So will you DO something about it?

From: Alex Tillman <alex_at_webtillman.com>
Date: Mon 04 Feb 2002 10:34:44 -0500

Jason Geraci <jasong_at_streamcast.ws> wrote:

>I just feel that there are a lot of SUSPECT
>advertisers out there that are looking to use and
>reuse anyone who gets in their way. In my opinion it
>isn't the publishers who need to prove something, it
>is the advertisers. Period. They need to build some
>credibility with the publisher world not vice versa.

So, the person shelling out the dollars and purchasing
a service has to "prove" anything to the person
selling it? That makes no sense whatsoever. If you
want their money, you have to step up to the plate.

I see a lot of comments here that sound eerily like GM
and Chrysler back in the 80's. They spent so much time
trying to explain why consumers really did need their
cars (and slamming the imports for "giving away the
business") that they failed to recognize that the
consumer had already indicated, in no uncertain terms,
its preference. Business would simply have to adapt.

Maybe CPM really can work for both parties. Then stop
carping about it, write up some credible case study
examples, and line up some glowing references (ones
that will actually say something positive when
speaking to another potential advertiser), and you'll
sell out your ad inventory. But all this crying about
how evil advertisers are soulless, mindless, robots,
seeking to destroy the online publishing business is a
bad joke. Just as a publisher doesn't want to produce
a product that can't even pay it's own bills, an
advertiser can't afford to waste money on something
that isn't ultimately driving sales. Both sides just
want a fair return on their investment.

Businesses will pay for something that works. So there
can be only two options if the industry won't yet pay
profitable prices for CPM ads. Either they don't work,
or publishers cannot effectively demonstrate that they
do. If it's the first, your model is doomed. If it's
the latter, much more energy should be spent creating
better ways of documenting success.

Bottom line: It is officially put up or shut up time
for the online publishing industry. Either take the
time to demonstrate that your current model actually
does work, or start looking for a new one. (Or a new
line of business.) And all this complaining about
ruthless advertisers only helps undermine your case.
When the domestic automible industry finally stopped
blaming "uneducated" consumers and started actually
listening to them, it finally stopped the free-fall
and began climbing back.




Received on Mon Feb 04 2002 - 09:34:44 CST