Can Advertisers use Ad Networks for Brand Advertising?
That depends on the network. Over the past decade we have seen some very creative advertisers do amazing online brand building programs. Yet, most of these clever programs that come to mind were executed on an individual site or portal. Are ad networks only going to attract the direct response campaigns and the low CPMs associated with direct response? The answer is: “No”
The more complete answer is still “that depends” on such things as the quality of the network’s members and the networks ability to execute hi impact ad opportunities. Most ad networks are often associated with remnant advertising on lesser quality sites. This is often why the network does not disclose a complete list of its sites. Call me old fashioned, but if I am responsible for building a brand I want to know where my hard earned ad dollars are being invested, and I probably don’t want my ad impressions only showing up at 2:00 AM (unless of course I am selling sleeping aids).
More and more ad networks are willing to show a complete site list, offering things like geo targeting and even day parting. Yet, that is still not enough to satisfy many brand advertisers who care about things like editorial quality and high impact ad campaigns. That is why vertical ad networks associated with real media companies are becoming more popular.
Media companies like IDG, Forbes, Martha Stewart have been creating some of the highest quality content in their respective verticals and have been executing big online brand campaigns for year. Now these established media companies, and many more like them, are expanding the brand solutions they offer by building online ad networks. This creates a great opportunity for brand advertisers looking to expand their market share.
When you stop and think about it, a media company like IDG already is an ad network with over 450 “owned and operated” technology websites around the world. It makes sense for IDG to expand to include selected independent technology sites. For example, IDG already knows how to recognize, recruit and nurture the best editorial experts in technology media. IDG also has executed countess online branding campaigns across its network of sites. IDG’s TechNetwork is a natural extension. Plus, IDG’s vetting of each partner site insures advertisers will get the quality editorial environment and multiple site execution which are critical to an ad network branding campaign.
The best part for big brand advertisers is when these high impact ad campaigns arrive on these independent sites the impact can be well above average. That is because independent sites often miss out on the online brand campaigns until they partner with an establish media company. Many experts predict that more and more established media companies will be building high quality networks of sites which is good news to brand advertisers looking to find uncluttered ad environments and independent sites looking for access to brand advertisers in their markets.
By Kevin Normandeau on Jul 21, 2008 in The Aggregation of Fragmentation
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Gasta Travel:
Today anyone with an Internet access and Credit card can just like that, plan for a week’s tour to South Africa or the Himalayas, thanks to the travel sites who offer trip planning at your finger-tips - flight booking, hotels and car rentals along with the reviews of the hotels, places of interest, and information on packaged deals. Clearly travel sites have been redefining the travel agency business. In 2005, over 79 million people in the US used the Internet to plan and book their travel, a function which previously involved travel agents much more actively.
Online travel is one of the largest e-commerce categories. According to Forrester Research the online travel industry is projected to grow from $63.6 billion in 2005 to $110.5 billion by 2008 in the US. JupiterResearch on the other hand estimates $128 billion to be spent on online travel in the US in 2011. Jupiter expects 38% of all travel revenues to be made online by 2011. Over the last few weeks, we have analyzed the Travel sites based on the Web 3.0 framework.
The online travel industry is expected to continue its strong growth and this is one of the main reasons for the ongoing VC and entrepreneurial interest in this category. In March 2007 Silver Lake and TPG acquired Sabre Holdings the owner of popular travel sites like Travelocity and LastMinute. The Blackstone Group along with its affiliates took over the Travelport business of Cendant Corporation for $4.3 billion in August 2006. Now, they’re trying to spin off Orbitz and take it public. Indian portal Sify entered the online travel business by acquiring Globe Travels.
We have been reviewing the online travel industry and have covered Yahoo! Travel, TripAdvisor, Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia and Priceline and Lonely Planet from a Web 3.0 perspective.
The fact that online travel is a booming industry is clear from the growing number of travel sites, emergence of travel metasearch engines like Kayak and SideStep and the mushrooming of niche sites like Site59, Farecast, FlyerTalk, Mobissimo, etc. Identifying the opportunity Forbes has launched a special section for luxury travel and NYT has tied up with Expedia for its travel portal. We have not yet had a chance to review many of these other sites. Expect to see more in due course.
Context is, by and large, poorly understood by the sites, although nuances like flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, vacation pacakges, maps, hotel and destination reviews, trip planning, sharing, etc. allow the consumers to plan their trips and make bookings. But few have created contexts like student travel, luxury travel, adventure travel, romantic travel, etc.
The Content offerings at many of the sites are good. Some, like Lonely Planet, come from Content roots, and do an especially good job. The CPM rates for these sites are similar and are in the range of $15 to $65 per thousand impressions. Considering the present boom in the online travel industry, ad rates are expected to rise in the coming years. As for leapfrog technology, my biggest wish-list item is large scale mashups from various parts of the web that can enrich and strengthen content that is already on the site.
The Community features on most of these sites lack punch and leaves a lot to be desired. Trip Advisor has the best community section but the rest really needs to improve the community features and incorporate photo and video sharing, forums and blogs on different aspects of traveling like trekking, backpackers, family, summer holiday, etc. LonelyPlanet, though has a good video sharing, review section, trip sharing, find a travel partner, forum, etc. According to Forrester peer reviews and blogs will have a decisive influence on travel behavior.
Online travel is the largest Commerce segment and most of the revenues come from the commissions earned on the bookings made through the sites. However, these sites are not taking full advantage of e-commerce and I believe there is an opportunity for these sites to retail a lot of travel related merchandise through their site. Yes, sites like, TripAdvisor, SideStep, etc. do merchandise travel gear in partnership with Cafepress but it is a pretty shoddy affair. LonelyPlanet in fact has done a much better job.
What I would like in the Vertical Search space is that the sites allow users to Search by Context and by this I mean, if I am a student I would like to search for hostels for backpackers like me, as well as other travelers to hang out with, by destination. The basic bread-and-butter vertical search is provided by Kayak and Sidestep, which we have reviewed.
Personalization is sub-par in most of these sites and they allow users to plan their trip, save and share their trip, photos, make posts and write reviews. They have email alerts for travel deals and newsletters. Endless possibilities exist, all the way to a Personal Concierge.
Conclusion
The online travel industry is projected to grow at 30% per annum in the next 5 years and this has resulted in a number of entrepreneurs, VC and PE funds entering the space. New entrants (Gusto, Mobissimo, travelervideos.com) in the online travel space and stand-alone travel operators like airlines and hotel companies are going to put pressure on the existing travel sites. However, those sites that are able to integrate the latest technology, differentiate their offerings, build their brand and provide consumers with the best Web 3.0 experience will have an edge in this highly commoditized industry, and that opportunity applies just as well to the major airline sites.
Online travel is one of the largest e-commerce categories. According to Forrester Research the online travel industry is projected to grow from $63.6 billion in 2005 to $110.5 billion by 2008 in the US. JupiterResearch on the other hand estimates $128 billion to be spent on online travel in the US in 2011. Jupiter expects 38% of all travel revenues to be made online by 2011. Over the last few weeks, we have analyzed the Travel sites based on the Web 3.0 framework.
The online travel industry is expected to continue its strong growth and this is one of the main reasons for the ongoing VC and entrepreneurial interest in this category. In March 2007 Silver Lake and TPG acquired Sabre Holdings the owner of popular travel sites like Travelocity and LastMinute. The Blackstone Group along with its affiliates took over the Travelport business of Cendant Corporation for $4.3 billion in August 2006. Now, they’re trying to spin off Orbitz and take it public. Indian portal Sify entered the online travel business by acquiring Globe Travels.
We have been reviewing the online travel industry and have covered Yahoo! Travel, TripAdvisor, Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia and Priceline and Lonely Planet from a Web 3.0 perspective.
The fact that online travel is a booming industry is clear from the growing number of travel sites, emergence of travel metasearch engines like Kayak and SideStep and the mushrooming of niche sites like Site59, Farecast, FlyerTalk, Mobissimo, etc. Identifying the opportunity Forbes has launched a special section for luxury travel and NYT has tied up with Expedia for its travel portal. We have not yet had a chance to review many of these other sites. Expect to see more in due course.
Context is, by and large, poorly understood by the sites, although nuances like flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, vacation pacakges, maps, hotel and destination reviews, trip planning, sharing, etc. allow the consumers to plan their trips and make bookings. But few have created contexts like student travel, luxury travel, adventure travel, romantic travel, etc.
The Content offerings at many of the sites are good. Some, like Lonely Planet, come from Content roots, and do an especially good job. The CPM rates for these sites are similar and are in the range of $15 to $65 per thousand impressions. Considering the present boom in the online travel industry, ad rates are expected to rise in the coming years. As for leapfrog technology, my biggest wish-list item is large scale mashups from various parts of the web that can enrich and strengthen content that is already on the site.
The Community features on most of these sites lack punch and leaves a lot to be desired. Trip Advisor has the best community section but the rest really needs to improve the community features and incorporate photo and video sharing, forums and blogs on different aspects of traveling like trekking, backpackers, family, summer holiday, etc. LonelyPlanet, though has a good video sharing, review section, trip sharing, find a travel partner, forum, etc. According to Forrester peer reviews and blogs will have a decisive influence on travel behavior.
Online travel is the largest Commerce segment and most of the revenues come from the commissions earned on the bookings made through the sites. However, these sites are not taking full advantage of e-commerce and I believe there is an opportunity for these sites to retail a lot of travel related merchandise through their site. Yes, sites like, TripAdvisor, SideStep, etc. do merchandise travel gear in partnership with Cafepress but it is a pretty shoddy affair. LonelyPlanet in fact has done a much better job.
What I would like in the Vertical Search space is that the sites allow users to Search by Context and by this I mean, if I am a student I would like to search for hostels for backpackers like me, as well as other travelers to hang out with, by destination. The basic bread-and-butter vertical search is provided by Kayak and Sidestep, which we have reviewed.
Personalization is sub-par in most of these sites and they allow users to plan their trip, save and share their trip, photos, make posts and write reviews. They have email alerts for travel deals and newsletters. Endless possibilities exist, all the way to a Personal Concierge.
Conclusion
The online travel industry is projected to grow at 30% per annum in the next 5 years and this has resulted in a number of entrepreneurs, VC and PE funds entering the space. New entrants (Gusto, Mobissimo, travelervideos.com) in the online travel space and stand-alone travel operators like airlines and hotel companies are going to put pressure on the existing travel sites. However, those sites that are able to integrate the latest technology, differentiate their offerings, build their brand and provide consumers with the best Web 3.0 experience will have an edge in this highly commoditized industry, and that opportunity applies just as well to the major airline sites.
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