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VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

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Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#361

Post by syngrog66 »

cantlin wrote: post #184

At the Guardian we needed our own video player, because we couldn't rely on a third party platform not to take down something that we published. Editorial independence was important. We implemented our player on top of video.js, and most of the developers who were there at the time still have nightmares about it. We finally got the thing working, looking good, embeddable, reasonably cross-browser. We shipped it. A fe…

> Incidentally, if you want to know if a publisher is going to survive the next five years, a decent proxy is the number of intermediaries involved in their ad supply chain.

indeed. rule of thumb: every intermediary is a potential disintermediary (see Google, Apple etc)

bright side: or acquirer!

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#362

Post by belorn »

roymurdock wrote: post #297
manigandham wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who's been in the adtech business for years, I admire the Guardian for being one of the better engineered sites out there when it comes to ads. At least you guys have fast loading content and try to optimize the experience as much as you can. We built a brand new modern ad network[1] and it's amazing how few advertisers and publishers care or even understand how important a good user experience is. 1. http…

Seems like the ad market is bifurcating: "native content" for those with ad blockers, and ridiculous garbage-ads for those who either (1) don't have the tech literacy to install and run an adblocker, or (2) are whitelisting out of empathy for content creators. Increasingly I believe we'll see the former. Does "native content" (paid-for pieces disguised as objective information) require "sophisticated" ad network tech…

When ever people call native content for "paid-for pieces disguised as objective information", I keep remembering that those are also often a under the table affair. Its hard to both pay taxes on get-paid-for-pieces and keep the fact secret from both readers and market regulative agencies that enforces advertisement laws. Somehow I believe that a scheme that rely on evading taxes can't become too much mainstream.

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#363

Post by x0 »

tlrobinson wrote: post #238

One of the ad blocker blockers I came across had the balls to suggest blocking ads could negatively affect the performance of the site. I laughed, then dropped into the DOM inspector to remove the blocker overlay element.

I usually use the ad blocker on those overlays

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#364

Post by poooogles »

archon810 wrote: post #87
Narutu wrote: post #77

Has anyone tweeted this to Matt Cutts (Head of Web Spam at Google) ?

Good idea. https://twitter.com/ArtemR/status/742687018514157568

>I'm the head of the webspam team at Google. (Currently on leave).

From his Twitter account.

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#366

Post by shostack »

manigandham wrote: post #351
shostack wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Despite all that data though, there's still very little in the way of a clear approach to figuring out cross-channel attribution, valuing view-throughs etc.

This is a case of it being simple but not easy. The technical strategies are pretty straightforward but it's all the business policies, silo'ed data, bad integrations/tech, privacy issues/constraints, and (the worst of all) politics and outdated thinking, that cause these issues. Attribution isn't that hard, it's basic analytics and statistical analysis - but half the agencies don't have any understanding of math or…

As someone who has invested countless hours reviewing attribution reports and has seen how it is handled by companies of all sizes (including up to Fortune 50 brands), I respectfully disagree with your statement that "attribution isn't that hard."

I have the fortune to also work with an incredibly bright Data Science team (several of whom have phenomenal stats backgrounds), and they all agree with me.

Many companies and agencies know last click has very real limitations. Likewise, for anyone that has started to go down the rabbit hole, you quickly find all of the other static models have similar limitations. Dynamic/data-driven attribution at the user path level is the way forward, and Adobe's econometric attribution modeling tools are the closest I've seen to getting it right. But even that has limitations (cost being just one of them). The free reports in GA and AdWords are a great start, but likewise have their own issues.

There are a LOT of variables in terms of sample sizes, data accuracy, inability to effectively isolate an experiment group due to other marketing efforts, etc. that all throw other major wrenches into this.

All of that said, I'd genuinely love to hear your solution for how to definitively solve attribution from an analytics and statistical analysis perspective. As much as I disagree with your statement, I realize I don't have all the answers, and if you have them, I (and many others) want to hear them.

Personally, I think this is the biggest challenge the industry faces right now. My gut says display and video CPMs are overvalued, but better analytics and better data are needed to really help advertisers answer the questions of things like "what is a view through worth?" or "how much revenue should I attribute to this display/video campaign?"

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#368

Post by Dove »

creshal wrote: post #68
rm999 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to work in the industry - mobile ads can be quite targeted. My guess is apps like clash of clans appeal to a wide range of people and are backed by heavy ad spending. This means a wide variety of people will be targeted with their ads. Doesn't mean ads arent targeted. E.g. a 25 year old white programmer probably isn't getting Spanish language ads, or ads targeting new mothers, or ads for retirement communities…

> Doesn't mean ads arent targeted. E.g. a 25 year old white programmer probably isn't getting Spanish language ads, or ads targeting new mothers, or ads for retirement communities. You'd be surprised. I bought a travel sewing kit five years ago on Amazon, and ever since I'm getting advertisements and "recommendations" for handbags, makeup and high-heeled shoes. It's so blatantly sexist and wrong it's almost funny aga…

You can fix that. If you go to Amazon -> Your Account -> Your Recommendations -> Improve My Recommendations, you can tell it to ignore certain purchases.

I have to do that surprisingly frequently, myself. I buy things buy as gifts, as one off experiments, or with no intention of using them for their intended purposes. ;)

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#369

Post by mjevans »

kazinator wrote: post #242

The fact that video objects can be started programmatically is the problem. There should be no API for a page to start a video; it should be only possible for a video to start via a UI action. It's not just a problem with ads, but with videos in general. If I land in a video-hosting site, I don't want the video to start.

I agree that playing, fullscreening, etc, a video should be a /protected/ action. However I believe that an end user should have SOME mechanism of allowing such actions on their behalf.

If this sounds like a security model you are correct.

Currently the lowest hanging fruit security model would be allowing a plugin to run client side and white-listing which domains it can work with (is triggered/loaded on).

Re: VPAID ads destroy performance and are still served by major ad networks

#370

Post by dhimes »

dsl wrote: post #358
dhimes wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No- the ad isn't served by the gateway. It's not an ad network. It's a standard (open or not) combined with the service to help advertisers conform and site owners to plug them in. Like itunes for ads. Ad networks seem to be immune to fraud. Large companies will pay to have their brands seen anyway; us small guys take the hit.

Having worked for an ad network that went under due to fraud, I politely disagree that they are immune.

Interesting. Is the story online? Do you want to share?
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