The other day i was having a discussion with my CEO. It did throw up lot of vision into the whole online advertising industry. Then the discussion went on to the more crucial aspect of ROI. Now can ROI be guaranteed in all online advertising campaigns. It is definitely very doubtful. I would even say it is impossible in most cases. Because the way a sale happens on web varies a lot depending on the product that the site deals with. Hence if it is a site that deals with consumer goods/gadgets/gifts it is much easier to calculate the ROI. But if it is a site that deals with software services, financial services, medicare services, real estate services then it is actually too tough to calculate the ROI. There are multiple reasons for this. For example, in the case of software services and software suites, though a visibility can be created by means of online advertisements, yet the actual utilization of services or buying of the suite is a collective decision that needs to be taken at a different level. In this case, the web is primarily used as a tool to conduct research, aiding in understanding the product, know the various features, compare it with identical products, evaluate it and finally submit a report to the management.So earlier the same cycle would have been conducted in a different manner. Sending out the request to different vendors, making them present their services/product offerings, identify their pros and cons, evaluate and finally submit a report to the management to decide. The big advantage that the net has offered in these scenario is the reduction of time and accessibility to a range of vendor services across the globe. Earlier one had to restrict oneself to service providers with in a geographical region, today with net no matter where you are still you can reach anyone. So net has helped to reduce the time frame. Sorry for drifting away, in this kind of a scenario, the actual click might have taken place in April, but the deal may be closed only in december. We are really not sure whether many organizations track this vital information, that would be a vital ingredient to calculate ROI.
The news that MSN is gearing up its Adcenter Services and acquiring massive for ingame ad promotions, Indeed, a job search engine introducing PPC, Double fusion buying Eiko Media, just shows to confirm that Internet Advertising Industry is for a big boom in the coming years and is bound to grow.

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