FAQ on Internet Advertising

What is Internet advertising?

Internet advertising is the placement of an advertisement (typically in the form of a banner) on a Web page on one or more Web sites.

Why does Internet advertising matter to me?

The Internet is drawing attention time away from traditional media.

The Internet as an exciting new interactive medium is drawing audiences away from traditional media. While consumers are still going to read newspapers and magazines, and watch television, Internet-savvy consumers are now spending more of their time surfing the Internet, and less time on other media. In fact, there are some who rarely even read the print version of newspapers anymore, preferring instead to read the online versions readily available on the Internet.

Accountability.

Unlike TV and newspapers which typically use statistical models to measure viewerships/readerships, Internet advertising offers advertisers the ability to measure and track exposure: i.e. the exact number of times a particular advertisement has been viewed. With more sophisticated technology (and a little more effort), it is even possible to determine the unique number of viewers who have seen an advertisement, or even taken action based on the advertisement.

Audience.

The Internet presents one of the most appealing media demographics right now. Many consumers with Internet access are also ideal consumers as they typically are well-educated and have greater disposable incomes.

Targeting.

Besides accountability, the Internet offers advertisers the ability to target their messages to specific audiences using a number of targeting attributes, such as the type of affinity "channels" they would like their advertisements to appear on (kind of like advertising on the HBO channel of your cable TV operator), or even right down to the Web site whose visitors they would like to appeal to (like advertising only during the "Titanic" slot on the HBO channel). As the technology improves, the ability to refine and target Internet advertisements will also improve.

How does Internet advertising fit into the current media mix?

Certainly traditional print and broadcast media are not going to go away anytime soon. Savvy marketers of the future will use both traditional and Internet media in new and creative ways to reach audiences. For example, a company with a significant Internet presence may use traditional media to draw visitors to its Web site, and while they are there, they’ll get more information about the products it offers than traditional advertising media can deliver.

How does advertising on the Internet work?

Once the objectives and mechanics of an advertising campaign have been decided on, advertising materials in the form of computer graphics (which could be static or animated) are created. In addition, the advertiser (or its agency) will work with an Internet advertising firm (such as e-Asia) to make a media buy for the required amount of exposure (measured in impressions) during the campaign. Once the materials are approved by both the advertiser, the Internet advertising operator and also the Web site owners, visitors to the particular Web sites will begin to see the advertisement. Each time a visitor views a Web page, the technology at the Internet advertising operator will determine if any targeting for this particular visitor needs to be done, and will display the appropriate advertisement. At the end of the campaign, the advertiser receives a report of the advertising exposure and is billed by the Internet advertising firm. The latter then retains a percentage of the total revenue collected from the advertiser, and shares the rest with the owners of the Web sites where the particular advertisement has appeared.

What can I do with Internet advertising?

Typically, these are the three most common uses for Internet advertising, and each utility builds on its predecessors.

Increase awareness.

Branding campaigns typically benefit from this type of Internet advertising. While the hope is that Web surfers will click on the advertisement and go to the advertiser's Web site for more information, the main aim here is to continue to expose the brand name to Web surfers.

Generate traffic.

Here the goal is to get Web surfers to click on the advertisement and go to the advertiser's Web site. The analogy here is much like attracting foot traffic to a retail store, in the hope that the visitors will buy something once they're there.

Action!

This measures the number of visitors who have been influenced to do the first two things above, and have now taken an action desired by the advertiser. This includes actions such as asking for more information, obtaining free reports, getting rebates/coupons, or even directly purchasing things.

How do I measure advertising on the Internet?

Impressions.

This measures the actual number of times an advertisement has appeared in front of a Web surfer. Sometimes, the same surfer may see a particular advertisement repeatedly, leading to an undesirable syndrome called "banner burnout". Logically enough, if no one visits a Web site (or a group of Web sites) where the advertisement is supposed to appear, no impressions are counted.

Clickthroughs.

This tracks the number of times Web surfers have actually clicked on an advertisement and have been taken to the advertiser’s Web site.

Actions.

This number tracks the number of actions users have performed once they visited the advertiser’s Webs site. For many promotional campaigns over the Internet, this is the ultimate measurement of the campaign’s success.

How do I create Internet advertising graphics?

Many leading graphics design houses, Web development firms, and advertising agencies offer services today to create the graphics to be used in Internet advertising. Be sure to check with your Internet advertising operator on the exact specifications which may be necessary to display the advertisement on the Internet.

What are the terms impressions, page views and hits?

The term impressions and page views are typically used interchangeably. Impressions count the number of times a particular advertisement has appeared on a Web page that has been requested by a Web site visitor. Page views measure the total number of Web pages visitors to a particular site have requested. Page views are the preferred and widely-accepted way of measuring Internet Web site traffic today.

Hits are an older and unreliable way of measuring Web site traffic and do not necessarily indicate the number of times a Web page has been seen, but rather the total number of times all the elements (graphics, text, multimedia content) of all pages on the Web site have appeared to visitors. Due to this inconsistent and highly subjective way of interpreting this statistic, hits are rarely used today to measure Web site traffic.

Are Internet advertisements subject to the same laws and regulations as traditional advertising?

Yes. Most ethical Internet advertising operators will not accept advertising which contravenes the laws and regulations of the country where the advertisement will appear.

 

An Advertising Network

What is an Internet advertising network?

A collection of Web sites brought together by an Internet advertising operator. The Internet advertising operator sells advertisement space on behalf of the Web site owners to advertisers, and then serves the advertisements across the network.

Why have a network?

A Internet advertising network makes it easy to execute Internet media buys and also to serve advertisements across the whole network.

Why can’t I buy Internet advertising space the same way I buy traditional media space?

In the traditional media world, there were small number of media players, thus making it easy for a single advertiser (or advertising agency) to make direct media buys with these media owners. On the Internet, there are literally millions of Web sites out there today, making this type of media buying cumbersome and potentially fraught with dangers such as being misled by con artists who operate Web sites. This also increases your administrative effort and costs exponentially. With a network, you make a single media buy through the Internet advertising operator, and you also pay the same operator. The operator will then divide the advertisement proceeds amongst the Web site owner based on a revenue-sharing arrangement.

Who owns the network?

The Internet advertising operator.

Who owns the Web sites which my advertisements appear on?

The Web site owner.

Do I pay anything to the individual Web site owners?

No, you only make a single payment to the Internet advertising operator. This operator takes care of the revenue sharing amongst the Web site owners. This way, if your advertisement appeared on 10 different Web sites, you don't have to write 10 separate cheques (sometimes for fairly small amounts of money) to each Web site owner.

Who sets the advertising rates?

The Internet advertising operator.

Why should I deal with an Internet advertising operator?

It makes it easy to enter the world of Internet advertising, without having to become a specialist on the Internet, Internet advertising, and also make complicated media buys. Besides, it also gives you the ability to focus on doing what you do best: running your business and making it successful.

Can my advertisement agency still make my media buys?

Absolutely. Traditional arrangements such as media buying can and will be done by advertising agencies. In addition, these agencies will continue to earn the standard media commissions they have always enjoyed in traditional advertising.

 

Advertising Media Buys

So I’m interested in Internet advertising across e-Asia’s network. What type of media buys can I make?

Depending on your campaign and its objectives, you can choose between a media buy of impressions (counts the number of times an advertisement appears on a Web page requested by a user) or on clickthroughs (which counts the number of times an advertisement is clicked on for more information).

Impressions are typically sold in blocks of 1,000, usually with a minimum purchase required. As with traditional media, discounts are applicable as the purchase volume increases.

Impression-based advertisements can be purchased in one of two forms:

Run-of-network (RON). This type of impressions are served across the network, without any specific targeting. Advertisers can usually choose to use up the impressions as quickly as possible, or spread it evenly over a period of time.

Targeted. This is where the advertiser chooses to assign targeting attributes for the particular advertisement. For example, some advertisers may choose to only have their advertisements appear in all the news-oriented sites of the network, or all the family-oriented sites. Sites with a common theme are typically grouped together in what’s called an "affinity channel". As advertisement serving technology evolves, more specific targeting attributes will also be made available. Targeted advertising is usually priced used the RON cost as a base, plus a premium for the targeting.

Clickthroughs are priced based on the number of times users actually click on the advertisements, plus a small additional fee for the media and serving fees.