Where BT is Heading
A key part of the advantages that media integration may offer vendors and consumers is its ability to provide a truly personalized marketing experience.
For Claria’s Scott Eagle that’s the next big step. He says, “The internet has evolved from its inception from the creation of a common network, to ease-of-use via high speed access to an explosion in the amount of internet content available, giving consumers unparalleled access to an almost unlimited source of news and information. Consumers now need a better way other than searching for content to capitalize on this empowerment. This need is opening up the next stage in the evolution -- a smarter internet -- one that automatically and dynamically analyzes the available content on the web to identify and proactively deliver just what each unique consumer is interested in.”
Marla Schimke at Revenue Science feels that use of the data collected by vendors will need to address bottlenecks in order to be used to reach targeted consumers. “We don’t see an area where there will not be growth, but the high demand categories when premium contextual inventory sells out -- financial, automotive, et cetera -- will continue to be the strongest.” She adds, “Sites like MySpace.com and other user-generated content sites will see an explosion of behavioral targeting in 2006 because simple place-based buying is not as effective as more and more consumers join these sites. Advertisers are desperate to reach consumers on these sites.”
Most of the vendors I spoke with agree on one thing-- during the next few years BT will become ubiquitous with online advertising. The very nature of the web as a place in which to have two-way conversations with consumers will drive forward the advantages of identifying the people that you want to sell to. As 24/7 Real Media’s Ali Mirian puts it "We are already seeing advertisers focus on the audience they are trying to reach, rather than wanting to 'buy BT.’"
Stephen DiMarco at Compete.com adds, “The term ‘behavioral targeting’ is often being used to describe what should more accurately be considered ‘contextual marketing.’ In the future the term ‘behavioral targeting’ will be reserved for companies who can target consumers based on true consumer profiles versus simple page-, domain- or category-based targeting rules.”
As BT gains momentum, it would seem that a famous quip attributed to John Wannamaker from more than 140 years ago -- “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half” -- may soon become an antiquated notion.
