SES Chicago - December 7-11, 2009

April 30, 2008

Future of Search Marketing? Behavior-AOL

Search retargeting and post-click behavioral targeting is the future of search. The future's here - now - with the launch of Platform A's integrated search marketing platform using Tacoda technology.

Call it Platform A.O.L.

ClickZ's reporting that the use of Tacoda technology will begin in June across the whole Platform A network. That means marketers will have a single software platform for tracking, reporting and delivering, and running behavioral marketing campaigns.

For anyone following innovations in search marketing campaigns, that's exciting news.

We're sure some savvy marketer will be the first to design an award-winning search campaign on Platform AOL.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 3:04 PM | Permalink

October 28, 2007

Physical Addresses To Aid Online Targeting?

As online marketers, we have the luxury of reaching our targets based on what they search, browse or click on. That tells us a lot about expressed interests. By contrast, physical addresses provide information about the probability of interests.

Recently, Acxiom announced new services (WSJ article, paid access) which actively connect addresses to online ads. When their customers collect addresses online, Acxiom maps them to lifestyle codes and enables ad targeting using these codes.

Where you live speaks volumes, especially to off-line marketers without other insights. You and your neighbors share demographics, media interests and consumption patterns. For example, affluent Texan neighbors may buy parkas for their ski vacations while most citizens never think about them. (Check out your own zip code at Claritas.)

Admittedly these lifestyle code refinements can help *a little* online, but privacy risks may quickly erase the benefits. Any kind of secondary use of addresses is likely to raise concerns from end-users and privacy advocates. I believe this is a case of "we can connect the dots" but at what cost?

October 31st Update:

Regarding privacy, it's my contention that most consumers don't really pay much attention to how their cookies are used. Still we should expect people to step forward and identify risks, which happens whenever new marketing data's introduced. In a world where even search engines age out cookies, we are simply in a heightened state of alert.

Today, Acxiom reached us about how they protect the privacy of consumers and their Personally Identifiable Information (PII). These details are worth passing along:

* When a consumer registers on a partner site, Acxiom uses his/her address to assign a specific segmentation cluster code. * This code contains no PII, and consumers are notified that a third-party cookie will be set. * The cookie that is set is completely anonymous and contains the segmentation cluster code. * There is no way for either Acxiom or advertisers to access consumers' PII through the cookies.

Also, Acxiom pointed out that they don't redistribute addresses in any way. My “secondary use of addresses” was misleading, as I meant the segmentation cluster codes – not additional use of household information. I hope this clarifies for SEW readers.

Of course, I look forward to seeing how Acxiom and others will aid online targeting, as the posting title suggests!

Posted by at 2:09 PM | Permalink

August 28, 2007

What People Reveal

What people reveal…depends on the venue. When you attend a family gathering, your discussion is surely different than among business colleagues. The updates you share at college reunions would be different than your chats with daily running buddies. Likewise, your communications on social sites seem to vary too.

Recently, Facebook announced their new ads based on your social connections. They plan to target text ads based on your expressed interests as well as what your friends find interesting.

Let's assume that other social sites adopted this approach. The targeted ads would differ by site and your unique, changing connections there. That's probably a good thing. Why? -- Different network, different act. Let's say that my Facebook friends are within the Bay Area group, and we share local haunts. Over at MySpace, I'm parading around as a world-class alpinist and that's my declared persona.

-- Different network, specific connections. In this case, I'm sharing my Flickr photos with family. Even if my family members have interesting careers, I'm more interested in checking out their vacation and kids. I might get a kick out of looking at their bungie-jumping experience too.

-- Different network, specialized purpose. Over on LinkedIn, I'm pretty sure my first degrees are work colleagues, suppliers or customers. I don't have a really tight handle on my second degree connections, though I have managed to re-connect with old colleagues there.

If I'm expecting to see different ads because of my own interests, then that makes sense. It's almost business as usual. However if I see ads that would interest others in my different networks, would they resonate with me? Well, the jury's still out, but at least we'll be able to find out as participants -- and future advertisers -- on Facebook and other networks to follow.

Posted by at 1:37 AM | Permalink

July 26, 2007

Behavioral Targeting Trots Along

For search marketers, Behavioral Targeting (BT) ads may be viewed as “that other advertising” some people try. It's a valid perspective, as Jupiter Research reported that only 16% of advertisers bought BT last year. At a recent Behavioral Marketing Forum, publishers said that only 2-10% of their revenues came from BT sources.

Search is essentially a direct marketing vehicle, text-based and sold in a CPC economy. BT is essentially a branding vehicle, banner-based and sold in a CPM world. So why does BT matter to searchers?

Maybe they aren't as radically different as you think. Both contextual text and BT banner ads respond to visitor browsing behaviors. Text ads are shown when you visit, while BT impacts what you see after your visit. These ad types also reflect content displayed on web sites. While text ads are targeted to unique page content, BT ads cater to higher-level category interests.

BT takes things a step further, beyond the domain. The BT providers tap into visitor interests as they navigate all domains in their respective ad networks. It's a matter of opinion as to whether this is seen as useful or obtrusive, but providers take great pains to enable people to “opt out” if they desire. When participating publishers see better rates than from run-of-network ads, there's no apparent downside for them.

Until the latest consolidation announcement, it's been difficult to bet on one BT horse or another. This week, AOL announced its planned acquisition of Tacoda (see ClickZ coverage). The mainstream reaction is that AOL's deep pockets and network can begin to close the challenging distribution gaps. Tacoda CEO Curt Viebranz says he expects to triple revenues quickly. Is an ownership change going to change his company's fortunes that quickly?

The horserace gets more interesting when we look at what the Search and Portal providers are offering now. Yahoo SmartAds sound like an innovative response to the BT offerings, by delivering customized banner ads based on live interests. Microsoft has been promoting its own behavioral offerings for a while, where search and other data are optimized for targeted display ads too. Both are making progress, and these efforts have similar goals as the BT networks.

We're just opening the doors to behavioral targeting. Neither Search nor BT today actually responds to visitors in a fully-customized fashion. All things being equal, everyone sees the same ads when they visit particular pages or are tagged with specific interests. In addition, the text and banner ad networks haven't intersected much either. Some company is bound to test these boundaries and economics along the way.

Posted by at 2:45 AM | Permalink

April 4, 2007

Search Retargeting Worth a Second Look?

Want to combine some of the benefits of search marketing with display ads? Search retargeting may be just what you're looking for, according to NetPlus Marketing's Robin Neifield. Search retargeting is a behavioral targeting technique used by providers like Advertising.com, Blue Lithium, and Revenue Science (and soon DRIVEpm) that serves relevant display ads to a user on one site based on a search query made earlier on another partner site. While early efforts in retargeting were spotty, these offerings have matured to a point where they're worth a second look, Neifield says.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:49 PM | Permalink

September 6, 2006

Correction: Microsoft Adds Behavioral Targeting Feature

MediaPost reports that Microsoft has added behavioral targeting features to the adCenter product. Microsoft has broken down Internet surfers into 18 audience segments including; mobile users, Internet power users, gamers, movie watchers, new/expecting moms, parents, and several categories encompassing travel searchers, and auto buyers and researchers. This now helps Microsoft stand apart from Google's AdWords product and Yahoo's Search Marketing product, PPC engines that currently do not have integrated behavioral targeting capabilities.

Postscript: Just got an email from an MSN rep that this story is not true. I quote; "The incorrect information is that you state BT (Behavioral Targeting) is available through adCenter, our paid search platform, where as BT (Behavioral Targeting) is only available for display ads."

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:43 AM | Permalink

August 15, 2006

Targeting Ads Based On Search Behavior & Privacy Issues Post-AOL

Back in 2005, I wrote about AlmondNet moving forward with showing ads to surfers across the web based on their search profiles at major search engines. The move raised big search privacy issues. Since then, AlmondNet's kept going -- along with others such as Yahoo, in mining search behavior to deliver ads beyond search results pages. Advertisers Trace Paths Users Leave on Internet from the New York Times today takes a look how Yahoo, MSN and AOL are all trying to push into the post-search ad delivery space.

I've always felt these programs would eventually raise greater concerns over search privacy, since it would make it even more readily apparent to people that they were having search profiles assembled for them. If you go back to the AOL search privacy poster child of Thelma Arnold, tracked down through her search requests, her comment was one I'm sure many searchers would have:

I had no idea somebody was looking over my shoulder.

Until the AOL search records release, many people still have had no idea they were being profiled. But I've felt post-search ads would help raise that concern. Why were you continuing to see ads based on things you recently searched for? Perhaps that would help raise awareness of search profiles.

The AOL release has changed all that. To me, post-search ads -- while promising -- are a non-starter until the search privacy issues are resolved. We've been told that data would be protected, yet it got out in one way via AOL. Though the intent was innocent, it might slip out in the future in other ways. Even Google CEO Eric Schmidt, when I asked him about search privacy and data destruction last week, said you could "never say never" about things not going wrong.

For these types of programs to move forward, I think consumers will need more faith and control over how long search data is kept for them, plus the ability to opt-out or delete histories with a push of a button, perhaps the type of privacy/data control panel John Battelle has wished for. And as I've written, that has to include ISPs, many of which merrily sell search data that they monitor to third party companies.

I'm working on a longer look back at the fallout from the AOL release and ways forward. But a quick shout-out to Daniel Brandt of Google Watch is in order. Seth Finkelstein just gave him one, and I'll add to it. I've felt Brandt's often twisted things or focused on stuff that didn't matter much (Google's 30 year cookie that most people won't really have last for more than a year or two, if that). But his long-standing call for regular data destruction -- something other privacy advocates have also pushed for -- seems the most secure solution going forward.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:28 AM | Permalink

July 19, 2006

Yahoo Revamps Behavioral Targeting Platform

ClickZ reports on the details of Yahoo's revised behavioral targeting platform, once known as Fusion and Impulse. Fusion and Impulse has been renamed to Engagers and Shoppers to better describe what the product does. Anna Papadopoulos of ClickZ interviewed Richard Frankel, senior director of product marketing at Yahoo about the new upgrade.

Here are quotes pulled from the interview that sums up the changes:

+ The new ad matching system uses advanced technology to identify and target prospects at different stages of the purchase cycle. + Our Engagers target set lets an advertiser reach consumers who have recently displayed interest in a specific product category. These are good candidates to receive messaging that builds brand awareness and consideration. + Our Shoppers target set, on the other hand, lets an advertiser reach consumers whose level of recent behavior indicates that they are more actively in market -- and probably are close to purchase -- right now. These consumers are terrific candidates for direct response messaging and offers, since they have a high likelihood to respond directly to ad messages. + Yahoo is currently beginning deployment of its new platform to major markets in Asia and Europe.

Full interview at ClickZ.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:46 AM | Permalink

May 11, 2006

A Closer Look at Behavioral Advertising

Behavioral advertising is getting a lot of buzz lately, particularly as rumors of behaviorally targeted search advertising programs gain more traction. While none of the major search engines currently offer behavioral targeting, all are almost certainly developing programs that will likely be rolled out within the next year or two. But there are several other advertising networks that offer behavioral targeting today. Want to know more? Read on for Jennifer Slegg's overview of behaviorally targeted ads in today's SearchDay article, What's the Buzz Behind Behavioral Advertising?.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 11:52 AM | Permalink

March 22, 2006

Demographic & Behavioral Targeting for Search

Next-generation targeting systems will go beyond simple keyword targeting systems and allow advertisers to place ads in front of searchers based on who they are and how they behave online. While these more sophisticated tools can offer potentially higher returns to advertisers, they also require different approaches to be effective. In today's SearchDay article, Targeting Search Ads By Demographics & Behavior guest writer Greg Jarboe reports on a recent Search Engine Strategies panel where early testers of these new programs offered insight and advice for search marketers wanting to make use of these new advertising tools.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 7:37 AM | Permalink

December 2, 2005

Yahoo Impulse & Search Behavioral Ads

Yahoo using online behavior to target ads from Reuters covers briefly the "new, new thing" according to Yahoo executive vice president Greg Coleman where Yahoo banner ads are targeted based on search behavior and other activities.

I guess it depends on how you define new. As even Coleman says, Yahoo's had variations on this for some time, literally years. But the latest rev of Yahoo Impulse that he's talking about has been running since at least June of this year.

See Yahoo Testing Behavior Targeting Of Ads and Yahoo Using Search Profile To Trigger Banner Ads Over Time for more on that, as well as Yahoo CEO: 2005 Is For Making More Search Revenue & Better Ad Targeting Through Personal Info.

FYI, our Targeting Search Ads By Demographics & Behavior session at Search Engine Strategies next week will cover the Yahoo program. Yahoo couldn't get someone for that particular panel, but search marketer Dana Todd knows it well and will give a "from the trenches" presentation.

MSN and AlmondNet will also be discussing the demographic and behavioral targeting systems they have, with search marketers Danielle Leitch and Kevin Lee providing their perspectives on such programs.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:11 AM | Permalink

November 1, 2005

Major Ad Networks Working on Behavioral Targeting

We already have the ability to target ads in relatively sophisticated ways, with various types of matching schemes, as well as geotargeting, dayparting and with some services, using demographic profiles of users. Microsoft now plans to offer behavior targeting in its contextual ads starting next year.

Online Media Daily is running the first of a three-part series on the forthcoming program, and the article asks some good questions about pricing, privacy and other issues.

What if the search engines we've all come to rely on started examining our online activity, or our frequently searched terms, and used that information to determine--say--how close we were to making a purchase, and which brands we were considering? Would marketers pay for such information? If so, how much? Would consumers accept this degree of targeting, or would they resist it as an invasion of privacy? And will search marketing, which has worked so simply in the past, be able to absorb this new level of complexity?

Behavioral targeting isn't new—Almond Net launched its network last January, and Lycos has been distributing ads through the service since early summer.

What is new is the focus on behavioral targeting by the major search players.

While the focus of the Online Media Daily article is on Microsoft, it's clear Google and Yahoo are also working on behavioral targeting. Google recently updated its privacy policy with changes suggesting it may be using behavioral targeting.

Want to know more about behavioral targeting? See this blog post from Danny with a good rundown of information.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 1:19 PM | Permalink

October 21, 2005

AlmondNet Gains Second Search Behavioral Ad Patent

AlmondNet has gained a second patent related to delivering up ads across the web based on things a person has searched for. More via this press release. More on AlmondNet here: New Search Behavioral Network Launched.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:17 PM | Permalink

August 4, 2005

Providing Relevant Ads After a Search

AlmondNet, what Danny calls a "post-search" behavioral ad network launched in January. His into to the service is here. Today, Wired's Adam Pennenberg provides a look at AlmondNet in an article titled, "Bridging the Google Ad Gap."

Posted by Gary Price at 1:25 PM | Permalink

July 15, 2005

Yahoo Using Search Profile To Trigger Banner Ads Over Time

The PC World article, Yahoo Tailors Graphical Ads to Users' Search Queries, discusses changes to Yahoo's "Impulse" advertising program.

Yahoo captures a user's query terms and categorizes them. For example, a user who searches for the term "credit card" will be tagged as someone who is interested in the broader "financial services" category, said Usama Fayyad, senior vice president and chief data officer at Yahoo. Then that user will be served graphical ads, such as banner ads, from participating advertisers in that financial services category while he is in the network of Yahoo sites, Fayyad said.

Privacy Concerns?

Yahoo's privacy policy states that the company "automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address, Yahoo cookie information, and the page you request. Yahoo uses information for the following general purposes: to customize the advertising and content you see, fulfill your requests for products and services, improve our services, contact you, conduct research, and provide anonymous reporting for internal and external clients."

Posted by Gary Price at 9:20 AM | Permalink

June 24, 2005

Yahoo Testing Behavior Targeting Of Ads

Spotted via InsideGoogle, Yahoo Tests Behavior-Based Content Ads from AdWeek covers Yahoo testing ad placement on web pages outside of Yahoo own site through behavioral tracking, in a partnership with Revenue Science. It's not clear how the system works. It could be that someone is considered interested in a topic like "cars" based on their surfing habits to car web sites, which might result in them being shown paid listings being targeted to that word. Alternatively, Revenue Science could be making use of Yahoo search data and delivering ads based on what someone has recently search for at Yahoo, similar to what AlmondNet does. For more on that, see New Search Behavioral Network Launched.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:19 AM | Permalink

June 21, 2005

AlmondNet Hires Privacy Consultants

Behavioral Targeting Firm Hires Privacy Consultant from MediaPost covers how AlmondNet -- which offers a unique service targeting ads based on your search profile -- has hired a consultant firm to review and perhaps change privacy strategy. Though the company says it has had no complaints so far, it wants to ensure things are "privacy-friendly." More about AlmondNet in New Search Behavioral Network Launched and Lycos To Distribute Ads Through AlmondNet Post-Search Network from our blog.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:36 AM | Permalink

April 5, 2005

Lycos To Distribute Ads Through AlmondNet Post-Search Network

Lycos in Deal for Search-Targeted Banner Ads from AdWeek covers how Lycos will be distributing its paid listings through the AlmondNet search behavioral targeting system I wrote about in January: New Search Behavioral Network Launched. It's the first significant paid listing vendor to publicly partner with AlmondNet. The company has other partners who haven't yet committed publicly. The AdWeek story also notes that Claria plans its own search behavioral targeting service, based on the data is gathers. See my Claria Debuts RelevancyRank: Search Ranking By Behavioral Activity article from last month for more about how that happens.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:55 PM | Permalink

March 15, 2005

Claria Debuts RelevancyRank: Search Ranking By Behavioral Activity

Claria, the company behind the Gator eWallet software, has released new search relevancy ratings today examining how the top search listings on Google, MSN and Yahoo compare to pages the company says its research shows are actually most relevant. More important, the ratings mark the first use of technology Claria hopes will let it improve the results of major search engines or perhaps offer its own improved search engine.

You'll find the ratings in this company press release, and I examine them more in the Claria Unveils Behaviorial-Based Search Ranking article now posted for Search Engine Watch members. In short, this isn't a battery of tests that you can take to the bank to know who is best.

Instead, it's really meant to showcase the bigger point Claria wants to make. It's now going public with its RelevancyRank system that uses behavioral data to determine what it believes are the best pages on the web for any particular term.

Claria computes this by both monitoring the activities of web surfers and searchers through its own software applications and with partnerships it has with publishers. The company's plan is that the technology will either be licensed to search providers looking to use its data or it may release its own search engine powered by clicktracking and behavioral data itself.

More on this "third generation" of clicktracking in this article for SEW members, Claria Unveils Behaviorial-Based Search Ranking.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:43 PM | Permalink

January 27, 2005

New Search Behavioral Network Launched

AlmondNet has launched a new "Post-Search" program that will deliver advertising across the web targeted to the topics someone has searched on recently, including queries done on major search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

Today's SearchDay article, AlmondNet Debuts "Post-Search" Search Behavioral Ad Network, looks at how the program operates, including privacy issues involved over search profiling. The version of the story for Search Engine Watch members goes into more detail from an advertiser's perspective on how ads are gathered and targeted.

In the story, I explain briefly how these new ads aren't the same as contextual ads. But they also differ from traditional behavioral ads in that the behavior being used isn't surfing habits but instead actual search history.

For more on behavioral ads in general, here are some stories worth considering. Keep in mind that none of these deal with using search as a form of behavioral targeting -- because until now, this hasn't been an option.

In a closing point, regular readers will know how I've long complained that contextual targeting isn't the same as search targeting, so I don't consider contextual ads part of the search space. They are sold by the major search companies -- but they are not delivered up in response to a search, nor viewed by someone in the same mindset who has conducted a search.

This doesn't mean they aren't a great form of advertising -- but you may want completely different creative for them. Depending on your audience, you might even find contextual is better than search. But they aren't the same -- and if anything should underscore how contextual is different than search, the fact that Google will let you run banners and other images ads for contextual placement shows how contextual is a different environment.

In contrast, despite the fact that this new ad network is putting ads on pages, rather than search results pages, it is to me firmly within the realm of search. It follows up on the search intent originally broadcast by someone out on the web. If it can overcome the privacy issues, it -- and no doubt other systems that will evolve like it -- should make for compelling ads.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:04 AM | Permalink

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