Week 3

Advertising on the Internet has evolved to become an interactive, entertaining and creative way to reach consumers. As popularity for the Internet grows, advertising follows. The current problem for advertisers is the clutter surrounding the online environment. Search engines, in particular, host several advertisements that can become intrusive. Banner and pop-up ads tend to annoy, rather than entice. If advertisers want to attract consumers, then they must create innovative promotions that stand out from competitors. Another problem is accountability. Companies want to know the advertisements being paid for are reaching consumers and bringing in profit.
            Technology provides advertisers to create promotions that are interactive. These advertisements can be come in the form of games, videos and pictures. It’s up to the developers to create an advertisement that appeals to consumers and stands out from the clutter. This is imperative for the growth of online advertising.  With creative ads comes the need for accountability.

            Companies require that advertisers provide accountability. Companies want to know if their paid advertisements are attracting consumers. According to DoubleClick the following metrics are used to calculate advertisement effectiveness:

·      Post-click conversions

·      Cost per conversion

·      Unique reach of ads delivered

·      Average frequency of exposures

·      Frequency-to-conversion ratio

·      Ad exposure time

·      Ad interaction time

·      Brand impact lift vs. control ad

·      View-through rate

·      Share of voice

·      Web page eye tracking

·      Offline sales lift

·      Cross-media-mix econometric modeling

DoubleClick uses several of these tools to measure advertisements online.  Another factor that helps the progress of Internet advertising is control. Control is what consumers and companies want.

            By creating innovative advertisements that can be measured, companies will be satisfied. Progress in the advertising world will continue and consumers will benefit from the balance of creativity and accountability.