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I hadn't considered this article's perspective before, but I think it is very compelling. A lot of commenters (and likely readers) are probably focusing heavil

by jaawn 11y ago

I hadn't considered this article's perspective before, but I think it is very compelling. A lot of commenters (and likely readers) are probably focusing heavily on the perceived impact of the "fraud" of reporting X amount of impressions and/or clicks, when only Y amount of them were "real." They feel like they are paying for X but only getting Y. I think the simple point this article effectively made is that ad companies have continuously reduced prices so that their clients are actually only paying for Y, or at least they are benefiting from a discount which observes the uncertainty. I think the basic assumption has been that, even though we know the total number of "impressions" is exaggerated, the number is correlated with the "real" number. So long as that assumption is usually true, this is no more a case of fraud than Airlines' reward "miles". To be fair though, larger clients who blanket the web with ads for a campaign have the advantage of spreading the risk over a large number of websites and times. The people most impacted by impression-based ad runs are those who can only afford the smallest campaigns.

jgalt212 11y ago
I like this analysis. And if you're clever, you can place your campaigns so that you minimize exposure to fraud, such that you pay for X and get X, while at the same time your banner ads are cheap because the market in general is wary of fraud. Of course, this lunch isn't totally free in that it costs time and money to avoid fraudulent placements and sites known to have low bot rates have ad space that trades at higher CPMs.
stevesearer 11y ago
Publishers should also attempt to learn how their readers interact with advertising as a way to better educate potential advertisers. Most of the advertising on my site is not for products available for online purchase and my readers are architects and designers looking for inspiration for future design projects. So whenever a company inquires about advertising I try to find out their goals - branding, online sales, etc... If it is to drive online sales, I believe it is my responsibility to let them know that those campaigns perform terribly. At that point, they can decide what to do, but at least they won't and shouldn't be surprised or feel taken advantage of if the campaign doesn't perform in a way I told them it wouldn't.

by jaawn 11y ago

jgalt212 11y ago

I like this analysis. And if you're clever, you can place your campaigns so that you minimize exposure to fraud, such that you pay for X and get X, while at the same time your banner ads are cheap because the market in general is wary of fraud. Of course, this lunch isn't totally free in that it costs time and money to avoid fraudulent placements and sites known to have low bot rates have ad space that trades at higher CPMs.

stevesearer 11y ago

Publishers should also attempt to learn how their readers interact with advertising as a way to better educate potential advertisers. Most of the advertising on my site is not for products available for online purchase and my readers are architects and designers looking for inspiration for future design projects. So whenever a company inquires about advertising I try to find out their goals - branding, online sales, etc... If it is to drive online sales, I believe it is my responsibility to let them know that those campaigns perform terribly. At that point, they can decide what to do, but at least they won't and shouldn't be surprised or feel taken advantage of if the campaign doesn't perform in a way I told them it wouldn't.