RE: Interesting Article

From: Mark Brownlow <markbrownlow_at_ibizadmin.com>
Date: Tue 12 Jun 2001 11:42:42 -0500

BRANDI JASMINE <brandi_at_brandijasmine.com> WROTE:

> Why can Yahoo charge what it does, when Bob can't
> even give his inventory away, and would be happy for a
> quarter of the price?

I used to struggle with this problem back in the days
when I had my own "small" site. Here are some of the
reasons:

* Yahoo probably offers the sorts of advertising
services, technology etc. that Bob can't begin to
offer or even afford, especially in terms of
targeting and quality of reporting.

* The cost of advertising is more than just the cost
of the impressions. If you want to buy a million ad
views, the admin costs are much lower (and life a
lot easier) if you can deal with one site than have
to negotiate, set-up, monitor and integrate campaigns
at 10 sites, each of 100,000 impressions.

* If Bob can offer you a million ad impressions,
you'll probably have to buy up his entire inventory.
This gives you no flexibility in terms of, for
example, optimizing the number of times any one
visitor sees your ad.

* It's easier for you to sell your non-web-savvy boss
on advertising on Yahoo, because he or she's heard of
it.

* There's a quality-by-association factor in there.
At Yahoo, your ad rubs shoulders with major brands on
a top site.

* Comfort factor. Yahoo has built-in credibility as
a "supplier of advertising". You might have to gamble
that Bob's trustworthy and knows what he's doing.

The "little guys" can still compete with their own
unique, niche, quality audiences, lower prices,
flexibility and personal service, or by following a
sponsorship model, but it ain't easy.

Mark Brownlow - - VP Content
Internet Business Forum, Inc.
http://www.ibizforum.com



Received on Tue Jun 12 2001 - 11:42:42 CDT