Yesterday Starbucks released an update to their iPhone app. The app allows you to view and update info of your Starbucks cards, and since December it has allowed you to pay with your iPhone at 16 test stores. The test stores were mainly in Starbucks’ home town of Seattle, as well as San Francisco and a few other cities.

Apparently the test is going well. Yesterdays iPhone app update revealed 1019 total stores that accepted payments via iPhone. Most of which appeared to be in-store Target locations.

However, the update seems to have been in error, perhaps a little too early of a release. Today’s Starbucks iPhone update took the stores available back down to 16. Although there is still a note saying that the update allows for more stores which will be coming soon. I think the error is an indication that we’ll see this new functionally rolling out very soon, at least at Target stores.

Payment by iPhone is functionality that has the potential to be huge. Imagine a world where you no longer have to carry a wallet, but instead scan your phone for all gift card purchases, credit card purchases, airline boarding passes (already available with Delta), and maybe even your ID. The world is changing.

If you live in the Atlanta area you may very well be aware of the changes that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has made not only to their Website ( ajc.com ) but to their Sunday paper as well.  It’s no secret that the newspaper industry is hurting – a business model almost 100% dependent on advertising is just not a good model these days.  As advertising and human behavior on the Internet is evolving – publisher’s are being left in the dust.

The AJC is my local paper, and they’ve done a fairly decent job redesigning their site with a new Web 2.0 look and feel, as well as some social network functionality.  Definitely some nice steps in the right direction.  However, where they’ve gone a little crazy is with the new advertising units on the site.  The most noticeable advertising feature on the new site is a giant expandable ad that greets you immediately upon visiting the site.  It takes up nearly 80% of the page on my screen.  Sometimes it rolls up after a few seconds, and sometimes you have to click to close it or scroll down to see the site’s news content (it seems to depend on the advertiser).   This ad, while very obtrusive, is not something to scream over by itself.  Many sites have integrated units like this – they are usually very expensive sponsorships.

However, this ad combined with the AJC’s newest addition of a background ad unit is just down right annoying.  A background unit is when the publisher allows an advertiser to take over the Website’s background image – usually adding a very large advertising image to the top, left and right side of the site’s content.  Ad networks like AdCamo have even made a business out of automating the process.  On AJC.com, today’s sponsor is Publix, a local grocery store.  Combined with the expandable ad unit and the background ad unit, the Publix ads almost dominate 50% of the total page’s real estate.  “Above the fold” they clearly dominate at least 80% of the real estate.  I came to the site looking for news – which they are making me dig for now.  In reality the site is so hard to look at right now that I went elsewhere for news.  It physically is straining my eyes.

This type of advertising dominance was made popular by MySpace – the site that is also very well known for poor design and usability.  I would not be surprised if the AJC suddenly changes their logo to appear in sparkly glitter text.

Now don’t get me wrong – these ads no doubt bring in a ton of money for the failing newspaper, but really at what cost?  They lost me today, and who knows who else.  I’d be interested to see the bounce rate reports during one of these ad campaigns.

What are your thoughts?  What could newspaper sites do to integrate more creative advertising units that don’t annoy their visitors?

Recently Dictionary.com has redesigned their homepage to include nothing more than a few links, the iconic Google-type search bar and now nothing more than a giant advertisement.

Some people hate the new ad space and have vowed to never visit Dictionary.com again.  One of my biggest pet peeves are people who hate advertising just for the sake of hating advertising.  Ads may be a necessary evil in a lot of people’s opinions but there is no doubt about it… they are necessary.  That is unless everyone is willing to start paying a subscription fee to check definitions online.

I, on the other hand, think that Dictionary.com’s use of their homepage is a brilliant use of space and a superb plan to increase profit for a site that less and less people are using.  It’s been years since I’ve used Dictionary.com – On my Mac I just highlight a word and “right-click.”  On my PC I either Google “define: word” from my toolbar or I use Firefox extensions to look up definitions.  Navigating to a new Web page and having to do a search is not exactly efficient.

As TechCrunch’s “MG” noted, the new homepage takover ad is a lot more tasteful than the ads you see on MySpace or the full page expanding ads you see more and more often on newspaper Websites and major media sites.  The current Cheer creative is simple, beautifully designed and not at all annoying or distracting from the site’s content.  When you think about it, there’s not much more you need to do on the Dictionary.com homepage other than look up your word – so why not free up all that space for some high CPM ads?  All the functionality of the site is only relevant after you’ve searched.  Makes sense to me.

Imagine if Google.com did this with all the white space on their homepage.  I don’t even want to take a guess at what the CPM would be for that placement, but I can all but guarantee it would get some damn good click through rates.  Albeit, the blogging community would scream “Evil!” and tear Google apart for it.  It’s just a shame that people have grown to hate ads so much that they can’t appreciate when a site thinks it through and does it right.

At TalkAboutAds.com we strive to create tools and resources for those in the online advertising and marketing industries.  Today we are happy to announce a new job board where job seekers can find Internet jobs in their area – for free.  Employers can post a job listing for just $5 for 90 days.  The job listing will also be automatically listed on the Simply Hired network, reaching hundreds of sites and thousands of job seekers.

Look to the right to see the last 5 job postings, and go to Jobs.TalkAboutAds.com to search the entire database of over 600,000 jobs nationwide.

If you’re an employer you can post your first job for 50% off by using coupon code “firstjob”.  That’s only $2.50 for a 90 day listing!  Click here to get started.

PubMatic, the ad network optimization company, seems to be putting their recent round of funding to good use.  Yesterday they announced a new feature called Ad Inspector for their Premium clients.  Ad Inspector allows publishers to run “forensic” tests on all ads displaying on their Web site, providing them with information identifying which ad network or exchange served a particular ad, as well as any ad networks that defaulted in the process.

Anyone who runs multiple ad networks on a site can tell you that when there is a problem with an ad, it’s almost impossible to try and figure out where that ad came from.  Many networks don’t give you visibility into which ads may be running on your account at any given time, and the same campaign could easily come from two different networks.  You see an ad that violates your Web site’s policies and tracking it down is such a difficult task it’s often not worth worrying about.  PubMatic has changed that with Ad Inspector.

“Tracking down where an ad comes from and stopping the inappropriate ones does not have to be a difficult task,” says PubMatic co-founder and CEO, Rajeev Goel.

“PubMatic Ad Inspector, available as a FireFox add-on, is geared for ad operations professionals in large publishers who manage complex environments with numerous sites, multiple ad networks and multiple ad units. Information from ads on their sites can be captured in a snapshot through the Ad Inspector application.” – Read more from the PubMatic press release.

If you haven’t heard about PubMatic, you really need to check them out. I was at the Ad Revenue conference last year in San Francisco, and spent some good time talking to Rajeev.  He’s got a passion to change the advertising industry and provide tools and resources to better the way we operate.

PubMatic is a meta ad server.  It sits between you and individual ad networks to provide intelligent services that maximize your revenue and minimize the complexity of managing your ad inventory.  When your Website calls an ad from an ad network, PubMatic chooses in real time which network is going to pay the highest CPM, and delivers the ad from that network.  They also offer many tools and help to make sure your ads are optimized for the highest return.

Digg, like many destination Web sites, has always struggled to maintain high profits from a revenue model based almost entirely on advertising.  I would estimate that the site gets at least 100 million banner ad impressions a month, based off their traffic data reported on Quantcast.  That might seem like a lot, but it’s not.  Calculate an average banner CPM of $15.00 and you’re only talking $18 Million in gross revenue a year from banner ads.  Compare to Facebook.com that easily gets 25 Billion ad impressions per month, and makes anywhere from $100 to $170 Million per month in gross revenue from their ads.

A single 300×250 banner, and a 160×600 skyscraper banner isn’t going to cut it anymore for Digg.  Publishers are being forced to come up with innovative and different ways to help marketers reach their audience.  Ad buying is down, and marketers who are spending money want to make sure they are getting the biggest bang for their buck.  Traditional banners that get ignored by users aren’t giving them a big enough bang, and more and more ad impressions are being given to low paying ad networks instead.  Facebook is solving this problem by allowing advertisers to target specific users by a handful of targeting criteria that no other site can offer.  Digg’s answer is a new ad spot that is integrated within the site’s content, and where users can choose which ads to display.

They’re calling them “Digg Ads” and according to the Digg Corporate blog, they “will give you more control over which advertisements are displayed on Digg. The more an ad is Dugg, the less the advertiser will have to pay. Conversely the more an ad is buried, the more the advertiser is charged, pricing it out of the system.”

The ads will look just like regular diggs and will be displayed in the same stream where you see all the other links, photos, and videos, although they’ll be clearly marked as sponsored content.  Users can “digg” the ad or “bury” it, just like they do for the regular posts.  Popular ads are less expensive for the advertiser, and are thus displayed more throughout the site.  Ads that get buried cost more and are eventually taken off the site.  Digg says the goal here “is to create a better experience by giving you more control over advertising content that appears on Digg.”

Digg will be rolling out this ad format over the next few months and is hoping that they’ll see a lot more traction with these ads than their traditional banners.

The idea of allowing users to give a site feedback about the ads that are displayed is not new.  Facebook has been doing this for awhile (look for the little thumbs up/down icons under each ad), but it’s unclear how Facebook uses the data or if they remove ads that users have marked as unwanted.  It’s also unclear if anyone but me actually takes the time to click the icons and give their feedback.

At least on Digg, if you really don’t like an ad you know you can get rid of it as long as other users in the Digg community feel the same way.  It’s going to make marketers spend time creating really awesome ads, and not waste money buying mediocre ads that are going to get ‘buried.’  The question is, how will Digg protect against people abusing the system?

People always come to me for help when they need advice on promoting their new online business.  They have a great idea, produce a great product and put an awesome site together, but then they get stuck on the biggest obstacle of running an online business – trying to get people to know about you and come to your site.  If advertising is the answer for your business, and your budget is small, you have little room for risk.  So you want to make sure you are spending your ad dollars wisely.

The easy answer used to be Google Adwords.  For a small chunk of change you could run some text ads targeted to keywords that pertained to your business, and if done right you could get pretty high click throughs to your Web site.  Converting those clicks into sales is a whole different blog post.

Today, the advice I’m giving out to most new Website owners is “Facebook!”  Advertising on Facebook is cheap, easy and very effective.  They take the Google keyword targeting approach to the extreme, and ensure that your ad is only seen by your specific target audience.  A local pizza restaurant in Atlanta, for example, could target a Facebook ad to women, ages 25 to 45, who are not employed, married, have children, and who live within 10 miles of the restaurant (basically stay-at-home mom’s).  They could even include only those women who have shown that they like pizza.  The ad copy could say something like “Hey Mom, why cook tonight?  Click here to order Tony’s Pizza!”

On any other site that ad copy would have to be more generic, and it could only be targeted by a large geo-demographic, such as Atlanta, GA.  Males and females alike, mom’s and single women with no children, those who live too far away from the restaurant’s location, as well as those who hate pizza would all see the ad on a normal Website – and the majority of the paid impressions from the campaign would be lost on visitor’s that are never going to buy anything from the advertiser.  With Facebook targeting you have a much better chance at getting people to click on your ad.

You don’t need a lot of money to buy an ad on Facebook either.  You can set daily thresholds as low as $5 or $5,000.  The more you spend the more times your ad will be seen.  You can even choose to pay by click instead of impressions, that way you are only paying for the ad when someone actually visits your site.

Starting today Facebook has taken their ads a step further, and have included a way for viewers of your ad to interact with your brand and share their love of your product.  With Facebook Ads for Pages and Events you can offer a way for visitors to engage with your ads in the same way they interact with other content on Facebook, and without leaving the page they’re viewing.

Visitors can “Become a Fan” of your company, or RSVP for an Event that you are sponsoring.  Everytime they interact with your ad, it posts a message to their profile telling their friends.  People who visit their profile may see that their friend likes “Tony’s Pizza” and might click to check it out – never did that person ever even see your ad.

Viewers can always click the ad to be taken to a page with more information on your product, or directly to your Web site.  With a Facebook Page for your business users can discuss your products, share with friends, and receive updates from you on specials, promotions, news, etc.

To get started with Facebook Ads – click here.

To start a free Facebook Page for your business – click here.

Also, while you are there – Check out the TalkAboutAds.com Facebook Page.

LONDON – McDonald’s has unveiled a fresh sign concept at Piccadilly Circus, aimed at encouraging visitors to take pictures against the back-drop of the iconic outdoor site, which is seen by an estimated 1.1m people a week. People posing for photos can appear to interact with images displayed on the giant LED screen. These include a birthday cake with candles, a hammer, bowler hat and ‘think’ bubbles containing McDonald’s menu items such as fries. McDonald’s said the campaign, which was created by Leo Burnett, is the first of its kind. The fast-food chain hopes that people will upload the images onto sites such as Facebook and Flickr. It also plans to upload a video of people using the screen to its website in the next few months.

If you live in a metro area then you’ve no doubt noticed an almost overnight transformation to digital billboards along freeways and high traffic areas of large cities.  While they may be getting a bad rap from naive environmentalists and misinformed motorists, they are getting praise from marketers and local businesses as they offer new advantages, versatility and flexibility in reaching wide audiences.  The technology has been around for years (although it’s adapted quite a bit), but only recently have state’s passed laws allowing (under strict regulations) their use.

Here are some reasons why digital billboards are revolutionizing outdoor and online advertising:

1. Affordable campaigns for smaller advertisers.

Traditionally it has been rather expensive to place a billboard advertisement.  This is largely due to the nature of the way billboards are created.  A print shop has to print massive posters of your ad copy, then a guy (usually an expensive union worker) has to drive out to the billboard and physically paste those posters on the board (after removing the last ad).  Because the process is so expensive and time consuming, most companies demand at least a 30 day campaign, which isn’t always affordable for the local boutique shop or restaurant.  That has all changed now.  With digital billboards an agency can traffic the ad to the billboard of your choice, much in the same way they traffic a banner ad to a Website.  Within minutes your image can be displayed to thousands of billboards across the country and depending on what you purchased, they could run for 1 day, 1 week, or several months.

Now a local advertiser, say a boutique shop, with a small budget can run a billboard about their weekend sale for 7 days, rather than 30.  Or Ashton Kutcher can quickly get word out to follow him on Twitter, in an effort to beat out CNN to 1 million followers.  A campaign that, with Oprah’s help, raised money for malaria research.

2. More targeting options and budget considerations.

Also much like Website advertising, digital billboard campaigns can include frequency caps and spending limits.  Maybe you want to run your ad for 6 months, but you can only afford a certain budget per month – you could set a cap on your ad to shut down when it hits the limit per month, and turn back on next month.  Or maybe you want to reach the maximum amount of people, without wasting money on displaying your ad when no one is looking – your ad can be set to only display during high traffic times, say between 7am and 10am and 4pm and 7pm, but shut down during the middle of the day and late at night when there are less people on the road.

3. Expanded Inventory.

Traditional poster billboards can obviously only run 1 ad campaign at a time.  Digital billboards, however, can rotate different campaigns all day long – swapping out an ad every 10 to 15 seconds.  This dramatically increases the inventory available, and gets more ad views per person.  When stopped at a red light, a motorist could easily be exposed to 8 to 12 different campaigns.  This means more money for agencies and billboard companies, which results in lower campaign costs.  If a billboard has its available inventory almost booked, a small budget advertiser is more likely to get discount ad space.

4. Public Service Announcements.

Because an ad on a digital billboard can now be placed live within minutes, and taken down just as fast – new opportunities have become available not only for advertisers, but for government and safety as well.  A kid gets kidnapped and within minutes an Amber Alert can be posted to every digital billboard in town with the guy’s license plate #, photo, details on the child, etc.  Maybe there is a huge accident 12 miles ahead – a digital billboard could rotate in a message telling freeway drivers about an alternate route.  Law enforcement agencies and the FBI are using digital billboards to warn the public about wanted criminals in their area.  Local news stations are using digital billboards to deliver real time weather and breaking news reports.

5. Dynamic Content

Because digital billboard campaigns are delivered via a computer, they can easily be setup to run dynamic ads that change throughout the day.  A car dealership, for example, could stream a feed of their vehicle inventory to their billboard ad.  The ad may display a specific vehicle that is currently for sale, and within minutes of it being sold the ad could be pulled from the billboard and replaced with another available vehicle.  Or a mortgage company could update in real time their current mortgage rate that is displayed in their ads.  An advertiser could also change their phone number, web address or ad copy that is displayed in their ad, without all the costs to redo the ad.

Even with all the new opportunities and advantages for advertisers, there are many people who are against digital billboards.  Some find them annoying, some find them dangerous, and others believe they are bad for the environment.  Let’s address some of the myths and review some facts about digital billboards that you may not be aware of.

Myths about Digital Billboards:

1. Digital billboards are distracting to motorists and dangerous.

Fact: No accidents or traffic related incidents have ever been reported to be caused by digital billboards.  More so, digital billboards are equiped with light sensors which detect the surrounding light and adjust the brightness of the billboard.  When the sun is bright, the billboard will be bright so that you can see it.  At night the billboard will be dimmer.   Also, individual state and federal regulations heavily regulate how often digital billboards can rotate ads, as well as restrict animation, scrolling and moveable or flashing images.  Think of them more like a PowerPoint presentation.  Digital billboards are no less or more distracting than regular poster billboards.

2. Digital billboards use a ton of electricity and are bad for the environment.

Fact: Digital billboards use the minimum amount of light necessary to provide legible copy, a practice which meets federal criteria and the lighting industry’s standards.  They also use LED light technology rather than incandescent light or bulbs, which is a much lower energy-use technology.  LEDs are being used more and more in residential and commercial lighting, as well as in newer vehicle headlights because they don’t generate heat and they don’t need to be replaced very often.  It’s a much safer and effective technology than any other light technology available.

3. Billboards are bad for communities, getting rid of big ugly advertisements would make our neigborhoods a better place to live.

Fact: More than 70% of billboard advertisers are local businesses who employee thousands of people in local communities.  Studies show that without billboards, local businesses would lose about 20% of their business.  Not to mention the fact that billboard companies work with law enforcement agencies to thwart terrorism and local criminal activity, as well as displaying public service annoucements and traffic alerts as I mentioned above.  When those messages are displayed billboard companies lose money, almost $400 million a year – yet they still do it.  Digital billboards save lives and help communities thrive.

4. Billboards are unpopular and people hate them.

Numerous polls and studies actually show that the mass majority of people think billboards serve an important service and should not be eliminated.  In most communities more than 70% of those polled said digital billboards are a creative and innovative way to advertise.

Watch a video on how McDonald’s is using digital billboards.

For more info on digital billboards, please visit these sites:

OAAA.org

Conntact.com

TheSignofTheTimes.org