As you would expect, the Net is abuzz with chatter about this genuinely significant decision.

Some will say this was a smart move by GM. Some will say it was smug. Some will say it has no bearing at all.

One interesting point of view I came across is that GM’s decision was premature. In a recent interview with Digiday when asked if GM’s decision was because advertising on Facebook wasn’t working , Federated Media co-founder Chas Edwards stated:

That’s a preposterous claim. I can’t imagine the first year that GM was buying TV commercials it was able to ascertain what was working and what wasn’t. It’s taken a generation to perfect and understand how to measure success in TV. For it to do that after three years seems premature to say it works or doesn’t work as a global statement. Facebook as a consumer experience and an advertising platform are both relatively new.

This is a good point. I didn’t consider it.

Interestingly, I speculated that GM did this in fear of Facebook, banking that if it can rattle the IPO enough ahead of time then it can pro-long the potentially inevitable path to Facebook becoming an advertising mogul comparable to network TV.  I have no evidence to back such a claim.

But think about it for a moment. If you are GM and you are killing it on Facebook with advertising for a mere fraction of the cost it takes on cable and network television, you dread the day that this advertising medium goes up in price, which is precisely where Facebook is headed with this IPO.

Like with Google in the early days a few hundred dollars a month would have you owning your targeted search markets. Today it takes thousands. For companies like GM, tens of thousands of dollars in advertising on Facebook could turn to millions quickly if all goes according to plan.

So is there a clever strategy here with GM? Are they going to take a blow to the chest in hopes to delay a kick in the groin a few years from now?

It’s possible.

If so, it would be commendable.

The decline in shoppers during this year’s game was – 4.67%.

In addition to this, Dataium saw no increase in shopping behavior immediately following the commercials. The exceptions to this were after the airing of commercials for Mercedes-Benz and Cadillac.

For example, there was a 43% increase in unique visitors to Mercedes-Benz dealer websites after their commercials aired.

The report discusses the impact of automotive ads during the game on online auto shopping behavior. It also outlines:

• The overall shopping trends during the game
• Impact of individual brand commercials on auto shopping pre, during and post game
• Changes in mobile usage on auto websites pre, during and post game

To purchase the Promotional Impact report for the game from Dataium, visit Dataium’s website and carouse through the online library. If you do, be sure to report back here on how you plan to utilize the information in the report so we can keep track of those efforts.

In spite of this, another source reported that the tournament was a win for Toyota. As stated on the YouGov.com site,”Of the slew of automakers sinking millions of ad dollars into NCAA March Madness, Toyota has seen the greatest perception lift with college basketball fans in the US.”

Toyota registered a commanding 15 point gain in buzz score from the two-week period prior to the tournament to the March Madness period of March 13th through the 26th. GM notched 11 points with the same comparison metrics, followed by a tie between Chevy and Volkswagen (both 8 points), and Ford (6).

Obviously, these two sources are monitoring and measuring different things but you have to wonder where the correlation is, assuming there is one.

Well, over the past holiday season there were a couple tips that piqued my interest in what to look for in 2012, and one of them was about access to and control of privacy and personal information.

It’s a topic I personally have written on this past year and that others on this blog of written on as well.

There are many sides of the coin to the issue that in the end the consumer will almost always be the one that is harmed the most while receiving the worst of the benefits. By harmed I mean that the consumer is exposed to the greatest risk.

Take for example Facebook which although the user benefits are great, the exploitation of your personal information is ramped.

Did you know that when you log on to your Facebook account you are literally giving Facebook permission to associate all of your recent online whereabouts, searches, and whatnot, i.e. your behavioral information, with your identity information?

We wrote about these types of data more extensively back in November in the article titled As Tracking Technology Advances, Anonymous Does Not Mean Private Anymore so I won’t get into more details about it here, but understanding the difference between anonymous data and identity data is important so that you can be better equipped and in control of what you share about yourself and your family and with whom.

Identity data is information specific to you, e.g. your name, contact information, demographic info, etc. Behavioral information, also known as anonymous data, is information about you as an object or statistic.

Sharing generic information about you is not really of concern here. From an advertising standpoint this type of sharing is good. I think most of us would agree that we would rather see advertisements for products we want as opposed to ones we don’t. Advertisers have for decades performed studies and purchased anonymous data in effort to serve up more relevant ads to you on TV, radio, and in print.

Sharing of personal information can also be good.

For instance, at HookLogic shopper information is collected (with permission) and monitored to better determine where and when you are likely to make a purchase for something as simple as a piece of clothing to something more significant like say an automobile.

Some people may take issue with use of data like this but fact of the matter is that this shopper information is not being shared with (let alone sold to) other entities that would use it for their own commerce needs.

Back to the original point…

Control of your personal contact information online I see as becoming one of the leading concerns over the next 3 to 5 or even 10+ years.

By control what I mean is that commerce sites must find a way to connect shoppers with retailers in ways where the shoppers’ personal information does not have to be shared but where the advertising and merchandising shoppers experience on these sites is even more relevant and personalized.

Unlike the home-based businesses that sound too good to be true, this concept of shopping is not. We are already seeing it in sites such as AutoConverse.com where auto shoppers can collaborate with automotive merchants and never give up personal contact info, and sites like this are beginning to surface in various ways, shapes, and forms.

Most social media sites offer communication tools that do not require you to share personal info with other users. But commerce sites are not there yet. They are still cul-de-sacs that require you to fork over that valuable digital thumbprint if you want to do business with them.

Researchers are harvesting a wealth of intimate detail from our cellphone data, uncovering the hidden patterns of our social lives, travels, risk of disease—even our political views. Source: WSJ.com

Does this scare you or fascinate you?

Most people travel the Internet today without much idea at all about how they are being tracked. They understand that Amazon uses their shopping and browsing behavior to suggest recommendations for other products. Netflix uses their rental history and ratings submissions to suggest other movies to watch. But what is the real scope and depth of online privacy?

It all seems pretty simple and harmless, in fact, quite useful. But, think of all the actions you take online and on your mobile phone. We’re talking about a tremendous amount of data, and even if it’s anonymous, it can all be used to unveil your actual identity online.

Anonymous & Identity Data: What’s the Difference?

Identity data includes specific items of detail such as your phone number, home address, birth date, e-mail address, etc. You usually input this information yourself in a profile on a social network, a newsletter signup, an application for a job, or some other online contact form.

Anonymous data includes more general details from your browsing history and location data. It’s called anonymous because no personal identifying information (as listed above) is attached to it. For example, apps that you have on your smart phone or tablet use location data to forecast traffic congestion, offer up weather forecasts, suggest restaurants, and more.

The problem is that anonymous data really isn’t so anonymous anymore. The trail of data you leave on the Web while shopping, browsing, interacting on social networks, i.e. your online identity, can easily be examined and traced to your real identity.

Facebook Tracking is Just One Example

When you go to any Facebook.com page, the company places cookies in your browser. If you sign up for an account, you get two types of cookies. These cookies record every time you visit another website that uses a Facebook Like button or other Facebook plugin. Unique characteristics that identify your computer are also recorded.

If you’re logged into your Facebook account, however, more personal details will be recorded, such as your name, e-mail address, friends’ names and other profile information.

Right now, Facebook uses this information, they say, to offer up relevant advertising and to improve plug-ins and security. The concern, however, is that Facebook and other companies that track data like this will be tempted to sell it to other businesses. (See the full story on Mashable, Facebook Reveals Its User-Tracking Secrets.)

Smart Phone Capabilities Beyond Your Imagination

Privacy concerns aren’t just about Internet tracking anymore. An article in the Wall Street Journal on The Really Smart Phone details how tracking mobile phone usage could be of great benefit and of great concern.

Experiments conducted through certain universities tracked volunteers—recording their movements, relationships, moods, health, calling habits and spending. Researchers then discovered patterns of human behavior that could:

• Reveal political and religious affiliations
• Detect flu symptoms before the person knows he is sick
• Pinpoint influencers who could change a consumer’s mind
• Predict a person’s future whereabouts with 93.6% accuracy

Am I blowing your mind?

Technology can be wonderful and amazing, but it can also be dangerous. And as technology advances, privacy controls need to advance too. Consumers need to be able to control their information better, and right now, that’s just not happening.

Social networks, like Facebook, and the constant evolution of mobile phones are terrific and amazing. They let us communicate freely and globally like never before.

The question is: How do consumers continue to use these items and trust that they and their information are safe?

How can we benefit from some of these really incredible advances and not have to put so much personal information at risk?

In 2009, MediaPost published a warning about anonymous data not being so anonymous or harmless, yet where are the privacy advances?

Do you have the answers? Do you have ideas? If so, start listing them here. Who knows? Maybe we can start the next privacy revolution.

Image: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Advertisers are always looking for new ways to better reach their desired audiences. Semantic targeting is one way we’ve discussed (In Online Advertising, Placement is All Semantics—or Should Be).

Social targeting is another.

With Walmart’s recent acquisition of OneRiot, there’s been a lot of talk lately about social targeting. So, I thought we’d take a closer look.

Social targeting is based on conversations and interactions in the social media space. Segmenting factors include audience interest profiles, demographics, social influence, real-time conversations and more.

Ad publishers use data such as status updates, tweets, photos and other online postings to help determine the user’s interests and, therefore, determine the relevance of potential ads targeting that user.

The idea is that, as Glen Calvert says, “understanding what consumers are sharing, who the influencers are, and who they connected to, provides advertisers with an opportunity to reach consumers implicitly interested in their products, and discover new audiences based on their social connections.”

No doubt, with the continued growth of online social media and interactions, social targeting will be of terrific use in the coming years, especially in mobile advertising.

One problem I see is that, unlike semantic targeting, social targeting is still cookie based. The online space is a public arena, but many people still aren’t comfortable with the creepy “peeping Tom” nature of cookie-based advertising methods.

The question is: Will people finally give up and accede to less privacy and more cookie tracking, or will there be a sort of consumer privacy revolt that pushes advertisers to use the more consumer-friendly semantic targeting?

One thing is for sure, the ad publishing space will be interesting to watch. And we’ll keep you up to date on it right here.

You may have seen the recent press releases about HookLogic – Automotive President David Metter speaking at Digital Dealer 2011, or Bain Capital investing $9M into the company, or Jeff Kershner, Founder of DealerRefresh who I know from blogging with BlogPro Automotive over the years taking on the role of National Sales Director of Automotive. These announcements all came out in late September and early October, and the three of us are hitting the road for conference season to embark on this new journey, well, new journey for me anyway.

When Metter first introduced me to HookLogic (the company) back in June and showed me how he and Kershner worked with HookLogic and MileOne Automotive over the course of about four years, I was instantly “hooked”. The product was, or is, very much in line with we do at AutoConversion and I instantly identified ways that we could integrate with it. In fact, it was while exploring these ideas that the idea of me working for HookLogic became part of the discussion. I am glad that I was in position to be given the opportunity to work with Metter and his team.

The technology uses non-binding third-party incentives to drive people into auto dealer showrooms. It made me comfortable knowing that this product, the people, and the company have longevity and the promise of innovation.  You can visit www.leadtoshow.com for more information if you are interested.

As stated, during the interview process I saw the possibility for AutoConversion to incorporate HookLogic into its dealer blogs and also onto the AutoConverse.com and ACAutoSearch.com portals. Even though I am coming on board with HookLogic as an employee, this is something you can expect to see in the coming months. It’s just a matter of priority during this transition period.

Digital advertising has a stain on it, left by the second wave of advertising. Behavioral tracking and the illicit supercookie have tainted what should be a more popular way of reaching consumers.

In his article, The 3rd Wave for the Ad Industry, J. Brooke Aker describes the first two waves as:

1. The Internet media explosion of connectivity and multiple devices
2. Technology that makes advertising efficient but leaves the user as an afterthought

Today, online advertising is the second largest advertising medium (TV is the largest), but it has a huge problem:

• 36 percent of consumers use software or other means to avoid ads
• 63 percent ignore Internet ads all together. (Source)

These are interactive ads. You’d think people would want to interact and enjoy them more. So what is the display advertising industry doing wrong? They’re not putting the consumer first. And that’s what the third wave is all about.

As Google puts it: “In a world in which ads are becoming optional for users, the key to our industry’s success in the future will be delivering ads that people love, remember and share.”

How do we do this?

Welcome to the third wave. Riding the crest of this wave is semantic advertising. (See In Online Advertising, Placement is All Semantics—or Should Be)

Semantic advertising employs cookie-less targeting, which is much more user friendly, to find the right place to put your display ad.

Semantic analysis works by uncovering reader emotions, behaviors, motivations and intentions and then matching ads to content with similar emotional appeal.

Sounds like semantic targeting could take a long time, right? Wrong.

Mr. Aker says semantic analysis and targeting like this can take place in less than 1 millisecond per URL. Less than 1 millisecond!

For brands, this means more thoughtful ad publishing entailing less risk and more relevance. For consumers, this means less annoyance in their Internet browsing experience and greater relevance. Note, the key word here is relevance. And relevance brings results.

Google predicts that in the next five years impression rates will go down by 25 percent, but that’s okay because more important numbers will go up.

• Brands will see overall engagement rates for display ads increase by 50 percent.
• Consumers will have a direct say in 25 percent of the ads they see.

Having that direct say may mean that fewer people will be blocking ads because of that control. Relevance equals respect. Consumers respect brands that respect them and put consumers wishes first.

How you engage with consumers through display advertising is your choice. Are you going to surf the semantic advertising wave? Or are you going to get left behind waving at your competitors and your customers as they sail away happily together?

HookLogic’s targeted incentive programs and partnership with lead-scoring solution provider RL Polk have helped clients achieve an average 20 percent increase in close rates by converting more consumer leads into showroom visitors. Clients includeMileOne Automotive, Germain Motor Company, Suburban Collection, Herb Chambers Auto Group, and AutoTrader. Its timing concurs with a hugely successful first half of 2011 in which it signed a channel partnership agreement with AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions, the premier independent Internet lead provider, to power its ShowPro suite of products.

“We have made very selective and profitable investments in the automotive software space,” says Deepak Sindwani, principal at Bain Capital Ventures. “HookLogic has a proven business model, loyal clients, and provides an amazing return on investment to automotive marketers. We’re thrilled to be a partner in scaling the business.”

Bain was the primary investor in vAuto, an inventory optimization software company that was recently acquired by AutoTrader.

“We see this as a validation of our business model from one of the smartest, most demanding investors in the world,” says Opdyke. “Today, automotive dealers and marketers generate an amazing number of leads, but there is a clear gap when it comes to converting those leads into showroom visits. We’re successfully bridging that gap and helping our clients win more business and grow marketshare.”

Opdyke pointed out the financing announcement builds on the company’s recent hire of David Metter as president of HookLogic’s automotive division. Metter is one of the foremost experts in automotive digital marketing and has been a driving force in the adoption of many new technologies, including HookLogic.

With its new funding, HookLogic plans to aggressively expand its business across the automotive sectors in North America and Europe.

About HookLogic’s Incentive Solutions for the Auto Industry

HookLogic powers targeted incentive programs that drive in-market shoppers to auto dealerships and other lead-driven businesses. HookLogic solutions are easily implemented, work with nearly any marketing medium and enable end-to-end reporting and optimization. Headquartered in New York City, the company has offices in Ann Arbor, MI, Atlanta, GA and Manchester, UK. Clients include Trader Media Group, MileOne Automotive, Germain Motor Cars, Suburban Collection, Acton Toyota, and AutoTrader.com. Learn more at www.hooklogic.com/auto1

About Bain Capital Ventures:

Bain Capital Ventures is the Boston-based venture capital affiliate of Bain Capital, which has approximately $65 billion of assets under management worldwide. Founded in 1984, Bain Capital and its affiliates havemade more than 300 investments. The firm’s history of investing in early stage companies also dates back to 1984, having made over 125 venture-stage investments since inception including such companies as Gartner Group, SunGard, Experian, Archer Technologies, SolarWinds, DoubleClick, Instinet, Staples, ProfitLogic, Regulatory Data Corporation, Shopping.com, Taleo, and LinkedIn. In 2001, Bain Capital Ventures was formed as a separate arm of Bain Capital tofocus exclusively on growth investments.

Media Contact:

Carla Vicens Rudder

blast! PR for HookLogic

(919) 833-9975 x7003

Carla@blastpr.com

There is a telling article that was published yesterday on Fast Company about augmented reality leader Layar taking its system to a  new level by installing a “real-world object recognition protocol that’s a little like Google’s Goggles.” I personally have not kept up with augmented reality, or AR, which was first introduced to me last year by blogger Eric Miltsch. This new breakthrough from Layar puts a more practical use of AR tag within reach for smartphone users, in an innovative way.

When the new Layar browser, which is an augmented reality app you install on your smartphone, “sees” an item it recognizes, wherever it may be, it returns data to your phone immediately. It results in whatever action has been associated with the object.

As Miltsch explains, “Put simply, the camera in your smart phone talks to the internal GPS device to find and display restaurants, bars and even people – anything that can be tagged online can be identified with this technology.”

In one swoop, Layar may have turned AR apps from intriguing, inspiring, and occasionally useful toys into serious tools for information discovery and, of course, advertising.

Which begs the question of how this affects media and advertising and the role that QR codes play in advertising?

Fast Company asks, “How do you know a random real-world item is actually an AR tag? QR codes define themselves as a tag, but a random magazine page doesn’t, unless it’s labeled as such.” The magazine suggests that until AR becomes more ubiquitous, this may be a problem.

AR Tags for Mass Media

This is certainly a consideration, which makes me wonder if AR tags might be more commonly seen in mass media, specifically with TV and Internet. What better way to introduce the AR dynamic to an engaged audience on TV?

We have written about Interactive TV made possible by companies like iPowow. With the introduction of the augmented reality capabilities made possible with the Layar browser, live television broadcasting could be completely interactive, without texting and while accessing the Internet using its own browser.

This hints at opening up doors in the media and entertainment industry. Something we will have to watch.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Wise words from Brad Brinegar, Chairman and CEO of McKinney advertising agency. [Source].

If you’re not responding to the emotion of consumers, you’re wasting your advertising dollars. So, the question is: How do you catch people emotionally, especially in digital advertising?

Making sure your web banner or other digital ad evokes the desired emotions isn’t enough (and isn’t easy). You can be doing so much more to capture an audience—and still protect their privacy.

How? Semantics.

Semantic targeting focuses on sentiment. Instead of using cookies and other tracking methods to snoop on the individual visitor and his or her interests, semantic targeting focuses on the emotional context of the page where the ad will appear.

Contextual, Behavioral & Semantic Targeting: What’s the Difference?

Contextual targeting – Based on the actual content on the page. Your ad is placed on certain web pages due to to keywords on that page that match your criteria. The picture below shows exactly why this method is not good enough—and often dangerous for your brand reputation.

Behavioral targeting – Based on a consumer’s online actions. For example, I mentioned a Wawa convenience store in one of my Facebook posts. When I moved to another page a Wawa hoagie ad appeared onscreen. Convenient for advertisers. Creepy for consumers. The FTC is currently considering creating a “Do Not Track” system for easy opt-out of these ads.

Semantic targeting – Based on the measured sentiment of the content on the page. Semantic targeting works by sifting through page content relative to multiple factors. Every word on the page is analyzed in terms of:

• Role: What part of speech is each word? Many words in the English language can be used as different parts of speech, and it can make a big difference in meaning whether a word is being used as a noun, adjective, verb, or adverb. Semantic targeting nails down how each word is being used.
• Relationship: How does each word relate to other words in the story, the same paragraph, and the same sentence? If your product is being mentioned, this is how semantics help prevent your ad from being placed in a story where your product is mentioned negatively or where readers would react negatively.
• Meaning: What does each word mean? Definitions are determined for each word based on the other words around it.
• Emotions: How is the message (of the story/content) being received? What motivations is it inspiring? Here lies the ultimate differentiator from other types of targeting. In order to place your ad for maximum effect, your ad publisher should know the role, relationship and meaning of the words to be able to assess sentiment, emotions and motivations.

The Kingsford grilling ad above would not have happened if the ad publisher used semantic targeting. In fact, none of the ads highlighted in the blog post where I found that photo would’ve occurred using this newer method of ad placement.

Think about that and what it means to your advertising. Now, how does that make you feel?