What to Worry About When Advertising Online

As if online advertising weren't difficult enough to deal with on its own, here's a whole new set of worries to contemplate.

Click fraud, Keyword Spamming and False Advertising, or so says this article from Entrepreneur Magazine.

The legal issues surrounding online advertising are still being defined. The more you know about your ads, the more protection you'll have. And alongside the legal questions are the core-business questions of how well your dollars are being spent. That side of the equation is where we come in.

AdSymetrix makes understanding your advertising easy. Simply Tag Your Ad and let AdSymetrix track and monitor your responses. At least that way you'll know where you money is going.

What the Big Boys in Online Advertising are Thinking.

You buy your music online, you reserve a table for dinner online, you probably even get directions to dinner, why not advertise online?

In the past few weeks, major players in the online advertising field have been gobbled up by even more major players in the online services field. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have absorbed Doubleclick, Right Media and aQuantive respectively.

What's all this mean for the advertiser? The Wall Street Journal sat down for a few answers with David Moore, the chairman and CEO of 24/7 Media, an online advertising company that was itself recently purchased by WPP Group.

While the advertising landscape changes, remember that the best way for you to know how to spend your advertising dollar is to measure the value of every ad you place. And the easiest way to do that measurement is by using AdSymetrix. Simply Tag Your Ad and let AdSymetrix track and monitor the responses.

We're gearing up for a new beta test right now, stop by and give AdSymetrix a try.

About Our Name

As we're busily working behind the scenes to build out our next version of AdSymetrix - in preparation for next month's beta test (sign up for it while we're on your mind) - it could be a good time to talk a bit about our name.

AdSymetrix is an interesting word. Its one that we made up to, we hope, convey not only our brand but also our function. In part, we're talking about creating a system to understand the metrics of advertising. Our hope is that by using AdSymetrix, your business will have a better understanding of how your advertising works. You'll know who's visiting your websites, calling your phones and responding to your email messages.

The other part of the name AdSymetrix, has to do with the idea of asymmetrical information. Think about buying an ad in a newspaper. The newspaper knows how much that ad is worth to them based on the amount of space in their pages, the amount of subscribers that they have on any given day and the cost of caring for the sale of the ad. You just know that you need to reach a certain demographic and hope that this location will do the trick.

The newspaper salesperson has more information than you about any space in their paper. They may have a position that typically doesn't sell well, and that may not work as well as some others. That information is kept close to their vest. They don't want you to have any way to determine what locations inside their pages are better than others. This knowledge is an example of asymmetric information. They know more than you about something you're trying to buy.

And that's how AdSymetrix helps. We offer the opportunity to tip the scale in your direction. Using our tools to track and monitor your advertising, you can sit down with the salesperson and know how any position in their publication works. You can hold close to your vest the results of your last advertisements and strike a better deal for any of their properties.

AdSymetrix lets you hold the upper hand when placing your ads, giving you the asymmetrical advantage.

So stop by AdSymetrix and sign up to become a part of our upcoming beta test and know what advertising is best for your business.

Coming Soon, A New AdSymetrix

We've been working on it for weeks, a new version of AdSymetrix. Still chock full of the easy to use tools you'll need to understand how your advertising works, but now even more powerful and easier to use.

Sign up at AdSymetrix.com to enter our new beta test and see how you can make your advertising work for your business.

Searching for Where They're Searching From

One of the first places advertisers think to buy ads online is their favorite search engine. And sure, using some of the Search Engine Optimization tools, refining your campaigns to take advantage of searching browsers is very helpful. But when it comes to generating new online leads, the smart business owner needs to do more than just upload a set of meta-tags.

Some online advertisers use company sponsored blogs to generate content that drives hits. Some scour comments pages of other blogs placing their URLs everywhere they can. Some even create 'viral' videos and place them on social networking sites as a way to get a bit more traffic.

AdSymetrix is the tool your business needs to use to determine what works and how your new efforts affect your business. Simply Tag Your Ad or in this case, your original content, and let AdSymetrix track and monitor your responses. That way you're doing more than reading blogs, you're generating business.

When the Media Changes, The Methods Should Too

The Advertising world is always evolving. When big photo magazines like Life Magazine ran advertisements, they were full page, text heavy and able to reach a huge audience. Radio and Television changed things further, offering the opportunity for advertisements to bring a new level of activity to marketing. Now, with the advent of interactive advertising online, every millisecond that you can get your message in front of a potential customer counts.

And while audiences everywhere are shrinking, media planners are scrambling to find a way to keep not only their clients happy, but their very jobs.

Instead of fighting the revolution, embrace the new opportunities that are coming. By understanding where your audience is now, what they're most likely to respond to and why they're reacting to your ad, you'll be able to take advantage of any new advertising media that comes your way.

AdSymetrix has been designed to give you just that kind of information. Simply Tag Your Ad and let AdSymetrix Track and Monitor the responses. You'll know the wheres hows and whos of your every advertising. And not worry about whether the next new thing will affect your marketing budget.

The Value of Website Statistics

Usually, when visiting Download Squad, you're apt to find a link to a new version of a program, or a helpful hint using a piece of your computer you rarely think about, or maybe just something that will kill a few precious productive minutes. But if you've visited the site lately, you may have found this article about the value of web statistics for small business.

In a way, the amazing amount of information that you can retrieve on your website's visitors makes the case for why any business could use AdSymetrix. When someone visits your website, the server can know where they're coming from, what time of day they're visiting, how long they're hanging out at your site, where else they've been recently and how many times they've checked you out. The potential data goes so deep that it's easy to get a bit frustrated with the relatively paltry amount of information you can get from print or broadcast advertisements.

So while you can work to continually focus the message on your website to reflect that perfect equation for converting interested visitors into ongoing sales, what tools can you use to make the best use out of the rest of your marketing portfolio?

AdSymetrix is here to help. Tag Your Ad and let AdSymetrix track and monitor the responses to any advertisement you place anywhere. Use our tools to refine and focus your messages so that everything you put out into the world is as action oriented as your website.

Microsoft, Late to The Table, Still Very Hungry

In the past few weeks, we've watched as Google's eaten up Doubleclick and Yahoo's dined on Right Media, it's only fitting that the other 800 ton gorilla in the tech world look to get a seat at the buffet. Microsoft announced today their deal to purchase aQuantive, a marketing company that not only owns advertising networks, but also creative agencies.

The purchase not only quiets some of the recent talk that Yahoo may merge with Microsoft, but shifts the model that's surrounded most of these deals. Now search engine companies - the new publishers that present advertising to the widest audiences available - are buying more than just advertising networks, their buying creative companies too.

And with large creative companies folding into advertising networks, the ability for your company to make independent decisions about the creative and targeting of your messages may be lessened. The only way to protect that ability is to know as much as you can about what works for your ad campaigns.

AdSymetrix is here to help. Use our system and know who, how and and where your responses are coming from. Simply Tag Your Ad and let AdSymetrix track and monitor the responses.

So that when you're asked about your next ad buy, you'll know more than where you want to place your ad, you'll know why.

Googling Your Business to the Top

Being smart in the 21st century is less about what you know and more about knowing how to find the information you need.

And thus is the crux of Google's amazing success. They've become the first place many people go to find the information that they need.

Knowing this, you can utilize pieces of the Google toolbox to build interest in your business. Business week starts you down that road with its article, How To Scale Mt. Google. Their idea is that if you learn the Google system, you'll be able to exploit it to your business's benefit.

Experimenting with advertising is important. Trying new things lets you grow and expand your business in new ways. But for every new effort you make, make sure that you have a way to measure that new effort's effectiveness. AdSymetrix has been designed to help you with just that problem. When you've decided on a new way to advertise, Tag Your Ad and let AdSymetrix track and monitor the responses. You'll get better information and be able to make better decisions.

Branding and Entertainment - A Way To Combat Shrinking Audiences

It seems to be a common problem: How can advertisers get their messages to an audience that increasingly doesn't want to be bothered with an ad?

Everywhere you look, there's a new solution popping up. I could be through cross cultural education at the hands of a large broadcast network, or it could come in the guise of doctored Diggs or even by way of pay for play Blog entries. The problem keeps showing itself, and it leaves many advertisers cold.

One other way to battle the shrinking audience is to change the way you view advertising. Using entertainment and branding to get people to think of your product when they're involved in something else. You'll see this as product placement in movies and television, or as co-branded games on your cell phone or even as the star of whatever you happen to be watching.

Removing the separation of advertisement and content can be helpful, but the only way to gage the effectiveness of this way of advertising is through the kind of testing that AdSymetrix can provide.

Simply Tag Your Ad and let AdSymetrix track and monitor the responses. Knowing whether people react to your message is as important as getting that message in front of them in the first place.

Losing Your Audience - And Finding Them Again

Today's New York Times fronts an article about the various ways advertisers are hoping to keep viewers watching commercials instead of shifting channels or fast forwarding their TiVo's.

Amongst the suggestions are including original programing during commercial breaks and using the cast from whatever show you're watching to present the product advertisement.

In any case, the future of big-broadcast marketing seems fleeting. More and more people are opting out of the commercial l break and instead finding other ways to entertain themselves. As a marketer, your need to entice new potential customers is getting harder and harder.

One way you can battle back against the coming demise is to more clearly target your audiences. Rather than going shotgun and try to reach the widest amount of people, focus on those who are most likely to respond to your ads.

That's where AdSymetrix comes in. Using AdSymetrix, you canTag Your Ad, place it anywhere and watch as AdSymetrix tracks and monitors the responses. Using that information you can clearly know who, when and where your next new customers are coming from, and how to focus your message to reach them.

Signup is free.

Newspapers Need To Listen

A slew of articles came out today pointing the finger at print publications for their ways of dealing with the new, new media.

From Macy's yelling about the marketplace to publisher's hiding their heads in the sand about the potential of the new marketplace, the hits come from all sides.

It's in this kind of environment where new directions in marketing matter. And for anyone, advertiser or publisher, to know whether their ads work, an independent observer will be needed.

That's where AdSymetrix comes in. AdSymetrix has been developed to allow advertisers and publishers understand the true value of their advertisements. Simply Tag your Ad, and let AdSymetrix track and monitor its responses. Finally, there's a way for anyone in the advertising world to know what's going on with their messages.

Sign up is free.

Mix Your Own Interactive Ad

What if you could develop your own interactive advertisements instead of paying a local creative agency? That's the hope of both Google and Tumri.

By gathering a series of templated advertisements into what they're calling AdPods, Tumri is hoping that your next afternoon will be spent creating your own advertisements.

It's not a bad idea, but if you're going to experiment, make sure that you've got some way to measure the value of these new ads. AdSymetrix is the perfect companion product. Tag your new AdPod and watch as AdSymetrix tracks and monitors the responses generated by the ad. It's the easiest way to determine if this new medium is right for you.

Give AdSymetrix a try, Signup is Free.

The Fun of Social Media

Recently, BrandWeek fronted a story about how Marketers are warming up to Social Media. The article talks about how the new new medium of social networks - like MySpace, Facebook and Friendster are opening up new means for connecting with potential customers.

There's some validity in exploring this new way of marketing. But if you're going to experiment, at least make sure that you've got a way to measure the effectiveness of the message. AdSymetrix is here to help.

Whenever you're set to try out a new way of reaching your audience, use Tag Your Ad with AdSymetrix and use our online tools to track and monitor your repsonses.

Give us a try, signup is free.

Place the Ad, But Will Anyone Watch?

Spending a bunch of money making the most creative, most receptive, most entertaining and engaging advertisement and find out that nearly all of your intended audience decide that it's more important to fast forward / skip over/ otherwise ignore your message just to get to the next song, TV show or article can really make you angry.

The New York Times looks at ways that companies are trying to TiVo-proof their advertisements, in a bid to keep advertising relevant.

The story is made all the more interesting when you realize that the company looking to TiVo-proof its ads is in fact TiVo itself.

As an advertiser you need to know that the ads you put out are seen by the people you want to see them. Even better, you would love to know what ads will get those people to actually respond and contact your business.

AdSymetrix is here to help. Tag your ad and watch as AdSymetrix tracks and monitors the responses that come streaming in from any advertisement anywhere. Sign up is free

Why Networked Ad Sales are Suddenly So Newsworthy

Business Week nicely explains the reason why companies like Yahoo and Google are doing their best to buy up the online ad sales networks DoubleClick and Right Media -- they want to own the advertising transaction.

Simply put, business is driven by advertising. Yahoo and Google know that if they're going to sell advertising, they should create ways to sell as much advertising as they can. By buying the ad sales networks, they're expanding their inventory exponentially. They may not make as much selling an ad on your site as they would on one of their own, but they're still making something. And that something has immense value to these companies.

And for you, the advertiser that wants to buy ads in various media, you have to find a way to manage your advertising buys as economically as possible. That's where AdSymetrix comes in. Tag Your Ad with AdSymetrix and use our tools to track and monitor your ad, in any media, anywhere.

Stop by and give AdSymetrix a try, sign up is free