I’ve had several clients over the years ask what the average CPM should be for a B2B banner ad. Here is my standard reply … The answer is truly “it depends.” Here are the factors that influence CPM: How big is the ad? A really large 300×600 super rectangle ad is going to command a much higher CPM than a little 125×125 badge ad. Where is it placed on the site? An ad that is high up on the page, prominent, “above the fold” and next to content will command a much higher CPM than an ad that is at the bottom of the page in the footer. How many other ads does it compete with?...

I’ll be doing a webinar tomorrow, Thursday June 10, at 1:00 PM Eastern for Media Life Magazine on “The Future of Online Measurement.” Among the topics I’ll be covering are: How online media continues to fragment / converge online and what that means to media buyers (and media companies). Which metrics to use and what data you can trust. What current tools you can use to evaluate online media buys and what they can and can’t do today. How GRP can be applied to online media buys. What the future holds for online evaluation tools designed to help you as a media buyer /...

Just did a webinar this morning with Media Life and BPA on the challenges of web traffic measurement from an advertiser perspective. Key points: Total traffic to a web site can be impacted three different ways: unique visitors per month, visits per unique per month, and page views per visit. Most important metrics to an advertiser: page views per month, page views per visit, uniques per month, visits per month. A site with high page views per visit isn’t necessarily a good thing. I expose seven games publishers can play with metrics to look bigger to advertisers. The positives/negatives of the...

Just read Rob Yoegel’s blog over on Publishing Executive, What Exactly is ‘Publisher’s Own Data?’ He brings up the never-ending specter of the inaccuracies and lack of transparency in web sites that report their own web metrics (uniques, visit, page views, etc.).  He reiterates all of the important points, but what I found most fascinating were the comments posted in response to Rob’s post. Nearly all of the comments focused on how publishers need to get more involved with web audits. Of course the comment thread was started by Peter Black, SVP of Business Development...

Every media company has different business challenges and business models, but certain strategies can help almost any publisher grow the e-media side of the business. Are they flashy, new strategies? No. Most are boring fundamentals. But in media, as in football, those who best execute the fundamentals are the ones who win. 1. Sell what you already have. If you sell advertising, take a hard look at your unsold inventory. If you’re less than 75-percent sold-out on your primary positions, you’re leaving significant money on the table. This is by far the easiest way to grow revenue with...