May 24 2007

Google Cleans House

Major developements took place at Google last week which will arguably bring about changes at the search engine monolith that are comparable to the choice they made to introduce paid advertising in 2002.

Its greatest weakness is the ghost of click fraud. News based on a leaked story from Fair Isaac Corporation spread like wild fire late last week. The press release stated that Fair Isaac had been conducting a study on billable click fraud rates at Google and had found 10 – 15 % of all billed clicks to a small sampling of accounts had stemmed from invalid activity.

It appears Google is taking serious action to improve its services on many fronts. Google had begun to close “Made For AdSense” (MFA) sites on Monday, before the Fair Isacc report was publizied. Examples of MFA sites include parked domains, misspellings and faux-search engines, all of which tend to have AdSense advertising on them. Details Here

May 23 2007

Internet Advertising Revenues Grow 35% in ’06, Hitting a Record Close to $17 Billion

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) today released the Internet Advertising Revenue Report which shows record results for the full year and final quarter of 2006. Internet advertising revenues in the U.S. continued upward totaling $16.9 billion in 2006, a new annual record exceeding 2005 by 35%. Q4 2006 internet advertising revenues totaled $4.8 billion, representing record revenues for a single quarter and a 35% increase over same period in 2005.

“Interactive advertising revenues continue to show solid growth as advertisers and agencies recognize that it is a medium that can uniquely affect consumer behavior from product awareness, to purchase intent, to actual purchase and then brand loyalty,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB. “We have every confidence that this growth trend will continue as marketers allocate more of their total marketing dollars to interactive and the industry delivers effective and innovative platforms for connecting with consumers.”

The report states that search, display, classifieds and lead generation all continue to grow at a healthy rate with an increase in both performance-based and CPM or impression-based pricing. Consumer advertisers continue to represent the largest category of internet advertising spending. Details Here

May 22 2007

Google’s goal: to organise your daily life

Google’s ambition to maximise the personal information it holds on users is so great that the search engine envisages a day when it can tell people what jobs to take and how they might spend their days off.

Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, said gathering more personal data was a key way for Google to expand and the company believes that is the logical extension of its stated mission to organise the world’s information.

Asked how Google might look in five years’ time, Mr Schmidt said: “We are very early in the total information we have within Google. The algorithms will get better and we will get better at personalisation. Details Here

May 17 2007

Advertising conglomerate WPP Group buys online advertiser 24/7 Real Media for $649 million

NEW YORK – WPP Group PLC, the world's second-largest advertising and marketing conglomerate, is buying the online advertising company 24/7 Real Media Inc. for $649 million, the companies announced Thursday.

It was the latest deal in the booming online advertising business as traditional marketing firms seek to quickly build up their profiles in Internet advertising, which is growing far faster than other kinds of media such as television, radio and newspapers.

WPP, which is based in London, is paying $11.75 per share for 24/7 Real Media, a 30 percent premium over the company's average closing price over the past two months. Details Here

May 14 2007

Marketing via search engines is booming

Deciphering the black art of search engines like Google and Yahoo is turning into a big-bucks business.

Search-engine marketing — helping consumers find a company's Web site by using specific keywords — hardly existed eight years ago. Last year, it was a $9.45 billion annual industry, nearly double the revenue from 2005, according to SEMPO Research.

"There's been a fundamental shift in the past two to three years in the way people consume media," said Patricia Hursh, president of Boulder, Colo.-based SmartSearch Marketing. "The entire U.S. population, on average, spends as much time online as they do watching TV. And a lot of what they're doing online is search." Details Here

April 25 2007

Amazon.com Surges on Earnings, Outlook

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Web retailer Amazon.com Inc. surged Wednesday following a robust first-quarter report and stronger guidance, which led to a few analyst upgrades.

Shares jumped $11.56, or 25.8 percent, to $56.31 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Earlier in the session the stock hit a new 52-week high of $57.18.

Amazon.com Inc. said Tuesday its first-quarter profit more than doubled, breezing past analysts' expectations. The company also raised its revenue outlook for the year. Details Here

April 13 2007

Google to Buy Doubleclick for $3.1 Billion

Google has agreed to buy DoubleClick for US$3.1 billion in cash, an acquisition that strengthens Google's status as an online advertising powerhouse.

DoubleClick's network of advertisers and Web publishers, as well as its technology to serve ads and manage campaigns, is expected to boost Google's ad business, specifically for display and rich media advertising, which aren't Google's specialties.

Google generates most of its revenue from search engine, pay-per-click advertising, which are text ads that link to advertisers' Web sites, but it has lagged behind Yahoo and others in banner, graphical and video ads. Details Here

April 11 2007

Yahoo,Viacom sign ad deal

SAN FRANCISCO — Viacom Inc. has picked Yahoo Inc. as its online advertising partner in a multiyear deal that could help Yahoo become a more formidable challenger to Google Inc. — Viacom’s foe in a legal squabble over video copyrights.

Financial terms of the alliance announced Tuesday weren’t disclosed. New York-based Viacom probably will get 70 percent to 80 percent of the revenue generated from the Yahoo ads, based on the prevailing commissions in the Internet industry.

The small, text-based ads will appear alongside search results and other relevant content on 33 Web sites owned by Viacom, including popular destinations like MTV.com, VH1.com, ComedyCentral.com, Nickelodeon.com and BET.com. Viacom previously had been selling most of the ads themselves. Details Here

April 10 2007

AOL inks targeted internet advertising deal with Google

AOL has inked a deal with online search company Google that will allow advertisers to target only AOL sites.

Until now AOL has used Google's AdWords system but advertisers have not been able to place ads exclusively on AOL's search engine.

The new tie-up will allow marketers to buy ads to run just on the AOL web search engine site, rather than across the broader AdWords network. Details Here

April 3 2007

Advertising on internet soars as world follows British lead

The internet will overtake radio by next year and become the world’s fourth-largest advertising medium, a year earlier than forecast.

Global spending on internet advertising increased from $18.7 billion in 2005 to $24.9 billion (?12.6 billion) last year, according to ZenithOptimedia, the media-buying agency.

The Middle East and Asia are driving a boom in global advertising spending. Zenith predicted a spike of 7.7 per cent in spending in Asia in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Details Here

March 15 2007

Print advertising revenues at newspapers falls 1.7 percent in 2006

NEW YORK -- Advertising revenues at U.S. newspapers edged down 0.3 percent last year as gains in online revenues weren't enough to compensate for a worsening downturn in print ads.

The Newspaper Association of America, an industry group, reported Thursday that overall print advertising fell 1.7 percent last year to $46.6 billion, outweighing a 31.5 percent increase in online advertising to $2.7 billion.

The growth rate of newspapers' online advertising was about the same as last year but slightly lre time on the Internet.

Many newspapers are expanding their online businesses rapidly, but Internet advertising still made up only 5.4 percent of their total advertising revenues last year, according to the NAA figures. Details Here

March 14 2007

Understanding Banner Advertising

Despite a false start in the early days, banner advertising has matured and is now firmly established in the internet marketing world. In its’ early days, it was assumed that the World Wide Web was an improvement on the Television and therefore many mistook it for an advertising medium. Several billion dollars later, they were proved wrong. The Internet is in fact interactive information medium that is more of an improvement on the telephone than anything else. It is a place where people hate to be advertised to just the way most folks loathe those telephone solicitations. In fact the less something looks like an ad the better the response it seems to generate. Hence the huge success Google Adsense contextual ads have continued to enjoy. However it was also discovered that there was something else that was even more important for the effectiveness of ads. This is the relevance of the advertising. If somebody is searching for some certain information and comes across advertisements that relate to what they are looking for then chances of them clicking at the banner ad are increased dramatically. More importantly the likelihood of them ending up making a purchase is also increased dramatically. Still banner ads have their very important use. Mostly they can be used very effectively to enhance the image of a web based business on the net. Utilizing banner ads as a website promotion tool will generate sales especially when a new business starts to get exposed online to a huge audience. Details Here

February 22 2007

Google to sell software suite that competes with Microsoft Office

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google Inc. will begin selling corporate America an online suite of software that includes e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets and calendar management, escalating the Internet search leader's invasion on technological turf traditionally dominated by Microsoft and IBM.

The expansion, scheduled to be unveiled Thursday, threatens to bog down Microsoft Corp.'s efforts to persuade businesses to buy the latest version of its market-leading Office suite that was developed along with its new Vista operating system.

Google's software bundle, to be sold for a $50 annual fee per user, also poses a challenge to International Business Machines Corp. and its Lotus suite. Details Here

February 12 2007

More local content to be offered on cellphones

Internet Broadcasting, partially owned by Hearst Argyle, McGraw Hill Cos. and Post Newsweek, creates websites and sells ads for local television stations in the United States. The company will now also offer mobile content like local news and sports information and localized weather maps to users. During the test phase, stations in Dallas, Texas, Des Moines, Iowa and Jacksonville, Florida will be involved.

Clayton Rose, executive VP-business and corporate development for Internet Broadcasting said (via AdAge), "We are extending and enhancing what we do on websites for the mobile environment. Crisp Wireless has technology that detects what your phone will allow to be presented."

As more mobile users begin turning to their mobile devices for information, companies are rushing to harness that revenue source. In a recent study from the Mobile Marketers Association, text messaging was the most popular mobile function. The study also found that involvement in mobile campaigns grew rapidly (29%) in 2006. Details Here

February 5 2007

Super Bowl Advertising 2.0

Unlike most Super Bowl party hosts-who offer their guests chips, salsa, beer, and wings with no strings attached-we put our guests to work last night. We watched the game on an HDTV set, fired up the DVR, powered up the laptops, got the cell phones ready, and put together the most forward-thinking top ten Super Bowl commercials list on the market. As you can see from the title, we had to cut our list in half by the time the game was over. We weren't disappointed by the results, but were a bit surprised to see such little cross-platform innovation by last night's advertisers. It is not news that consumers are inherently multi-platform these days: they invest in expensive TVs, triple play services, DVRs, hyper-connected PC's, high-tech smartphones, portable media devices, video game consoles, and much more. You would think that with all the money spent on Super Bowl commercials (a reported price tag of $2.6 million per spot) that some advertisers would find innovative and efficient ways to get the most for their money. You would think.

Our task was simple: find the best multi-platform advertisers of Super Bowl XLI. The judging process was simple too: which advertisers best utilized multiple platforms (TV, PC, mobile) to get their message across? Details Here

January 26 2007

Google expected to report an 88% profit gain

SAN FRANCSICO (MarketWatch) -- Google Inc. is expected to report a big jump in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, on the strength of its dominating Internet search engine and advertising business.

For the period ended Dec. 6, Google's (GOOG: 474.33, +0.48, +0.1%) expected to post a profit of $2.90 a share, which is an 88% increase from a year ago. Meanwhile, Google sales should top $2.2 billion, according to a Thomson Financial survey.

Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., is benefiting from a surge in the amount of Internet advertising spending, which increased about 20% last year to more than $20 billion.

Because it operates the No. 1 ranked Internet search engine, Google has also become a virtual magnet for spending on Internet search ads, which are text ads, or sponsored Web links, that appear next to its search engine results. Details Here

January 17 2007

Netflix Expands Business Model with Internet Viewing Feature

Hoping to evolve its mail-you-movies subscription service business model, as content providers increasingly move to Internet-based options, Netflix Inc. has announced plans to stream movies for customers to immediately view through broadband links connected to their PCs.

NetFlix said it will make the new feature, which will be included in its monthly subscription fee, available to its subscribers in a phased roll-out over the next six months.

The company said it expects to make the new feature available to all subscribers by the end of June. However, the hours available for instant watching will vary based on subscribers' monthly plans. For example, subscribers on the entry-level $5.99 plan will have six hours of online movie watching per month. Details Here

January 17 2007

AOL looks to buy internet advertising firm TradeDoubler

Time Warner's internet unit AOL has offered to buy Swedish internet advertising company TradeDoubler for $900 million.

The deal, which equates to $30.63 per share, was unanimously backed by TradeDoubler's board, although some shareholders believe the bid is too low.

According to a report in business newspaper Dagens Industri seen by Reuters, pension fund Alecta – which holds just over ten per cent of the shares – said it would vote against an acquisition. The bid needs 90 per cent approval to be successful. Details Here

January 8 2007

Online Advertising and Marketing, E-commerce Predictions for 2007

The analysts at eMarketer bring this glimpse into what 2007 holds for online advertising and marketing, e-commerce and the world of emerging media. Journalists and analysts will need to focus on these key trends throughout next year and these projections will help anyone go into 2007 with a head start.

Kansas City, Mo. - infoZine -1. Online Ad Spending Will Hit $20 Billion Total US spending on Internet advertising will reach at least $19.5 billion in 2007. This is 19% more than total spending in 2006. This rate of growth is sharply down from the 30% or more that has been the norm for several years. However, when you consider that all US ad spending will rise by a mere 1.4% in 2007, it is clear that Internet advertising remains a spectacular and very much ongoing commercial success story.

2. Some Money and Lots of Hype for Online Video Advertising Internet video advertising will get more media play than dollars in 2007. eMarketer projects that spending on this format will total $775 million in 2007. To put this figure in perspective, remember that it represents only 4.0% of projected US online ad spending. Although marketers are increasingly keen on including video in their online ad campaigns, they will continue to face a shortage of appropriate premium placements. Details Here

December 24 2006:

Thank you for being with Ideal Revenue. Please accept our best holiday wishes in 2007.

November 13 2006:

We are accepting moderators for forum sections. If you feel that you can moderate one of the sections please send an e-mail to support@idealrevenue.com with a subject line “I’d like to be a moderator of name_of_the_section”. Please include your contact info and links to other forums where you either an active user or a moderator.

November 7 2006:

New thread “Interesting information about affiliate programs” was created with the purpose of educating affiliates about affiliate marketing. As a registered user you can participate in discussions. Or, if you’d like to write an article to help your fellow affiliates achieve their goals you are welcomed to submit articles to us.

November 5 2006:

Re-designed interface of the affiliate account. Improved navigation lets you access various sections quickly and easily.

October 30 2006:

IdealRevenue Forum has been added!

Now you can ask questions and talk to other idealrevenue.com affiliates and stuff on the brand new forum. Please register and post messages

October 25 2006:

New Offers!

We have added 30 new PPS and PPL campaigns that covert like crazy. Check them out in the "Campaigns" section and make that extra Christmas cash!

July 31 2006:

IdealRevenue affiliates can now get paid bi-weekly!

As our affiliate you can start receiving bi-weekly checks starting on August 1, 2006. The minimum payment threshold is only $100. We’ve got over 500 offers. Join Now!

July 18 2006:

Soon, you may start receiving checks twice a month.

July 18 2006:

We are now working on developing individual performance-based bonus system for every affiliate.

July 17 2006:

We now have a super-referral program. For every active affiliate that you bring you will get paid 15% of whatever he or she makes.

June 07 2006:

We have added over a hundred hot campaigns.

June 01 2006:

Affiliate Network company IDEALREVENUE.com was officially launched.