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Ads (and ad providers) searching for context
I missed this on ClickZ over the weekend, but spotted it today (thanks to PaidContent.org): In the article The Next Context, Pamela Parker examines new Internet venues for contextual advertising.
Parker couldn't hook up with a Google rep to discuss that search giant's plans, but she did find a bigwig at Overture to comment on contextual ads in Web mail interfaces (Gmail), discussion boards (IntelliTXT), RSS and mobile devices. Excerpts of note:
One step from e-mail newsletters is the spam-free alternative, RSS. Contextual ads are a natural for RSS distribution. They fit perfectly with the largely textual content; publishers are desperately looking for a way to monetize the service; and a pay-per-click model avoids some of the tracking problems inherent in the format.
Great, though I'm still not comfortable labeling RSS as "distribution." It's just an alternative index format, but it's a pull-demand method, not a push-distribute method.
Perhaps the most out-there idea I've seen is Overture's test ... of ads on a "mobile travel directory" in the U.K. The ads will appear within the travel section of carriers' WAP portals. Though WAP hasn't proven to be the most popular format for mobile digital data (SMS is), the companies collaborating on the project say it's just a first step to more fully realized 3G applications.
Experiments with advertising in mobility truly do take on a wild-West flavor these days, what with all the acronym-laden services posturing for critical mass of usage. I still wonder if good ol' e-mail, spam problems and all, might trump other messaging or browsing formats on mobile devices when all's said and done.
At any rate, XML indexes and microbrowser-size interfaces don't exactly inspire legions of digital creatives to do their most elaborate design work. But where the money starts to flow, the creative energies will follow.
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