Welcome Remarks

Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, opened the IAB Mobile Leadership Forum with a provocative notion: the mobile advertising marketplace has finally come of age. He pointed out that the cliché that has predominated for the last ten years is that we have heard that mobile is the next big thing. When will it happen? Well, it has happened, Rothenberg said. And that is what will be revealed at the IAB Mobile Leadership Forum. Indeed, Rothenberg said, we are moving to a three screen universe. And that means that marketers and agencies are able to reach increasingly mobile consumers, giving them information when they want and where they want– this is no longer the future but the here and now. The third screen is mainstream. Now is the time to better comprehend the form and structure of this emerged new reality. “To understand,” said Rothberg, “the 3 in 3G, the Wi in Wi-Fi.”

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If you are a Webpublisher earning less than $1 million annually in advertising revenueand with five or fewer employees, you can help save the ad-supportedInternet. I urge you to join the Interactive Advertising Bureau and become part of the small business army we are mobilizing to stop politicians from unfairly and inappropriately regulating digital advertising.

The threat is very real. As I have outlined in previous postings,forces arrayed in Washington and multiple state capitals arespecifically targeting the business infrastructure that enables smallWeb sites to support themselves through advertising sales. Althoughthese advocacy groups have provided no evidence of public harm, theirefforts have resulted in a flurry of regulatory proposals which, ifenacted, would severely hinder the ability of small publishers tosupport themselves with advertising sales, and impair the ability ofsmall businesses to use interactive advertising to market themselves.

Ibelieve these proposals have received little attention from marketers,media and publishers because they have been hidden on legislativecalendars in Albany, Hartford, and Springfield, or been negotiatedbehind closed doors in Washington, away from our ecosystem’s businessleaders. Moreover, because the proposals state that they seek tocontrol “behavioral marketing” or “third party networks” or “onlinepreference marketing,” publishers that do not engage in such practicesor with such practitioners believe they are safe.

But in fact,these proposals are so broad, they will put virtually all interactiveadvertising practices — and even many mainstream marketing practices– under a strict regulatory regime. Business leaders need to startpaying attention now, or the underpinnings of the “free” — which is tosay ad-supported — Internet will come undone.

Consider a bill that has been before the New York State Assembly, which aims to curtail “online preference marketing.” It defines “online preference marketing” as “aprocess used by entities whereby data is typically collected over timeand across web pages to determine or predict consumer characteristicsor preference for use in ad delivery, including the use ofnon-personallyidentifiable information.” But employing non-identifiable data topredict consumer preferences for use in ad delivery is, in fact, thevery definition of advertising research. Were the New York bill to pass, a mainstay of businessdevelopment for 120 years would, for the first time, fall under astrict regulatory regime – forcing small Web publishers and theiradvertisers to incur legal and lobbying expenses they cannot afford,and just for New York State.

Or look carefully at Connecticut General Assembly Bill 5765.It offers the same, sweeping definition of “online preferencemarketing,” and goes on to say that any publisher offering it through a“third-partyadvertising network” must additionally give consumers the opportunityto “opt out” from receiving it. This means consumers, for the firsttime, would be able to force advertisers to stop providing them ads –but only if those ads are relevant to their interests! Presumably,mass-distributed “spam” advertising would still be protected.

The Connecticutbill also would allow consumers to pull non-identifying data theygenerate out of the aggregated databases that are commonly used inmarket research to improve products, services, and marketing. To putthis in perspective, this is the equivalent of allowing you, me, oranyone to demand that a grocer not use our anonymous checkout-counterscanner data to determine when to restock a product.

These state bills have been tabled — for now. But consider the Federal Trade Commission’s recommendationsfor self-regulatory principles for “online behavioral advertising.” TheFTC has been a good partner with the interactive media and marketingindustries, and has encouraged us, for the most part beneficially, todevelop an effective self-regulatory mechanism to guard consumers’legitimate interests in identity protection and data security. Yet eventhe FTC has succumbed to the fear-mongering of anti-business advocacygroups, and HAS offered breathtakingly broad definitions that couldseverely hamper the activities of small publishers and marketers.

TheFTC defines “behavioral advertising” as “the tracking of a consumer’sactivities online,” and would give consumers the right “to choosewhether or not to have their information collected for such a purpose,”apparently even if it is anonymous and non-identifying. Yet one such“tracking activity” is the measurement of Web site audience traffic –the central measure by which advertising prices are established.Another such “tracking activity” is the measurement of advertisingdelivery – the core determinant of whether the publisher gets paid bythe marketer for running its ads! Thus, in its recommendations for theself-regulation of what it calls “behavioral advertising,” thecommission has made suggestions that would break longstanding processesessential for the management of media companies in the U.S.

The most unfortunate aspect of these proposals is that they are utterly unnecessary. The IABand its members vigorously support the principle of consumer controlover their media consumption. Indeed, consumer control is one of thefundamental reasons interactive media have grown so quickly inpopularity. And consumers have all the tools they need to control allforms of data collection in online media and advertising, built intotheir browsers and into security packages, many of them available freeonline.

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You’re invited to listen and share insights on how publishers are utilizing their brand equity to capitalize on the significant growth expected in online advertising at the upcoming ContextWeb event. This event features industry leaders, including Wenda Harris Millard, Co-CEO and President of Media, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and IAB Chair, as well as our very own Randall Rothenberg and more.

Don’t miss “The Next Big Thing: How Publishers Are Taking Back Control of Their Brands with Scalable and Profitable Online Advertising Strategies” on Wednesday, July 9, 8-10am at the Yale Club, NYC. RSVP today!

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In response to the high volume of MIXX Awards submissions, we’ve extended the deadline until Thursday, July 3. Now you have two more weeks to finalize your submissions for a chance to earn the recognition your campaigns deserve. So what are you waiting for? Submit your work today!

“The MIXX Awards represent the gold standard in interactive advertising and the winners stand as vital examples of how to create successful interactive campaigns”  -Bob Liodice, President and CEO, Association of National Advertisers

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This is a reminder to enter your best interactive campaigns today in order to compete for the coveted title of MIXX Award winner. The MIXX Awards is the only interactive awards competition judged by an all star panel representing the entire interactive advertising ecosystem. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain so enter today!

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Yesterday’s enlivening UGC & Social Media Event was a huge success. Read the IABlog for a recap of the day.

What’s next? Building on the expertise and credibility that the IAB has achieved in creating a common ground for advancing growth in the interactive marketplace, we developed with The Laredo Group a Professional Development training course in interactive sales taking place on June 11. Register today and capture the best there is in technical sales training for you and your sales team.

Reminder: The MIXX Awards are open for entry!

“To our knowledge, this is the first time agencies, publishers and marketers have come together to referee a major advertising awards program,” said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB.

So don’t forget to submit your best interactive campaign today.

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9:00am
Good Morning and welcome to the 2008 IAB Leadership Forum: User-Generated Content & Social Media. We have an exciting day ahead of us on one of the most exciting topics in interactive.  Seth Goldstein is up  first  to give us a taxonomy of the social media space with his presentation, Wikis & Widgets, Blogs & Tweets: Defining User-Generated Content & Social Media. 

For those in the room, we encourage you to leave your comments about the event  in the comment section below, or contribute to the IAB Facebook page at www.facebook.com/iab.  I’ll be back in about an hour with our first update. Enjoy the show!

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The IAB Leadership Forum: User-Generated Content & Social Media is coming up this Monday! Agenda highlights include:

• The Consumer Is Always Right- Cross Demographic Panel
• The Future Is Now- What’s here, what’s next and what’s in the way?
• Wikis & Widgets, Blogs & Tweets: Defining User-Generated Content & Social Media

On May 15 the IAB and PWC announced that the 2007 Internet Advertising Revenue Report shows internet advertising revenues in the U.S. continued to soar.

“This achievement is testament to the continued vitality of interactive” said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB.

On May 22 Campaign Setup Best Practices was released as part of a long term initiative designed to improve operational efficiency in interactive advertising.

“This document is instrumental in helping online agencies and publishers increase the efficiency of the online ad buying process which is a real win for our clients,” said Will Restrepo, campaign management supervisor of Horizon Interactive, and one of a number of agency representatives who participated in the creation of the document.

Ad Unit and Rich Media Creative Guidelines are still out for public comment until June 6. Members of the industry (advertising agencies, advertisers, online publishers and technology vendors) are encouraged to read the proposed guidelines and submit comments on the IAB site.

Don’t forget MIXX Awards Submissions are up! Enter your campaign today.

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Last week was a busy week at the IAB. Here’s a quick recap:

On Monday the IAB held the annual Digital Video Leadership Forum educating marketers, agencies and publishers on one of the hottest topics in the marketplace. Visit our event recap to see what you missed. The IAB released the highly anticipated Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines and Digital Video Ad Format Compliance Seal at the event.

Then on Thursday, the IAB announced the Revised Ad Unit and Rich Media Creative Guidelines for Public Comment. Please take a moment to review the proposed guidelines and leave your comments.

On the horizon are the highly anticipated IAB Leadership Forum: User-Generated Content & Social Media, IAB Professional Development training on interactive advertising sales and more!  Please visit the events section of the IAB website for more information.

Read More:

IAB Leadership Forum: Digital Video Live Blog

Digital Video Event Recap

Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines and Digital Video Ad Format Compliance Seal

Revised Ad Unit and Rich Media Creative Guidelines for Public Comment 

IAB Leadership Forum: User-Generated Content & Social Media

IAB Professional Development Sales Training

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Last week was a busy week at the IAB. Here’s a quick recap:

On Monday the IAB held the annual Digital Video Leadership Forum educating marketers, agencies and publishers on one of the hottest topics in the marketplace. Visit our event recap to see what you missed. The IAB released the highly anticipated Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines and Digital Video Ad Format Compliance Seal at the event.

Then on Thursday, the IAB announced the Revised Ad Unit and Rich Media Creative Guidelines for Public Comment. Please take a moment to review the proposed guidelines and leave your comments.

On the horizon are the highly anticipated IAB Leadership Forum: User-Generated Content & Social Media, IAB Professional Development training on interactive advertising sales and more!  Please visit the events section of the IAB website for more information.

Read More:

IAB Leadership Forum: Digital Video Live Blog

Digital Video Event Recap

Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines and Digital Video Ad Format Compliance Seal

Revised Ad Unit and Rich Media Creative Guidelines for Public Comment 

IAB Leadership Forum: User-Generated Content & Social Media

IAB Professional Development Sales Training

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9:00am
Good morning from the IAB Leadership Forum: Digital Video!  We have an exciting day ahead of us as we explore the world of digital video.  Three screens to mainstream is the theme of the event as we examine how building for the television, PC and mobile screen are becoming the necessity and norm.  Creativity and innovation are everywhere and we’ll see some of the best of it today.  The room is filling up and the show is about to begin.  Quincy Smith, President, CBS Interactive opens the show.  Check back in an hour or so for a recap of his keynote.

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The blogosphere is talking about IAB President & CEO, Randall Rothenberg’s Op-Ed in the Huffington Post: War Against the Web

Perhaps the scariest term in business today is “behavioral targeting.” It also turns out to be one of the best practices around to assure the combination of consumer choice and marketing effectiveness on the Internet. And in that gap lies a dilemma for the marketing and media industries - and, indeed, for all citizens. For if fear overtakes reality, it could dramatically limit the accessibility and diversity of the Web.

Here are just a few of the blogs talking about it:

Wall Street Journal All Things Digital

AgencySPY

Defamer

Marked

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Sunday 7:00pm
That’s it for tonight.  I’ve off to the welcome reception to enjoy some cocktails, meet some old friends, make some new ones and maybe even slip away for an In-N-Out Burger (which as a New Yorker, might be one of the finest treats of taking a trip out to the Southwest).

Tune in tomorrow for complete coverage of the day’s events. And don’t forget to come back to IAB.net after the conference for a full gallery of photos, video, presentations and more.  It’s going to be an exciting couple of days in Phoenix!

Sunday Evening 6:50pm
Another surprise this evening - the debut of the IAB Service Excellence Awards.  Randall Rothenberg is on stage giving some well deserved recognition to the IAB members who have gone above and beyond in contributing over the years.  Here’s a list of the winners and check back on in the coming days to IAB.net for a full gallery of those who have contributed so much to the industry.

Chairperson Appreciation Awards
Adrian D’Souza of CNET and Dan Murphy of Univision Online, Ad Operations Council
Bruce Rogers of the Walt Disney Internet Group, CFO Council
Mike Hurt of Microsoft, Digital Video Committee
Craig Swerdloff of Return Path, eEmail Committee
Dave Madden of Wild Tangent, Games Committee
Peter Blacker of Telemundo, Hispanic Committee
Gayle Guzzardo of Q Interactive, Lead Generation Committee
Andy Jedynak of WeatherBug and Gary Schwartz of Impact Mobile, Mobile Committee
Dave Morgan, formerly of AOL, Public Policy Council
Stephen Kim of Microsoft, Research Council
Michael Rosen of WeatherBug and Brian Quinn of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, Sales Executive Council
Tim Armstrong of Google and David Karnstedt of Yahoo, Search Committee
Heidi Browning of FOX Interactive Media, User Generated Content Committee

Outstanding Achievement Awards
Adrian D’Souza and Dan Murphy
Trish Lemley
Gayle Guzzardo
David Sturman
Josh Baer
Stephen Kim

Sunday Evening 6:45pm
Wenda Harris Millard just left the stage and as your intrepid live blogger, I don’t know where to begin as the smoke pours out of my keyboard. If there was ever a way to kick off Ecosystem 2.0, this was it.  Ms. Millard focussed on change, the powerful change that has been sweeping through the marketing and advertising industry and will continue to do so at an even more rapid pace. She spoke of the consumer and how many years ago we knew the consumer would become the programmer of their own media.  However, we never anticipated that the consumer would also end up as the producer and the distributor. She spoke of the marketing process being in a strange, stagnant state in a dynamic world as the consumer is now ahead of the marketer. Research used to be all about input.  Now, it’s about output. We need to take responsibility for educating ourselves, marketers and agencies.  And we must help distinguish between quality and commodity.

Wenda Harris Millard believes the coming year in media will be more volitile and hair-raising than the one that just passed.

Sunday Evening 6:15pm
Jim Spanfeller just left the stage after a brief reflection on this two-year tenure as Chairman of the IAB Board.  He pointed out three key items on his agenda when he took the position two years ago.  The first is making metrics more transparent as well as referenceable between online and offline media - something that the IAB has put a tremendous amount of diligence and effort into. Second was giving the IAB a seat in Washington, something achieved just over a year ago when the IAB opened its Washington, DC office.  And finally, he talked about content and how people go to the internet for great content - both editorial and services and we need to recognize that more than ever.

Spanfeller states, “We need to acknowledge, nourish and recognize great content.”

Sunday Evening 6:00pm
A pleasant and well deserved surprise as Randall Rothenberg givens Jim Spanfeller an award for his contributions to the IAB and the industry.

Sunday Evening 5:30pm
Let’s get the show on the road!  Randall Rothenberg, IAB President and CEO just opened up with some powerful remarks. He emphasized that this conference is about coming together to respond to industry demands.  It is incumbent on us to know and write the rules that will guide interactive moving forward.  Everyone is this room works hard to compete against each other and that drives tremendous growth.  But at the same time, we must also be willing to work together.  This is crucial as we work to drive ownership of the consumer.  He stated it best when he said “Ecosystem 2.0 is all of us working together to build businesses and improve lives.”

Rothenberg draws smiles from the rooms when he says “We must be willing to beat each others brains out and we must be willing to work together.”

Sunday Evening 5:00pm
Hello and welcome to the Ecosystem 2.0 live blog from the IAB Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. Right now there’s a great buzz in the room. The general session is slowly filling up in anticipation of Randall Rothenberg, Jim Spanfeller and Wenda Harris Millard taking the stage to open the meeting. Stay tuned for photos, updates and commentary as the evening continues. And, please post your comments, questions and observations below. Remember to hit refresh throughout the next two days to keep up with all the action.

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Monday 5:30pm
Last but not least, it was time for Kimberly Kadlec,Chief Media Officer, Johnson & Johnson and Tina Sharkey, Chairman,BabyCenter to take the stage.  This was anotherhighly anticipated panel and it did not disappoint.  Kadlec led off and it was clear this sessionwould be all about insights. Per Ms. Kadlec, “Media companies are the mostunderleveraged resources for insights that exist.” She expressed her desire tonot have media companies also serve as agencies.  “We need media companies to do what they dobest and create great content and drive insight through that,” saidKadlec.  She added, “BabyCenter hastaught us that media companies don’t just sell pork bellies, they sell muchmore.”  And with that barb aimed firmlytowards the commoditization of media, she introduced Tina Sharkey.

Ms. Sharkey took us through a deep dive into theworld of BabyCenter.  Throughout herpresentation, we observed a new type of media company – the insightsengine.  And within this insights engineis an ecosystem of engagement or as Ms. Sharkey preferred to call it, anegosystem.  It’s made up of the ways momsinteract – from the Web to blogs, email, IM, Facebook and more.  The bottom line of this presentation is thatthere is more to advertising and marketing on the Web than impressions and adserving.

With that, it is time for me to say goodbye for today.  I’m off to enjoy some cocktails and dinner (and maybe a post dinner In-N-Out Burger).  Come back tomorrow for more live coverage of the IAB Annual Meeting!

Monday 4:30pm
It was now time to give branded media a place at the podium and first up was Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu.  For those who are unaware, Hulu is a new digital video distribution service focusing on premium content.  It’s actually in private beta at this time, soon to take the Internet by storm. Jason explained that Hulu’s mission is to help the world find the world’s premium content when, where and how they want to. Before you confuse Hulu with YouTube, keep in mind that “premium content” is key to Hulu’s strategy and this is an area of the market that is not yet well served. In the demonstration, we saw countless seasons of television shows ranging from current hits like 30 Rock, Simpsons and Heroes to classics like A-Team, Mary Tyler Moore and Hill Street Blues. It’s an endless supply of premium media on your terms. It’s important to note that everything is monetized, but it is done so in the most elegant way possible in order to keep the focus on the user experience.  Also included in Hulu are self-service social networking tools for blogging, sharing and more!

A photo of Jason is below.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to search for some episodes of Knight Rider.  After all, you can never get too much of “The Hoff.”

Monday 3:15pm

Our next panel was all about behavioral targeting. The memberof the panel were:

Moderator: Matthew Wise, President and CEO, Q Interactive
Heidi Browning, Senior Vice President, Client Solutions,FOX Interactive Media
Bill Gossman, President and CEO, Revenue Science
Jay Krihak, Mediaedge:cia Sr Partner, Group MediaDirector, MEC Interaction
Joe Kyriakoza, Vice President, Product Strategy,Jumpstart Automotive Media

Each person brought his or her own expert perspective onthe possibilities on behavioral targeting and where the industry needs to go toembrace and maximize value. Behavioral targeting is here and it is only goingto become stronger and more embraced.

Joe Kyriakoza told us how the automotive space is one of the key drivers of behavioral
targeting because of the highly coveted audience.

Jay Krihak states, “you cannot look at behavior targeting as the end allbe all for direct response and branding. You must identify the individualelements.”

Heidi Browning is proud that, “you can do a focus group every day for everydemographic across the country and
not get a fraction of the insights that weget each day from our users.”

Up next - Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu.  Stay tuned!

Monday 2:30pm
Next up was Brian McAndrews, Microsoft’s new digitaladvertising chief. Given the current situation between Microsoft and Yahoo!, itwas quite interesting to hear what McAndrews had to say in contrast to JerryYang and Susan Decker this morning.  Hewent into great detail on the work Microsoft is doing on their ad network andwhere they see the future heading.  Oneitem that he placed a great deal of focus on is the data warehouse.  In order to do the kind of targeting thatthere is the potential to do, a massive data warehouse will be required inorder to analyze, aggregate, predict and target.  He also expressed that you invent in theplatform to innovate.  The digitalecosystem is all about change, innovation and opportunity.  He also stated that a comprehensive digitalplatform requires tremendous investment and scale, and by using that platform,publishers can invest in content and audience building.  Finally, we were treated to an overview ofMicrosoft’s Engagement ROI, a new system for analyzing the action driven byads.

Monday 1:45pm
Randall Rothenberg took the stage to give all in the house a brief update on IAB activities, letting us know what the IAB is doing as part of its three strategic pillars - engagement, accountability and operational effectiveness.  For more information, visit “Updates on 2008 IAB Initiatives” off the homepage of Iab.net.  He also announced that interactive advertising revenues for 2007 are expected to surpass $21 billion, per PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Congrats to all the interactive publishers in attendance and those reading from home!

Monday 1:30pm
Ok, we’re back.  During lunch, Jack Myers presented the first annual IAB Sales Awards to a packed house.  We’ll have a full gallery of winners on IAB.net in the next couple days so stay tuned.  Now, it’s time to get ready for a jam-packed afternoon agenda kicked off by Microsoft’s new digital advertising chief, Brian McAndrews.  Stay tuned for more updates!

ps - No In-N-Out Burgers for lunch as I predicted.  Maybe next year if I have anything to say about it (which I won’t but one can always dream ;>)

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New digital video ad formats are now available for public comment. The public comment period will close on Friday, May 2, 2008, so hurry and join the conversation now!

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