Over the past several years, numerous third party studies have pointed to the power of a display banner ad. From driving follow on searches to lifting conversions of an entire campaign, this infographic summarizes some of this research into a powerful message: display works. Register in the Resources section for access to an 18×24 hi res version.

Click-Through Rates May Matter Even Less Than We Already Thought

Pretarget research, using Comscore’s Validated Campaign Essentials product, finds that viewability and engagement are more correlated with conversions than click or gross impressions.

We are so excited: since we announced viewable impressions in October 2011, the adoption of this new measurement is on the cusp of going viral, though not without detractors. And many of these releases are aimed squarely at improving the accountability of online video in hopes of attracting television ad dollars. Here is a summary of the events to date:

• The leading measurement firms Comscore and Nielsen formally released their versions of GRP measurement, which includes whether or not ads were viewed.
• The IAB recently came out with a standard definition for viewable ad: 1 second at least 50 percent in view.
• Brightroll announced view impression guarantees in video.
• Forbes was the first major pub to adopt the new measurement.
• AOL adopted the Nielsen solution for views in video.
• Google releases its own, proprietary view/GRP measurement metric targeted at video.
• SayMedia (who has been selling engagement for some time) affirms its commitment to viewable impressions as part of that model.

I agree with some detractors that this new metric may not be the silver bullet for the entire ad biz . However, for the brand advertiser whose primary KPI is “exposure”, the ability to see an ad is paramount. And these are the advertisers paying Comscore and Nielsen already, so the inclusion of these new view metrics doesn’t require ubiquitous ad server support across the industry. For the performance advertiser, choosing to measure views is simply another optional tool for optimization.

Learn how Pretargeting can work with your retargeting and search efforts. This is especially true if you’ve squeezed every last drop of ROI from your search and retargeting campaigns.

The notion of “audience buying” and “RTB” are relatively new concepts, only possible through an evolution in online advertising in the past five years. From the first true ad exchange, to the trading desk and display side platform, display banner advertising is expected to grow faster than search advertising. Much of this growth is enabled by the adoption from the buy side and agency trading desks. This infographic outlines the recent history of our industry and how we’ve gotten to where we are today. Click to download below or register for the hi res version.

 [UPDATE] While the infographic focuses on agency side trading desks and is designed to illustrate the bigger picture, there are some facts which we’ve been called on in dispute. There is some debate whether Turn was the first DSP: perhaps it was InviteMedia or even MediaMath. Hindsight is 20/20. The term DSP didn’t even exist back then, much less a definition of DSP. Everyone was just an “ad network”.

Media buying has largely practiced buying “context” as the proxy to audience. While direct marketing in the offline world takes this a step further with more direct audience communication, the advent of digital media has given rise to media buying 2.0 – making it possible to only buy the precise audience desired.

This new way of buying is technologically heavy and requires a slightly different skill set and way of thinking. The technology stack resembles that of the stock market and less of the media industry. However, it’s still audience buying, just with more precision.

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