Dear Reader,

Our publishing partners often ask for recommendations regarding new products and how we might maximize revenue for their sites. One of the simplest answers I can provide is to constantly consider and update ad units to meet industry tactical demand and strategy. There are practical considerations to think about such as creative requirements, up-sell opportunity or most recently regulatory issues. But….any way you look at it, the common denominator points to more site revenue.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau has recommended a case for larger ad units since 2002 and research done on McDonald’s food products shows that larger ad units perform better in communicating brand attributes. Our pricing models are built on CPM but advertisers clearly look for campaign effectiveness with a cost per action mentality. Larger ad units provide better performance in brand recognition and follow all of the same performance characteristics that we have known about in print and other media for over 50 years. Site partners should consider the double wide skyscraper (300x600) to increase advertising performance and to allow for greater creativity and a larger content area.  Jumbo units of this size also command higher rates.

Recent regulatory concerns for “fair balance” in ads for pharmaceutical products are driving clients to higher use of expandable units on branded campaigns. We recommend the acceptance of expandable units but advise our partners to go a step further in accepting roll over to expand VS click to expand units. We have information from several of our key clients that have provided data to show a huge difference in performance for this type of unit. In general the interaction rate is much lower on click to expand than rollover but more importantly the drop off rate after click is massive. Reason: you have to click twice on click to expand VS once on roll-over. One client indicates that the average CTR (click through rate) for their roll-over ad is 0.23%. The same ad as a click to expand has a CTR of 0.01% or a 95% worse performance rate. The interaction rates for expand on roll-over posted performance of 12.2% VS .07% on click to expand.

Performance variables of this magnitude clearly have the capability of influencing clients to do one of two things. The clients will run non-branded flash ads or reallocate these high performance expand ads to sites that accept the roll-over format. This creates lost opportunity simply because a specific creative could not be used in which the client feels the best performance and ROI is achieved. The vision of web advertising promoted interactivity and creativity. We recognize that the business and science of healthcare creates a different standard in good taste and acceptability but we also encourage our site partners to think differently and view the medium for what it is.

As always, feel free to reach out with questions or comments.

Cheers,

Ray Thibodeau

VP, Publisher Partnerships

Network News

One of the most persistent questions about advertising is: How does it work?

Almost 20 years ago, John Philip Jones suggested it depended on which side of the pond one was on. His paper "Advertising: Strong Force or Weak Force? Two Views an Ocean Apart" described the typical American view that advertising was "expected to work by conversion: by addressing apathetic prospects and persuading them with powerful arguments." In contrast, "weak force" described the European view: Advertising was a "nudge," acting as a reminder, reinforcing existing brand perceptions and defending the status quo.

Mr. Jones later argued that advertising was more often explained by the weak-force theory, which was appealing to admen on both sides of the Atlantic for a number of reasons, starting with modesty. Advertising cannot be expected to overcome problems with the product, competitive pricing or word-of-mouth, and that is probably truer today in countries with large online populations. more...

For anyone with a crazy idea for a Web business, the way to make it pay was once obvious: get a lot of visitors and sell ads. Since 2004, venture investors have put $5.1 billion into 828 Web start-up companies, and most of them are supported by ads, according to the National Venture Capital Association.

Now advertisers have cut back their online spending. So Web start-ups are searching for new ways to make money, like selling real, or virtual, goods or asking customers to buy subscriptions.

And venture capitalists who envision a sale of the company in the public markets are encouraging these efforts. Roger Lee, a partner at Battery Ventures who invests in digital media start-ups, said he considers only companies with one or two revenue streams in addition to advertising. more...

Connecting the Dot Coms

Welcome to the Network

EHS would like to welcome the following publishers to the network:

American Pregnancy Association

ASHP & AJHP

Springer

iMedix

PreMedGuide

APHA

MomMD

As the EHS network expands so does your advertising revenue potential.  The e-Healthcare Solutions referral program provides cash awards to existing partners for helping to spread the word.  To qualify for your referral award you simply need to refer a new website to join the e-Healthcare Solutions Network of Healthcare Websites, by contacting Craig with their details.
 

Featured Publisher

SAGE publishes over 520 journals, which nearly a third is owned by professional associations and societies. They are committed to meeting the needs of academic and professional communities and to working with those communities to define and meet the information needs of the future. This means keeping focused on the opportunities that arise through the development of new media, as well as new trends, new research agendas, new methodologies, and new publishing models. Their mission is to effectively enhance and distribute intellectual property. Their extensive list of journals spans more than 30 disciplines and includes some of the premier journals in the social sciences and medicine and technology.

http://online.sagepub.com

e-Healthcare Solutions Blog
Rants and Raves about Online Advertising
www.e-healthcaresolutions.com/blog

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National Health Observances

July 2009:

UV Safety Month

Hemochromatosis Awareness Month

Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month

International Group B Strep Awareness Month 

Hot Categories

These categories are "in demand" now:

- Physician Oncology

- Physician Psychiatry

If you are planning on expanding your site, these are some areas of interest.