Re: Interesting Twist to BANNER ADVERTISING

From: Kaan Bingol <kaanb_at_kocsistem.com.tr>
Date: Thu 30 Dec 1999 16:25:03 +0200

Happy new year to all list members,

FRED WROTE:
> So I said: "How about we come up with code that TRAPS
> the banner ads on ANY web page being surfed by anyone
> on our private (dial-up subscriber) WAN, and replace
> it with an ad for a local business?" They liked the
> idea, so they built the code.

I should admit that Fred has come up with an
interesting idea. But when we consider the legal and
ethical aspects of his idea, it becomes clear that
(when it is done in a legal way) his idea only brings a
new type of Ad Network. Here's how.

Actually Fred gave the right example of the legal
implementation of his idea: the cable companies' local
ads. Cableco pays tv channels (content providers) for
the ad space and then sells this space to local
advertisers. This method should be followed when you
seriously consider implementing Fred's ideas. Because
an ad space on a web page belongs to that web site. The
only reason this ad space exists is the content! Thus
ad space is the sole property of content's owner. No
other party can modify it, use it or sell it without
the permission of content's owner.

So in my opinion if Fred wants to sell the ad space on
web sites, he has to pay for it. When you start paying
web sites for their ad space and sell it, you become an
Ad Network and nothing else. Fred's ad network will be
a new one with a low number of viewers but a highly
targeted one. And as an ad network, proper reporting,
competitive pricing, and ofcourse fair and timely
payment become important tasks.

If ISPs setup such ad networks for additional revenues
(of course in a legal and ethical way), i believe these
kind of ad networks will have some advantages over the
traditional ones:
-They will serve ads to a narrow audience, but they
have very good information about this audience,
collected when they signed-up with the ISPand
accumulated from their online behaviour. Targeting ads
to the right people will be easier (infact it will only
be possible)
-Local ads will attract viewers more. This will
increase CTR. This is good for advertisers and thus
good for web sites.
-Web sites will alternately use ISP Ad Networks for
their Ad inventory. A web page can be coded to display
ads from ISP if viewer's ISP has an Ad Network, and
from another source (either in house or another Ad
Network) if ISP does not serve any ads. Thus you can
combine general interest ads and local, targeted ads in
your web site at the same time.

Of course this new type of Ad Networks will challenge
existing ones. Consider many ISPs start such kind of ad
serving for web sites, with their local focus and
wealth of information about the viewers they will steal
many advertisers from existing ad networks. In
summary; I think, Fred's idea (if implemented in a
legal and ethical way) will lead to a new type of ISP
Ad Network which has some adventages over existing
ones. If it is not done in a legal way (without paying
web sites for their ad space) it is just another way of
*hacking* web sites.

Regards,

Kaan Bingol
http://www.ExploreTurkey.com





Received on Thu Dec 30 1999 - 08:25:03 CST