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To: PartyTime who wrote (6822)	5/9/1998 11:36:00 AM
From: PartyTime	Respond to of 18444

I'm not sure that this ever got printed on this thread. It's undated. Got it from a Metacrawler search using the terms "Doubleclick" and "Zulu." But it describes a bit about the state of the industry. I wonder what Joshua Rosen's opinion is today about what is happening in the industry. After all, things change awfully fast in a month or two. Just go back and read some of the history of the writing on this thread. And once the financials are released that too will change. Online ad service bureaus offer opportunity by Josh Rosen Strategic movement within the online advertising world is picking up pace as revenues grow to significant levels and business models are sorely tested. Interesting recent developments include the merger of two late entrants to the online advertising service business to form 24/7, Softbank's sale of its Interactive Marketing company to Zulu, the Excite purchase of Match Logic, and the impending initial public offering of DoubleClick. I take all of this as signs of a developing industry that still has not found the perfect model for success. However, there is clearly a shared vision of exciting opportunity. This view will be particularly reinforced if the market looks at all favorably upon the DoubleClick IPO. While all of these moves are being carefully watched by industry players, I would encourage traditional media professionals to take note, as well. As services and tools companies scramble to meet the maturing needs of online advertisers, media owners will have to refine their own products and strategies, too. Increasingly, media owners are meeting these advertiser demands with the help of service bureaus. Retaining the help of an online ad service bureau can offer significant advantages to traditional publishers that should offset any fees assessed. Like any strategic decision, there are a number of critical issues that should be considered before any bureau relationship is established: Technology Any serious ad service bureau should offer its partners a proven ad management technology that is fully networkable. This tool should provide comprehensive targeting and reporting functionality that can be locally managed and controlled by each media owner, themselves, while still networked to the service bureau's own system. Service bureaus that offer use of centralized ad management technology may force the publisher to relinquish all-important control over ad inventory, sometimes even charging an additional fee for this inferior solution. Media owners should insist upon possession and management of their own ad management tools to ensure technical control of their own inventory. Aggregation Service bureaus can often take advantage of economies of scale by aggregating diverse inventory and bringing each publisher a piece of new-found ad revenue. Aggregation of disparate inventory can often create attractive and otherwise unworkable opportunities for online advertisers. However, this aggregation should be tempered by bureau respect of individual media owner brand equity. That is, each title or site should be sold on its individual merits within the broader framework of "network" sales, rather than as an indistinguishable part of some larger amalgamation of "faceless" inventory. Revenue Choosing an international service bureau that specializes in representing traditional media owners can often open the door to sources of ad revenue that normally would be out of reach. Because the Internet is simultaneously a global and local medium for advertising, bureaus with a global reach should offer local media owners the chance to grab a slice of the rapidly growing international online advertising pie. Any bureau should be able employ sophisticated marketing efforts that leverage both the global reach and local penetration of the medium. International service bureaus also should be able to take advantage of strong contacts with global brands and their agencies, using their ability to localize a commercial message in disparate online environments around the world. Resources Service bureaus provide a simple and cost-effective solution for cautious media owners looking to minimize financial risk. Standard arrangements with these bureaus offer media owners the substantial resources and expertise of specialists who are usually compensated only for successful advertising placement. Good bureaus will assume all credit risks and handle the necessary booking and invoicing processes with consummate ease. In addition, these bureaus should be responsible for the complex analysis and reporting of multi-site campaigns that international advertisers demand. Standardization Joining the world of those who use an online advertising service bureau has the added advantage of forcing media owners to adopt a certain level of standardization. This may apply to rate card structures, mechanical requirements, delivery conditions, billing terms, and reporting principles. Essentially, the trade-off for accepting potential new ad revenue is to refine one's online practices to meet acceptable industry demands. Obviously, this can only help media owners' own online sales and marketing efforts, as well. One-stop Shopping The single biggest reason why media owners should enter into some kind of relationship with a global service bureau is the ability to take advantage of a single buying point for agencies, wherever they may be. As more money is devoted to online advertising and campaigns become increasingly elaborate, planning and buying agencies will strive to simplify any aspect of their own responsibilities. It is clear that giving agencies the ability to book campaigns across multiple sites in multiple countries is a powerful convenience that any media owner should be able to identify as unique selling point. While media owners may initially balk at handing over a commission on online advertising revenue, it seems to me that the adage about paying for what you get still holds true. Global service bureaus can provide good value for money, if selected carefully. And don't forget, while a successful bureau is working to generate more ad revenue, this also becomes an excellent opportunity for the participating media owner to glean a great deal of knowledge and experience about solid online advertising sales practices. Joshua Rosen is the vice president of advertising technology for Real Media Inc. He can be reached at 212-725-4537 or by e-mail at josh@realmedia.com.

To: PartyTime who wrote (6822)	5/9/1998 5:18:00 PM
From: Jon Tara	Respond to of 18444

Party, even with the cable modem, and even when playing content that @Home has made special arrangements to provide efficiently, playing video over the web is still a "big deal", and not something that is practical to have as an incidental part of a web page. (e.g. as with advertising). It's still: "wait.... contacting site... buffering.... buffering...." Now, once all that is over with, I get a perfect, clear video (in a tiny 320x240 window) with no drops and clear, stereo sound. I really don't see video as a part of unsolicited advertising any time soon. I do see it as a part of "destination" sites where people are shopping for goods. I would love to see videos demonstrating products that I can link-to from catalog sheets. I also saw a pretty effective use of video that surprised me in it's simplicity. I came across a new web site the other day that is run by a marketing person I once worked with. He produces simple videos that consist of a PowerPoint-type "slide show", professional voice-over, and royalty-free music, which he does on a fixed price schedule. He uses RealPlayer (IMO, the standard) to present the videos. I thought it was pretty effective. It's use is typically to communicate "mission statements" and the like, that are often not read because they are just a sea of black text. It's low-bandwidth (because the content is so simple), and so minizes the delays.