Google's Tough Week & New IAB Standards
Masha Geller, 03/17/06
iMedia's editor at large goes down the list of bad news for Google, the IAB's latest guidelines and more of the week's top interactive marketing news.
What goes around comes around, right? Well, the legal troubles CBS threw on Howard Stern's plate last week now seem silly in the face of a $3.6 million fine the Federal Communications Commission slapped on dozens of CBS stations and affiliates on Wednesday. The offence? "Indecent television programming."
No, it's not Janet Jackson's two-year-old wardrobe malfunction again, although the FCC did uphold its previous $550,000 fine against 20 of the network's stations for that infamous incident, but rather a network program "Without a Trace," which aired in December 2004 and contained what the FCC called a graphic depiction of "teenage boys and girls participating in a sexual orgy."
These were the first fines issued under FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. Oddly enough, the commission didn't fine Fox Television Network for broadcasting Nicole Richie's foul mouthed appearance during the 2003 Billboard Music Awards or Cher's utterance of an expletive during the 2002 Billboard Music Awards because there is no precedent for punishing "isolated use of expletives."
So, one naked breast or implied teenage orgy-- bad. Language that would make a trucker blush during a music awards show-- okay until further notice.
Now, aren't you glad I told you that?
Moving on to things that impact our businesses more than our daily lives, everyone's favorite regulatory body, the IAB, this week issued proposed Online Lead Generation Best Practices at the IAB Leadership Forum: Performance Marketing Optimization event in Chicago.
Some of the proposed best practices include:
All lead generation efforts need to be strictly permission-based
Advertisers, publishers and vendors must only send consumer offers or information that strictly adheres to the information that consumers have requested
Advertisers, publishers and vendors must provide a clear, concise privacy policy
Publishers and vendors will deliver consumer data that meets the Advertiser's criteria for a quality lead, as determined by the Advertiser's marketing objectives
Publishers and vendors may pre-populate the information fields that a consumer has already provided
These guidelines are posted on the IAB site for the industry to comment on during the next 30 days, so do chime in.
Also at the IAB this week, the results of a new study were released, showing a positive return on investment (ROI) and significant conversions both online and offline for companies that participate in online local, directory and classified advertising.
Conducted by the IAB and comScore, the research also shows that these advertising vehicles have a considerable impact on brand image and it provides empirical evidence that small and large advertisers have a compelling opportunity to leverage the internet as a powerful medium that drives conversion for local services.
Switching gears back to the government for a moment, I should mention that U.S. District Court Judge James Ware has ordered Google Inc. to share its database of consumer searches. As you may remember, the government served Google and a number of other search companies a subpoena last summer, demanding they turn over billions of search requests as part of the administration's effort to protect children from online pornography. Everyone complied except Google. Until now. The amount of information Google will be required to share will not be known until Judge Ware has issued his ruling in writing.
If that's not enough, an audit conducted by ClickFacts Inc. for client Radiator.com found that 35 percent of referrals generated by ads on Google and 17 percent of referrals generated by ads on Yahoo! were the result of click fraud. The case provides the springboard from which columnist Leslie Walker delves into the seamy underbelly of contextual advertising.
Tag that on to Google agreeing to pay up to $90 million last week to settle a clickfraud suit and there's just no shortage of fun conversation topics pouring out of the search giant, which this week said it would turn Google Base, still in beta, into an online retail platform and make a significant push into Europe's retail market, giving traditional retailers a base from which to offer their goods online.
In an effort to save you yet another rant on Google's forays into things better left to experts, I'm going to switch gears yet again and talk about money. First off, marketers spent 4.2 percent more in 2005 than in 2004, with the top 10 U.S. advertisers spending $17 billion across a range of media, according to Nielsen Media Research. Internet ad spending (excluding paid search, sponsorships and barters) increased 23 percent year over year. Nielsen//NetRatings also reported this week that nearly 70 percent of active home internet users now use a broadband connection, which translates into 95.5 million homes. Also, consumers are spending more time online-- 30.5 hours per month today compared to 25.5 hours per month two years ago.
Also, continuing the industry-wide acquisition frenzy I talked about last week, DoubleClick is rumored to be in the final stages of talks to acquire its ad management services competitor Falk eSolutions. We'll keep you posted on this one.
Seeing how the winter doldrums are almost behind us, it's worth mentioning that apparel and other retailers can expect increased traffic this Easter, thanks in part to the holiday falling later in the year. The NRF 2006 Easter Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch for NRF, found that 77.6 percent of Americans plan to celebrate Easter, up marginally from the previous year (75.9 percent). Total Easter spending is estimated to reach $12.63 billion in 2006, a significant increase from the $9.6 billion spent in 2005. This year, the average shopper expects to spend $121.72 on Easter, up from $96.51 in 2005.
According to the survey, consumers will be dedicating almost one-third of their Easter budget to food purchases ($36.44). Other items shoppers will be scooping up include clothing ($22.87), gifts ($18.62), candy ($16.65), flowers ($8.02), decorations ($6.36) and greeting cards ($6.51).
And finally, some fun Easter facts:
Easter accounts for 15 percent of the floral purchases made for holidays, according to the Society of American Florists. Of the flowering houseplants purchased for Easter last year, 53 percent were lilies.
According to the National Confectioners Association, 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies and 16 billion jelly beans are made for Easter each year.
Marshmallow PEEPS have hailed as the top selling non-chocolate Easter candy brand for the last decade, outselling jelly beans.
iMedia Connection Editor at Large Masha Geller is the founder of interactive marketing and corporate communications consultancy Geller Public Relations in New York. She has been covering the interactive advertising industry since 1999 as the former editor in chief of MediaPost.com, and is a widely-published thought leader in the interactive arena.
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