“Availablilty model” for online advertising is a bad idea

Buried in a New York Times article about that company’s plans to survive the recession is this:

Like most publishers, the Times Company is not able to sell all of the potential ad space on its Web sites.   It turns much of the remainder over to ad networks, which sell it at a small fraction of the original price.

...Industry executives say that online space — which a major newspaper could sell to an advertiser for $10 or more for every thousand readers seeing it — often yields the paper less than $1 when sold through a network.

Across the Internet, “we have a glut of unsold inventory every single day,” said Kelly Twohig, the digital activation director at Starcom, which buys media for clients like Kellogg’s and Nintendo.  She said that could force major sites... to cut back the online ad space they offer, to keep prices up.

“It’s about understanding, really, the efficacy of ads, and understanding how clutter hurts and lack of clutter helps from a branding perspective,” she said.

In print, newspapers adjust for advertising that is “not sold” by reducing the page count.  The size of the paper varies from day to day, but the ratio of news to advertising remains (relatively) constant.  Since newspapers don’t have to fill pages that they aren’t going to print, last-minute bargains in ad space are rare.

But the idea of online advertising as “inventory” to be “sold” is an important change.  Companies that look at their online ads in this way are adopting an “airline” or “radio and television” model.  For newspapers, it’s a model that gives them no advantage while running a big risk of irreversably cheapening their product.

more...

Posted by: Old Grouch in The Press at 02:52:25 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Six days away...

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Right move, wrong reason

“It’s Vintage, Duh”:

Does it seem to anyone else that quite a few GOP Congressmen/Senators are voting against the spendulus bill because the Dems didn’t let them help draft the disaster?  (As opposed to them voting against it because it’s a bad idea.)

Yep.  Unnamed (’cause I forget who)^[1] Congress-critter was on local radio Thursday, carrying on about how “offensive” Obama’s talk of “bipartisanship” was when he appeared before the Republican reps  (as he knew that Peolsi had allowed no Republican input on the House version of the bill).

His talk left me with the strong impression that the stimulus bill might have been acceptable to the Republican caucus if it had included some Republican pork, and that some Republicans had intended to vote for it, but changed their minds when the President failed to give them “proper deference.”^[2]  Sad.

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Caltechgirl gets the Gannett Treatmentâ„¢

Gross $$ mismanagement means we are losing both faculty and programs.  And no, they won't tell us who yet.  10 days to sweat it out.

Anybody know anyone looking for science PhDs? - Not Exactly Rocket Science, February 6, 2009

More Bad Management:

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 16:41:31 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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The storm the media forgot

Well, that snow here stopped midafternoon, except for a slight dusting overnight.  Now its just cold.  (And no, I didn’t re-shovel the driveway. The weather service says it will be 50º on Saturday.)  OTOH, Cincinnati got 8 inches worth late yesterday (and Mark remains unheard-from).

Regarding things in Kentucky:

Snapped Shot’s Brian Ledbetter (via Malkin) does a compare-and-contrast on the Associated Press’ coverage vs. Katrina.

Bunch of photo and post links at ilist Paducah.

And for a smile: Patience-Please on coping with a house-full of whippets in a blackout:

I put every dog bed in the house on the floor in a semicircle in front of the fireplace. I piled blankets on top of the beds.  Very Old Dog, who will be fifteen in April, was nestled in with us.  Our dear young friends, Heather and Jason, were in our other front guest bedroom, also conveniently outfitted with another gas fireplace.  With them were their own two whippets and their most adorable toddler, Ben.  Their whippets, Edgar and Emmett, consider this a second home, since Emmett was born here, and both are frequent guests.  And you haven’t experienced cute until you hear Ben pronounce “Patience”.

At first, our dogs experienced an understandable confusion. Clearly the Big Bed was for them, and the Rags on the Floor were for humans....

Naturally!
Read the post, and stay for the pictures.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 20:17:33 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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I hope I’m wrong...

...(seriously, I do), but given the events of the last ten days I wanted to get this out there:

Somebody else is Getting Overwrought Early? Dept:

Hanson link via: LMA

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Bounce ’em

Victor Davis Hanson misses the point:

If the liberal Secretary of the Treasury and the even more liberal would-be HHS Secretary did not pay their proper taxes, owed tens of thousands in back taxes, and (apparently) were only willing to address this issue when it was a matter of career advancement in Washington, what does that say about our honor-based tax code?
...
Any more of these stories and we will be on very dangerous ground, since the message is a terrible one to the American people:  You pay your full amount, but our elites not only do not, but won't unless they get caught.

This is all about as good an argument for a flat tax as one can imagine.

And just why should we expect them to pay a flat tax?  These weasels apparently didn’t even attempt to pay what they owed.

The major argument for a flat tax is its simplicity:  Innocent bystanders aren’t as likely to be ensnared by some random complication.

Daschle and Geithner are not a “good argument for a flat tax.”  They’re a good argument for turning the “elites” out of power.


Elsewhere:

Via:  IP

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Andrea loses her Squeaky

Sometimes all you can do is give ’em love and a warm place, but Andrea, belying her crusty image, did more.   Squeaky’s early history lies hidden in Andrea’s infamous  Disappearing Archives, but some of her backstory can be found here

(Image stolen from this post.)

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Stop wishing!

Another 2 inches so far. I told you to be careful what you wish for...

Elsewhere:

Posted by: Old Grouch in Dear Diary... at 16:50:01 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Reason enough...

Hold it right there!

There’s no reason today why we shouldn’t be using all energy efficient technologies in the home.  The reason we’re not is consumers don’t like this technology.

And in the old days, the answer would be, “Well, fix the technology.”

Today we get mandates from Congress.

Via: IP

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