Web Ads on the Rebound After Multiyear Slump
Online advertising has got a bit of its buzz back.
After a downturn that threatened to wipe out the nascent Internet-ad industry, big advertisers are showing renewed interest in touting their wares on the Web. Overall, purchases of Web ads rose to $3.2 billion in the first half of this year, from $2.8 billion in the same period last year, according to Evaliant, the online unit of market researcher TNS Media Intelligence/CMR.
New formats -- for example, animated ads that flit across computer screens -- are helping to fuel the revival. The growth in broadband Internet customers also is making the medium more attractive to advertisers, because ads sent via high-speed transmission load faster and can do more tricks.
"Search-related" advertisements -- which appear alongside results on well-trafficked Web-search sites -- are particularly popular. Purchases of search-related ads nearly tripled in the fourth quarter of 2002, the most recent available figures, to $330 million, compared with the same period in 2001, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, a trade organization.
That is helping boost the sales and fortunes of companies such as Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s MSN unit and closely held Google Inc. Yahoo is forecasting revenue to increase as much as 37% this year, partly because of a surge in ad sales.
The Web is particularly attractive to advertisers targeting teens, who seem to live online. A recent report commissioned by Yahoo and Carat Interactive, the online arm of media-buying and advertising firm Aegis Group PLC, found that 13-to-24-year-olds spend an average of 16.7 hours a week on the Internet, excluding e-mail.
With that in mind, consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble Co. is promoting its Always sanitary napkins on Yahoo's sites, hoping to reach girls aged 13 through 17. The company saw an increase in traffic to its BeingGirl.com (
www.beinggirl.com) Web site aimed at teenage girls during the campaign, a spokeswoman says.
Also seeking younger customers is the U.S. arm of closely held Italian candy maker Perfetti van Melle SpA. It is using a relatively novel form of online marketing for its Mentos mints. With Electronic Arts Inc.'s EA Games unit, the candy maker developed a free, interactive snowboarding game where Internet users can race down a track, picking up "energy points" in the form of mint boxes, and viewing Mentos Breathmakers billboards. "We're experimenting," says Katherine Dintenfass, associate brand manager.
Amid the good news, there are pockets of pessimism. Ad revenue that AOL Time Warner Inc. derives from its America Online service is expected to plunge as much as 50% this year, according to AOL. (The drop in America Online's ad sales last year was blamed for obscuring the first signs of overall industry recovery.) America Online used to craft big advertising deals in which companies would pay millions of dollars to sponsor a section of the online service for several years, but those arrangements have been expiring.
Market-research firm eMarketer in New York says the Internet's share of advertising spending will remain relatively flat this year, at 2.5%. Indeed, many advertisers and ad-space buyers remain skeptical about the Internet. Advertisers say they want better tools to measure the reach and effectiveness of Internet ads before they will commit to bigger outlays. A recent survey by the GartnerG2 unit of Stamford, Conn., research firm Gartner Inc. found that 60% of media buyers believe that online ads aren't as effective as traditional media, such as television, newspapers and magazines.
Daniel Stein, founder of online ad agency Evolution Bureau LLC, says: "Connecting an online ad to a purchase is still a gray area."
To some degree, analysts say, Internet advertising is being held to a higher standard. Advertisers can't always specifically track who buys a car after viewing a television commercial or a magazine ad. Moreover, there's lingering distrust from the days when advertisers thought the Internet would let them precisely target ads, and track the resulting purchases. "Online is held to a higher standard because of the hype of its measurability," says Charlene Li, a Forrester Research Inc. analyst.
Advertisers that do use the Web say the medium is effective at driving computer users to their own Web sites. General Motors Corp.'s Saab, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's BMW and Mitsubishi Motor Corp. advertise on eBay Inc.'s Motors site, aiming to steer potential car buyers to their own corporate sites. Executives at 10th Degree, the Irvine, Calif., ad agency that helps Mitsubishi plan and buy Internet advertising, say such ads generate visits to Mitsubishi's Web site.
Car makers spent $100 million online in the first half of the year, up from $80 million in the same period last year, says Todd Isaacson, senior vice president of business development at Evaliant. Health, pharmaceuticals and fitness advertisers also increased online spending, he says.
Office Depot Inc., for one, has tried to reach out to small and medium-size business customers using search-related ads. "I want to be there when they're thinking about my products and services," said Kathleen Stockham, director of advertising. The company "buys" key words so that when someone types in the phrase "office suppliers" and "office products" in a search site an ad from Office Depot pops up.
Ms. Stockham uses commercial software and other tools built internally to track Internet sales. Every day, an employee compiles "overnight" reports that show the amount Office Depot spent the previous day on Internet ads along with the revenue they brought in from online purchases. The Delray Beach, Fla., retailer is on track to sell $2.5 billion of goods online this year, up from $2.1 billion last year.
Retailer 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. relies on search-related ads to reach prospective customers around holidays. Two weeks before Mother's Day, the company bought ads on Overture Services Inc. and Google that would appear whenever an Internet surfer searched on the term "Mother's Day flowers." Chris McCann, president of 1-800-Flowers, calls search-related ads "direct marketing on steroids."
The Westbury, N.Y., company is continually testing different terms for search-related ads, partly to expose consumers to its nonfloral gifts, says Mary Fleck, assistant manager of interactive marketing. The company bought ads that would appear when users searched the term "gourmet gift basket," for example, and it has been selling more flowers by placing such ads, Ms. Fleck says. It can track what sales are generated by these ads because Internet users click on the ads, which directs them to the 1-800-flowers Web site, where they then complete their purchases.
Web publishers and industry groups are trying to develop even better tools to measure the efficacy of Internet ads. They are also sponsoring studies to show that spending on Internet ads, when combined with other media, increases awareness of products.
One such study, based on a survey of 13,000 adult American women, showed that Anglo-Dutch consumer-products giant Unilever could have increased awareness of its Dove Nutrium soap among such women by increasing its share of spending on the Internet, at the expense of other media, to 15%, from 2%.
网络广告东山再起
网络广告似乎要东山再起了。
曾几何时网络广告业几乎被扼杀在萌芽状态之中，但如今，广告商再次对在网络上吹嘘自己的产品心动不已。根据市场研究机构TNS Media Intelligence/CMR网络子公司Evaliant提供的数据，今年上半年网络广告投入费用增加到32亿美元，而上年同期则为28亿美元。
新颖的广告形式是网络广告复兴的原因之一，例如在屏幕上飘过的动画式广告。宽频互联网用户的增长也使网络广告成为更加受青睐的媒介形式，因为高速互联网上的广告速度更快，也可以采用更加丰富的形式。
搜索类广告尤其受客户欢迎，广告与搜索出来的网页同时出现在电脑屏幕上。美国互联网广告署(Interactive Advertising Bureau)统计，2002年第四季度（目前为止的最新数据），搜索广告投放费用几乎增加到2001年同期的3倍，达3.3亿美元。
雅虎公司(Yahoo! Inc., YHOO)、微软(Microsoft Corp., MSFT)的MSN子公司和Google Inc.等网站受广告业务的推动，销售额和财富都获得大量增长。雅虎公司预计今年收入有望增长37%，原因之一就是由于广告销售的飙升。
目标客户为年轻人的企业对互联网尤其感兴趣，因为年轻人似乎整天都粘在网上。雅虎和Carat Interactive联合公布的报告指出，13岁至24岁的年轻人每周平均有16.7个小时用于上网，其中还不包括收发电子邮件。Carat Interactive是媒体购买和广告公司Aegis Group PLC的网络子公司。
正因为如此，消费产品巨头企业宝洁公司(Procter & Gamble Co., PG, 又名:宝硷公司)大力在雅虎网站上推广其Always品牌的卫生巾，将目标客户锁定在13岁至17岁的少女。宝洁发言人表示，推广期内公司BeingGirl.com网站的访问量大大增加。
另一家追逐年轻消费者的公司是意大利糖果生产商不凡帝范梅勒糖果集团(Perfetti van Melle SpA.)的美国子公司。它正在用一种相对新颖的网络营销方式推广其曼妥思(Mentos)薄荷糖。该公司根据电子艺界(Electronic Arts Inc., ERTS)EA Games部门的设计，向网络用户推出了一种免费互动滑雪板游戏。公司品牌副经理汀田费斯(Katherine Dintenfass)介绍说，在游戏中，网络用户沿雪面滑下，拾起薄荷糖样子的…能量点”，然后就能看到曼妥思醒目的广告标语--…我们正在尝试”(We're experimenting)。
不过也有持消极看法的人。预计美国在线时代华纳(AOL Time Warner)的美国在线(America Online)部门今年的广告收入最多将减少50%。（去年美国在线广告销售的下滑被指责是整个行业复苏萌芽的绊脚石。）美国在线曾与大广告商签署合作协议，这些公司支付数百万美元连续几年赞助美国在线的一部分网络服务，但现在这些协议已经到期了。
纽约的市场研究公司eMarketer认为，今年网络广告在广告支出中的比例仍较保持相对平稳，约为2.5%。的确，许多广告商和广告空间购买者仍对互联网持怀疑态度。广告商表示，在增加支出之前他们需有更好地衡量网络广告的普及率和效果。研究公司Gartner Inc.子公司GartnerG2最近的调查表明，60%的媒体购买者认为网络广告的效果不如传统媒体（电视、报纸和杂志等）广告。
网络广告代理公司Evolution Bureau LLC创始人斯坦(Daniel Stein)指出，网络广告和购买行为之间仍是一片灰色地带。
分析师认为，一定程度上网络广告的标准更好。广告商无法跟踪谁在看了电视广告或杂志广告之后买了一辆车，但他们认为，互联网能够让他们精确地跟踪广告效果。Forrester Research Inc.分析师Charlene Li指出，网络广告因其效果的可测性而具有更高的标准。
投放网络广告的广告商表示，网络广告成功地让许多网络用户访问他们公司的网站。通用汽车公司(General Motors, Corp.)的Saab、宝马汽车公司(Bayerische Motoren Werke AG)的BMW和三菱汽车(Mitsubishi Motors Corp.)都在eBay Inc.的汽车网站上大作广告，目的就是将潜在的消费者吸引到公司自己的网站上去。帮助三菱汽车规划及购买网络广告的代理公司10th Degree的管理人士指出，网络广告使三菱汽车网站的访问量增加。
Evaliant商务发展高级副总裁艾萨克森(Todd Isaacson)指出，今年上半年汽车制造商在网络广告上的支出达1亿美元，高于上年同期的8,000万美元。他还指出，健康、医药和健身等行业也加大了网络广告投入。
Office Depot Inc.通过搜索广告成功地吸引了中小企业客户。该公司广告总监斯托克姆(Kathleen Stockham)希望，当人们考虑公司的产品和服务的时候，Office Depot的名字就会马上出现。该公司…购买”了一些关键字，这样当人们在电脑中输入…办公供应商”或…办公产品”的时候，Office Depot公司的广告就会弹出来。
斯托克姆使用商务软件和其他工具跟踪网络广告的销售情况。公司员工每天都会整理前夜的销售报告，汇报前一天的网络广告支出及由此而来的收入。Office Depot今年有望实现25亿美元的网上销售目标，高于去年的21亿美元。
零售商1-800-Flowers.com Inc.在假期来临之前依赖搜索广告吸引顾客。母亲节前两周，该公司在Overture Services Inc.和Google上买下了广告，当人们在搜索引擎上输入…母亲节鲜花”的文字后，1-800-Flowers.com Inc.的广告就会出现。1-800-Flowers.com Inc.总裁麦肯(Chris McCann)认为搜索广告是有效的直接营销手段。
网络出版商和行业团体正在努力开发更好的工具衡量网络广告效果。他们还赞助一些研究项目来说明网络广告同其他媒体广告一道有助于提升产品的知名度。
一项研究调查了13,000名美国成年妇女。研究结果显示，联合利华公司(Unilever)在宣传其Dove Nutrium香皂时，将网络广告支出比例从原来的2%提高到15%，同时相应减少了其他类型媒体的广告，该产品因而在接受调查的妇女中知名度大大提升。
