More suggestions...

From: Kevin Frazier <kfrazier_at_adace.com>
Date: Wed 17 Oct 2001 17:21:34 -0500

Hello All,

Thank you for opening up the scope of discussions again
on this list. I know it is difficult to focus on the
future of online advertising when we are barely seeing
any benefit in the present. The best thing we can do
is work together to make this industry stronger, more
effective, more appealing, and more prosperous for us all.
Here are some ideas for site publishers, advertisers,
and networks that may help us all move closer to
creating results.

Site Publishers: Floor Pricing
This is a simple concept, but in these tough times it
becomes difficult to adhere to. Floor pricing basically
sets a price you are not willing to go below. Holding
firm on a base CPM is critical to keeping your site
profitable. Even if you run CPC or CPA deals, you must
have a "Floor CPM" that must be met or you simply lose
money. Stand firm on this price.

If an advertiser is unwilling to agree to a base CPM
for the advertising you are going to deliver, then you
should seriously think twice about accepting the campaign.
Stop accepting CPA and CPC deals without a base CPM
guarantee.

Advertisers: Put some skin in the game
Right now this market is controlled by the advertiser.
They are putting juicy carrots in front of starving
rabbits and attaching long strings.

Cost per conversion/lead advertising should not be the
sole responsibility of the website. Print and Television
do not have to sell ad space based on conversions, and
neither should a website. There needs to be value placed
on the delivery of your brand, and the broadcast of your
message. Granted conversions matter, but so does exposure.
If conversions are the only metric you are interested
in, then run some smaller tests until you identify the
sites that work, so you can keep costs down while you
dial in on your audience. Don't put pressure on the
site publishers to give you something for nothing, as
this will only delay the online advertising industry
from achieving the success it deserves. One final note...
 no more "net 60" payouts. We are all running
too close to our bottom lines to have to wait to be
paid.

Networks: Be a better referee
In many cases it is not the advertiser forcing the
small web publisher to sell their inventory at rock
bottom prices. It is the ad network that sits in the
middle that allows the low dollar campaigns to flow through.

They take large volume deals with a guaranteed payout and
distribute them across the sites in their network. When it
comes time to pay, the individual sites are getting small
fractions of what they should for the volume of inventory
that they deliver. Networks need to protect their sites
from low dollar deals. We have seen many Networks crumble
because the were selling too low, and they did not protect
the interest of their site publishers. Networks have a
lot more clout than individual sites, and therefore should
contribute to setting a floor price for campaigns.

If all ad networks and site publishers would agree to hold
the line on floor pricing, guarantee base CPM's, and not
accept a flat CPA/CPL deal, then we would have more
opportunity to focus on finding more effective online
advertising solutions.

It is time to stop making the "price" the only issue.
We could experience so much more positive growth if we
looked past the price and found new ways to create results.
Best of luck to us all.

Regards,
Kevin Frazier
CEO
AdAce, Inc.
http://www.adace.com
kfrazier_at_adace.com



Received on Wed Oct 17 2001 - 17:21:34 CDT