Overlay ads have become quite popular in the online advertising industry, mainly because aside from providing a CTR that’s 5 – 10 times higher than traditional ads,  they can grab users’ attention without being obtrusive. These types of ads can be displayed on top of images or videos on a webpage.

The success of overlay ads can be attributed to the very nature of images and videos. These are usually  the things that users first look at when browsing websites, so attaching an ad to these media practically guarantees that users will look at your advertisements.

Running overlay ads is pretty easy, and your advertising company would usually work with you in optimizing your ads and making sure that they get the highest ROI as possible. Of course, not all advertising agencies are created equally, so if you’re planning to display overlay ads, be sure to ask the following questions first:

1. Are they targeted? –You don’t want to be barking up the wrong tree, so make sure to ask your advertising agency rep about their targeting systems and matching algorithms. Work with the advertising company to ensure that your ads aren’t stuck on images or videos that aren’t related to your products or services. After all, no matter how stunning your ad is, you won’t get any conversions out of it if it isn’t targeted to the right audience.

2. Does the ad network have a wide network of publishers? – Again, online advertising companies come in all shapes and sizes, so when deciding about which company should display your overlay ads, go with the ad agency that has publishers related to what you’re selling. It’s best to look into advertising companies with wide variety of publishers to make sure that your ads will find a suitable spot in their publisher network.

3. What kinds of ad formats are available? – You also have to consider the technical details of the ads itself. Do you want them to appear on top of photos or videos? Should they be positioned at the top or bottom? You also have to decide on the right ad formats for your products or services. Overlay ads can come in a “no frills” plain text format, which is best for users who want information that’s presented in a simple and straightforward way. Want to add a bit of color and variety to your overlays? You can also add an image to your advertisements. This ad formats are extremely effective in showing audiences what your products look like. It’s important to note that there isn’t a “one size fits all” answer to choosing the right ad format. The best way to figure out what type of ad to display is by running tests to see which is more effective. Get to know your target audience and figure out that types of things and offers that they would appreciate the most.

4. When and how will the ads appear? – Also be sure to ask your advertising agency about how the ads will appear. Some overlays show up automatically, while others are only displayed when users hover over an image or video. The behavior of the ad is sometimes decided by the publisher, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask your advertising company if you have some control of how the ad will be displayed.

If you you’re still putting off implementing mobile ads for your business, here’s yet another reason to get on it. According to the numbers released by comScore yesterday, over 100 million US subscribers now use smartphones. Up 13 percent since October, comScore determined that “Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 48.6 percent market share (up 2.3 percentage points) followed by Apple with 29.5 percent market share (up 1.4 percentage points). RIM ranked third with 15.2 percent share, followed by Microsoft (4.4 percent) and Symbian (1.5 percent).”

To determine which devices make up the market share, comScore surveyed over 30,000 mobile subscribers in the US. Results of the said study indicate that Samsung is the number 1 handset manufacturer in the country, claiming 25.4 percent market share. LG took second place with 19.7 percent followed by Motorola and Apple with 13.2 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively. RIM sat at last place claiming just 6.6 percent of mobile users.

Good news for the mobile industry continues, as the numbers for mobile content usage were up all across the board. comScore’s study showed that 74.6% of US mobile subscribers use text messaging on their phones (up 2.8 percentage points from October). Meanwhile, mobile app usage also saw an increase of 4.8 percentage points, with 48.6% of users. Moreover 48.5% (up 4.5 percentage points) of users also surf the Internet using their devices. Unsurprisingly, the percentage of users who access blogs and social media sites through their phones (35.7%) also saw an increase of 3.4 percentage points. Addtionally, the digits for game-playing were also up, as 31.8% (up 2.6 percentage points) of mobile subscribers reported that they play games using their smartphones, while 24.5% said that they listened to music on their devices. (Up 3.3 percentage points).

Yup, more and more people are turning to their smartphones, and this is precisely why advertisers should go mobile as well. Mobile ads are one of the best ways to reach on-the-go consumers, and the great thing about them is that companies can fully customize how their ads appear on mobile devices. Don’t be intimidated by the large variety of mobile devices out there. Ad companies nowadays offer several ad formats that are compatible with the different kinds of gadgets in the market.

Advertisers can choose to be simple and discreet with plain text ads that lead to their site. Want to spice things up a bit? Consider adding an image or even a video that users can interact with. Additionally, advertising companies nowadays have sophisticated algorithms that can effectively determine a user’s location. This is a very nifty feature for businesses because it allows them to target people based on their location, increasing the chance of conversions.

Moreover, social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter, are starting to roll out mobile ads, giving companies the opportunity to tap into the massive user base of these social networks.

On top advertising on mobile websites, companies can also choose to place ads on apps. Businesses won’t have a hard time finding relevant applications, considering that there are currently hundreds of thousands of mobile apps out there, in just about any category imaginable.

If you’re an advertiser and you love Twitter now, get ready to fall in love with it even more. The microblogging site recently announced that they are rolling out new ads for their official mobile apps (iPhone and Android). This is a very wise move, considering that 55 percent of Twitter’s active users access the site using mobile devices.

This isn’t Twitter’s first mobile feature for advertisers though. In fact, according to their blog, “Promoted Trends and Promoted Tweets in search have been available on Twitter for iPhone, Twitter for Android and the mobile web (m.twitter.com) for some time,” while “Promoted Accounts and Promoted Tweets in the timeline have been available on mobile web for several months as well.”

With the new updates, Twitter will push Promoted Accounts beyond the mobile web and into the actual Twitter apps. This means that people who browse the site using the smartphone app will begin to see Promoted Tweets on top of their Twitter feeds from brands that they already follow. According to Twitter, this “will help ensure that people see important Tweets from the brands they care about.”

These tweets will appear like any other tweet, and users will see it only once. When it comes to Promoted Tweets in search, Twitter says that they “will only display Promoted Tweets in the timeline when they are relevant.” If a user encounters a tweet that isn’t relevant to them, they can get rid of it with single swipe. According to Marketing Land, the microblogging site disclosed that “there will be limits on the number of Promoted Tweets that a user will see each day.” This way, users can won’t be bombarded with ads and promotions while using their smartphones.

Promoted Accounts on the other hand will appear on the “Who to Follow” list that recommends accounts that users can follow.

What to Expect

At present, it looks like the new features are only coming to smart phones running on iOS and Android, and there’s no word yet on when they’ll be available on tablets and other mobile operating systems. However, as Marketing Land put it, “it’s logical to assume they’ll eventually make their way to the iPad as the fourth stage of Twitter’s ad expansion (which began on Twitter.com, then rolled out to the m.twitter.com mobile website and now includes the iPhone and Android devices).”

What You Can Do Now

If you’re not ready to jump into mobile just yet, and wish to dip your toes in Twitter’s advertising waters first, consider registering for Twitter’s self-serve ad platform. They teamed up with American Express to allow small businesses to try out their advertising solutions, which include Promoted Tweets that work at a cost-per-engagement method, as well as the Promoted Accounts product that works on a cost-per-follower product. Both products provide geo-level targeting allowing merchants to zero-in on local consumers.

If you’re an American Express merchant or card member, you could be eligible to get $100 in free Twitter advertising when you sign up. The platform isn’t expected to launch until late march, but businesses are encouraged to register right now.

Common sense tells us that when a person sees something numerous times, he or she is more likely to remember it. This same premise applies to ad retargeting (AKA remarketing). Known as one of the most innovative types of ads on the web, remarketing enables advertisers to reach users that visited their site in the past.

For example, say you have a website that sells shoes, and you’re implementing ad remarketing on your store. When a potential customer visits your site without making a purchase, the ad retargeting system drops an anonymous cookie in that person’s browser. This cookie tags a user’s computer and remembers that he or she visited your site. When this user leaves your site and surfs elsewhere, remarketing displays ads for your merchandise on the other websites that the user visits, allowing them to see the products that they previously viewed on your site.

How It Works

Implementing ad retargeting is as simple as adding a code to your site. You’ll also customize the banner ads that are displayed to ensure that the creatives fit your campaigns. Once you have fully set up your campaigns, the remarketing will begin, and ads for your company will be displayed on other sites for your window shopping customers to see.

Providing a Friendly Reminder

Studies indicate that 98 percent of users don’t take any action on a website. This means that nearly all the people that visit your site are simply window shoppers that don’t convert. However, this doesn’t mean that 98% of people have no intention of buying your products. They visited your website, right? This indicates that they have at least some interest in your business. But since people nowadays are bombarded with tons of information per day, it’s easy to get distracted. Remarketing could be just the thing to get lost customers back on track. Send them a friendly reminder to back to your site by displaying your ads on the other web pages that they visit.

Doubt and insecurity are also common reasons for people leaving a site without buying anything. Consumers could be hesitant due to budget, time constraints, or just mere indecision. When customers are on the fence about buying, retargeting could give them the prod that they need to hit the “Add to Cart” button and check out.

Obvious Yet Unobtrusive

With retargeting, ads can appear when a user is surfing other websites, conducting a web search, or composing an email. Remarketing has managed to strike a balance between being obvious and discreet. They appear on numerous places on the web ensuring that users don’t miss the ads, BUT they only appear as banners so they don’t disrupt a person’s browsing experience (unlike pop-up ads that tend to annoy users).

No Harm Done

While it’s true that remarketing uses cookies to remember browsers that visited a website, people should know that the cookies being used are anonymous. This means that no personal or identifiable information is retrieved or stored, so the customers’ privacy is completely safe. However, users who are concerned about these cookies can simply delete their browsing history and other stored data.

We here at AdMedia are incredibly pleased to announce the launch of our An iPod a Day Giveaway! We love our Facebook fans so much that we’re giving away an iPod Nano to one lucky fan EVERYDAY from November 9 to November 16! That’s right, participants will have a week’s worth of chances to win!

All you have to do is LIKE AdMedia on Facebook, and you’ll automatically be entered in the sweepstakes. Be sure to fill out the form with your contact details so that we can notify you if you win.

Want to up your chances of winning? Simply SHARE the contest on your Facebook wall, and you’ll get an extra entry!

We’ll be announcing the winners at the end of each day, so also check the AdMedia Facebook page for updates. Winners that were picked on a weekend will be announced the following Monday.

Good luck everyone!

The internet’s come a long way in a short amount of time. At the turn of the 21st century, online marketing was in its early stages. While the web wasn’t an ad free zone, marketing platforms were fairly basic. Smartphones, social networks, and Youtube loomed in the distance; banners and email solicitations reigned supreme. The total number of users hovered at around 361 million, which accounts for a small fraction of global web activity today. As the online audience increased in size, digital marketers came up with a variety of ways to get their messages across. Although the industry underwent dramatic changes, the laws governing its behavior stayed the same. The federal Dot Com Disclosures emphasized the need for appropriate disclosure, but failed to address unforeseen contemporary concerns.

The Federal Trade Commission plans to reissue the Dot Com Disclosures with help from the public. Consumers, brands, and advocates on both sides are encouraged to share insight into the current legal and technological issues surrounding this issue. The FTC traditionally represents consumer interests, but they specifically requested input from advertisers as well. This signifies a willingness to draft a reasonable compromise. Advertisers should definitely make their voices heard. Submit comments here! You also have the option of sending feedback via snail mail.

Some may be skeptical of the agency because of its anti-business stance, but there’s no reason to fear the FTC at this time. They’re at least open to hearing alternative viewpoints, which give marketers an opportunity to explain the necessity of controversial tactics. For instance, watchdog groups often question behavioral targeting tools. Anyone familiar with this type of data collection knows it’s a completely benign method of combining anonymous geographic information, browsing history, and available demographic characteristics. Besides, there are lots of resources for those who want to block ads entirely. There’s no cause for drastic action when the responsibility truly lies with the viewers. It’s also important to note that internet advertising is one of the only thriving fields during this period of economic recovery. The FTC doesn’t want to implement job killing regulations in a time of high unemployment; however, they might be tempted to so if the response appears one sided. Consumer lobbyists tend to capitalize on these opportunities to influence legislation. This is a chance to finally educate people about staples, such as tracking cookies, retargeting, and location based services. Set the record straight by commenting today!

JC Penney found themselves in hot water back in February as a result of a large scale black hat SEO debacle. The New York Times divulged the details about JC Penney buying massive amounts of links in order to dominate Google’s organic search results. The well known retailer cornered the market on an array of highly competitive as well as perplexing keywords, which raised instant red flags. Their actions violated Google’s policies, and they were officially placed on a 3 month time out period as punishment for attempting to game the system.

Now that enough time passed, analysts decided to check back on the company’s progress. Surprisingly enough, they’ve regained many of their devalued positions without modifying the associated URLs. In fact, most of these links now redirect to the site’s homepage, which renders them essentially useless. These points likely sound irrelevant, but it illustrates the fact that the ranking isn’t coming from Google’s spider crawling the pages in question. SEO experts believe Google simply lifted the penalty without bothering to follow up on the matter. Google’s been accused of issuing empty threats when it comes to high profile brands, and this incident attests to the validity of such rumors.

Credible evidence demonstrates further foul play. For instance, onlookers observed little movement from the other top 10 listings for JC Penney’s high performance keywords. It appears as though Google merely laid out the red carpet for JC Penney to return to its pre-penalty places. Google doesn’t make any promises about what happens once someone returns from the time out box, but this strikes some as unethical behavior. Overstock.com suffered a similar fate for their own link scheme, but they made their path to redemption public knowledge. Google refuses to comment on the current JC Penney scandal, which is a far cry from their Twitter post about the previous incident. There’s no definitive proof to go on, but it’s fair to say that a less prominent business would still be stuck somewhere around page ten for engaging in this type of behavior.

Of course, some argue that there’s really no reason to punish people for exploiting flaws in the algorithm. Businesses need to increase their visibility, especially online. Google must not take this offense very seriously and JC Penney’s profits actually went up despite the bad press. As the saying goes, no harm, no foul.

Outstanding ads definitely leave an impression on the audience. Opinions vary as to what constitutes a remarkable marketing achievement. For instance, an ad’s stickiness may be an accurate indicator regardless of the emotions it elicits. Consumers often recall jingles with amazing accuracy, although they report that they consider the same tune annoying. Repetition undoubtedly plays a role in retention rates. At the same time, people tune out when they feel totally disengaged from the message. Memorization signifies some level of identification though the viewer may not want to admit this fact. Marketers wield tremendous power over the psyche, and a new study finds that copy essentially implants false memories.

Researchers studying the relationship between advertising and cognition gave subjects detailed descriptions of fake products under familiar brand names. Some of the participants ended up sampling the snack food whereas others never got a chance to dig in. Another group read relatively bland pitches without the ultra sensory language; only a portion of these folks munched on the treat as well. Subsequent interviews illustrate the provocative ad’s ability to alter the actual events in people’s minds. A significant number of those who read the flowery diction reported eating the item even though they never did.

The academics hope their findings encourage vigilance on the part of consumers, but they will likely inspire industry insiders in the process. A lesser known discovery involved the role of branding in the whole ordeal. When subjects were given the same ads without a recognizable brand name attached, they didn’t recall instances that never occurred, at least, not as much anyway. While the scientists note the distinction between manipulating thought patterns and instigating buying behavior, their story demonstrates the importance of brand identity. Basically, unknown companies don’t penetrate into the dark recesses of the human mind. Established names, on the other hand, produce intense recollections of an imagined connection. Obviously, there’s a strong emotional undercurrent going on that’s difficult to measure. In all likelihood, it’s possible to replicate this data using close friends instead of admen. It would certainly be interesting to find out what happens when people hear a vivid account of a meal from a friend as opposed to a total stranger. They will probably remember their friend’s tale and claim it as their own. At the very least, they will be able to repeat their friends’ stories without remembering the strangers’ words. Perhaps a brand’s strength lies in its ability to inspire feelings of kinship.

Quality content is essential to successful monetization. Compelling commentary engages the audience thereby decreasing bounce rates. Interested users demonstrate a willingness to interact with brands and “share” information through social networking platforms. Online marketing professionals know the value of superior copywriting, but it’s difficult to maintain consistency without a dependable in-house staff. Content farms fill in the gaps, although most of these companies aren’t very selective about their authors. They’re also notorious for offering low pay rates, which frustrates the truly talented folks. As a result, publishers often settle for lackluster articles that fulfill keyword requirements alone. These types of posts undoubtedly affect an advertiser’s performance because readers tend to ignore poorly written pieces. This means users don’t click on relevant banners or respond to in-text ads. In this sense, copy yields revenue albeit indirectly.

Fortunately, publishers don’t have to tolerate mediocre text anymore; Webfruit.com steps up to the plate connecting skilled copywriters with full time positions as well as freelance gigs. The agency caters to advertising firms, so they go beyond simple SEO techniques. Jobs aren’t limited to marketing alone as the site supports numerous creative formats, including script-writing, journalism, social media, editing, and translation. There are no upfront costs for writers or recruiters. Employers may post a listing on the jobs board for an open pool of applicants or opt for a large list of recommendations based on expertise and availability. Those with in house human resources personnel might want to find the ideal candidate via a profile search. Webfruit operates internationally, and writers bring consummate experience from almost every field imaginable.

Copywriters enjoy the service because it simplifies the process of finding paying clients. Other popular classified sites, such as Craigslist.org, provide resources for lots of different careers. Wordfruit concentrates on perfecting a single craft, and delivers viable employment opportunities on a regular basis. The highly selective system narrows down the author’s pool, so writers aren’t competing over scant resources in a cut throat environment. While the site doesn’t vet its clients, there’s no need to worry about unfulfilled payment obligations. Financial transactions take place through Paypal or bank transfers for security reasons. Wordfruit will not tolerate scammers and refuses to allow postings that demand tons of content for next to nothing.

Facebook finds itself confronting yet another lawsuit. This claim alleges violations of relatively obscure New York laws involving the privacy of minors. The Plaintiff seeks class action status as well as a portion of the site’s advertising revenue. Apparently New York law demands that marketers obtain parental permission prior to utilizing a minor’s name or likeness for commercial purposes.

Facebook’s “social” advertising platform inserts friend’s names into ad copy to achieve higher click through rates. These displays don’t feature profile pictures; however, the site incorporates the names and profile pictures of users who “like” business pages. Users may access these fan lists at any time. The suit alleges that since there’s no opt-out mechanism in place to disable this function, parents have no control over their children’s information or image.

While the monetary reward seems small at this point in time, class action status would likely increase the financial stake exponentially. Before passing judgment on the social networking giant, remember that social ads are restricted to users’ friends lists. Consequently, social ads stem in part from user generated content. Instead of worrying about these promotions, concerned parents should keep track of the individuals their children communicate with online. Kids should not be talking to strangers in the first place; their cyber circles ought to consist of peers, relatives, and select trusted adults. As long as their preferences remain age appropriate, there’s no harm in teens letting their classmates know where they buy clothes at the mall or which gaming system they’re addicted to.

It seems as though these parents are missing the point of joining Facebook altogether. Part of the allure comes from sharing personal preferences with others, especially for young people. Tweens and teens view brands as integral aspects of their identities. In essence, becoming a “fan” of a page is akin to self expression. These likes collectively form a unique persona that reinforces offline interaction. Becoming a fan of a band, movie, store, or clothing company solidifies a teen’s place within a particular clique, such as jocks, skaters, preppies, etc. Though disabling public proclamations of allegiance compromises the delicate nature of teenage social status, parents can always control their kids’ clicks. In the end, parents, not Facebook, must take responsibility for their children’s behavior.