The AdStart Homepage

We don't usually like bragging, but we can't resist. Results from beta testing of AdStart have been higher than we ever imagined. Compared to Google AdWords, AdStart yielded a CTR seven times higher for a fraction of the cost. Basically, that means AdStart rocks.

The AdStart Campaigns Overview Page

Here are a few examples of what AdStart can offer advertisers:

• Access to over 4,500 sites and over 55 million unique visitors per month
• In-depth reporting and conversion tools to optimize your ROI
• Increase in sales, leads, downloads, subscriptions and brand awareness
• Better targeting, better relevance and better engagement

We'd love to hear what you think of AdStart. To try it out, click here. Leave us a comment with your feedback!

Ad revenues fell $22.7 billion (3.4%) last year acting as the first economic decline in online advertising since the 2001-2002 recession.

While Q1 's $5.9 billion revenue reflects an expected decrease from 2009's fourth quarter it also reveals continued improvement into this year which was less predictable. Search brought in almost half of 2009 ad revenue. Search, display advertising and banners also saw jumps in ad sales.

"Successful business woman" by Flickr user tum_camen

Now the question on everyone’s mind -- is this development the beginning of true change or just a false start?

David Silverman, partner at PwC, happens to believe we've left our tough times in the dust.  In the report he states, “The record $6.3 billion spent on Internet advertising in the fourth quarter of 2009, while certainly aided by seasonal demand, is a strong indication that the worst of the economic impact on the internet advertising is over and that the seeds of growth have been planted.”

In my inexpert opinion, I doubt the economy as whole will mirror the recent improvements in the online advertising world.  Nonetheless, I have a good feeling that this new trend in internet advertising will continue, at least through 2010. If the increase in online spending is any indication, companies are looking for innovative ways to meaningfully engage with their customers and see that reflected in their profits. The overall improvement in first quarter statistics provide a bright and optimistic outlook for the rest of the year.

Are you a WordPress-based publisher? Perhaps, you've been wondering why we haven’t built a plugin for WordPress users.

We have been thinking about how to make things easier for you. Things in the pipeline include a shiny new publisher panel and you guessed it, a brand spankin’ new plugin just for the WordPress community.

Before, implementing our technology was a bit on the technical side for average users. Now setting up our in-image advertising solution through WordPress is simple and easy.

Just install a snippet of our code via our WordPress plugin in your pages. Our system matches relevant ads with your images based on your metadata. Once you’ve activated the plugin you’re ready to start earning money!

Download the plugin here and spread the word!

Photo by Carlos Zaragoza via stock.xchg

In light of this, we'd like to help publishers like you demystify these terms so you can make the best advertising revenue decisions for your blog. Here are some of the most commonly used terms in online marketing:

Affiliate Marketing. Affiliate marketing is a web-based revenue sharing practice between advertisers/merchants (affiliate merchants) and online publishers, whereby compensation is based on performance measures, typically in the form of sales, clicks, registrations, or a hybrid model. In a traditional affiliate network the merchant usually has a direct relationship with the publisher.

CPA -- cost-per-action. Also known as pay for performance, CPA is an effective way for merchants to select how they want to pay for their advertising -- by click, impression, sale or other variable. Like traditional affiliate marketing, CPA payouts are based on cost-per-action, where you get paid for leads you generate to their site that perform a specific action.

In a CPA network, the merchant communicates to publishers through the network and does not have direct contact with their affiliates. They also tend to have very transparent metrics with extensive lists of CPCs for search terms.

CPC -- cost-per-click. CPC programs are mostly successful in content-rich websites and blogs. The model is based on the amount of money an advertiser pays search engines and other Internet publishers for a single click on its advertisements that brings one one visitor to its website.

CPC and CPM advertising is typically viewed as being about brand awareness. Brand conscious advertisers only interested in getting exposure will pay a high profile publisher for impressions or clicks with little regard for their return or investment.

CPM -- cost-per-thousand-impression. An impression is a single instance of an ad appearing on a website. In CPM ad networks, advertisers pay for the amount of traffic that simply view a web page with an advertisement or a pop-up or pop under ad. While CPM does not pay as well as other types of monetization strategies it fits large publishers needs quite well. If you're running a highly trafficked site, the bulk of impressions can easily translate low-paying CPM ads into a profitable revenue stream.

PPC -- pay-per-click, Also known as, pay-per lead or pay-per-sale. PPC implements the affiliate model, offering financial incentives (in the form of a percentage of revenue) to affiliated partner sites.

Have any other online marketing terms that need explaining? Let us know in the comments!

The round was led by New Atlantic Ventures. Mike Gordon, co-founder of Limelight Networks, also participated and will be joining the board. Full release is below.

Image Space Media Receives $2.9 Million In First Round Financing from Leading Media Industry Investors
Funds Will Support Publisher Network Growth and Development of Leading Edge Technology

New York, NY, January 19, 2010—Image Space Media (www.imagespacemedia.com), the leading provider of in-image advertising for the Internet, has received $2.9 million in first-round financing led by New Atlantic Ventures (NAV). Michael Gordon, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Limelight Networks, Inc. (LLNW), will also join the Board of Directors.

“Publishers are constantly seeking effective methods for monetizing their site content. Image Space Media’s ad overlay platform provides a source for incremental revenue that doesn’t compete with other revenue sources,” said Jesse Chenard, CEO, who most recently co-founded leading online video advertising network, Tremor Media. “Given the huge numbers of images across the Internet, the potential for scale is just incredible.”

With more than 34 million unique visitors each month, Image Space Media places relevant ads on the lower fourth of 7.5 million images across the Internet and serves hundreds of millions of impressions per month.

"Site visitors consistently engage with site images and rarely view banners anymore. Image Space Media has identified a solution to banner blindness and is getting great performance from their ads,” said Scott Johnson, Managing Partner at NAV. "Publishers need incremental revenue now more than ever so we are extremely bullish on the Company’s prospects."

Publishers gain incremental revenue through relevant, precisely targeted ads. The transparent ads are user-controlled and only appear when the site visitor mouses over an image. "Image Space Media’s advanced platform is delivering outstanding results for an expanding group of publishers and advertisers and is poised for even more significant growth,” said Gordon. “Website images represent a significant untapped revenue opportunity for publishers and a new, high-engagement opportunity for advertisers."

About Image Space Media

posted by Thomson on The Design Mag

Image Space Media is the leading provider of in-image advertising for
the Internet.  Image Space Media reaches more than 32 million unique
users worldwide each month with its ad overlay solution. Image Space
Media superimposes relevant advertisements over more than 7 million
images across the Internet and serves hundreds of millions of
impressions per month. Image Space Media provides publishers with a
method for adding incremental revenue to their sites and advertisers
an additional pipeline to reach their customers. Founded in 2008 and
headquartered in New York, Image Space Media maximizes web
advertisement space without compromising content integrity. For more
information please visit www.imagespacemedia.com, follow
@imagespacemedia on Twitter.

About New Atlantic Ventures

Leigh Taylor Photography from yeeeeee

New Atlantic Ventures is a leading early-stage venture capital firm
targeting investments in technology companies in emerging mass
markets. Through its offices in Cambridge, MA and Reston, VA, NAV
targets companies in the Eastern United States, while also pursuing
select opportunities nationwide. The NAV portfolio includes
investments in Pontiflex, Stitcher, GateRocket, Mpowerplayer, TVU
Networks, Koofers, Secure Command and FashionPlaytes. For more
information, visit www.navfund.com.

The report, "The Rise of the Real Mom," finds that women today no longer strive to be the "Supermom" who somehow finds a balance between a successful career, perfect children, and stress-free home life. Instead, mothers today are practical and grounded in reality: "real moms understand that tradeoffs are implicit in motherhood; they don't see things as black and white." And, importantly, today's women have interests beyond being caretakers and nurturers.

Capitalizing on this new understanding of the real mom could be very lucrative for producers, given that women control 73 percent of household spending, or $4.3 trillion. The authors of the report suggest that marketers should make mothers feel in control and able to delegate tasks to others so they can focus on their unique interests.  Be sure to check out the report -- it's an interesting and informative lesson on the changing interests and needs of one of advertisers' most important demographics.

Luxury brands have struggled to utilize the web where sites for knock-offs and deep discounts abound. Upholding the integrity of their brands is of utmost importance to keep their aging consumer base.

All eyes are on Burberry who has just launched Art of the Trench, a gallery of street photography of people wearing the iconic Burberry trench. They enlisted fashion photographers to begin the project and have invited the public to submit their own photos. The execution of the site is beautiful and has lead to a lot of buzz. It will be interesting to see how Burberry will ride this wave and if other luxury brands will follow suit.

This year's ad:tech New York expo was hosted at the Javits Center, and Image Space Media was there to partake in all the action (and free schwag!) With over 250 exhibitors, ad:tech is the largest gathering of online marketers and where "brands, agencies, publishers and service providers come together to share, network, and do business.". The expo was held here in New York City on November 4th & 5th, but if you missed the NYC show, it is also held yearly in: Sydney, Paris, San Francisco, Singapore, Chicago, Tokyo, London, Shanghi, and Beijing.

Many companies were very creative in making their booths, and were giving out all sorts of schwag like notebooks, pens, condoms, stickers, breathalyzers (I tested mine out later that night), and candy. Convert2Media had a bar with Amstel light on tap, Design Back Office was offering free logo designs, and Facebook gave out a code for free trial ads.

After all the fun at the expo, there were after parties all over town. Some of our team hit up the Roosevelt Hotel and the Providence Hotel to celebrate a successful day.

Overall, the expo was very interesting (thanks to the free beer and schwag) and the Image Space Media team gained a lot of valuable knowledge (along with sore feet.)