A new study by the Network Advertising Initiative finds behaviorally targeted ads get double the clicks of non-targeted ads. (CNET) Better still, those that click on behaviorally targeted ads are three-times as likely to make a purchase.
Those are terrific numbers, but this sounds familiar. Remember in 2002 Gartner reported pop-ups earned double the clicks as standard banner ads. And we all know what happened to those.
Point is: It's going to take more than good results to save behavioral targeting from the same fate as pop-ups (or telemarketing, for that matter). As you probably know, a couple of bills are inching their way up Capitol Hill that could seriously impede behavioral targeting. And thus far, the effectiveness of targeting isn't the focus.
According to one expert: "Policy discussion around behaviorally-targeted advertising has lacked a critical foundation, because there had never been an empirical assessment of the value of such advertising." (Econsultancy)
Despite the risk of a "collision course with privacy advocates… maybe even congress," one company that isn't slowing down with behavioral targeting efforts is Google. The company announced this week they're moving their new behavioral targeting product out of beta. (All Things Digital)
Archive for Mario Sgambelluri 
New study shows BT works really well, but will results save BT?
Trend watch:
Have you heard of "haul videos" yet? They're homespun video shorts (around 10 minutes) where (mostly) teen girls show off the gear they just bought at the store. Sound like nonsense? Well, these vids are racking up millions of views on YouTube (amounting to millions of hours of product spotlight). Not only that, but sponsors are jumping in and one haul video vlogger dropped out of high school to focus on the sport...
Leno vs. Conan a
"Drama surrounding 'The Tonight Show' has nothing to do with Conan O'Brien or Jay Leno, but is instead a demonstration of the changing tide of consumer habits from television time slots to the Web," says the NY Times' Bits blog.
That's a bit of an over-simplifications, but Bits has a point, "Mr. O'Brien's youthful supporters won't crowd around the television at a specific time, instead they go to YouTube and Gawker to watch their late-night television."
So should Conan ditch TV and go web only? Bits thinks so. "He should come back and make the Internet his time slot."
But socialvibe's Joe Marchese disagrees in a column at MediaPost, "Even if Conan O'Brien could generate the same audience, with even greater levels of transparency and tools for engagement, he would generate orders of magnitude less revenue."
