Online advertising shows its age - ' Behaviorism '
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Behavioral marketing, another new Web advertising approach, can get even more precise about consumer activities. One such system, from New York City-based Tacoda Inc., maintains an online advertising network that tracks the browsing and purchasing habits of more than 130 million consumers a month at more than 3,000 Web sites. Consumers are then assigned profiles: A person visiting the auto section of the New York Times Web site several times over a two-week period, for instance, would be tagged as an active auto buyer. Consequently, Tacoda would run a BMW display ad—banner, video or animated ad—the next time this consumer visits one of the company's network sites.
The value of behavioral marketing was made evident by a Tacoda online campaign for Marysville, Ohio-based Scotts Co. The lawn-care leader ran a series of ads on Weather.com that was viewed by eight million garden enthusiasts, two to four times a month. The response to these ads illustrated the richness of Tacoda's database: Scotts' click-thru rate was 20 percent higher than when it ran untargeted advertising on the same Web site.
Some Internet marketing executives say that Tacoda and its ilk are working too hard to find consumers that fit specific categories. A much more expedient approach would be to use the Web's interactivity to let individuals self-select the niches they belong in, and then to deliver well-produced, relevant content, supported by advertising, that matches these preferences. New York City-based Narrowstep, for instance, is developing a package of Internet video channels directed at small audiences that have expressed a passionate interest in subjects ranging from cycling and sailing to childcare, and in such cities as Glasgow and London. "The new world on the Internet is not about hundreds of programs or keywords each reaching millions of eyeballs," says Rob Foster, a Narrowstep vice president. "It's about millions of programs each reaching hundreds of eyeballs. As an advertiser, I want to know how small your audience is."
After years of subpar response rates, it's become clear that the mere presence of a huge volume of consumers and an equally large number of ads in the same place is not enough to sell products by themselves. Now, more artful and lucrative approaches to online marketing appear to be in the offing. It may be that there's no other choice, really. No one wants to see another bubble burst.
Story Guide:
Online advertising shows its age
Banner Year?
Word to the Wise
Return on Marketing
Return Behaviorism
Sold on Web Ads
test
Case Studies 
