OneRiot Launches Real-Time Ads Based On Trending Topics

Real-time search engine OneRiot has launched RiotWise Trending Ad Units, which automatically refresh based on what’s trending on the social web.

Previously, OneRiot’s Trending Ads were available only via OneRiot’s API, meaning developers had to create a customized user interface for their ads.

RiotWise Trending Ads link the latest published and relevant content from OneRiot’s network of media partners. OneRiot says the real-time relevance of the ads lead to click through rates at four times industry norms.

"RiotWise Trending Ad Units serve fresh content that’s relevant right now," said Tobias Peggs, GM, OneRiot.

"It’s perfect for social networks, realtime meme trackers and other social sharing services where users are primarily in discovery mode and rabidly consume content related to trending topics. Now those sites have a smart way to monetize with an ad product that makes sense to their users."

Publishers can call the RiotWise Trending Ad Units the same way they would call standard ad units.

Since its launch last December, OneRiot’s Trending Ads have seen exponential growth across Twitter apps, social messaging desktop apps and real-time search engines.
 

 

Google Gives Advertisers Another “In” On YouTube

In a move that investors and marketers alike should applaud, Google's figured out another way to make money off the site it bought for $1.65 billion three and a half years ago.  Today, Google explained that it's come up with a tool to help small organizations advertise on YouTube.

Emily Williams, a member of the Inside AdWords team, explained on the corporate blog, "[W]e're announcing another new feature in Display Ad Builder that lets advertisers use simple templates to create InVideo overlays and companion ads on YouTube."  (FYI: "An InVideo ad is an animated flash overlay that appears at the bottom part of a video that a user is watching.")

Williams later continued, "Now, any advertiser can use Display Ad Builder to turn their image ads into overlays and run a campaign on YouTube in minutes.  Depending on the type of campaign an advertiser wants to run, overlays can be bought on a CPC (Cost Per Click) or CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) basis, and can be matched to YouTube videos based on numerous criteria (like demographics or content categories), or even on a video by video level."

This could prove to be a very popular option, considering that takeover ads on the YouTube homepage are said to be sold far in advance for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  And the move also earns points for being low risk, since it probably didn't take much in the way of resources to execute and doesn't cut any privacy corners.

Now we just get to guess how much Google will actually make from the new feature.  One slightly relevant note: earlier this month, a Citigroup analyst estimated that YouTube will pull in about $1 billion in gross revenue this year.

Google Hopes Mobile Ad Rates Beat Desktop Standard

Investors and online advertising experts may want to consider for a moment what, exactly, has contributed to Google's stupendous financial success (current market cap: $180 billion).  Now consider this: Google thinks mobile ad rates might surpass what's come to be deemed the industry standard.

According to Reuters, Vic Gundotra, a vice president of engineering at Google, announced during a webcast, "We hope and believe that there's even a chance that we could exceed desktop in the future."

Of course, this isn't the first time someone representing the search giant has spoken highly of the mobile market; CEO Eric Schmidt and CFO Patrick Pichette, among others, have emphasized its importance before.  Earlier this month, a VP of advertising even claimed that desktops will be irrelevant in three years' time.

Still, Gundotra's comment may signify just how much Google is betting on the success of Android and mobile advertising, and how seriously it will take threats posed by Apple, Microsoft, and other companies.

Here's one last interesting tidbit: with regards to China, Pichette said during the same webcast that the country's "another great market in which Android should flourish."

Confirmed: Yahoo’s SVP Of Revenue To Quit

Joanne Bradford started at Yahoo about a year and a half ago, assuming the title "Senior Vice President, U.S. Revenue and Market Development."  Now, a fresh report's indicated that the high-ranking exec is on her way out again, ready to take a position at Demand Media.

Kara Swisher wrote earlier, "According to several sources . . . Bradford is planning on leaving the Internet giant to take a new position as Chief Revenue Officer of online content upstart Demand Media."  And Swisher (and her sources) are usually spot-on about these things.

Yahoo's likely being dealt a major blow, then, considering what an important role Bradford plays at the company.  While almost all departures have theoretical financial repercussions - you have to figure everyone contributes to the bottom line in some way - Bradford's position over ad sales means she has a direct influence.

Also, Bradford's resume suggests that she's good at her job, having spent time at Microsoft, Spot Runner, and BusinessWeek before heading to Yahoo.

Still, this development doesn't have to represent a complete disaster for Yahoo.  As you might have guessed after reading the last paragraph, Bradford doesn't always stay in one place for too long - she only spent about seven months at SpotRunner, for example - so her move may not say much about Yahoo's situation.

UPDATE: Yahoo responded to a question sent via email by stating, "Joanne Bradford has decided to leave Yahoo! to pursue a new opportunity. Joanne will be working with the team over the coming weeks to enable a smooth transition."

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