Online Video Advertising

First i would like to start off saying that if you or anybody else that you know do not agree with online video advertising taking over as the most popular and the best method to produce advertising, then you have to deal with me. Just kidding, but really its true. On just about every site that you can view today, there seems to be some kind of video content included. Whether it is someone explaining whats on the site, some funny message, or music, online videos are the wave of the future. I personally think that they are great and i enjoy viewing most videos over other online ads. I would must rather see a video which is pretty much considered online tv than a boring banner ad (compare it to a magazine ad), or a side column which has a message and content on it (compare it to a newspaper ad).
AOL, Yahoo, Msn, and other portals all have online video advertising posting within their sites as well as links to other sites which mostly have them as well. The current media giants are aware that most people go to sites like youtube to view videos and can see the popularity skyrocket in which they produce videos about their products in commercial format. I really dont have a problem going to sites like budtv. or watching videos like the Toyota Tacoma truck commercial featuring the World of Warcraft game on it. Here is a link to see the commercial again for yourself.
http://creativity-online.com/?action=news:article&newsId=121166&sectionName=pick_of_the_week

Im glad that network shows are posting their episodes online so that if someone like me, who works everyday except for Wednesday, can view episodes that were missed due to having other duties to tend to. One of my favorite shows happens to be family guy and im usually either sleep or doing other activities during the time that it airs on the cartoon network. I can easily watch my missed episodes online which is something like tivo to me. This is good for advertisers who know this information as well. Some videos include an unavoidable mini commercial before the content you want to see first. This can be good if it is relevant to the viewer and the content that they are watching, or can be a problem. It benefits newspaper sites also since you can view news online live which brings the news to life. Some people prefer newspaper sites over regular newspapers for this particular reason.
I definetly believe that user generated content can be a nuisance and a goldmine. To me, it just depends on what the user produces to the public. Is it relevant to anything or is it just a 30 second laugh? It really just depends on what you like and are into.

so far, so good

I will say that so far i have learned quite a bit from our interactive ad class. I now understand more about online use as terms and concepts that apply to computer use. I can somewhat talk computer language pretty good now. Even though most of us probably have had other computer classes and pretty much already know how to use the basic tools on the internet, im sure most of us had no clue of what a meta tag looked like or knew what banner blindness meant either. Well i was one of the many who were clueless until good ol Nanu came through and shune light upon us. Since we weren't able to access the google adsense, i figured i would take this time to talk about other assignments which we have completed so far.
So far, my favorite assignment was the one in which we talked about being a professional blogger and how we would direct more traffic to our site or if we were a professional advertiser and what we would do to have more creative, affective ads online. It was my favorite because it helped me understand more about banner ads and other factors that are involved before the actual creation of a banner. I can actually see myself working more online and possibly designing banner ads. I know that i will need more experience with it but i am willing to try to see if it will lead to a future or career.

web analytics..anal..ana what?

Lets discuss web analytics. Wikipedia says that it means the study of behavior of website visitors, what makes them make purchases based upon what they have seen on the website. I think this term is important to online sellers because it gives them an insight on what needs to be modified on the website in order to gain more purchases through their buyers. When traffic flows through the website like a busy interstate in L.A. (or Chicago), online companies value through this because it is easy to say the more traffic that flows, the more buying that shows. I made that up myself. Anyway, with this being said, my page only recieved two views up to this point. It doesn't make me cry or anything, but it just shows that if i were to place items online for purchase that two visits to my page would not be too helpful. On the bright side, it just shows that I need more friends. Here is a shot of the grid in which it shows the page views as well.

If i were a professional blogger, i would first off be pissed. I would not only research ways in order to bring more people to my sight, but i will probably turn to other sites and blogs to see what makes their blog better than mine. I have observed other blogs from my class, and i come to the realization that my blog may not be the best. So an example of what i mean is to go their blog, go over their blog thoroughly and not just take what i seen from their site and use it but create off of it which would make my blog site more unique.

As for click fraud, obviously it didnt work here. But click fraud can be conducted by the competitor or the business itself by creating false page views and click views on a site. It not only is wrong but it works. Thats a bad combo if you ask me. I think that if I had an online business, I would probably engage in click fraud a few times myself. Maybe because im a bad person, but thats not always the case.

Online Content

The world wide web has content which can reach any audience, on any level, on any subject, at any time. This has not only changed the way people gather information, but it has brought forth an entire world of virtual reality along with it. People use the Internet all day, every day to check their e-mails, socialize, conduct research, or manage a fantasy team. I personally love using the internet to find new music and check out the latest news of my favorite artists. But thats just an example of how people view and use the web.

On pretty much every major website page, you can find an advertisement for at least one product or service in which an advertiser has paid the site in order to have their product or service advertised there. This can be great for most companies based upon where they put their product and how clever the ad appears. But with all of the random content being placed on the Internet today, it becomes very difficult for advertisers to place creative ads on sites which has content which is not, and I say this loosely, worth two clicks of my finger.

My advice to the online advertisers is to develop more creative, modern, and relevant ads which leave a lasting impression on their audience. I know that sounds a little bit like "duh". but just take the time to hear me out first.

Most of the time you see an ad on television, internet, magazines, etc., it seems as if they are just putting messages up which rely on the present. Thats fine but after a short period of time, they are just another ad or clutter in which the audience has pretty much forgotten the message and the ad altogether. I watch tons of t.v. and am frequently online, but find myself rarely remembering ads due to so many being put out and the current being the past to fast. That may have just went over your head, but let me give you an example. In today's busy world, people are interested in free and fast. People want the most modern, yet easy to use and thats fine. With this being said lets focus on youtube in which it features video content of just about anything you can think of. Businesses are using youtube to place clever ads online which has in fact worked out fine. How long will this last? Is to be determined. The next thing you know, advertisers will use software in which you can alter the ad or make your own ad which will appeal directly to you and others like you.

I personally think that 2nd life appears as a good way of keeping a younger audience interested and intrigued in the content. However, I do believe that if they are trying to force us to like their ideas, they are not going to do well at all. I have accessed 2nd life myself and I actually like it. It seems a little bit to much like the Sims, but it works.

Secondly, Chanel will probably do well online. Just about everyone else is following the trend of youtube and amusing ads online so why not have an online campaign and jump on the band wagon?

Banner Blindness...what?

Banners, in my mind, aren't blind. Well I guess that goes without saying. But when you hear these words, what comes to mind? I think of it as people ignoring or being "blind" to banners in general, especially on sites in which they are interested and familiar with. For the most part, I rarely click on the banner because im interested in the product or service displayed. I am more interested in what animation the banner posesses or the interaction with the banner. Again its not that I don't like banner ads, just rarely pay attention to them unless im bored. Sorry.

DAVID BANNER!!!

Hahaha. Sorry. I kinda got carried away there. The subject of this post is banner and I instantly thought of one of my favorite marvel characters, Hulk, when I said that. Well David Banner is the name of the man before the green. But thats enough of that. When it comes to banner advertising, everything counts from color, creativity, imagery, and location. I should say creativity first, then location because if it isn't creative and not on the right site, it just will attain the viewer's attention the correct way. Think of it this way, you don't want to go to espn.com and see huge banner ads across the top or the sides with products like bisquick, post cereal, or mr.clean. Seeing these products placed on this site not only aggravates people with annoying images and sound, but it is not affective in gaining what the advertiser is trying to accomplish. In other words, stick to sites in which your product pertains to. Mr. Clean products would go great on sites about home improvement and bisquick would be a better fit on a cookbook site. Dont get me wrong, i like banner ads. But in the appropriate location. Thats all. Take a look at some of these banner ads.http://www.cpbgroup.com/awards/vdubsjambanner.html
http://www.cpbgroup.com/awards/vwpillbanner.html
http://www.cpbintegrated.com/staging/awards/pinball/pinball.html

These particular banner ads are creative, well designed, colorful and animated, and are more importantly, placed in locations of high traffic and are relavant to the product.

madden style

Since the NFL has begun another season, I figured a great way to show my interest in the sport by placing an image of all the NFL team's logos here. Go Rams!!

Here is a screen shot of a cookies page. It shows companies which have been listed on pages that were viewed by the user. This isnt my particular cookies page, but it is an example.

Names of sites frequently visited

Sites that I frequently visit are: facebook, hiphopdx, myspace, u.s. bank, nike, jordan, and macy's.

Products that may have ads on these sites could include: Heineken, mixtapeusa.com, coca-cola, yahoo, roca-wear, akademiks, jumpman.com, and Enyce. There were various artists which promo their upcomming cd releases on myspace and hiphopdx.com.

Behavioral targeting

When it comes to targeting, I automatically assume that there is an object that is within range of being captured, killed, or destroyed. In this particular case, there is nothing being destroyed or captured, well not to my knowledge at least. The true definition for this term is the methodology in which an advertiser’s creative is shown to users based on the sites they visit and/or what the user does on those sites. With this being said, it shows truth we are being targeted almost without recognition. Advertisers place ads on sites of their target audience in every subject you can possibly think of. For example, an ad for a sony cd player may be plotted on the left side the samgoody.com webpage. Or, you may see a banner ad atop of a NIKE shoe webpage. Advertisers do this in order to gain the target markets attention to visit their site when they log onto a site in which has somewhat affiliation or similarity to the product or service that they provide. In my opinion, I think that it is a good thing to have those ads on sites because it reminds you and informs you of whats new out there that can be taken advantage of. So yea, I support them.

Here is a screen shot of my aol homepage on my computer. Whenever I log into my IE, this screen is shown first along with other URLs that can be used online.

girl what?

In today's world, you don't have to be a genius, rich, or even older than 21 to get ahead and be successful. A young girl named Ashley Qualls proved that when she became founder of a popularly growing website entitled Whateverlife.com in which today is a million dollar asset that she owns. Even though myspace and facebook are the top teen sites, Whateverlife is on the rise as being among he elite which gives teens a chance to post ideas, browse others information, and even chat amongst strangers. It almost seems unreal to hear about a 15 year old's hobby becoming a dream-come-true in which she was able to drop out of high school in order to run her own business privately the way she wants to. Until she becomes 18, the court has assigned her a conservator who legally runs the business. Whateverlife has attracted over 7 million individuals and 60 million page views a month. It seems as if Ashley were to get an education and use that knowledge accordingly, she will ultimately have the chance to become the next Bill Gates. Ashley in my mind is one of those lucky teens who did not necessarily have intentions of being rich off of something that she does in her spare time but was fortunate enough to have her work discovered and now is on the way to easy street passing high school lane and college ave. I personally would love to be in her shoes right about now. Until next time, peace and love.