Marketing & Digital Advertising Blog

Since my last post at the beginning of 2013, a lot has changed in the Paid Search world. That change is due primarily to Google’s Enhanced Campaigns. This new approach to device targeting is revolutionizing paid search. Seriously, this is the largest major change in search since the Microsoft – Yahoo! Alliance. There are pros and cons with this change, Bing sees it as advantageous while the industry in general runs the gamut from negative to positive, depending on your outlook.

Many analyst firms estimate that Real-Time Bidding (RTB – the ad buying process where bids are placed on impressions in the milliseconds before an ad space loads) will represent 20% of all digital display ad spend by the end of this year.

For media planners and buyers, this method of running campaigns is getting more and more interest as clients continue to ask about it and look for greater precision and efficiencies in their media buys. It behooves us to evaluate how well it drives the advertiser’s objectives. So, how much should we spend on RTB when planning a campaign?

Bitcoin started in 2009 by a hacker who calls him or herself Satoshi Nakamoto (and who might be several people). It’s a form of decentralized virtual currency used to buy goods and services online. By internet standards, it’s still an odd and super nerdy phenomenon. Bitcoin is a byproduct of software and computer networks looking at the concept of currency and asking the question, “How can we create a new economy?”

By now we’ve all seen and heard much about the six IAB Rising Star Units. It’s no surprise Centrons are eager to hit the ground running to bring these new, sexy ad units to our advertisers. Creative teams are busy building these out and publishers are working hand-in-hand with their web development teams to get them approved.

Read the Entire Story on Built in Chicago

Read the Entire Story on Built in Chicago 

Read the Entire Story on the Wall Street Journal 

As I was thinking about how we (Centro) can help publishers solidify the quality of inventory, I came across a story on the IAB’s task force to guard against non-human traffic and fictitious publishers. It’s clear that there are market concerns over the legitimacy and value of the inventory that brand marketers are purchasing. Advertisers are getting more digitally savvy, and as they increase their digital budgets, they’re itching for more guarantees and more accountability. Now, the process of standardizing metrics and guaranteeing viewable impressions may not eradicate the bots, but it certainly is a start.

Recently, Centro was named the Best Place to Work in Chicago, according to business publication Crain’s for the third year in a row. As much as we’d like to credit our freebies (yoga, food, etc.) and great health benefits for helping us attain this award, there are factors at our core that drive the happiness in our employees across the U.S. These are simple ideas that, when put into action, return incredible results.