Potential On-line Ad Issues

Recent study shows that many ads being bought online are not going to the likely prospects, appear merely sketchy content or are simply not seen.

This is in a study released by market researcher comScore that basically confirmed what the majority of marketers already suspected.

The study involved an online advertising study of 12 major advertisers that found, among other things that, a large number of ad impressions are not delivered according to plan and that the quality of ad delivery can vary greatly based on a variety of factors, including site, placement, and creative and targeting strategy.

The study which took place in December.  “This is the first study to bring 12 leading marketers together to holistically understand how online advertising is delivered, allowing us to begin to diagnose sources of waste and identify solutions for improving the value that all players in the ecosystem can extract from the digital advertising market,” Linda Abraham, comScore’s co-founder and CMO, said in a statement. “Until now, neither side of the industry has had a clear picture of ad delivery, resulting in a lack of confidence in digital’s ability to deliver on its promise as the most measurable advertising medium. The insights from the charter study represent a critical first step to improving the efficiency, efficacy and ultimately the economics of online advertising for all participants.“

The study, which took place in December, involved ad campaigns for Allstate, Chrysler, Discover, E-Trade, Ford, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Kimberly Clark, Kraft and Sprint.

The study brought together 12 leading marketers together, to understand how online advertising is delivered with the aim of  identifying sources of waste and improving the overall value of the the digital advertising market.  “The unclear picture and resulting lack of confidence in the efficacy of ad delivery has been clarified by the insights from the charter study representing a critical first step to improving the efficiency, efficacy and ultimately the economics of online advertising for all participants” said comScore’s co-founder and CMO, said in a statement.

The study which showed that 31 percent of ads were not “in-view”, that is that they never had an opportunity to be seen also showed a great variation across sites where the campaigns ran.

Basic demographic objectives performed well in hitting targets such as those attempting to reach people in a broad age range.  With the addition of demographic variables, such as income and gender, the accuracy rates of ad delivery declined.

Nevertheless, results also showed that 37 percent of all impressions were delivered to audiences with profiles that were relevant to the brand.