NONE: ONLINE-ADS>> Ad Bytes / April 14, 1997 / issue 14
ONLINE-ADS>> Ad Bytes / April 14, 1997 / issue 14
rhoy_at_o-a.com
Mon, 14 Apr 1997 18:11:50 -0500 (CDT)
Ad Bytes / April 14, 1997 / issue 14
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relating to online advertising, PR and promotion. Its purpose
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In this issue:
==============
MESSAGE FROM THE MODERATOR
going to Monterey/reports from the road
additional conference coverage
last chance for dinner
IN THE NEWS
High-tech faultfinding escalates -- News.com
Fight for advertisers begins... -- Puget Snd. Bus. Jrnl.
Group offers solution to cacheing... -- Ad Age
Commonwealth Network faces affiliate...-- Ad Age
Whose hand is that in the cookie jar? -- MSNBC
Companies back ad standard push -- Ad Age
COOL PROMO
Banner Ad for Honda
THE BOOK SHELF
Web Site Stats: Tracking... by Rick Stout
NEW PRODUCTS, SERVICES, & REPORTS
net.Analysis Desktop 2.0
Creative for the Web: What Gets Clicks
Public Relations Online Conference
MESSAGE FROM THE MODERATOR
--------------------------
Hey all,
In case you didn't know, Cliff and I will be in Monterey
this time next week at Web Advertising '97
(http://www.thunderlizard.com/webad97.html). I'm part
of two lectures. The first is titled, "Beyond the Banner:
Where do we go from here;" which is a panel discussion
that (surprise, surprise) I am moderating. The second
lecture is a join presentation with Cliff titled,
"Advertising via email and newsgroups."
In my off-time I get to attend the other lectures for
free! For those of you that can't make it, I am going to
be giving "Reports from the Road" - a brief summary of
the lectures I am able to attend. Here is what I plan to
cover:
-Measuring the web: what server logs really tell us?
-Creative for the Web: what gets clicks?
-Customized Ad Delivery: The year of the database
-What makes a good site?
-Promoting your site for free (or almost free)
-Web advertising networks
-The future of web advertising
Additional Conference Coverage
==============================
For additional coverage and another perspective on the
conference, consider joining Web Advertising '97: Email
Reports - a temporary listserv set-up just for the conference
by Adam Boettiger of the marketing e-zine Global Exposure.
You can find out all about it at:
http://www.exposure-usa.com/webad97/
Last Chance for Dinner
======================
For those of you who are attending the conference but
haven't heard yet, Tenagra is coordinating a dinner at
Fresh Cream (http://www.freshcream.com/) on Sunday,
April 20. The dinner will start at 6:30 PM. We have
about 20 people coming so far and have secured a
private dining room. If you would like to join us,
please contact Angie Adair at angela.adair_at_tenagra.com,
or by phone at: 281.480.6300. We need to give a final
count of attendees to the restaurant by this Wednesday
(April 16th). If you will be joining us, please get a
message to Angie by that date.
IN THE NEWS
-----------
High-tech faultfinding escalates
News.com
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,9599,00.html
Here is an interesting, and slightly unethical, new
promotional strategy. Find all the defects in your
competitor's software products and tip the computer
media off about how dangerous such defects are.
==============
Fight for advertisers begins with Sidewalk launch
Puget Sound Business Journal
http://www.amcity.com:80/seattle/stories/040797/story6.html
Microsoft unveiled the first Sidewalk venture in Seattle
last week. Sidewalk is an effort by Microsoft to build a
network of web sites with local content on which they can then
sell geographically-specific advertising. According to the article,
'the ad rate info is pretty skimpy at this point.
==============
Group offers solution to cacheing problem
Ad Age
http://www.adage.com/interactive/articles/19970407/article1.html
The Internet Engineering Task Force is discussing a draft
proposal for a system to extract the number of times pages
and ad banners are shown from a proxy server cache. As
many of you know, the practice of cacheing pages causes
ad banners on those pages to be under counted. The industry's
biggest offender is AOL, who responded with a vague answer
that they were "working on the problem."
==============
Commonwealth Network faces affiliate lawsuit
Ad Age
http://www.adage.com/interactive/articles/19970407/article2.html
As mentioned on this list a couple of weeks ago, Interactive
Imaginations' Commonwealth Network is being sued. The filers
of the suit are alleging breach of contract and fraudulent practices.
==============
Whose hand is that in the cookie jar?
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.com:80/news/66878.asp
A good article by MSNBC journalist Jane Weaver on the pros and
cons of the cookie debate.
==============
Companies back ad standard push
Ad Age
http://www.adage.com/interactive/articles/19970407/article6.html
A newly formed group, The Internet Advertising Technology Council,
have joined forces to create an open communications protocol for
exchanging traffic instructions, ad creative and performance data
between advertisers and Web publishers.
COOL PROMO
----------
Banner Ad for Honda
http://www.pscentral.com/top2/four.html
Ever since I read about the CGI-driven banner ad in Ad Age for
Conde Net's Epicurious web site, I have been looking for a good
example. Well the folks at Microscope, and e-zine that reviews
banner ads, have come through. In their review of the quarter's
best banner ads they included a banner developed for Honda by
Rubin Postaer Interactive. Using a pull-down menu of responses,
you answer the question:
"When I see curves ahead, I..."
Depending on which of the three responses you pick, you are
taken to a different part of the Honda web site. Very cool!
And as the astute reviewers at Microscope point out, Rubin
Postaer Interactive constructed a communications piece that
targets and captures three audiences. Worth a look.
THE BOOK SHELF
--------------
Web Site Stats: Tracking Hits and Analyzing Traffic
by Rick Stout
publisher: Osborne McGraw-Hill, ISBN: 0-07-882236-X. 1997
web site: http://www.osborne.com/int/webstats.htm
review:
This is a fairly good primer on what this web server
access log stuff is all about. There are also chapters
profiling ad networks, ad servers, log analysis software,
and log auditing companies. And you even get a CD-ROM
with demos of popular log analysis software.
One thing I think is amiss, however, is chapter on access
log artifacts. There are literally dozens of things that
prevent the collection of accurate access log data; such
as frames, browser accelerators, off-line browsers, and
cacheing. Though new artifacts are revealed each day,
the aforementioned ones are well-known to cause problems
and were around when this book was written.
RECOMMENDATION: If you are green about how servers do
their magic, buy it - the book is a good, basic primer on
what data is really in an access log. If you have ever
set-up or managed a UNIX server and understand server/client
interaction, skip it - the book probably won't tell you
anything you don't already know.
NEW PRODUCTS, SERVICES, & REPORTS
---------------------------------
net.Analysis Desktop 2.0
http://www.netgen.com/
easiest to use, cost-efficient solution for
understanding Web site usage.
Creative for the Web: What Gets Clicks
http://www.thunderlizard.com/webad_clicks
Temporary page,tips for better banners from
Web Advertising '97.
Public Relations Online Conference
www.flyingkite.com/pronline.shtml
Strategic: online resources, tactics for PR.
May '97; Great speakers!
That's it!
richard
moderator
online advertising discussion list
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