Online ads work wonders, research finds

You might think all those online ads you thought you never noticed are never noticed but new research is forcing even the experts to think again, writes the Sydney Morning Herald.

According to a study of 100,000 Australians by Nielsen Online, a surprisingly high number of users can recall online ads and admit they are more inclined to buy those products.

But, in a strange twist, people who were unable to recall an ad, despite Nielsen knowing they had seen it using its online tracking technology, are equally influenced with their buying patterns.

"That's a real positive," said Nielsen Online's research director for the Asia-Pacific, Tony Marlow. "It means you can get your message through to people without being intrusive or annoying."

The figures from Nielsen show a third of online users who have seen an ad are able to recall it when asked, a result other researchers say is surprisingly strong.

Read full article.

YouTube’s Skippable Ads Could Command a Premium

Google launched a “small test of skippable pre-roll” video advertisements on YouTube that asks users to “opt in” to advertisements by not opting out using a skip button in the upper right corner of the viewing area, potentially making them more valuable to advertisers.

[via Wired]

Online Video Ads are Booming

News Web sites are starting to look a lot less like newspapers and a lot more like television, writes The New York Times.

... At a time when other categories of advertising dollars are shrinking, video ads are booming. News sites are adding more video inventory to keep pace with the demands of advertisers, and benefiting from the higher cost-per-thousands, or C.P.M.’s, that ads on those videos command.

Read full article.

Futuristic TV, online ads 'know what you're watching'

A futuristic new form of TV and online advertising is driven directly by what is happening on the screen in real time, not booked weeks in advance by a media buyer. The Australian reports.

The world-first technology driving the system was developed in Australia by a group of visionary sports fans.

The concept has been under development for the past three years, undergoing extensive trials in China before its official launch in the US this week.

Entertainment Weely with video ad sells on eBay for $ 122

A copy of Entertainment Weekly's Sept 18th issue with a video insert that went out to subscribers in only two markets, was up for bidding on eBay and sold for $ 122.-

[via ADLab]

UK Internet Advertising takes overtakes Television

According to The Guardian, the UK has become the first major economy where advertisers spend more on internet advertising than on television advertising, with a record £1.75bn online spend in the first six months of the year.

The milestone marks a watershed for the embattled TV industry, the leading ad medium in the UK for almost half a century. It has taken the internet little more than a decade to become the biggest advertising sector in the UK.

Cablevision to Launch Clickable TV Ads

Cablevision announced today that it will begin rolling out interactive TV ads, allowing viewers to use their remotes to “click” on a commercial in order to get more information.

[via NewTeeVee]

UK. Product placement for TV approved

Product placement is to be allowed on British TV shows, in a move due to be announced next week, reports the BBC.

Independent broadcasters will be allowed to take payments for displaying commercial products during shows.

The change is intended to bring in extra funds for commercial broadcasters. Experts believe it could raise up to £100m a year.

There are currently strict rules against product placement and this ban would remain in place on BBC shows.

Read full article.

Related:

-- USA. The State of Product Placement

-- Product Placement Creeps Into Amateurs' YouTube Offerings

-- Obama's Abercrombie Fans. For real? or product placement

-- Product placement agency targets YouTube

-- Screen Actors Guild slams "Stealth" Ads

-- MPs reject TV product placement advertising plans

Google shows off videos in text ads

Google is now offering advertisers a chance to insert a video trailer into their text ads. "In many cases, the best information is video," said Nick Fox, business product management director on Google's AdWords team. News.com reports.

Fox demonstrated how Electronic Arts is using a video trailer inside an ad for the new Tiger Woods video game. The result is a marriage of the text ad format that Google has used to rise into a dominant Internet company with the display ad style that others, such as Yahoo, are hoping to finally make a success.

Google hasn't made many changes to its text ad format and now sees this as a big opportunity," wrote J.P. Morgan's Imran Khan in a research note distributed after the Webcast. It can charge either by the click through to the advertiser's Web site or by the play of the video, therefore adding a revenue stream that didn't exist before.

Read full article .

Fox Cast members to tweet live during repeats of 'Fringe,' 'Glee'

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox is teaming with Twitter to give repeats a 21st century twist.

The network this week will introduce "tweet-peats" of "Fringe" and "Glee": encore presentations accompanied by messages from cast and producers via the online social network.

During the episodes, viewers can follow Twitter-sent messages (online and on-air via a scroll near the bottom of the screen) providing commentary on the episodes, revealing behind-the-scenes details and answering fan questions.

Read full article.

Fun. Two new "Get a Mac" ads

Always fun. Apple has come out with two new "Get a Mac" ads. One above and here's a link to the other.

CBS to run video ad in magazine this fall

Broadcast network CBS will be advertising its fall TV season with a video-chip ad embedded in an issue of Entertainment Weekly. CNet reports.

The September 18 issue of the Time Inc.-owned magazine will feature the first video ad to appear in print, George Schweitzer, CBS marketing president, said Wednesday at a press conference at the company's headquarters here.

Not everyone will be seeing it: the ad will appear in a magazine insert sent to subscribers in the New York and Los Angeles areas--an edition without the video chip will be sent to subscribers elsewhere and show up on newsstands.

The technology for the battery-powered ads was manufactured by a Los Angeles-based company called Americhip, and each ad can handle about 40 minutes of video.

Watch video demo to see how it works.

Read full article.

Mad Men Retro: The Golden Age of Advertising

With Season 3 of Mad Men premiering last Sunday, a renewed interest in all things retro - the fashion, the lingo, the drinks - can be expected to tighten its grip on popular culture.

WebUrbanist features a comprehensive collection of the product of the Golden Age of Advertising.

[via PSFK]

'Mad Men' yourself avatars

Now you can be one of the Mad Men. To get an online buzz going for the popular drama series' third season, which starts Aug. 16, AMC is teaming up with Eight O'Clock Coffee for a new "Mad Men Yourself" online avatar application. It launches today at www.amctv.com.

You can create your own Sixties-styled doppelganger using art from illustrator Dyna Moe and use it on Facebook, Twitter, iPhone and your computer desktop.

[via USA Today]

Harry Potter spreads love potion on Twitter

Warner Bros has created one of the most innovative Twitter campaigns to date, allowing fans of the film to cast spells on their followers, according to Revolution Magazine.

The campaign gives Twitter users the chance to send potions and cast spells on the people following them. The three options on offer include shrouding the follower's Twitter page in darkness, sending a flock of birds that fly across the screen and declaring affection for a follower by sending a love potion.

A website hosting the campaign has been set up to back the launch of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which debuted in UK cinemas last week.

Wonderful. Above, my spell cast on twitter.com/newteevee.

Click here to see what happens to NewTeeVee's mirror Twitter page.

And on Twitter Search to see how the "Harry Potter has been casting spells" campaign is spreading.

[via Adverblog]

About that new Mad Men ad ...

With the third season of Mad Men just weeks away, read all about finishing touches on a local blitz called “New York’s Gone Mad” in The New Yorker via TV Tattle.

Above making-of video spotted on TV Squad.

VW: real life interactive TV

Adverblog reports on a new Volkswagen campaign with real life interactive online television. It's part of the Pak De Polo (Get That Polo) campaign, which is currently running in the Netherlands to promote the latest Polo model.

In Pak de Polo Live the new Polo is driving around Holland for eight straight days. Along the way anyone can stop the car and make a ride. The one with the most kilometres behind the wheel gets the car.

At the campaign website, a live stream covers it all and shows who's in the car, and where they are heading. Also, visitors can make the car come their way by leaving a postal code. The result is a hectic ride through Holland, which can be watched in an entertaining, real life, interactive TV program, that lasts from 09.00 till 21.00 (local time).

TV Shows Bring Their Ads Online

Cable-TV shows, including TBS's "My Boys," are coming to the Web -- along with a full complement of ads. The Wall Street Journal reports.

The shows will be part of a new Web-TV trial that begins this month, spearheaded by cable operator Comcast Corp. It involves more than a half-dozen other media companies, including CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. The idea is to put more TV shows online, but only for paying cable subscribers.

The effort aims to address one of the biggest concerns facing producers of cable programming: how to keep viewers from canceling their subscriptions to watch free TV online.

It is also part of a broader push by media companies to put more advertisements in Web videos, seeking to capitalize on a medium where viewers can't skip ads.

Read full article.

Microsoft offending puke ad

Microsoft has yanked a controversial ad for its Internet Explorer 8 browser - which features a woman vomiting several times - after an outcry among users.

What on earth where they thinking?

[via stuff]

New Formats Give Online Video Ads Potential

From AdAge:

For years, the promise of online video advertising has been just that -- a promise. The reality has been a big disappointment: ads that look and feel like TV, and are repurposed from TV creative, only much more annoying.

But with the TV-upfront market frozen and advertisers looking for lower-cost means to reach consumers, a push is on to try formats that could finally realize some of the potential of online video with targeted ads that engage with real interactivity.

Read AdAge write-up of of some of the latest efforts to reinvent online video ads.

CBS, through its TV.com unit, is experimenting with a system that would allow users to earn credits by watching ads.

Tremor Media has rolled out a host of ad units called vChoice that bring interactivity into the player.

Hulu pioneered the choose-your-own pre-roll "ad selector" unit, which allows users to choose an ad, including a long-form movie trailer in exchange for an ad-free episode.

YouTube introduced its own variation on choose-your-own-ads just last week.

"Engagement" pricing models where the advertiser pays for a specific action, rather than an impression.

TV Everywhere wants commercials everywhere too

One perk to watching TV shows online is that there are few commercials. On Hulu, you usually have to sit through only a handful of spots from a single sponsor in a 30-minute show. It's great for viewers, but it's another reason why the site isn't making any money. The LA Times reports.

That's one thing Comcast and Time Warner are hoping to change with their online venture TV Everywhere. The service, which will be tested next year with an eye toward a fourth quarter roll-out, wants to carry the same load of commercials shown on television.

... Once Comcast and Time Warner take the plunge, Hulu and other sites will likely feel they have a greenlight to jump on board as well. The reality is that the only way content online works economically for big media is either with a pay wall (good luck) or more ads. While it's true that some advertisers pay a premium to be a sole sponsor of a show online, that money alone is probably not significant enough to solve the problem of -- to overuse NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker's quote -- trading analog dollars for digital dimes.

YouTube Tests Choose-Your-Own Ads

YouTube is testing a “choose your own” ad feature. Viewers will be able to pick between watching a single pre-roll ad (usually 30 seconds or longer) or up to four commercial breaks (at least 15 seconds each) within a given clip. If they go with the pre-roll, there’s also a choice between two different ads. paidContent.org reports.

Since it’s just a test, the option will only show up for certain viewers; the choose your own ads are also only running against premium, long-form content (like the pictured episode of Alf).

The idea may be new for YouTube, but Hulu has been testing self-selected ad units from the start. Video ad and tech firm Tremor Media also launched V-Choice, a user-selected ad option, earlier this month.

Showtime Samples TV Content on Kindle

Showtime is offering a free Kindle download of the pilot script of the upcoming TV show Nurse Jackie. AdAge quotes: "The idea of using Kindle, a text-based electronic reader, to promote a TV show may seem odd, but it falls directly in line with Showtime's typical modus operandi when it comes to hyping a new series, said Stuart Zakim, VP-corporate public relations at Showtime."

[via ADverblog]

Martha Stewart To Begin Testing Paid Videos Online

From WWD via The Huffington Post.

Martha Stewart is about to try something most magazine publishers have yet to attempt: charging for online videos.

Next month, Stewart will begin testing consumers' appetite to pay for videos, which will come from archives that are not yet available online. The videos can be purchased at marthastewart.com and then downloaded onto a computer, iPod or mobile phone.

Google advertises on TV to sell Chrome

So Google needs TV after all. It's starting a new TV advertising campaign to get people to consider Google's new Web browser Chrome. [via MediaPost]

Isn't the Internet's highly vaunted blogging and social network community enough to sell a product? Not this time.

... Earlier this year, more than a few industry observers said the TV ad helped Hulu to get some wind in its sails -- grabbing big consumer and advertising attention in recent months.

A wonderful ad from Argentina

A wonderful bank ad from Argentina, about several kinds of "change."

[via boing boing]

Google Aims to Connect Ads for TV, YouTube

According to the WSJ, Google is developing technology to connect its TV-ad brokering business to YouTube and eventually video on other Web sites, as it struggles to lure bigger advertisers to both services.

Google's director of television ads, Michael Steib, said in an interview that the company is working on technology that allows advertisers to buy ads across Google TV, which sells on-air commercials; YouTube; and video on other Web sites through the same interface. Google is testing the service, called Google TV Ads Online, with a small group of advertisers, he said. People familiar with the matter say the service -- which would leverage Google TV's targeting technology -- is likely to be introduced in the coming months.

Abortion ads could be allowed on UK TV

Abortion advice could be advertised on television and radio for the first time under a major shake-up of rules in the UK, reports Ananova.

Rules restricting the advertising of condoms on TV could also be relaxed under proposals put forward in an effort to halt high rates of teenage pregnancy.

Adverts for pregnancy advisory services could be allowed in prime-time evening slots on the major channels and radio following consultation by advertising watchdogs.

But advertisers must stipulate if the service does not refer women directly for abortion under the new proposals.

Dropping TVs Down Drains

Philips gets the point across on how thin their flat screen really is with an award winning ad campaign entitled “Careful Bringing It Home”.

[via TrendHunter]

Whisper campaigns exposed: pay per lie on YouTube

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, one of Australia's most popular YouTube users has admitted being paid to spruik Ten's new show Lie to Me surreptitiously in the latest example of marketers invading the popular video sharing site.

Amateur video maker Hugh Thomas, 26, from Bondi, said he was asked by a mystery third party to create a video blog on Lie to Me and publish it on his popular YouTube channel , in return for payment from 20th Century Fox.

He would not give more details of the whisper campaign, saying he was bound by a non-disclosure agreement.His six-minute satirical video on Lie to Me attracted just 10,800 views but it was joined by scores of other clips created by YouTube users around the world - all sponsored by Fox.

But none of the videos disclosed the Fox payment.

YouTube Selling More Ads To Larger Advertisers?But Only On A Fraction Of Videos

YouTube may finally be making some headway in convincing big marketers to get over their phobia of user-generated content.

A new report from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says YouTube is selling in-stream advertising on more videos and adding new major advertisers.

The report surveyed the top 100 videos (by views) on YouTube during a single week in February with an eye toward how many played ads and what kind of ads ran.

Read full article in The Washington Post.

Paid Downloads are Coming to YouTube

YouTube's partners can now offer their videos for paid downloads. ReadWriteWeb reports.

While Google has always given its partners the option to offer downloads of their videos under the Creative Commons license, some of Google's partners will now also be able to charge for their videos.

YouTube is currently calling this a 'test,' and only a select sub-set of YouTube partners will be allowed to charge for downloads at first, but we assume that if this test is successful, Google will allow all of its partners to charge for downloads.

Hulu's Super Bowl Ad Comes With An Ad

Hulu shows Super Bowl ads - preceeded by a regular Web video ad.

I can't see them though, not available to non US viewers. Uh, isn't more exposure better for commercials? Seems to me a rule was applied here that was not necessary.

[via The Washington Post]

Video screen ads maybe watching you too

Watch an advertisement on a video screen in a mall, health club or grocery store and there's a slim — but growing — chance the ad is watching you too. Yahoo Tech reports.

Small cameras can now be embedded in the screen or hidden around it, tracking who looks at the screen and for how long. The makers of the tracking systems say the software can determine the viewer's gender, approximate age range and, in some cases, ethnicity — and can change the ads accordingly.

That could mean razor ads for men, cosmetics ads for women and video-game ads for teens.

And even if the ads don't shift based on which people are watching, the technology's ability to determine the viewers' demographics is golden for advertisers who want to know how effectively they're reaching their target audience.

While the technology remains in limited use for now, advertising industry analysts say it is finally beginning to live up to its promise. The manufacturers say their systems can accurately determine gender 85 to 90 percent of the time, while accuracy for the other measures continues to be refined.

Youtube AdBlitz Coming February 1st

This is your chance to watch all the commercials from the super bowl and vote on your favorites. Check back after the big game on February 1st.

To find out where to watch the the Superbowl game online, check with NewTeeVee who's got all the links.

Sexy PETA Super Bowl Ad Banned by NBC

A sexy PETA commercial deemed "too hot for the Super Bowl" is has been banned by NBC, the network airing the game. But you can watch it on YouTube. ... PETA has always subscribed to a "sex sells" philosophy. Who could forget those famous "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" ads? Also on YouTube.

[via Gather.com]

Hulu To Launch Ad Campaign During Super Bowl

According to Broadcasting & Cable, Hulu, the NBC universal-News Corp. joint venture, will finally launch an advertising campaign during Sunday’s Super bowl telecast.

The company, headed by former Amazon executive Jason Kilar, hasn't purchased any advertising up until now, instead relying on word of mouth and linkage online.

Something to reflect on, from the dotcom era:

From CNN, February 1999.

CEO Jeff Taylor of Monster.com spent $4 million for three 30-second TV ads that he hoped would make his electronic job-search business a household name. And it did.

... Prior to the Super Bowl, it had been averaging five million visitors per month and 600 job searches per minute.

At 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m., after the Super Bowl was over, we were doing almost 2,900 job searches per minute," Taylor said. That spike leveled off to 1,500 later in the week, still 400 per minute more than the pre-Super Bowl high.

But others were not so lucky.

From MSNBC, January 2005.

More than a dozen Internet companies spent an average of $2.2 million for 30-second spots, amounting to more than $40 million dollars of stockholder cash and not-so-hard-won venture capital.

... These startups hoped that Super Bowl exposure would sear their web address into the minds of consumers. But most viewers were left with only vague memories of chimpanzees dancing to "La Cucaracha" to promote whatchamacalit.com ... while the businesses themselves were left with empty wallets.

Media Firms Team Up to Test Online-Video Ad Formats

The recession is making for some strange ad fellows, reports the WSJ. Media companies including Microsoft, Yahoo, CBS's CBS Interactive and Hulu.com are joining forces to attract more money to the fledgling online-video advertising marketplace by testing ad formats.

The project, dubbed "the Pool," is the brainchild of Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest, which buys roughly $16 billion in U.S. ad time and space annually for big advertisers like Procter & Gamble.

Starcom MediaVest and sister agency VivaKi say they are trying to create standards in the online-video market, which is popular with consumers but hasn't turned into a serious money maker.

Obama Inauguration Draws Online Advertising

Sprint, Cisco, Audi are among advertisers opting for online buys alongside live streaming of Tuesday's historic inauguration. Broadcasting & Cable reports.

Technology advertisers are expected to have a big presence on Jan. 20, given President-elect Barack Obama's enthusiasm for the Web.

More importantly, since the inauguration pomp and circumstance will be occurring during the workday, the event gives advertisers a chance to test cross-platform media strategies. It's likely that the occupants of the nation's corporate cubicles will turn to the Web to watch the festivities.

Read full article.

Ads on YouTube have higher impact than on TV

YouTube users are 1.5 times more attentive and engaged in advertising than TV viewers, according to research conducted in partnership with General Motors Europe, Motorola, media agency MindShare and the Online Testing Exchange.

The research used eye tracking and biometric data to reveal the brand impact of advertising on YouTube. It found recall and attribution for an ad viewed was up to 14% higher than watching the same ad on TV. Viewing a silent ad on YouTube in addition to a normal TV ad also improved ad recall and attribution.

Read full article.

Voice Commerce launches biometric payments system for TV advertisers

UK start-up Voice Commerce Group has launched a payments processing service for TV and IPTV advertisers that lets customers phone up and buy products by 'signing' for the transaction with their voice.

[via finextra]

'I'm A PC' Campaign Goes Viral

Brickfish, the social media advertising network, and Microsoft have teamed up to add additional social media elements to its 'I'm A PC' campaign.

Located at www.brickfish.com/microsoft, this program is an extension of the Microsoft Windows "Life Without Walls" campaign and invites people to submit photos or videos that express their individuality - and showcase how each person "is a PC" through photography, video, animation or other creative elements.

[via MarketWatch]

Nip Tuck - Official Season 6 Promo

Tell me what you don't like about yourself.

[The Frisky.com via TVTattle.com]

Nielsen starts offering second-by-second data

Nielsen, the company that tracks television viewing in the United States, has begun offering second-by-second viewership data, providing insight into how many people watch commercials. The IHT reports.

The National Geographic Channel is the first network to sign up for the service.

Nielsen, which for years has offered minute-by-minute data, faces pressure from advertisers for more effective ways to track viewership of commercials.

The data will help advertisers tell if viewers tune out in the middle of their commercial, and to decide if their ad is best placed at the beginning, middle or end of a commercial break

Medical Ads on YouTube Attract Fire

Ads on video Web site YouTube for medical devices sold by Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic Inc. and Stryker Corp. violate federal rules because they don't contain required warnings and disclosures, according to an advocacy group, reports the WSJ.

Wednesday, the Prescription Project petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to update its advertising rules specifically to address such Internet marketing.