Types of Online Advertising
Semantic Advertising
Semantic advertising applies semantic technologies to online advertising solutions.
The function of semantic advertising technology is to semantically analyze every web page in order to properly understand and classify the meaning of a web page and accordingly ensure that the web page contains the most appropriate advertising.
Semantic advertising increases the chance that the viewer will click-thru because only advertising relevant to what they are viewing, and therefore their interests, should be displayed.
The Evolution of Online Advertising
Advertising on the Internet has the potential to be finely narrow-cast, i.e., specifically adjusted to the interests of the individual viewer.
However, mainstream techniques for identifying these interests-contextual advertising and behavioral targeting-are problematic.
Semantic analysis of a web page provides an understating of its overall meaning in the semantic approach.
By comparison, contextual advertising technology bases web page advertising on a keyword scan of the text of a website or Internet search.
An automated function loads advertisements onto the web page based on the text.
However, keywords can have various meanings.
For example, a web page containing the word "jaguar" may generate ads about zoos and cars.
The very different nature of these contextual results means that someone's advertising budget is not being spent wisely.
Behavioral Targeting:
This form of advertising uses information collected on an individual's web-browsing behavior, such as the pages they have visited or the searches they have made, to select which advertisements to display to that individual.
However, many platforms identify visitors by assigning a unique HTTP cookie that tracks the web pages they visit.
Cookies are the subject of controversy due to privacy issues.
In fact, the United States and European governments have taken action towards restricting their use.
Performance-Based Advertising:
With performance-based advertising, the advertiser pays only for measurable results.
With other forms of advertising they pay regardless of results.
Performance-based advertising is becoming more common with the spread of electronic media, notably the Internet, where it is possible to directly measure user actions that result from the advertisement.
In fact, over half of all internet advertising is performance-based today.
Pay Per Click Advertising:
Pay per click advertising or, PPC advertising, is an arrangement in which webmasters (operators of Web sites), acting as publishers, display clickable links from advertisers in exchange for a charge per click.
As this industry evolved, a number of advertising networks developed, which acted as middlemen between these two groups (publishers and advertisers).
Each time a (believed to be) valid Web user clicks on an ad, the advertiser pays the advertising network, who in turn pays the publisher a share of this money.
This revenue-sharing system is seen as an incentive for click fraud.
The largest of the advertising networks, Google's AdWords/AdSense and Yahoo! Search Marketing, act in a dual role, since they are also publishers themselves (on their search engines).
According to critics, this complex relationship may create a conflict of interest.
For instance, Google loses money to undetected click fraud when it pays out to the publisher, but it makes more money when it collects fees from the advertiser.
Because of the spread between what Google collects and what Google pays out, click fraud directly and invisibly profits Google.
Some have even speculated that Google's barring users of the Google Analytics system from tracing IP addresses of visitors is directly related to click fraud on the Google AdWords network and a desire to keep the true extent of click fraud from being disclosed.
Dot Commercials:
A dot commercial is an online advert which takes the form of the traditional 30-second promotional film.
The dot is a reference to the dotcom Internet commerce revolution at the turn of the century.
The name 'dotcom' refers to the ".com" appendage common to Internet domain names.
In-Text Advertising:
In-text advertising is a form of contextual advertising where specific keywords within the text of a web-page are matched with advertising and/or related information units.
Although contextual advertising, in general, refers to the inclusion of advertisements adjacent to relevant online context (e.g. Google AdSense), in-text advertising places hyperlinks directly into the text of the web-page.
However, publishers such as the Indianapolis Star who use in-text advertising have reported that, despite early objections by some readers, such complaints have "tapered off".
Online Classified Advertising:
Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, e.g. free ads papers or Penny-savers.
Classified advertising differs from standard advertising or business models in that it allows private individuals (not simply companies or corporate entities) to solicit sales for products and services and researchers can click off a online classified ad, onto an advertisers web property.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau listed the net worth of online classified revenue at $2.1 billion in April 2006.
Newspapers have continued their downward trend in classifieds revenue as Internet classifieds grow.
Classified advertising at some of the larger newspaper chains has dropped 14% to 20% in 2007 while traffic to classified sites has grown 23%.
As the online classified advertising sector develops, there is an increasing emphasis toward specialization.
Vertical markets for classifieds are developing quickly along with the general marketplace for classifieds websites.
Like search engines, classified websites are often vertical in nature, with sites providing advertising platforms for niche markets of buyers of sellers.
Pay Per Play:
Pay Per Play (PPP), also known as Cash Per Play (CPP), is an online advertising method that plays an audio advertisement on websites.
The term "pay per play" comes from advertisers paying for each audio ad played.
Also, the web page playing the audio ad is normally paid for each ad they serve.
Ads are typically automatically played when a visitor loads a web page.
Most commonly initiated via JavaScript, audio ads normally cannot be stopped once they start.
Audio ads vary in length, and a website visitor will usually hear only one advertisement per visit to any specific web page.
In radio advertising, the term "pay per play" can also refer to a relationship between advertisers and audio ad producers.
Pop-up Ads:
Pop-up ads or pop-ups are a form of online advertising on the World Wide Web intended to attract web traffic or capture email addresses.
Pop-ups are generally new web browser windows to display advertisements.
The pop-up window containing an advertisement is usually generated by JavaScript, but can be generated by other means as well.
Pop-Under Ads:
Pop-under ads are similar to pop-up ads, but the ad window appears hidden behind the main browser window rather than superimposed in front of it.
As pop-up ads became widespread, many users learned to immediately close the pop-up ads that appeared over a site without looking at them.
Pop-under ads do not immediately impede a user's ability to view the site content, and thus usually remain unnoticed until the main browser window is closed, leaving the user's attention free for the advertisement.
Although the pop-under ad is ubiquitous with annoying methodologies, it still is used by major publishers such as CNN.com and The Wall Street Journal.
Uni-Cast Ads:
A Uni-Cast advertisement is an Internet advertisement that consists of a video played like a TV commercial, usually in a pop-up or pop-under advertisement.
Uni-Cast ads have the same influence and power as a regular TV commercial, except they allow the viewer to click on the ad in order to go to the company's website, or get more information.
Pay Per Download:
This type of advertising involves software or information product developers advertising free software; software can be trial software, chapters of whole books or early version software.
Advertisers pay publishers for each file that is downloaded from their site.
Pay Per View:
Buying pay per view advertising involves an audience installing free software applications, widgets, games, adware and screen-savers under terms of use that include pay per view advertising networks placing banner ads in audiences screens, that they can click through on.
Banner Ads:
A web banner or banner ad is one of the most common forms of advertising.
It entails embedding an advertisement into a web page.
It is intended to attract traffic to a website by linking to the website of the advertiser.
The advertisement is constructed from an image (GIF, JPEG, PNG), JavaScript program or multimedia object employing technologies such as Java, Shockwave or Flash, often employing animation, sound, or video to maximize presence.
Images are usually in a high-aspect ratio shape (i.e. either wide and short, or tall and narrow) hence the reference to banners.
These images are usually placed on web pages that have interesting content, such as a newspaper article or an opinion piece.
Affiliates earn money usually on a CPC (cost per click) basis. For every unique user click on the ad, the affiliate earns money.
The web banner is displayed when a web page that references the banner is loaded into a web browser.
This event is known as an "impression".
When the viewer clicks on the banner, the viewer is directed to the website advertised in the banner.
This event is known as a "click through". In many cases, banners are delivered by a central ad server.
Floating Ads:
An ad which moves across the user's screen or floats above the content.
Expanding Ads:
An ad which changes size and which may alter the contents of the webpage.
Polite Ads:
A method by which a large ad will be downloaded in smaller pieces to minimize the disruption of the content being viewed.
Wallpaper Ads:
An ad which changes the background of the page being viewed.
Trick Banners:
A banner ad that looks like a dialog box with buttons. It simulates an error message or an alert.
Video Ads:
Similar to a banner ad, except that instead of a static or animated image, actual moving video clips are displayed.
This is the kind of advertising most prominent in television, and many advertisers will use the same clips for both television and online advertising.
Map Ads:
Text or graphics linked from, and appearing in or over, a location on an electronic map such as on Google Maps.
Mobile Ads:
An SMS text or multi-media message sent to a cell phone.
Interstitial Ads:
A full-page ad that appears before a user reaches their original destination.