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Technology Stocks : PCW - Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (1309)	5/30/2001 12:19:13 AM
From: ms.smartest.person	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2248

Chief hopeful despite tough market 2001-05-30 Terms and Conditions Can broadband uncover the lost treasure of Internet advertising? Sean Wu is betting on it. The general manager of AdSociety's Taiwan office, Mr Wu brims with confidence when telling a packed crowd of Internet business people that Taiwan's broadband age is nigh. He punctuates his presentation on the potential of broadband advertising with impressive, albeit dubious, statistics. Speaking after his speech at IandI in Taiwan, Mr Wu conceded that the Taiwan online advertising market was tough. Predictions by Merrill Lynch analyst Henry Blodget that the online advertising market was near to bottoming out have raised an eyebrow or two in this part of the world. Such a statement infers there was ever a peak for Web sites. "In the United States it is possible to get US$ 10 to US$ 50 pcm (per thousand hits) for ads. In Taiwan, the rate is just one dollar," Mr Wu said. Owned by Hong Kong media conglomerate Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW), AdSociety has seven offices around the region. The company helps advertisers develop campaigns and places advertisements directly with Web sites. While Taiwan has a strong online presence and a relatively affluent population, those strengths are not translating in the online-advertising market. "There are just so many players in the market here. One news site has already died. Which one will be next?" Mr Wu asked. Much of his task is to educate advertisers about the potential and the technology of online advertising. "We have to educate them about the technology, the possibilities. I do more than simply give out rate cards," he said. Mr Wu relishes the opportunity to give his pitch to some of Taiwan's leading Internet luminaries. Ben Tsiang, co-founder and general manager of Sina.com in Taiwan was one of the many who listened with interest. Sina already has worked with AdSociety to help drag in the advertising dollars. In the March quarter, Sina posted a loss of US$ 5.6 million. It derived just US$ 5.4 million from advertising across all of its brands. The broadband advertisements Mr Wu shows off are a cross-between narrowband product and TV commercials. One recent campaign run by AdSociety involved placing a well-known TV commercial for diamonds on to a standard Web site. The interactivity comes from a prompt at the end of the advertisement. Other advertisements involved pop-ups that are downloaded in the background to appear on screen when the user moves on to the next page. After Mr Wu finished his presentation an audience member asked if broadband really could unlock the advertising dollars that have not been forthcoming. Mr Wu said: "Yes. It has to. We are all facing a pretty bleak future if it doesn't." Terms and Conditions Copyright© 2000 LEXIS-NEXIS, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights Reserved. quamnet.com