What do user experience designers need to know about how the advertising model works, so they can create products that meet the needs of both users and advertisers?
1. DESIGNING FOR, WITH, AND
AROUND ADVERTISING
OR:
HOW I LEARNED TO STOP
WORRYING AND LOVE THE ADS
*With apologies to Dr. Strangelove
2. PERSUADE YOU TO THINK
DIFFERENTLY ABOUT
ONLINE ADVERTISING
2 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
3. TELL YOU SOME OF THE
BASICS ABOUT HOW
ADVERTISING WORKS
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4. SPECULATE ABOUT THE
FUTURE OF THE ONLINE
REVENUE MODEL
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5. THERE’S SO MUCH
I CAN’T COVER TODAY
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6. Concept ruthlessly stolen from Heather Champ @hchamp
6
Via Flickr User swirlspice under a Creative Commons License Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
7. 7 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
8. ABOUT ME
!
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
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9. DESIGNING FOR, WITH, AND
AROUND ADVERTISING
OR:
HOW I LEARNED TO STOP
WORRYING AND LOVE THE ADS
*With apologies to Dr. Strangelove
12. I’m going to
move this to the
bottom of the
It’s
It takes up page, okay?
distracting
so much
space
BUY NOW!
It clutters
Do we
up the page
really have
to put this
It’s just
here?
so ugly
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13. I consider many
advertisers
“stalkers”
Intrusive, annoying and just
plain ugly advertising is SO
bad! I block all advertising
If anything could be
just to avoid them.
worse than pop-ups,
this is it.
I HATE this ad!
It’s a free country, but if you
HATE HATE HATE.
put ads on your videos I will not
view them. Many of my friends feel
the same way. Get a grip!
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14. IF WE IGNORE THE ADS
MAYBE THEY’LL GO AWAY
Source: Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, August 20, 2007:
14
Banner Blindness: Old and New Findings Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
15. INFORMATION
WANTS TO BE
FREE!
15
Via Flickr User Gwire under a Creative Commons License Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
16. U.S. ADVERTISING SPENDING
IN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS
250
Total 219.9
Internet 18.5
200
41.1 Newspapers 39.7
Directories 17.2
150
Direct Mail 14.6
Broadcast 35.5
100
Cable 25.4
Magazines 26.6
50
Radio 15.7
Outdoor 8.8
Other 17.9
0
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Source: The U.S. Census Bureau's Service Annual Surveys,
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U.S Advertising Spending 1998-2007
17. TIME SPENT ENGAGED IN MEDIA
INTERNET VS. TRADITIONAL MEDIA
+ 20%
15%
+10%
19% 30% 33%
30% 0%
– 10%
– 20%
– 30%
Magazines
Radio Newspaper Internet
Television
Source: The User Revolution, Piper Jaffray & Co., February 2007
17
Source: Arbitron/Edison Media Research Internet and Multimedia Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
2006: On-Demand Media Explodes and comScore Networks.
18. INTERNET AD SPENDING
DOLLARS SPENT
TIME SPENT BY USERS BY ADVERTISERS
Internet Internet
7%
21%
93%
79%
Traditional Media
Traditional Media
18
Source: Television Advertising Bureau, Nielsen Media Research, Advertising
Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
Age, and Piper Jaffray & Co. estimates
20. The most popular
Web 2.0 revenue model
is based on advertising
Ask a V.C.
20
Source: Ask a VC, Ad Revenue Models Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
21. 21
Via Flickr User Jeremy Dunham under a Creative Commons License Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
22. TOP TEN THINGS YOU
SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
ONLINE ADVERTISING
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23. 1. IT’S ALL MIDDLEMEN
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24. USERS
MEDIA BUYERS AGENCIES AD SALES
ADVERTISERS PUBLISHERS
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25. 2. MEDIA BUYERS ARE
25-YEAR OLDS ARMED
WITH SPREADSHEETS
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26. 26 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
27. FOR $10,000 SHE BUYS 500 CLICKS
Ad Positions
Demographics
Cost per 1000
$20.00
(CPM)
Traf c x 0.1% 500,000
Price $10,000
Clickthrough 500
27
For illustration purposes only. Not real data. Faulty math. Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
28. 3. MEDIA BUYERS PURCHASE
GLOBAL NAV CATEGORIES
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29. 29 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
30. 29 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
31. 29 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
32. 29 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
33. 29 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
34. 29 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
35. BANNER ADS ARE TOP DOWN
GOOGLE ADS ARE BOTTOM UP
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36. 4. THE IAB IS A CABAL
THAT CONTROLS
EVERYTHING WE DO
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37. 32 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
38. 32 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
39. 33 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
40. 33 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
41. 34 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
42. 35 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
43. 5. YOU MUST DESIGN
YOUR GRID AROUND
THE ADS
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44. 36 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
45. 37 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
46. 6. YOU CAN SPECIFY
WHAT’S OKAY AND
WHAT’S NOT OKAY
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47. 39 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
48. Specs
unit dimensions placement file types max size loops sound rich media
left column below
wide user
160x600 sub-navigation gif, jpg, swf 35k 5 yes
skyscraper initiated
top, right in list
medium user
300x250 and gif, jpg, swf 35k 5 yes
rectangle initiated
grid views
top, right in list
user
big box 344x480 and gif, jpg, swf 45k 5 yes
initiated
grid views
super footer, below page user
728x90 gif, jpg, swf 30k 5 yes
banner navigation initiated
showcase 750x175 page header gif, jpg 60k 0 no no
10 second
video 640x480 bumper at dv, mpg, mov - - yes -
beginning of video
COOL HUNTING published by
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49. FOR MORE INFO,
JUST SEARCH FOR
“MEDIA KIT”
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50. 7. ASK TO CUSTOMIZE
TEXT PLACEMENTS
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51. 43 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
52. 44 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
53. 8. YOU SHOULD THINK
CREATIVELY ABOUT
PLACEMENTS
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54. 8. YOU SHOULD THINK
CREATIVELY ABOUT
PLACEMENTS
(WHICH MEANS YOU
SHOULD MAKE FRIENDS
WITH AD SALES)
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55. 46 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
56. 47 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
57. 47 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
58. 48 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
59. 48 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
60. 9. WHAT GETS MEASURED
MATTERS
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61. 9. WHAT GETS MEASURED
MATTERS
MAYBE.
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62. DATA IS CHEAP.
INSIGHT IS EXPENSIVE.
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63. 10.FORGET EVERYTHING I
JUST TOLD YOU
BECAUSE...
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64. THE BANNER IS DEAD
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65. TELL ME THE FUTURE
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66. 54 Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
67. Rumors of our death are
greatly exaggerated
*With apologies to Mark Twain
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68. THE WALL BETWEEN
ADVERTISING + CONTENT
56
Via Flickr User old bacon under a Creative Commons License Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
69. Package your unit as a
“sponsorship.” Advertisers
love to convey the feeling
that your brilliant content is
“brought to you by” their
brand.
Razor sh, Terri Walther and Sarah Baehr
57
Source: How to Sell-Out Like Gawker Media, Silicon Alley Insider Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
71. INTERNET AD REVENUE % SHARE
BY ADVERTISING FORMAT
50
2004
44
2005
40 41 40 41
2006
40
2007
2008 (HY)
30
22 21 21
19 20
20 18 17 18
16
14
10 10 10
10 8 877 8
6 6 5
3 332
0
Display Rich Media Lead
% Banners + Video Classi eds Sponsorships
Search Generation
Source: IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report conducted by
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PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC)
72. While publishers’ rst attempts
at charging for content online
(particularly micropayments)
largely failed, there has been an
increasing interest in revisiting
that model.
FOLIO Media:PRO
60
Source: Condé Nast Strikes Video Deal with Hulu, FOLIO Media:PRO Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
73. 61
Source: Wired Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
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76. 64
Via Flickr User petrichor under a Creative Commons License Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
77. ADVERTISING IS THE
WORST REVENUE MODEL
FOR THE INTERNET
EXCEPT FOR ALL THE OTHERS
*With apologies to Winston Churchill and Democracy
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78. Everyone wants to think
the user experience is this
paramount, untouchable
Good
President of Atlantic Media, Justin Smith
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79. Don’t get seduced into
thinking that better user
experience alone will drive
more revenue
President of Atlantic Media, Justin Smith
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80. You need to give
the advertisers
what they want
President of Atlantic Media, Justin Smith
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81. PLEASE HELP
MORE MONEY
GET ONLINE
69
Via Flickr User Word Freak under a Creative Commons License Designing For Advertising | 20 March 2009 | IA Summit
82. SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Justin Smith Chad Phelps Sarah Chubb
President of Consumer Media VP of Online President, Condé Nast Digital
KC Estenson Dylan Fitch Ed Sussman
SVP & General Manager, CNN.com Managing Director President, Digital (Former)
Rich Meislin
Josh Rubin Sarah Baehr
Consultant, Internet Publishing
Editor in Chief VP and National Lead, Media
Martin Nisenholtz
Evan Orensten Garrick Schmidt
SVP of Digital
Executive Editor VP and National Lead, UX
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karenmcgrane on twitter, also in real life
will be hosting a lunch table today to discuss these topics
True confessions time
How many people have DVR or Tivo?
How many people have an ad blocker on their browser
How many people really hate the ads?
Thesis of this talk:
Because IAs are focused on providing the best experience for users, they often don’t know how to handle meeting the needs of advertisers
QUICK
1. Open your mind about advertising, explain why you should care
QUICK
2. Share some of the things I’ve learned over the years about ad placements
QUICK
3. For those of you who are still uncomfortable with advertising
I want to talk a little bit about where we go from here and other potential business models
Not going to talk about designing creative for banner ads or microsites, like if you are an IA at an agency making microsites for Starbursts, this is not going to help you.
Not going to talk about search ads (like Google Adwords) because choosing keywords is a whole different ball of wax
Not going to get into the specific details of targeting, measurement, and optimization
Want to establish my qualifications to speak about this
Not a shill for the advertising industry
Consider myself a longtime advocate for information architecture
I’m a really unlikely advocate for online advertising
My bio/history mapped against the S&P 500
Hired by Razorfish as the first person with a background in IA or usability, first title was information designer/writer
Spoke at the first IA summit 10 yrs ago when it was a single day and everyone sat in the same room the whole time
Got started at a time when you’d start your job and they’d ask you to design a bank (I don’t mean a piece of a bank, I mean an entire online bank)
This was before online advertising really took off, but when there started to be more activity there
Did two projects that were really IA focused that got me started thinking about advertising
One was for Encyclopedia Britannica, where I learned everything I know about taxonomy and a fair amount about advertising vs. subscription revenue models, and the subject of user generated content never came up
The other was a project for Disney to redesign their ill-fated portal, Go.com, where I explored a number of interesting advertising scenarios including ways to tie ads to search results, which was a really GOOD idea
Advertising is highly cyclical, so when the market tanks advertising does as well, so I retreated to the relative safety of financial services
Right at the very bottom of the market Razorfish got sold to SBI for about $8 million
We all kind of huddled together for warmth for a while
Got sold to aQuantive for $160 million and turned into Avenue A | Razorfish just a few years later
Woke up one day and found myself working for an advertising agency
Have a client conference each year, remember a long-time UX colleague saying “so, they’re really serious about this whole advertising thing.”
Got a chance to work on some really great projects because of those relationships
Conde Nast is the world’s largest magazine publisher
Led the redesign of NYTimes in 2005
Worked on a project for CNN but left just as it was getting going
Left Razorfish for many, many reasons but probably the most important was that I felt like the values of the company and my values were not aligned, I felt really uncomfortable as a UX practitioner in that kind of advertising environment
Started Bond Art + Science with some other former RF people
Wouldn’t be here today talking about what IAs need to know about online advertising if it weren’t for the experiences I’ve had in the past few years
If I had my old job I would feel like I was toeing the company line, but now I feel like I’ve got some perspective
Have worked with tons of publishers, big ones, small ones, online only, print focused, all with different approaches to social media, revenue generation, and user experience
We also have our own online publication, a blog called Cool Hunting, so I have perspective as a publisher and as
So based on all of that, I have learned some things and developed a perspective about
how to lay out pages and create experiences for, with, and around advertising
But this is also about how I opened my heart to this revenue model
You’re not here because you see yourself as just drawing boxes
You are an advocate for the user, actively trying to make sure that user needs are taken into account by the business and technology
But you’re also focused on understanding the business
So imagine if you heard people complaining about the placement of the Buy Now button on an e-commerce site.
I have heard UX people say all these things about the ads. I have said them myself.
I have heard them from fellow employees when we worked for a company that made all its money placing advertisements on websites. I have heard them when working on redesigns for major publishers, and have gotten my ass handed to me because of it.
I have even heard them when talking about a blog that my company runs!
I understand the rationale here.
You are concerned that users HATE ads!
When you’re a UX professional your job is to advocate for the user.
So therefore ads are bad and wrong.
I hope to explain that ads might be a necessary evil but they’re better than the alternative
They’re what pays for the content
And to show how you can provide the best possible experience even if there are ads
Some of you cite well-known studies about “banner blindness”
To suggest that this entire business model is a failure, the emperor has no clothes
To this all I can say, everyone already knows he’s naked
They have WAY more data than this about what ad “effectiveness” means
Some of you might have this hackerish ethos that says that things on the internet should be free
To this I say, the money that comes from advertising pays our salaries
Pays for editors and content strategists and user research
Pays for servers and new features and upgrades
Internet ad spend is about 7-8% of a $220 billion industry just in the US
With all the talk about user interest shifting away from traditional media and onto the internet
There really hasn’t been a corresponding shift in revenue
One way to think about this is that the entire industry has grown larger over the past 5 years
It’s not that the internet has taken money away from other media, traditional media is GROWING
The U.S. Census Bureau's Service Annual Surveys include data on advertising expenditure from 1998 to 2007.
The Service Annual Surveys use statistically representative surveys of firms.
These data are based on a consistent, well-documented methodology administered by an independent, highly professional organization (the U.S. Census Bureau). Because the surveys are firm-based, they allow some separation of advertising media expenditure, e.g. payments to television stations for advertising air time, from advertising service expenditure, e.g. fees paid to advertising agencies for preparing and placing ads.
Based on data reported in the Service Annual Surveys for 2004-2007, expenditure on advertising agencies, media buying agencies, and media representatives amounts to about 18% of expenditure on advertising media.
Advertising time and space often are sold with a variety of price discounts. Advertising time and space also are commodities commonly included in barter deals. Discounts and barter make advertising expenditure difficult to estimate even thought a set of well-known firms dominate the supply of radio, television, and cable advertising opportunities.
But the internet has taken TIME away from traditional media
People are spending less time watching TV, reading newspapers, etc
And more time online
This slide should really piss you off
That’s our money!
This means that even though people are spending more time online, that time is worth less
Another way to look at it is that people’s time spent watching TV or reading newspapers is worth proportionally more
This is based on different data than the previous slides, so the numbers might not match up exactly
Online CPM is worth between one-seventh and one-tenth of a print CPM
Hearst CEO Cathy Black says she spends 20% of her time on digital, but it accounts for less than 4-5% of consumer revenue
For people who talk a lot about the value of the user experience online
You should be aware that it is worth a FRACTION of the money it would be worth offline
Maybe you’re thinking, well, who cares about old media not being able to make money online?
Everyone is excited about new platforms like Facebook and Twitter, but they don’t really have a business model
And whatever business model they figure out, I guarantee it will involve advertising
You can’t hide your head in the sand.
Advertising is not going away
Even if advertising declines during this current period of economic uncertainty
It will come back, and it will be a major -- if not the most important -- way that businesses make money online
As a UX professional you have a responsibility to make things not suck, and that includes advertising.
Advertisers and publishers work together to attract
What advertisers call consumers
What you call users
In the middle are the the agencies who are responsible for
Creating advertising yes,
But most importantly they buy and sell the ad space
This is an incredibly high touch business
UX is still a relatively small field, and I bet if you gathered up everyone responsible for buying and selling ads online
They would number like 10x more than us
If you’re going to understand how advertising works, you need to meet Brooke.
Brooke is in her mid-20s. She was in a sorority. She was hired for this job because she’s smart and personable
But her job is not to reinvent the internet.
Brooke has a spreadsheet, and her job is to fill in that spreadsheet.
This is incredibly simplified
Things like the ad positons and demographics are gating factors
Media buyers want their ads to appear on the homepage and on the section fronts
They are interested in buying big categories: technology, travel, health, business
Categories that map to what they are trying to sell
Media buyers want their ads to appear on the homepage and on the section fronts
They are interested in buying big categories: technology, travel, health, business
Categories that map to what they are trying to sell
Media buyers want their ads to appear on the homepage and on the section fronts
They are interested in buying big categories: technology, travel, health, business
Categories that map to what they are trying to sell
Media buyers want their ads to appear on the homepage and on the section fronts
They are interested in buying big categories: technology, travel, health, business
Categories that map to what they are trying to sell
Media buyers want their ads to appear on the homepage and on the section fronts
They are interested in buying big categories: technology, travel, health, business
Categories that map to what they are trying to sell
Media buyers want their ads to appear on the homepage and on the section fronts
They are interested in buying big categories: technology, travel, health, business
Categories that map to what they are trying to sell
Media buyers want their ads to appear on the homepage and on the section fronts
They are interested in buying big categories: technology, travel, health, business
Categories that map to what they are trying to sell
IAB is the interactive advertising bureau
I love that verb “fend”
What does “market making guidelines and standards mean?”
I will translate it into a language you will understand
The Stencil
All ads must be this size
You cannot make ads that are not one of these sizes
Really, the only ad that matters is the rectangle or IMU
If you want to know why all websites kind of look the same, it’s because there so few ad sizes so it’s hard to create a grid that feels different (add a dash of arial and georgia and you have a recipe for cookie cutter websites)
You must put the rectangle ad above the fold (that is a gating factor, they won’t buy without it)
And while you’re at it, stick a leaderboard in there too (they strongly prefer it to be in the content well)
Never bump ads
Buyers want to know how many placements they have to buy to get full coverage, so 4 is too many for that
Being creative about placements does NOT mean being creative about ad sizes
Cutting custom creative is a near-impossibility most of the time
There is no shortage of people out there claiming the death of the banner is nigh
Problem is they’ve been arguing that for more than 10 years now
The industry’s reliance on banners is like our dependence on foreign oil
Everyone thinks it’s a bad idea, but getting ourselves out of it is way more complicated than it seems
Remember, there is enormous infrastructure built up around these things
Display advertising -- in print, outdoor -- is the cornerstone of the advertising industry
Rather than expecting banners to go away, you should expect bigger ads
What we all should be pushing for is more money to be spent online, which will mean better creative for the ads (fewer punch the monkey, more well-designed ads like you see in print)
In the olden days, media had very clear standards about what was advertising and what was editorial
That is changing on the web
Want to wrap up with three thoughts. First is that advertising is a terrible revenue model.
Second is a quote from a client of mine, now runs Atlantic Media and previously was publisher of The Week
When I interviewed him for this I asked if he had any parting words, any conclusions and he said YES
Said that people always say, oh, the ads are so distracting, it would be better for the UX if we moved them
He said you’re kidding yourselves if you think that providing a better UX will make up for the loss in revenue
Just providing a good UX does not make money
If you want to have money to pay for content and tools and services and jobs
We all need to understand what advertisers want
I really believe that if there is a group of people who can find smart ways to integrate ads
provide value for advertisers, and still deliver a quality experience,
it’s you guys.
But please, let’s take the money away from traditional media and put it on the internet.
Want to give a shout out to the people who really helped me with this presentation
A few minutes for questions
Don’t forget the lunch table today if you want to talk more about these issues.