords and Google Shopping. Facebook's sharpening its knives, and it'll soon be a major player in retail advertising for both purchase intent and consideration.
6. What Facebook Bans
Facebook's updated its Community Standards to highlight, more clearly, what it bans. The Standards are divided into four sections: keeping you safe, encouraging respectful behavior, keeping data secure, and protecting your intellectual property.
Updated guidance sections include "policies related to self-injury, dangerous organizations, bullying and harassment, criminal activity, sexual violence and exploitation, nudity, hate speech, and violence and graphic content." The stated overall goal is to protect users' freedom to share ideas, but Facebook has admitted to an 11% increase in government requests for content restrictions in the second half of 2014, compared with the first half.
7. Your Life in Mad Men
A new "Mad Men" app, made to promote the last half of its final season, takes your Facebook photos and plugs them into Don Draper's epic Kodak pitch. It's a tiny little idea, but it resonates for fans: For just a few seconds, it knits your life right into the show. Think of it as inspiration for how you can use social data and applications to draw people deeper into your universe.

8. Snapchat: The Socnet for Sports... and Politics?
It's no secret that Snapchat is hugely popular among Millennials. Business Journalism reports 60% of users are age 18-24, with ad placement on its Discover section costing upwards of $100,000. Now it's taking a bite into sports: Snapchat plans to acquire the rights to feature live NCAA basketball games during next month's Final Four—with plans to expand further still. Could the next viral sports clip be a Snap?
Senator Rand Paul's also stated plans to court youth by focusing on Snapchat: "We reach thousands of kids that we might not ever have reached before," he is quoted as having said. "You have to have something to say to them, too, and we tell them...that the government has no business looking at their phone records, and I think they appreciate that."
He's not the only one putting his money where his mouth is: Online shopping giant Alibaba's planning to drop $200 million on Snapchat this year.

9. VaporChat: It's Snapchat for Your Texts
You may not have heard of iOS-only app VaporChat, but you might start hearing plenty soon. Part of a score of apps building on Snapchat's "ephemeral content" model, the app lets you better control your text messages: Unsend texts and photos, remove your name from texts, decide whether recipients can copy or save what you send, and even make messages disappear after an amount of time that you define.
Consider the implications (beyond deleting your last drunk selfie): Users can share credit card information, then delete it once they know the data's been noted by the right person... or talk about work in complete anonymity. It certainly sounds more approachable than Snapchat, especially for older users—which is why it's a big deal that it's just raised $1.5 million.

10. We'll Wrap With a Love Letter to the Future
Inspired by the film Interstellar, Google Play's partnered with Paramount Pictures to release a documentary-style short film called EMIC, named for the anthropological term for cultural analysis. It's made up of videos curated (by director Christopher Nolan himself!) from over 8,000 global submissions, and it is a visual time capsule of life on earth in the 21st century.
Watch the full documentary, or you can check out the trailer:
Join over 600,000 marketing professionals, and gain access to thousands of marketing resources! Don't worry ... it's FREE!

The 20 Most Expensive Bing Ads Keywords

The 20 Most Expensive Bing Ads Keywords [Infographic]

Kindle

Attaining the very top spot in Bing Ads for the most competitive keywords will cost you a pretty penny, writes Larry Kim, citing a recent analysis by WordStream data scientist Mark Irvine.
WordStream analyzed some 10 million English keywords and grouped the them into categories to determine the most expensive types of keywords (see infographic, below).
(Also see a similar analysis of the most expensive keywords in Google AdWords advertising from 2011.)
The most expensive keyword on Bing Ads is "lawyer," which would cost advertisers seeking the top ad spot a whopping $109.21 per click.
Not surprisingly, the top 5 keywords are related to the legal world, indicating how lucrative clients can be:

1. Lawyer: $109.21
2. Attorney: $101.77
3. Structured settlement: $78.39
4. DUI: $69.56
5. Mesothelioma: $68.95

For more on the remaining 15 most expensive keywords and categories, as well as advice on less expensive ways to reach your market via Bing Ads (and Google AdWords), see "The 20 Most Expensive Keywords in Bing Ads [INFOGRAPHIC]."

Vahe Habeshian is the director of publications at MarketingProfs and a long-time editor. Reach him via vahe@marketingprofs.com.

Customized Fat Loss For Men

Customized Fat Loss For Men Just Released-kyle Leons Latest Conversion-crushing Vsl Designed Specifically For Cold, Male Traffic From Media. If Youre A Serious Affiliate Marketer, Youll Want To Test Your Male Traffic Asap! Popularity: 12, Gravity: 8.31551, Percent Per Sale: 75, Earned Per Sale: 44.341, Commission: 75, Referred: 97

Beauty Food Bible - Brand New With High Epcs

Beauty Food Bible - Brand New With High Epcs Brand New High Converting Natural Beauty Product With 2 Upsells. Converts On Beauty, Health, Weight Loss, Fitness And Even Personal Development Lists. 75% Commissions Throughout Entire Funnel. . Affiliate Tools At www.beautyfoodbible.com/aff.php Popularity: 4, Gravity: 23.8238, Percent Per Sale: 75, Earned Per Sale: 17.4383, Commission: 75, Referred: 93