Oscar Wilde said: “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.” That still applies in digital times, as companies work hard for “likes” on Facebook or “re-tweets” on Twitter to build their online presence and community interaction.
This week, online advertising was in the spotlight as sites like Facebook and Twitter made headlines with their efforts to generate revenue.
Early in the week, it was reported that Facebook is now the number one platform for display advertising in the US. The research was carried out by eMarketer, which said that it expects Facebook to generate over $2bn in revenue from display advertising in 2011.
In another study released this week by Hitwise, data was compiled from the top 100 retailers to find how much web traffic was generated by a Facebook fan. It showed that each fan of a Facebook page produced an extra 20 visits to a website.
Facebook also announced its latest ad product, sponsored comments, and a council that will develop its ad strategy.
Also this week, the Financial Times’ Tim Bradshaw revealed Twitter’s plans to include “promoted tweets” in user streamlines. He wrote that the move is “likely to be controversial with users who have seen only limited and unobtrusive marketing messages so far in Twitter’s five-year history”.
Over at Time’s The Curious Capitalist blog, Sean Gregory wrote that users “may barely notice the ‘Promoted’ tweet” as long as the amount of ads displayed in the user’s timeline is not overbearing.
He pointed out in his blog post that users will likely ignore the advertised tweets: “Timeline-scrolling is a rushed exercise: your eyes quickly dart up and down the screen, as you seek out the information that most interests you.”
Google’s advertising has also been moving in new directions. Though it is known for its terse, text-laden search ads, it has been working hard to convince brand-owners that it also has the spark to come up with more engaging campaigns online.
In a sign that at least others in the industry are impressed with the results, its work was recognised this week for its creativity and inventiveness. At Cannes Lions Festival, Google received five creative awards for works like the interactive music video, “Wilderness Downtown,” Search Engine Watch reported.
James Lenhart of allGeek.tv, writing about Twitter, summed up the wider economic reality for all these companies when he told his readers: “You’ll probably want to click on a few ads, because lack of revenue means lack of service.”
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