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FTC Attacks Premium Placement In Search Results
The Federal Trade Commission says search engines that sell paid listings in their results need to make that practice clearer to readers.
The decision, which comes on the heals of an 11-month investigation by the FTC, means publishers need to be wary of how paid links and listings show up on the search engine results. A recent survey by Consumers Union found that 60 percent of Internet users who were surveyed had no idea that some search engines were paid fees to list some sites more prominently than others.
Publishers often look for additional revenue by charging advertisers for premium listings or higher placement in the results produced by searches of their directories or web sites. This new position by the FTC indicates that if that practice is in place, readers need to know it.
The FTC said it would not take formal action against any companies at this time, but it did promise to issue letters to 12 popular search sites warning them to clearly mark paid listings. Of the sites surveyed, 11 separated paid results from non-paid by placing them above the non-paid results. Google lists paid links on the right-hand side of the page in a tinted box, with the words, "Sponsored Link" at the top.
The investigation was prompted by a complaint from consumer advocacy group Commercial Alert, or Portland, Oregon, which said it was concerned that paid listings threatened to undermine the idea of editorial integrity on the Internet.
For more information on this story, visit: http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/06/28/
search.engine.ads.ap/index.html,
or http://news.com.com/2100-1023-940598.html.
Publishers Claim Software "Steals" Their Banner Ads
Ten online news organizations have filed a lawsuit against a Redwood City, California company that they say uses web-based software to pop competing ads onto their web pages.
What makes Gator Corp. and their technology a threat to publishers is that their software tracks the web sites a user visits, and pops up ads based on preferences set by Gator’s advertisers, rather than those of the publisher or web site operator.
For example, WeightWatchers won an injunction on June 11 barring Gator from popping ads for DieteWatch.com, a competitor, onto a user’s computer screen whenever a user went to the WeightWatchers web site.
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This ability to track and target advertising to specific user interests is at the heart of today’s integrated, targeted ad buy, and yet publishers typically only track and target users on sites they operate.
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In yet another case, visitors to CondeNet’s concierge.com who have Gator’s software installed on their computers are greeted by a pop-up ad for travelocity.com, a competing travel site.
The lawsuit, filed last week in Alexandria, Virginia, charges that Gator is "a parasite on the web that free rides on the content of others."
This ability to track and target advertising to specific user interests is at the heart of today’s integrated, targeted ad buy, and yet publishers typically only track and target users on sites they operate. Gator is the first well-known example of an ad network delivering ads when users visit other web sites, and it is this unique wrinkle that is at the heart of both the lawsuit and the controversy.
Gator’s software is not installed on the web site but is instead installed on the user’s computer. Gator has two pieces of software that users download—one a virtual electronic wallet, and the other a free-offer software package that allows users to receive free products from advertisers. As part of the registration process, users "opt-in" to receive the pop-up ads, making them part of Gator’s network of web users.
Gator operates the Gator Advertising and Information Network, which the company says has 22 million active users and 400 advertisers. Because of the opt-in capabilities and ability to track web usage, Gator’s advertisers can target specific user demographics and specific web behavior as the user moves across the Internet.
The publishers contend in their lawsuit that Gator’s ads rob them of advertising revenue and that users will mistake Gator’s pop-up ads for ads presented by the publisher.
For more information on Gator, visit: http://www.gator.com
For more information on this story, visit: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-940072.html, or http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/07/01/
online.ads.ap/index.html, or http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/
10/05/stealth.ads.idg/index.html. 
Advertisers Say: Create Unique Opportunities And Ask Questions
If you want to maximize your revenue through integrated packaging, advertisers want you to listen to their needs and develop exclusive opportunities, top ad executives told publishers at last month’s GCN executive briefings.
The two, half-day sessions, one at the Hotel Monaco in Chicago and the second at The Union League Club in New York, focused on ways publishers can increase revenue by integrating their print, online and in-person brands.
Mark Dominiak, SVP, Director of media Planning of FCB Chicago, told publishers at the Chicago meeting that advertising is about "aligning of purposes," in which the advertiser’s purpose and the publisher’s purpose are so closely integrated that both are able to achieve success.
He pointed to several successful examples of this alignment of purpose, including a program for John Deere in which the equipment maker used the Internet and print advertising to create a incentive program that rewarded John Deere dealers with a trip to Hawaii.
Dominiak noted that too few media sales people bother to find out what the client’s purpose is in advertising. "The thing that always gets my attention is when someone comes in and says, ‘Tell me about your client’," he said.
In New York, publishers heard from Danae Andrews, Associate Media Director of FCB New York, who said her main interest was exclusive opportunities that her clients translated to mean important opportunities. The way for publishers to differentiate, she said, is to develop exclusive, integrated buying opportunities for specific advertisers, and then develop a method of testing those opportunities to ensure that they achieve the expected results.
Also part of the program were 45 integrated publishing tips in 45 minutes, and a presentation by American Business Media’s Vice President John Holden of the recent Yankelovich/Harris Interactive research on B2B advertising trends.
The GCN Print + Web Executive Briefing series will resume this Fall: September 26 in Atlanta, GA, and October 3 in Cleveland, Ohio. For more information, visit http://www.gcnpublishing.com/executivebriefing/.
DoubleClick’s Ad Sales Unit Sold Off
DoubleClick announced this week that it had sold off its media sales division to L90, a Los Angeles-based marketing company for $5 million in cash and 4.8 million shares.
DoubleClick CEO Kevin Ryan said DoubleClick will focus exclusively on its ad-serving tools and technology business. The 55 sales employees that had sold ads for DoubleClick’s network are now part of L90, which has been renamed MaxWorldwide.
For more information, visit: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-941037.html?tag=fd_top, http://www.maxworldwide.com, and http://www.doubleclick.com. |
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In This Issue
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Publishers Claim Software "Steals" Their Banner Ads
Advertisers Say: Create Unique Opportunities And Ask Questions
DoubleClick’s Ad Sales Unit Sold Off
Final Analysis:
GCN’s creative, technical and business team analyzes G + J USA Publishing's Inc.com. See how business-to-business publication’s web site does in our constructive critique.
Sales Tip:
Importance of Subject Lines
When sending out e-newsletters, be sure to incorporate your brand in the subject line. Users are inundated with e-mail messages, so your name recognition can make a difference in whether your message is read or not.
Mark your Calendar:
William D. Littleford Awards Luncheon
August 13, 2002
Union League Club
New York, NY
For more info call: 212.661.6360
American Business Media Publishers' Roundtable
Sept. 19-21, 2002
A day long seminar on ad sales issues sponsored by the American Business Media Publishers Committee.
Chicago, IL
For more info call: 212.661.6360
GCN Publishing
In-Print, On-Line, In-Person: Sure-Fire Ways Your Integrated Buys Will Generate Revenue
September 26, 2002
Atlanta, GA
516.767.3325
Register today!
GCN Publishing
In-Print, On-Line, In-Person: Sure-Fire Ways Your Integrated Buys Will Generate Revenue
October 3, 2002
Cleveland, OH
516.767.3325
Register today!
Magazine Publisher’s of America
American Magazine Conference
October 20 - 23, 2002
Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa
Phoenix, Arizona
212.872.3700
www.magazine.org
The Folio: Show
Folio: Magazine
October 28 - 30, 2002
The Hilton New York
New York City, NY
917.981.2936
Click here
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