Following hot on the heals of the rumours of TV advertising through Adwords, it is reported that Google may introduce the ability to buy in game advertising through their online portal.  Dubbed Adsense for games, it is reported that Google “has developed an in-game advertising technology that allows it to insert video ads into games.”  Whilst there are a large number of other providers offering in game advertising, most notably Microsoft through the acquisition of Massive Incorporated, this would make Google the first to simplify the process and increase its viability for inclusion in a standard media plan and their purchase of Adscape in February of 2007 certainly gives them the expertise.

If all the rumours and news stories are true about Google’s plans, coupled with the recently launched Adplanner tool, Adwords could be on its way to becoming the holy grail of advertising platforms, incorporating online offline and in game into one web based portal.  Whether they can pull it off or not remains to be seen but they seem to be putting a lot of effort into achieving the same dominance in other media that they have in search.

WPP owned 24/7 Real Media has been suspended by the IASH for failing to comply with an a audit of ad placement in July.  This news follows hot in the footsteps of recent evidence of ad misplacement by networks, the most high profile advertiser being Orange. 

Ad misplacement is a key issue when considering the use of blind networks as part of a display advertising programme.  Although these networks offer certain “guarantees” with their placements and you can select to appear on certain channels, by the very nature of the channel, you can never be 100% sure that misplacement isn’t occurring.  You have to rely on the regulatory bodies like the IASH conducting regular audits and clamping down hard on any offenders, which thankfully they appear to be starting to do.

The temptation is always there, due to the rock bottom CPMs, to utilise a network within your media plan but cost is not always the best way to plan display advertising.  After all, the primary aim of any display campaign should be to build brand awareness within your target customer base.  Blind media buys achieve neither of these objectives as you open yourself up to the risk of negative brand association with unsuitable sites, and you don’t know who is seeing your ads. 

Blind networks are becoming a thing of the past as companies expect more from their online advertising and this can only strengthen the position of intelligent media planning agencies.  My advice is to avoid them when planning other than in extreme circumstances.  Get you lower cost impressions and clicks from paid search and focus your display advertising on reaching the right people at the right time with the right message.

Google has this week launched into closed beta testing its new media planning and buying tool, to be know as Google Adplanner.  The web based software enables media planners and buyers to build schedule’s for their clients using Google’s placement network.  The functionality looks pretty neat with the ability to filter the sites based on demographic and geographic factors and the ability to see all the volume information currently available through the adwords interface.  In itself the adplanner tool is only useful for the placement network and so has limited use to the every day media planner.  But you have to assume that somewhere along the line this functionality will be rolled out across non google sites, and if incorporated with double click adserving technology, will transform Google into an adserving and media planning provider.  One to look out for as Google tries to strengthen its grip on non search related markets.

An investigation has been launched by the IAB and the IASH into the misplacement of display ads within the ad exchange community.  The investigation comes after the Yahoo! owned exchange Right Media was implicated for ad misplacement and NMA spotted ads for brands such as T-Mobile and easyCar on the explosivefightvideos.com and also large blue-chip companies such as ING direct and Orange advertising alongside pornographic content.

Right Media have responded by saying, “When content is inadvertently miscategorised by a member of the exchange, we help our members communicate to correct the situation. We have rigorous standards and guidelines for our members.”  But critics are calling for all display advertising exchanges to become IASH compliant to ensure ad misplacement does not occur.

This instance and the examples listed clearly show the dangers of using ad exchanges and blind networks as part of your media plan.  Although the promise of cheap impressions and large volumes can be tempting, the reality can often be misplaced adverts and ads appearing in inappropriate locations.  If you are going to use these channels, then make sure they are controlled and regulated and don’t be tempted by the cheapest, run of site options, at least make it channel specific so you can have some idea of where you are going to be appearing.