Posts Tagged ‘industry’
Walter Knapp, COO of Lijit Networks and SVP of Platform Revenue at Federated Media Publishing, recently wrote an article for ad industry publication Adotas on how changes in the online advertising ecosystem have affected independent publishers. A snippet of the article is included below. To read the rest of the article, please check it out online.
ADOTAS – The online advertising market is booming. The display market in particular is likely to have hit $9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 – a growth spurt that even on a steep chart looks like a right angle. That’s the good news. The bad news, from a publisher perspective, is that much of that spend is consolidated by a relatively small number of companies (Facebook, Yahoo!, AOL, Google, and Microsoft). This condensing ad spend runs counter to what the internet is about and why we as consumers spend so much of our time immersed in it.
What does this mean for high-quality, independent, niche and professional publishers that make up the majority of the web? Why are those publishers, authors, creators and curators of some of the best authentic, informational and entertaining content struggling for their fair share of the economics? It’s one of those things that’s simple to understand conceptually, and yet difficult to solve both at the same time.
What do you think? Please feel free to post a comment below or send Walter an email directly.
Tags: blogging, industry, Lijit publishers | View Comments
A few weeks ago a friend of mine and a friend of Lijit’s lost his battle with cancer. They say success has many fathers, but Jerome can certainly claim an important role in making Lijit a success. Jerome was the first institutional investor in Lijit when he was at High Country Ventures.
I got to know Jerome while I was still at Raindance and through the final years of my involvement at Raindance we would often meet for breakfast to discuss my many crazy ideas. When I started Lijit, Jerome helped me formulate some of the ideas and strategies and when our Angel round of financing needed a little more investment fuel he led High Country into a $200K investment.
Jerome was a tough business guy, and like a lot of tough business guys he had his fans and otherwise. I was always in the fan category. When he had something constructive to add around the board table he would add it. When he didn’t he wouldn’t. Jerome was a consummate professional.
A few years ago Jerome moved on to San Francisco and Crosslink Capital. I pitched Crosslink for a late stage investment round but my style didn’t mesh with the other partners at Crosslink. I believe humility is the best tool as a CEO, but as Jerome counseled me after the fact, that style can appear weak – especially to a Valley VC expecting “ego” to be plentiful. We found our investment somewhere else but nearly every time I was in San Francisco over the last two years I would meet Jerome for breakfast at the Meridian Hotel near his office. He always had helpful advice on business and we had great discussions about taking our favorite cars to the track to go fast.
I’m not a friend maker (or collector) by nature. But I counted Jerome as one of them.
Tags: industry, Todd Vernon | View Comments
We are excited to announce Federated Media Publishing’s new Tech Blog. With FMP’s recent acquisition of Lijit Networks, technology has come to the forefront of the company’s business strategy and the new blog will share details about current and future technology initiatives.
Employees across FMP will lift the curtain and talk about the high level technology behind FMP’s advertiser and publisher products and services. As Tim Musgrove, Chief Scientist and FMP, states: “we’ll share some of the results, surprises and problems we’ve uncovered along the way, as well as our ideas on where things might go in the future.”
We already have a few posts up about current initiatives at FMP:
- Our very own Todd Vernon, Founder and CEO of Lijit and now EVP of Technology at FMP, provides his thoughts on how FMP’s acquisitions of Lijit, TextDigger, FoodBuzz, and BigTent will help turn FMP into a top 5 media property.
- FMP Chief Scientist Tim Musgrove provides a deep dive into Conversation Targeting (CT), a top technology priority for the company in early 2012.
- Peter Ridge, Senior Director of Product Management at FMP, discusses security requirements for a wireless network.
Please take a moment to check out the new site, and let us know what you think!
Tags: industry, Lijit publishers, new features, publishers | View Comments
Many of you are witness to a shift in the world of online advertising that sees ad networks being replaced by programmatic buying technologies like real-time bidding (RTB) and private exchanges. Technologies like these deliver greater return to both advertisers and publishers by enabling them to connect directly to each other. Advertisers set a price for what they’re willing to pay to access a publisher’s audience, and publishers gain greater control over their inventory while at the same time exposing it to a larger pool of demand sources. RTB is what enables this interaction between advertiser and publisher to take place.
Publishers are the core of our business, and because of that we are constantly looking for new ways to deliver higher CPMs and fill rates. When it comes to RTB, the more DSPs we integrate with, the more access brand advertisers have to our publishers’ inventory. The more demand from brand advertisers, the higher the return we can deliver to publishers.
Today we are pleased to announce our latest RTB integration with XA.net, our newest partner. The partnership with XA.net comes on the heels of a handful of other recent integrations with industry-leading DSPs including MediaMath, m6d, Chango, and MyBuys. With these and many more planned for the coming months, publishers should continue to see higher returns from Lijit’s online advertising services.
Tags: industry, Lijit Advertising Services, Lijit publishers, new features | View Comments
Direct sales and programmatic sales are often discussed as competing functions within the publisher business model. However, the two channels are distinct enough that they should not compete with each other. In fact, the most successful publishers we work with from a revenue standpoint have a strong aptitude for managing direct and programmatic sales alongside one another. In order to do so most effectively, it is important to understand the distinctions. Specifically, the following five points cover some of the things that publishers can offer advertisers through direct sales that they cannot get through programmatic channels:
- The guarantee/sponsorship/future: Advertisers want the guarantee of being placed next to premium content, above the fold, in front of a guaranteed set of eyeballs, for a specific period of time, at a set rate. Further, media buyers are tasked with spending 100% of their budgets for fear they are reduced next quarter because they didn’t spend enough. Without a guarantee in place with publishers, their media spend is at risk of (a) not being spent or (b) being spent in less than ideal context at the end of a fiscal period. Programmatic buying technology like real time bidding (RTB) provides advertisers/media buyers no guarantee on price, contextual placement, or impression volume.
- Site takeovers and other non-standard ad units: A site takeover or “skin” is very visible to a reader, generates high CTRs, and creates brand awareness. Because of this, takeovers have very high CPM rates and cannot easily be bought or sold on an exchange due to the infinite ways for designing and architecting a site. Likewise, ad units that are not standard IAB sizes (160×600, 300×250, 728×90) can and should be integrated into the unique design and architecture of a site, and sold for premium prices.
- Banners integrated with content: Below is a banner from Miller Light from my Fantasy Football league that has been creatively integrated with content. This banner shows the score of the Fantasy game each week and allows Fantasy players to “Smack Talk.” This must have been an expensive campaign due to the way it is integrated into the site. The more integrated the advertisement is into the content of the site, the less the chance that an algorithm can decide the price programmatically.
- The leading edge of media technology: While there are emerging exchanges for both video and mobile inventory, nothing yet exists that is as efficient as the market for standard IAB display banners. Publishers can much more easily package and directly sell media like video, audio, mobile web, and applications than any exchange currently can. Even as exchanges mature for some of these types of media, there will always be something that is a little newer or more innovative than that which can be quickly commoditized.
- Conversation: Publishers have their own brand. And in the age of social media, brands need to be a part of the conversation. Blog posts, comments, and tweets are where this conversation lives in a public forum. The influence of a publisher’s brand within the conversation should not be underestimated—marketers are willing to pay a lot for it. This is something that our sister company, Federated Media Publishing, is pioneering across the Independent Web.
So why in the world would advertisers ever buy programmatically? It comes down to one thing: audience data. I will delve deeper into this subject in my next post and explore some ways publishers can manage their programmatic channels more effectively. Again, the better a publisher is at understanding the distinctions between programmatic and direct, the better the two channels can compliment each other, working together to maximize inventory value and revenue.
Tags: employee guest post, industry, Lijit publishers, publishers | View Comments
We caught wind of some changes over at SAY Media. Seems they have asked some of their smaller publishers to find an alternate ad network.
We could speculate as to why they made this decision, but that really does not matter much.
What does matter is the publisher.
We would love to extend an invitation to any publishers who would like to work with us over here at Lijit.
Publishers are our people.
Let us know right away if we can help you continue your revenue stream – especially at the most important time of the year.
Here is more information on our ad services.
Please email us and a member of our publisher development team will be in touch shortly. We look forward to working with you.
Happy Holidays!
Tags: industry, Lijit publishers, publishers | View Comments
Why Publishers Should Embrace Programmatic Buying
Nov 30th
by mpuentes in Company, Lijit publishers, industry, technology
Those who “own” inventory are concerned that through exchanges, advertisers and trading desks have access to the same premium placements at lower CPMs, thereby diluting direct sales opportunities.
As a premium publisher, you probably invest in a sales team to monetize your inventory. You sell a unique readership, social engagement capabilities, contextual relevance, and other site-specific aspects that help value premium inventory at premium prices. Your team works hard to close direct deals with high CPMs to make sure the value of the inventory is not diluted so they can keep cash in their pockets!
On the other side of the coin is the brand advertiser. Brand advertisers also have concerns about exchanges because they are hyper-sensitive to brand alignment. They work hard to protect their brand from the “Wild West” we call the Internet, and are über-sensitive to the variability of content across the web.
Buying direct from premium publishers ensures contextual relevancy and protects against brand conflict. It’s the safe route that allows a brand advertiser to lock in contextually relevant real estate and track ROI.
A “true” private exchange turns potential dilution of inventory, internal struggles with the sales team, and contextual awareness into a big-time publisher opportunity. In a true private exchange, the sales team continues to work with advertisers to sell premium inventory. Let’s not forget what’s important to advertisers: (1) contextual placement and (2) guaranteed inventory/unique(s).
A “true” private exchange gives priority bidding to the select advertisers that have negotiated a higher mid-tier CPM. The CPM is higher than on an open exchange because it’s backed by data, yet lower than a premium CPM because it’s not guaranteed.
The industry needs to embrace true private exchanges. A “true” private exchange solves a real business problem for both the publisher and advertiser:
(1) Publishers can place inventory on a private exchange at a $3-$10 CPMs and offer it to a “select” set of advertisers
(2) Publishers can use the private exchange to build a process and compensation plan for the sales team
3) Advertisers feel safe using a private exchange that guarantees contextual placement and protects against brand conflict.
The private exchange is a true private marketplace where the prioritized advertiser with the highest bid wins.
Tags: ads, blogging, industry, Lijit Advertising Services | View Comments
Last week a group of us here at Lijit ventured to New York City for the annual ad:tech New York event. ad:tech is always one of the industry’s biggest events of the year and this year proved to be no different. The event brings together industry professionals from all aspects of the digital space – from the extensive amount of publishers present, to technology providers, and everyone in between, the opportunities for networking and idea sharing were endless!
To kick-off ad:tech, Lijit co-hosted the Unofficial User Generated Music party along with M6D, AdSafe, Audience Science, and Pubmatic. With more than 1,000 people in attendance, the evening was definitely one to be remembered!
The amazing night of entertainment began with an industry band—Something Heavy—and was followed up by rock star live band Karaoke. Lijit’s very own Manny Puentes graced the stage and proved that CTO’s can sing too! Check out pictures from the event below…
A big thank you to all Lijit publishers who came and supported this event as well as our new FMP team members in the New York office!
Tags: fun, good times, industry, lijit, Lijit publishers | View Comments
On Tuesday, September 20 Lijit’s CEO and Founder Todd Vernon had the privilege of speaking at Federated Media’s Signal Chicago conference. His presentation, titled “Using Supply Side Platforms, Real-Time Bidding, and Private Exchanges to Reach the Independent Web at Scale,” provides a brief overview of the latest technologies in online advertising.
In this session, Todd discusses the following:
- How to use SSPs (supply side platforms) to source inventory
- How brand marketers can use audience analysis to reach desired themes and conversations
- How to expose audience and content segments to automated buyers
- How to use audience futures to reserve media through private exchanges
Check out his quick, 10-minute presentation below. Enjoy!
Tags: events, industry, Lijit Advertising Services, speaking, Todd Vernon | View Comments
What we’re working on at Lijit is a way to help publishers extract added value from being part of a network. Here’s how we see it:
According to Metcalf’s Law, a network’s value derives from the number of nodes that are connected to the network. Metcalfe’s law states that the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system (n2). Metcalfe’s law was originally presented, circa 1980, not in terms of users, but rather of “compatible communicating devices” (for example, fax machines, telephones, etc). Only recently with the launch of the internet did this law carry over to users and networks as its original intent was to describe Ethernet purchases and connections. The law is also very much related to economics and business management, especially with competitive companies looking to merge with one another. For example, 2 telephones can make only 1 connection, 5 can make 10 connections, and 12 can make 66 connections (see graphic to the left).
In the web of online publishing, the notion of network value is under-exposed (forgotten even?) when it comes to individual websites. Most of the “network effect” online remains confined to well-known examples like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and eBay. That doesn’t have to be the case. There is no reason that individual publishers or networks of sites of any size can’t benefit from being a node on the broader network and the associated reader, advertiser and traffic patterns.
Lijit leverages the aggregated network footprint of readers, search terms, demographics, brand advertisers, and a list of other important attributes. We take that aggregated asset and then feed the network value back to each individual publisher or site. This reflection of network value helps publishers simply: be better. Write better content. Curate more relevant things. Uncover ways to engage their readers more. And even make more money if that’s of interest to them. Every offering we have is free to the publisher, simple to implement, and comes with no strings attached. Publishers get value from it, or they vote with their feet and leave the network.
There are 5 primary categories of information that Lijit is providing publishers to help them gain crucial insights and actionable information. Information that they can use to make sites better, create or curate more engaging content, gain reader attention, and deliver better advertising that helps marketers reaches the right consumers.
- Comparisons: How does my site compare to other like sites?
- Trending: Are their macro trends that affect my advertising revenue?
- Indexes: Do sites like mine lag or exceed my peers?
- Intent: What are my readers looking or searching for?
- Engagement: How do readers engage into and with my content?
In each of the topical areas above the answer exists, or is amplified by, the networked connections between aggregation, comparison, and multi-site behavior of traffic, readers, marketers, social content, and reader expressions.
There does not exist a service today that helps publishers extract this understanding, much less value, from being a participant in the internet network. Look for some exciting and innovative new tools, services and analytics from Lijit in the near future that provide added value to publishers based on the key ingredients of network and context.
Tags: industry, Lijit publishers | View Comments