Posts filed under 'Microtargeting'
An unusual email drifted over the transom today:
Please help me and my sister grow our site, My name is Madison and my sister is Morgan we are all star cheerleaders and we asked are dad to start us a web site like Myspace but for cheerleaders and dancers. The site is called Wegatta.com we are hoping that we can make this the biggest web site for cheerleaders and dancers, we started the web site in December and it is doing ok so far, we have about 1689 members mostly cheerleaders.
Can you please help us get the word out about are site? And anyone can join. Wegatta.com is very cool and fun my dad put over 750 games on Wegatta.com for everyone to play and it’s all free.
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May 15th, 2008
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Read Scott Martin passes along a new site he’s running that tracks online advertising by the presidential candidates. The data and analysis both look good, and when I asked where the information came from, Read replied:
The research I have license for is The Media Trust Company, www.themediatrust.com.
Yahoo, MSN, AOL, many others use them to provide tearsheets for the clients. Huge untapped potential in political campaigns (chiefly in research, IMHO).
The site has a blog that comments on current campaigns and an Ad of the Day feature, though I’m not quite sure of the distinction between the two; might be better to combine them. An example of why the site’s navigation is overall a little rough. Cool information, though — check it out and see what you think.
– cpd
February 13th, 2008
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Cross-posted on techPresident
Interesting development in the Dems’ race for online dollars — in the past few days, the Clinton campaign has started advertising for donations on Washington Post online properties, specifically the Post.com and Slate (I haven’t spotted them on Newsweek.com yet). The ads I’ve seen are “pop-unders,” those pop-up ads that you don’t necessarily see when you’re on the page but that are left behind in a small window when you click away. The ads are Flash-based, with a small amount of animated text, and they specifically ask for a $50 donation. The landing page is pure fundraising, with no persuasion or non-monetary list-building to act as a distraction.
The Post online ad serving system is capable of slicing and dicing readers to target by location and (for the registration-requiring Post.com site) demographic, so I can’t tell if these are running nationally or only in the DC area. Either strategy is plausible, since ads on Slate and on the Post political section are likely to reach politically interested liberals around the country and perhaps expats (note the link for overseas Democrats), while it’s also possible that the campaign is targeting local readers in advance of the Potomac Primary. Since these are specifically fundraising ads, I suspect it’s a national or completely open run.
(Click for larger version.)
– cpd
February 10th, 2008
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Yay, Super Tuesday, the most wonderful time of the year. The following Hits will be updated throughout the day. See also yesterday’s list.
- Update: Just got a Drudge Siren email alert, and apparently Obama is “large” in the exit polls. It’s gonna be an interesting night; I’m off to the parties.
- Update: The Inside Story of Obama’s Online Music Video.
- Update: In an Internet First, Americans Abroad Cast E-Votes in Democratic Primary.
- Update: Barack Obama’s Web Site Overwhelmed During (Last Night’s) Clinton Appearance.
- Update: US Voters Using Google to Find Polling Places.
- Update: The Rationality Gap: Campaigns Way Behind the Online Advertising Curve. Alan Rosenblatt: “For 10% of their ad budgets they could dominate the web.”
- A brief distraction: Venn diagram of the British Islands. Thanks to Chris Cosart for a helpful find.
- Update: A Clinton campaign conference call is a study in spin. Check out the ending — a Fox debate?
- Update: I Hope It’s a Hoax. The (politically) provocative e-mail that “Chelsea Clinton” is sending around.
- Update: Obama Leads in Online Buzz, Favorite Sites by Visitors’ Party Affiliation Issued. Which candidates are dominating the online discussion?
- Update: Does web traffic tell us that Obama and Huckabee will win big today? Josh is skeptical, and for good reason. More from the tPrez Daily Digest, including lots of nonrepresentative online polls and a look at Barack Obama’s hockey stick.
- Update: AZ Robocall Hits Obama On Social Security.
- Update: Primary Jam. Excellent WSJ interactive guide to this year’s primary election pile-up, and a good demonstration of how to present information with technology.
- Update: The E-War: Dems: All Hillary Wire, All the Time. Hillary’s election-day email blitz. More on the expectations battle from Slate.
- Update: McCain Tops the Democrats in Media Coverage.
- The Early Word: Super Fat Tuesday. Good overview of what’s ahead.
- The Opposite of Interactivity. Zephyr Teachout’s not so impressed with Hillary’s online/offline national town hall, but PoliticsTV’s Dan Manatt likes it better. C.f. Checking in With the Politically-Active Social Networking Generation and Clinton On Message, and On Television. Update: Also, Creating Those Hallmark Moments.
- Romney Internet-Only Ad Ties McCain to Clinton. See also McCain, Romney Unveil New Attack Ads.
- New HRC Mailer Hits Obama On Economy. Direct mail = probably the oldest form of database-driven politics.
- Push Polling, Robo Calls and Other Telephonic Shenanigans.
- Obama’s $28M Online. Patrick Ruffini on the death of offline fundraising. Update: That $32 million total for January turns out to be more than twice that of the Clinton campaign.
- Students On How Social Networking Is Transforming Politics.
- Web Graphics and Social Media Bring A Bird’s Eye View of Celebrity Presidential Endorsements.
- The Web and the Race For the White House. Overview of online support.
- Ron Paul’s candidacy shows the potential (and limits) of online politics. A short email interview with the candidate.
- In Election of Change, TV Gives Voice to Insiders. No insurgency on the airwaves.
- On The Road Again, And Again, And Again. Life of an embedded political journalist.
- Shifting Loyalties: Obama Winning Big Edwards Backers.
- Bill Clinton on Hillary Clinton’s Web 2.0 presidency.
- Facebook Used to Mobilize Against FARC. “In Colombia, a Facebook page dedicated to protesting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, that country’s largest rebel group, is helping organize thousands of people in cities around the world for demonstrations.”
- Lots of Super Tuesday cell phone sounds at RingTones08.
- Super Tuesday Gladiators. “Billy, do you like movies about gladiators and Hillary Clinton?”
– cpd
February 5th, 2008
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Mega pre-Super Tuesday edition. Are any Giants-sized upsets coming our way in the political world?
- Update: Concise, insightful Super Tuesday video slideshow overview from CQ, including some great photos and clever graphics. Via PoliticalWire.
- Update: Anti-Illegal Immigration Forces Rally Against McCain. Anti-McCain email goes out to 1.5 million people.
- Update: Drudge takes on both John McCain and Hillary Clinton.
- Update: The Super Tuesday Strategy Review. Using Google Maps to track the candidates and decypher their plans.
- Update: More news on the Obama surge from the Cafe Press primary: “After being nearly tied two weeks ago in weekly candidates sales (Obama at 28%, Hillary at 26%), now as of last week, Obama has surged to account for 48%, while Hillary is down to 19% of weekly candidate sales.” More here, and thanks to John Hlinko for the tip.
- Update: Why Google only tells you what you already know. Do online searchers look to reinforce or challenge their views?
- Update: Is Barack Obama “Dean on steroids”? (Via tPrez)
- Update: Tracking superdelegates via wiki. (Via tPrez)
- Campaigns Experimenting Online to See What Works. Excellent overview article from Jose Antonio Vargas.
- Senate candidates learn the pitfalls of online politics
- Super Bowl Super Tuesday Spots. Note Obama’s geo-targeting, prominent cell phone signup and site URL.
- Does money translate into votes?
- The Smart Mobbing of Super Tuesday
- Hillary Clinton’s Online/Offline Town Hall. She’ll take questions via email, text and video, with Bill and Chelsea (among others) hosting satellite town halls around the country.
- The New Rules of Politics. Karl Rove weighs in.
- MTV/MySpace Postmortem: Change vs. Experience vs. Ron Paul.
- US campaigns go networking on the net.
- Bush asks for $6 billion to fight the terrorists online
- Huckabee Endorses Fire-And-Brimstone YouTube Competitor ‘GodTube’
- Another Ethical Scandal Plagues Novick Campaign. A vicious Wikipedia defacing.
- Obama’s $32 Million Haul. More here and here.
- Republican Presidential Candidates Unleash YouTube Ad War. C.f. Romney’s Latest Ad; McCain’s on the Web.
- Republicans make Fox News sick. “To recap New Hampshire for Fox News: Hannity was pursued by a Republican mob, O’Reilly got into a shoving match with an Obama aide, and CNN grabbed more viewers. Now that’s a week to remember!”
- The Day After. The end of the Edwards campaign, through the eyes of his blogger outreach staffer.
- Move Over YouTube, Here Comes YouBama. “An Obama video becomes an automatic hit on YouTube when it’s uploaded.”
- Genuinely inspired, the Facebook generation is turning out to vote in record numbers. Will they make a difference?
- Moveon Endorses Obama.
- On-The-Ground Organizing. The ‘net can’t do everything.
- Track the ‘08 Money Chase
- San Francisco Mayor, A Clinton Backer, Says They’re Going To Go After MoveOn Members
- 3D Electoral College
- Political Attack Ads Easy to Find Online. Getting nasty in North Carolina.
- Check Out Politics Schmolitics. Political humor from Daily Motion.
- Online Boors Ill-Equipped To Assess Political Hotties
- Chicago Tribune suspends comments on political section of website. “But some comment boards seem to attract and enable the vitriolic and brutish; they represent the very worst form of online communication.”
- Democrats Flood States With Ads as Tuesday Nears
- MTV’s Choose Or Lose Taps Local Reporters To Cover Presidential Election. Via tPrez.
- Steve Garfield’s Super Tuesday Coverage Plans With The UpTake. More technology than I can take.
- Google Works to Torpedo Microsoft Bid for Yahoo, and Microsoft fights back.
- Why did the Fred Thompson Blog Work?
- Library of Congress on Flickr
- How to Herd Organic Search Traffic to Your Blog.
- FTC Commissioner Explores Facebook, Makes Friends.
- White House Under Seige? Don’t piss off Google.
- Australia wild party child turns party pro. My teenaged near-namesake uses MySpace to promote a party, 500 “friends” show up and do $20,000 worth of damage. Delanys everywhere are extremely proud. Via my friend Doug McCammon.
– cpd
February 4th, 2008
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Cross-posted on techPresident
Political campaigns typically use search advertising primarily for long-term list-building, but with a big chunk of February 5th voters apparently still undecided, shouldn’t targeted search ads be an effective way to reach people who are still making up their minds?
Here’s why: if X percentage of primary voters in a given state haven’t picked a candidate three days out, you can bet that a good chunk of them are naturally going to turn to the internet for information to help make a decision. And since most online quests start at a search engine, search advertising would seem to be a natural way to get to those potential supporters directly and at the moment they’re thinking about voting. Geo-targeting, keyword-targeting and the fact that search ads are pay-per-click makes this strategy cost-attractive — you can concentrate resources on voters in particular states or metropolitan areas, and you only pay when you actually get a voter contact (i.e., when someone clicks).
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January 25th, 2008
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Hidden in a Post article today on the presidential campaigns’ precarious financial shape was this remark:
Ken Mehlman, who helped plan President Bush’s reelection strategy four years ago, said each campaign is trying to isolate demographic groups and geographic areas to target with phone calls and mail.
Think about it: if you’re running out of money, one way to save (besides cutting the press plane) is to microtarget your outreach so that you can get the most out of every dollar. Some candidates are reportedly considering blowing cash on a Superbowl ad, but others will be looking instead at zip code-targeted cable tv buys. What about adding blog ads or geo-targeted search and online display ads? You could do worse than targeting California-based online readers of the major political newspapers, for example.
It’s hard to imagine that campaigns that have raised tens of millions of dollars could be going broke, but that’s apparently one consequence of this tight primary election schedule. Glad that’s working out so well for everybody.
– cpd
January 22nd, 2008
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Cross-posted on techPresident
At last week’s New Organizing Institute/IPDI-sponsored Google presentation on advocacy tools, after looking at Google Ads and answering questions about click fraud, the company’s Elections and Issue Advocacy team touched on a new tool whose potential political significance jumped out at me. More than a year ago, Google snapped up a company that was developing an online interface for buying radio advertising, and despite some skepticism about its usefulness, the product looks to be moving out of beta fairly soon.
You can get a good overview of how the ordering system will work here; note that you can specify stations by location and genre, set your own budget, choose your time of day to run ads and get some reporting after-the-fact. You upload your own ads as mp3s, though the site will help you find a company to build them if necessary. Groovy! Basically, you can run ads across the country from a single interface — you won’t need to work with different ad reps for individual stations or chains of stations. With 1600 AM and FM stations in the network, and the top 10 stations in 24 of the 25 biggest media markets in the country, Google claims the potential to reach essentially 100% of the U.S. population.
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July 10th, 2007
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Hey kids! Getting things back in order after spending the last few days doing very little that resembled work — the gig went fine, the tubing trip was awesome and the mountain biking kicked ass, thanks for asking. A few articles popped over the break that are worth a quick look in the rearview mirror before we move on:
- First, The Observer turns its binoculars across the pond to gaze upon the spectacle that is online video in the American presidential process. Josh is right that the piece frames the issues with some false dichotomies, of the “Sign of the Apocalypse, or just a humble stain remover?” variety, but it has some good quotes and is joined by a nice top-ten presidential videos compilation. Who can forget Rudy in a dress?
- Next, getting into the nuts and bolts of electronic politics, the Post lifts up the hood on the Romney machine to find the candidate’s data cruncher, an expert at political microtargeting. The article is goes into a great deal of detail about how microtargeting works, but is also careful to note that question exists as to whether the tactic is revolutionary or just “putting a very fine point on the obvious.” Bonus art history metaphor: “If television advertising is painting with broad brush strokes, microtargeting is political pointillism.” Thanks for the tip, Dad.
- Moving from one kind of scary to another, Three Worked the Web to Help Terrorists: British Case Reveals How Stolen Credit Card Data Bought Supplies for Operatives. Using email scams to steal credit cards and online poker sites to launder money is apparently the the new face of jihad.
- Don’t worry, the web may save us before it destroys us, as Brazilian tribes plan to use Google Earth to monitor Amazon rainforests for illegal logging and protect their way of life in the process. Critical choice: Internet first, or running water? For more from the Amazon, see Defending the Hidden Tribes. For more unexpected uses of Google Earth, take a look at this new Chinese ballistic missile submarine, coming soon to an ocean near you.
- Finally, let’s glance at a U.S. News and World Report article that manages to contradict its own title. Though called “The Internet: It’s a potent new tool, but no one’s sure how to use it,” it promptly turns around and demonstrates that campaigns sure as hell SOUND like they know how to use the web: “Even Richardson, who lags far behind in polls, has outpaced Dean’s 2004 high-water marks for online supporters and fundraising.”
That should keep you guys busy while I go turn up the A/C — welcome to summer.
– cpd
July 9th, 2007
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Fascinating article in Slate today about the use of political campaign tactics to build demand for Michael Moore’s new film about health care in America, Sicko:
The Weinstein Company, Sicko’s distributor, has hired a Democratic “phone vendor” to contact a select group of potential moviegoers and encourage them to see the film. Phone vendors are usually employed by political campaigns and other interest groups to promote a candidate or a cause. But in this case, they just want you to watch a movie. They’ve already made “tens of thousands” of live calls, with another slew of “robo calls” — recorded messages read by Moore himself — on the way, according to the president of the firm Winning Connections. Callers target known Democratic contributors or activists in New York and Denver, where the film is being released this weekend.
Slicing and dicing political donor lists? That’s crazy talk! As in, fox crazy — the calls apparently cost only 14 cents at most, and they’re aimed at lefty opinion leaders, so each successful call should have a multiplier effect. The film’s being debuted across the country in a steady roll rather than all at once, so the producers (working with Democratic consultant Chris Lehane) are hoping to build a national audience incrementally without having to resort to expensive mass-market tv ads (though I’ve seen some targeted cable ads). Campaign methods spread to commercial marketing! (Though in this case, for a product that definitely has a political edge). What’s next? Negative ads! “Reese’s Pieces — they say they’re an innocent candy, but what do we REALLY know about them? As THIS footage shows, they once shared a room with an illegal alien…”
– cpd
June 27th, 2007
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- Late addition: Community Counts: Real Participation in the Debates. People are stepping up and fixing the problems with YouTube’s debate video process.
- Why MySpace is for freaks and Facebook is for preps. I KNEW I felt out of place on Facebook…Salon’s Machinist blog looks at a new analysis of the two sites’ different demographics.
- Facebook Spam on the Rise — the Changing Face of Email Permission. When friendship isn’t commitment.
- Web 3.0: The Future of Video. “The future of video is professional content with a twist. Interactivity. Targeted to niche audiences, by niche additions.”
- Pro-Romney website dispels Mormon myths. For once, let’s skip the “garment” jokes.
- Bloomberg Announcement Crashes Unity ‘08 Site. Collateral damage is sometimes inevitable in war.
- The Mobile-Phone Primary: Are cell-phone users screwing up Ron Paul’s poll numbers? Slate sez, not so much.
- Forget those new guys, it’s McGovern in ‘72! Via Kevin Reid of IDI.
- Digital Marketing Key to Booze Advertising. A look at niche marketing. You’ll find me in the Busch and PBR demographic.
- Social networks geared for offline success? Another Kevin Reid find. Hey Burt and Ha-Hoa — this guy’s tryin’ to muscle in on your turf.
- An amazing new video-editing program. Online video-editing and hosting.
- PoliticalWire Launches Political News Video Aggregator.
- YouTube dirty tricks and presidential debate Buzz.
- Google to Shut Down Gmail Germany if Bundestag Passes Surveillance Law.
- ‘Great Firewall’ Marks Flickr its Next Victim. Censorship continues to suck.
- Online Branding Takeaways. A Frogloop report from last week’s Internet Advocacy Roundtable.
- What is YOUR Audience Doing Online? Wasting time, looking for love, or something more sinister?
- Estonia Presses Bush for Cyber-Attack Research Center Critical quote: “NATO was designed to counter physical threats and hasn’t yet developed detailed plans for cyber warfare.” Hey kids, how about we get ready to fight the NEXT war instead of the last one?
- Gates Dodges Cyber Attack. Don’t bother calling NATO.
- ‘BONG HiTS 4 JESUS’: Nevermind. Hooray! Schools can crack down on speech — thank god, I was afraid we might teach those little bastards to think for themselves, or something.
- Top 5 stoopid YouTube questions for politicians. Let’s rethink that YouTube presidential debate idea…via ReelPop.
- Ron Paul and Distributed Online Campaigning. The advantages of having a feature-poor website. Hmm, where have we heard this before?
- The Top Consideration When Choosing a Free Blogging Platform. Whether or not chicks dig it, of course.
- A Crisis Communications Primer: 10 Tips for Managing the Interview. Short and clever, with a nice payoff at the end.
– cpd
June 26th, 2007
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Update: Politico.com’s publisher responds. See below.
The recent discussion about Politico.com’s traffic “stickiness” got me thinking about the different strategies behind building a niche audience vs. building a mass audience. What differentiates the two? First and formost, niche audiences are, well, niches — they’re groups of people drawn together by a common interest or set of interests. Because of their concentration, they can be valuable to advertisers trying to reach exactly that niche. Because of their relatively small size, they tend to be manageable, both in terms of the technology required to serve their needs and in terms of the time needed for customer service/reader contact.
Most money-making/popular blogs are niche sites, as are many more traditional online magazines and publications. Display ads (banners, blog ads) on niche sites that host a desirable audience are often carefully targeted to appeal to those exact readers and hence can command more money per ad impression. Sites usually supplement targeted ads with lower-cost run-of-site ads, though, if they have unfilled inventory. Google Ads and other context-sensitive text ads are a special category, since they’re linked to a page’s content and are theoretically always targeted, but the amounts site owners earn can vary immensely depending on the value of their niches and on how “clicky” their readers are.
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April 23rd, 2007
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Mike Connery wrote an article last week for Future Majority (cross-posted on MyDD) that raises some interesting points about the potential of online video to reach niche audiences:
“Cable [tv] buys are smart not just because they are cheap, but because they are targeted and can help you increase the effectiveness of an ad buy. This theory applies even more so to viral video, which will rise from within and appeal to certain online and offline niche communities…So when the next smash viral hit of the cycle emerges, don’t forget that there were a few hundred others that didn’t get noticed, but may have just as much — if not more — of an impact on our democracy and our politics.”
His discussion of the potential of online video to supplement or replace traditional tv advertising really got me thinking about one of the significant traits of Internet video — that watching it is a voluntary act.
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April 2nd, 2007
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Listen to your mom: wash your hands before dinner, and don’t forget to clean your data before sending out direct mail.
Mark Harris of Students for Saving Social Security, who spoke at last week’s Politics Online panel on campaigning on a limited budget and who himself was a candidate for state representative in Pennsylvania in ‘06, talked at length about what was worth spending money on and what wasn’t. His take? For starters, good design is worth the money, since having professional graphics both in print and online can help a campaign stand out. I’ll second that — amateur design can be endearing if you’re running for class president, but less so if you’re trying to get elected to public office. Cutting corners on design can cost you much more in credibility than you save in pennies.
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March 20th, 2007
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The random byproducts of three very busy days online. Not all entirely on topic, but easily digestible nonetheless.
- Time reporter credits blogosphere for keeping Federal prosecutor story alive in the face of mainstream media indifference. “And we’d have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids!” Via Glenn Greenwald. Another role of our beloved Internets in this rising scandal: follow the emails.
- Unruly bloggers strike again, with RealClimate and Grist ably deconstructing and debunking a New York Times article about supposed skepticism in the scientific community towards Al Gore’s stageshow. Via How The World Works.
- Those damn bloggers just won’t quit: did they also kill the Fox-sponsored Nevada debate?
- John Dickerson looks at a “clever” (disingenuous?) edit in a John Edwards campaign video (sorry to pick on your guy again, mom). In other Edwards news, he now has a presence on Twitter, a site I haven’t quite figured out yet (maybe I should ask Josh Levy). And, his hair is coming back to haunt him.
- More video fun: Giuliani 2007, meet Giuliani 1989 — “There must be public funding for abortion for poor women.”
- Two takes on last week’s NOI training, with Matisse Bustos pointing out the over-abundance of white men in the room (but I’ve been losing weight!) and Jason Z revealing the deepest secrets about this reporter’s writing methods (he shall feel the sting of my wrath in due time).
- Campaign Design Review: McCain for President Let us spend a moment “staring at the grim, unblinking visage of John McCain.”
- User Generated Animation Site MyToons Launches. Another place to post those advocacy animations? Unfortunately, no NC-17 allowed.
- Apple unveils new product-unveiling product, finally realizing its true skill as a company.
- P&G Gives Tampax a Social Spin. Social media tampons = fun with cheerleaders.
- From Junk Mail to Junk World. A not-so-happy look at consumer microtargeting.
- Hydrocarbon glaciers and seas may dot Titan’s poles. Perhaps Halliburton should consider relocating there instead of the Persian Gulf. In other news from Saturn, the subprime mortgage market is planning to stage a comeback by financing waterfront property inside Enceladus.
- One Hit Too Many: the most bizarre image I have seen all week.
– cpd
March 14th, 2007
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We made it! The 2006 campaign season is dead (well, mostly), and it’s already time to dig up the bodies and see what they can teach us. Here are some lessons I’ve taken away from the last few months of online political frenzy.
The Internet is Still a Spark, Not a Firestorm
This year, YouTube and online video really came of age: a slew of campaign ads, embarrassing candidate gaffes and satirical commentary pieces ended up on the web and some were seen hundreds of thousands of times. Online video could highlight a candidate’s troubles, provide an outlet for supporters’ creative enthusiasm and even raise the profile of an otherwise obscure campaign.
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November 8th, 2006
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