Trading
Ad Exchange
The media market is entering a brave new world of real time auctions and inventory management
eBay is increasingly moving away from the traditional auction model towards more 'buy it now' sales. They now allow major retailers such as Argos and Littlewoods to list items at fixed prices.
The business had dramatic success since the emergence of dotcom largely because the auction model is much fairer for people with the price linked to supply and demand, not set at some arbitrary level by the seller.
So it's funny to see that the display media market is actually moving in the other direction, towards the auction model made so famous by eBay (and paid search, of course). What was an antiquated marketplace of rate-cards, unsold inventory and protected yields is now recognising that the auction model might just be the way forward, for the benefit of both advertisers and publishers.
The Ad exchange model that brings together buyer and seller in a real time marketplace is much like the eBay auction model - if you've got some ad inventory to sell then there'll be someone out there who'll buy it, provided you don't set the reserve too high; and buyers can decide what they're prepared to pay for it.
eBay is a pioneer of the internet but these rule changes seem to be a step backwards - it has upset the auction sellers who are reportedly drifting back to flea markets and car boot sales. Meanwhile, the media market is entering a brave new world of real time auctions and inventory management; with data housed in vast server farms and campaigns optimised through complex bid-management systems. It's funny how things turn out.
Mobile
A mobile future?
A personalised web for personal devices
In 2005, mobile marketing accounted for $255 million and 2006 was proudly unveiled as 'The year of Mobile' with giant leaps in web usage anticipated. Three years on and slow connection speeds, expensive data charges, clunky devices and the complexity of modern websites have stalled progress. With the iPhone launching in June last year however, and its 3G equivalent leading the current surge of touch screen phones, the suggestion is that that moment isn't far away.
With 71 million active mobile phones (with one in ten people owning 4 or more!!) it's not surprising that the race is on to develop the perfect mobile device. However even with the most sophisticated Opera and Safari browsers optimising content for a portable device, one hindrance will always remain; the finite size of a mobile screen.
As a result it raises the question of not when but how our mobiles will be used to access the internet and this is something content providers need to start thinking about. What will encourage users to engage with my site on a 3 inch screen? The likes of eBay, the BBC and GCap are already there, providing downloadable applications or specially created xHTML content - how long before everyone else follows suit?
Technology
Its Time For Applications To Apply Themselves
A look at the fortunes of applications and widgets across social networks
Like Facebook, both Bebo and MySpace have now opened up their platforms to support third-party applications, encouraging users to send mass notifications and invites across the big three social networks. But since their peak in November last year, all of Facebook's top 10 applications have shown a significant drop in daily users. The novelty is clearly starting to wear off.
However, with measures such as 'about the application' pages and user reviews being introduced, it appears the social networks are adapting to the trends. Fundamentally, social media owners can't afford to allow their properties to be overrun by poor quality or intrusive applications, or else they will alienate the user and spoil the opportunity for advertisers and brands to engage with their audiences in this way.
2008 may well be remembered as the year of Pirates vs. Ninjas, because we haven't yet seen the introduction of the killer application used across not only our social network profiles but our desktops, smartphones and more. Creativity is required to bring ground-breaking functionality to the user and unforeseen access to audiences for the advertiser. Web 2.0 took its place amongst the mainstream web's consciousness in 2007, but 2008 could be the year to prove the efficacy of the social application from not only a user, but a consumer perspective too.
- 14 August 2008
Ad Exchange - 14 August 2008
A mobile future? - 14 August 2008
Its Time For Applications To Apply Themselves
