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Alexander McCall-Smith Engages Web 2.0

The Daily Telegraph is in the middle of a 20-week serialisation of an online book created by author Alexander McCall-Smith, his first such project. New Media Knowledge caught up with the organisers to discuss ‘Corduroy Mansions’.

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Business Brief: Video Advertising Looks to Future

Google has announced it will incentivise advertisers on its video properties as well as launching research programmes into how Web users consume Internet video material. New Media Knowledge spoke to a number of industry players to gauge their views on where the video advertising market is going.

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‘Virtual Home’ for Ex-Pats in London Established

A social network aimed at providing information for ex-pats living in London has been established. New Media Knowledge met the site’s co-founder to find out more.

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• Rough Guide to: Social Media and the Law
• Record Visits for UK Blog Sites
• Clearing Congestion
• Rough Guide to: Pay-Per-Click Advertising
• Opinion: What Happens to Newspapers?
• LinkedIn Adds Business Applications
• What Happens to Newspapers?

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• Rough Guide to: Pay-Per-Click Advertising

  Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising on the Web has been one of the major growth sectors in marketing. Last year, Internet search engine Google overtook ITV for monies received from advertising and nearly $2 billion was spent on PPC globally. New Media Knowledge spoke to a PPC consultant to gauge what companies looking at the technology should consider. more

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Ad Growth and Change

Spending on online advertising is expected to represent 18% of all UK advertising spending in 2007 — more than double the percentage in the US or in any other European country. That’s according to new research from eMarketer.

The study, UK Online Advertising - press release here - predicts solid growth for the internet advertising industry over the next four years:

In fact, Britain is set to account for just over half of all online ad spending in Western Europe this year.That share will rise to 52.6% of regional online spending by 2010, and amount to £4.11 billion ($7.77 billion). Steady economic growth and further advances in broadband will help fuel this growth. Just as important will be developments in paid search, rich media and advertising on social networks. Together, all these factors will drive UK online ad spending to a total of £4.45 billion ($8.24 billion) in 2011.

However, attitudes towards advertising may change its nature. There is still considerable resistance to some forms of online advertising. One 2006 study by TNS commissioned by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) found that 31% of UK consumers considered advertising of any kind intrusive, against 15% who did not. In order to make internet adverts more acceptable, a number of possible improvements were suggested by researchers from Ipsos Insight (see table).

Interestingly, it does not appear that UK consumers are particularly hungry for better adverts. Only 23% said that they wanted more innovative ads, though 37% thought internet advertising might be more acceptable to them if the adverts were funnier or more entertaining. The reports authors conclude that this lack of desire points towards an industry that is already mature and well-developed. By far the largest request, though, is for advertising that is relevant to the consumer’s immediate needs, with 64% requesting that adverts around editorial matter be more relevant to what they are reading at the time. This very large preference for contextual ads would seem to point towards a brighter future for search-related, contextual advertising than for traditional brand adverts.