Le tre leggi del display advertising

The three laws of display advertising physics

1. The Theory of Relativity: What’s better, a demand side platform, or an ad network? It depends

Our
clients often ask us if they should use our DSP (Invite Media), or our
network (the Google Display Network), especially as the distinction
between the two platforms blurs. We often answer with an analogy from
the world of stock investing (it’s not perfect, but it’s a first step).
The first question is whether to buy and sell yourself, or engage
someone else to manage your portfolio:

• The online broker model: For
  buyers looking to manage the details of their ad buying and use their
  own technology and data, a DSP like Invite Media is often the best
  option. This is similar to an online broker that lets you log in and
  closely manage your investments (and, as with Invite Media, get access
  to special trading features, market intelligence and expert advice).

• The stockbroker model: Some
  marketers have a desired campaign result (such as a target reach for a
  new car campaign, or a number of conversions for a sporting tickets
  campaign). They want to outsource the details and have a customized,
  transparent media solution designed for their campaign. The Google
  Display Network most often fits this bill–it’s like having a stock
  broker manage your portfolio to meet your investment goals.

Both
platforms enable access to huge pools of ad space, deliver the same
types of ad formats and facilitate similar ways of targeting ads.
Again, it’s like buying stocks–whether you choose an online broker or
stockbroker, you can select from thousands of types of stocks, markets
and investment products.

2. Fusion Theory: Why contextual and audience buying release more energy when combined

Some
have suggested that audience buying (delivering ads based on users’
interests) and contextual advertising (targeting ads to content) is an
either/or proposition. However, we believe it’s the combination of the
two that is most powerful.

• With effective contextual
  advertising, you can get the maximum reach while delivering your message
  in highly relevant locations–like news articles related to your
  products–in the precise moment a person indicates interest. Contextual
  advertising is vital to building brand awareness and reaching new
  prospects at relevant moments.

• Audience buying–such as remarketing–enables
  marketers to reach people who have already shown an interest in a
  particular topic or brand. This is especially effective for re-engaging
  consumers.

Marketers combining these types of buying can reach a
broad range of people, then hone their messages to particularly good
prospects to maximize the impact of their campaigns. We’ve seen that
this approach drives better campaign performance; third party studies back it up.

3. The Law of Perpetual Motion: Why marketers should embrace a rapidly moving industry

Display
advertising is in a state of constant motion, caused by the
acceleration of online media consumption and the explosion in new
technologies.

• Advances in computer science are driving changes in advertising. To illustrate: creativity has always been at the heart of good display advertising. But look at what’s become widely used by marketers in just the last few years–rich media technology, new mobile and video formats and dynamic creative technology that can take a creative ad concept and automatically bring it to life over millions of websites.

• The industry is literally moving
  faster as media buyers start to increase their use of real-time bidding
  (RTB) technology, which allows them to evaluate and bid on ad space on
  an impression-by-impression basis. We recently undertook an industry
  study with Digiday, surveying more than 300 digital media buyers,
  agencies and intermediaries about their thoughts on RTB in the year
  ahead. Some revealing findings:

• 88% of buyers plan to buy via RTB in 2011, up from 75% last year.
• 47%
  of media buyers say that the benefits or RTB will increase their
  overall digital advertising budget this year (16% said it would not, 37%
  were unsure).
• Spending on RTB is quickly moving out of the
  “test budget” range: 79% of buyers estimate that more than 10% of their
  digital display budgets will go to RTB in 2011. 33% estimate that 50% or
  more of their digital display budget will go to RTB. And 7% estimate
  90-100% of their digital display budget will go to RTB.
• 29% of
  media intermediaries (such as DSPs, ad networks, and exchanges)
  anticipate their volume of real-time bidding will increase by 100% or
  more versus last year. 19% believe it will go up by at least 200%.
• More
  formats are moving to RTB: 34% of buyers say they are extremely or very
  likely to purchase rich media ads via RTB this year, 32% are extremely
  or very likely to purchase dynamic creative ads
  via RTB, 20% are extremely or very likely to purchase mobile display
  ads via RTB, 18% are extremely or very likely to purchase in-stream
  video via RTB and 14% are extremely or very likely to purchase mobile
  rich media via RTB.
• Nearly half (48%) of publishers surveyed say
  they plan to increase the amount of inventory they will make available
  via RTB. 28% are still deciding. Only 24% said they were not planning to
  increase RTB inventory.

We’re seeing this rapid
growth and change first-hand. Since we acquired Invite Media in June
2010, the number of advertisers on the platform has doubled; agency
spend has grown by almost 300%. And spending on display ads on the
Google Display Network is growing more than 100% annually in a large
number of countries. Publishers are benefiting from these changes as
well (for example, a recent study
found that publishers who participated in the DoubleClick Ad Exchange
see an average 188% revenue lift when the exchange wins the auction).

In
this new era, the most effective campaigns will be driven by marketers
who rethink how they connect with people in this rapidly moving
industry. Whether it means partnering with technology providers to buy
better, or exploring the infinite possibilities of today’s creative
units, embracing new media and technology provides a key way for
marketers to differentiate and grow their businesses in a new universe.