EQUTE — Augmented reality is nothing new, it was featured prominently in James Cameron’s Terminator allowing Arnold Schwarzenegger to see a slew of information on a sort of heads up display.

Now you don’t have you don’t have to be a robot, or even a star to tap into this fascinating space.

Brightkite has implemented augmented reality ad campaigns into its location-based service — based on the sleek Layar browser.

Now, along with restaurants, parks, venues and other GPS points, users of Britekite will see exclusive ads and special augmented-reality-only offers. Best Buy has signed on through the rest of the year, and others will likely follow.

It’s an interesting development, but a basic one at the heart — reach your public where they live.

The only touchy subject is scaring your public from the places they live. If their augmented reality browser is suddenly full of ads, they may be turned off and find another browser or go back to their own reality altogether.

EQUTE — New numbers from comScore and Microsoft’s Massive show that in game advertising is working, and working very well.

Adotas had a good write up of the deal:

Ad Effx Action Lift for Gaming will combine in-game console ad-serving data from Massive with comScore’s post-campaign panel data to determine if viewers of ads subsequently visited a brands website, searched for a brand through related terms or engaged with the brand in some other online fashion such as social media. The measuring is akin to ad tracking in other digital mediums and ensures consumer anonymity and privacy.

The research is just beginning, but comScore numbers showed promising results. The data showed that TV stations advertising in game saw a 280 percent increase in traffic to their web site, a 125 percent increase in searches for a movie rental brand and a 57 percent increase in traffic to their Web site. There was also a 17 percent increase in visits to entertainment sites after viewing an in-game ad for a film.

It’s certainly interesting to see good numbers from a section of advertising so rife in controversy and so hated by some of those being advertised to. The final data will be very interesting to see especially if it reaches outside of the entertainment sphere.

EQUTE — Advertisers are finding out that local ads are well worth the price.

New numbers from comScore show that despite the higher cost, advertisers are figuring out the fact that their money is being spent efficiently.

“Locally targeted ads are an increasingly important component of the digital ad landscape because they represent a more efficient allocation of ad dollars,” said comScore vice president Brian Jurutka. “comScore’s new capability allows us to identify and quantify these opportunities to deliver additional value to both advertisers and publishers alike.”

That efficiency does come at a price.

“Our research indicates that advertisers understand the value of locally targeted ads and are willing to pay a premium for them — anywhere from 20 to 100 percent — depending on the geography and vertical,” said Matt Booth, senior vice president and program director, Interactive Local Media, BIA/Kelsey.

comScore found that advertisers in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco put about 10 percent of their ad dollars into local ads.

The study found that between 9 and 11 percent of display ads in the four markets among all publisher sites were locally targeted. San Francisco (11 percent) and Washington D.C. (11 percent) had a relatively higher share of ads being locally targeted, while Atlanta (10 percent) and Chicago (9 percent) were slightly lower. Not surprisingly, in the regional/local site category — which includes sites like Yahoo! Local, Citysearch and Yelp — the share of display ads that were locally targeted was substantially higher at between 23-33 percent among the four markets.

These numbers give evidence to a growing personalization of the Internet. It’s no secret that consumers respond to personal messages, but new leaps in local advertising have made it much easier to craft those messages. Local and regional targeting takes longer, costs more and turns away from a national audience, but it simply works better. As Internet users get more and more used to online advertising, they are going to look for something that makes them feel less like one of a billion people online and look for ads and services that touch them closer to home.

Consumer still can’t see their advertiser, but it is easier to trust someone nearby — even if they aren’t.

EQUTE — The numbers are out for 2008, and there is one big surprise among the anemic advertising dollars, internet advertising grew (which most people know already) but it has actually outpaced all other sources of ads for the first time ever.

According to Reuters reporters, the UK “report confirms the torrid time suffered by commercial media groups of late, such as free-to-air broadcasters, newspapers and radio, which rely on advertising and are now looking for alternative revenue streams.”

According to the biannual report from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), spending on the internet grew to 1.7B pounds, accounting for 23.5 percent of all spending.

Reuters distilled the interesting numbers:

According to the report, the Internet accounted for 23.5 percent of all spend, compared with 18.7 percent in the first half of 2008. Television accounted for 21.9 percent, press display for 18.5 percent and direct mail for 11.5 percent.

The shake-up in market share followed a 16.1 percent fall in television spend, and a more than 20 percent fall in press display, outdoor advertising and directories. Spend on press classified fell 37 percent.

It’s interesting to see historic numbers like this, but one wonders what will happen after the world economy bounces back? Will internet ads retain their status, or will advertisers return to traditional media?

The report also raises the question of when American advertising will move toward the web and away from notoriously expensive and easy to ignore mediums like radio and TV.

EQUTE — A new study from researchers at Berkeley and the University of Pennsylvania shows that Americans have quite the distaste for being tracked by advertisers. The research won’t stop tailored advertising, likely nothing will, but it’s interesting to see how those being targeted feel about it.

The study [PDF] says that the more people know and the further they’re tracked, the worse they feel about it.

Contrary to what many marketers claim, most adult Americans (66%) do not want marketers to tailor advertisements to their interests. Moreover, when Americans are informed of three common ways that marketers gather data about people in order to tailor ads, even higher percentages — between 73% and 86% — say they would not want such advertising.

The researchers said their survey also showed that buyers seem to want unbiased information to look through, i.e. news, deals. They also

The survey uncovered other attitudes by Americans toward tailored content and the collection of information about them.

For example:

Even when they are told that the act of following them on websites will take place anonymously, Americans’ aversion to it remains: 68% “definitely” would not allow it, and 19% would “probably” not allow it.

A majority of Americans also does not want discounts or news fashioned specifically for them, though the percentages are smaller than the proportion rejecting ads.

69% of American adults feel there should be a law that gives people the right to know everything that a website knows about them.

92% agree there should be a law that requires “websites and advertising companies to delete all stored information about an individual, if requested to do so.”

63% believe advertisers should be required by law to immediately delete information about their internet activity.

Those last few statistics are especially noteworthy and should be telling to advertisers. Later in the paper, the researchers postulate that Americans are more worried about being “at a monetary or social disadvantage: some people might get more useful or interesting tailored content than others depending on the conclusions marketers draw about them.”

This is especially true in the era that has credit card companies cutting rates for Walmart shoppers because they fit into a stereotype that often misses payments or piles up debt.

The researchers also bring up the very valid point that consumers divide their internet time between shopping, work, play and education. Those advertising targets “may worry that tracking across those contexts may subject them to embarrassment (e.g. while using the computer in the work context, ads may be displayed that are relevant to play).” This is especially true if “play” involves illicit or taboo topics.

This is all interesting to note, but targeted advertising is still the ideal way to reach consumers without wasting a lot of advertising space and money. But these numbers should be a wake-up call to advertisers with obtuse targeted advertisements. They will have to be more subtle about how they advertise, those countless “find a date” ads on Facebook must be getting clicks from someone, but one wonders how much more they could do if they were crafted more subtly. Maybe advertisers will take note and move away from the obvious “you’re single, you like boobs” advertising.

EQUTE — The uproar over flogs or fake blogs continues, but who is really responsible for them?

I liken the current Federal Trade Commission crackdown and all out Oprah war on flogs to the banking crisis. Both bring up the question of where is the regulation and who should be doing the regulating?

All along the way from the fake blog to the CPA action, people could have stopped and said, “Well, this doesn’t seem right, maybe I should stop.”

The affiliate marketing writer cold police him or herself, but when it’s a matter of livelihood, are they really going to stop when their storefront site is getting hammered by Lucy’s Juicy Diet and Wally’s White Teeth? Adding pressure to make more commissions from affiliate managers also pushes them to follow the path that works. Sure, one could ask if everyone were jumping off a cliff, would you? Affiliates would likely answer, “Sure, if we’re landing in a big pile of money.”

Then there is the networks, they might throw a line or two into their 40-page terms of service about fake blogs and trademarks. But beyond that, they don’t have the time or resources to wonder where each link is coming from — especially if that link is bringing in money for them and their advertisers. Adding regulation at this point seems logical until you think about how many thousands of new landing pages pop up every day for everything from acai berries, Obama grants, Google money, teeth whitening and all the rest. Unlike entities like Facebook, affiliate networks aren’t going to set up an expensive lander submittal process that would only succeed in making them less money.

Then there is the advertiser, the one visible person that gets a negative image in the eyes of the consumer if they catch on that what they’re reading is a flog. Some advertisers have sought out flogs and stopped them, but more often than not, even the advertiser isn’t going to be eager to cut themselves out of the profit. Perhaps they could send that free trial offer to reviewers and bloggers — which some do — but that means more overhead and putting a lot of trust in the blogger’s hands. If they are hawking acai berries and colon cleanse anyway, do they even want people telling the truth?

So where does that put us? Nobody wants to lose money by quashing flogs altogether, but nobody really likes them. It’s not an easy question to answer, and in the sea of dubious information that is the Internet, aren’t flogs exactly what everybody expects to find?

EQUTE — An adviser to the European Union’s top court says Google does not infringe on trade marks by selling trademarked keywords.

Several brands have been in a legal battle with the search and advertising giant because their official ads were forced to compete with any rabble with a higher bid than them.

Louis Vuitton, for example, was fighting to boot manufactures of knockoff designer goods using their brand name out of search advertising.

“Advocate General Poiares Maduro considers that Google has not infringed trade mark rights by allowing advertisers to buy keywords corresponding to registered trademarks,” the European Court of Justice said in a statement.

Though the court has yet to make the ruling, the court’s decisions typically fall in line with their court advisers.

Google’s lawyers said the likely ruling came because consumers are smart enough to know the difference between real and fake ads.

“We believe that selecting a keyword to trigger the display of an ad does not amount to trademark infringement, and that consumers benefit from seeing more relevant information,” said Google lawyer Harjinder Obhi wrote in a statement. “Consumers are smart and are not confused when they see a variety of ads displayed in response to their search queries.”

The decision also hinges on the fact that Google doesn’t directly make money from the trademarked name.

Google argued that they make money by Internet users clicking on the keyword, and the decision to click or not belongs to the user.

The decision could end a seven-year fight — Google is appealing a unfavorable decision brought against it by a French court in 2006.

Google’s trademark policy varies across the world. In some countries, mainly in Europe, Google blocks names from being chosen as keywords once it’s received proof that they are protected trademarks — not so in the U.S.

The decision could mean that blocking trademarked keywords could soon end around the world.

EQUTE — Despite the fact that they are much more active than men, a new survey shows that women are not too keen on social media advertising on sites such as Facebook.

The folks at WebProNews had a good write up of the study that showed some pretty interesting numbers.

Some findings from the study:
- 75% of women are “more active” in social networking than last year

- More than half (54%) visit social networking sites at least once per day

- 75% share that social networking sites “not really” or “not at all” influence what they buy

- 52% of women surveyed have “befriended” or “become a fan of” at least one brand

- 83% feel “neutral” or “negative” when they see a brand on a social networking site

- 10% of women engage in product / brand-related activities (”get product information, including coupons and savings” and “writing reviews about products”) most on social networking sites - above common activities like “send private messages to friends” and “share photos”

The fact that over half of women surveyed befriended a brand does say a lot about what women are prepared to do. The study suggests that women who are active in social media don’t want to be talked at by the run-of-the-mill Facebook ads, they want to talk with the brand like they would any other friend. Keeping up to snuff on their Facebook page could be a great — and cheap — way for a company to break through to women.

While the study only included 1,000 women, it gives the basic idea about how women use social media and how brands should interact with them.

It should come to no surprise to anyone that spending on advertising is down, but there are some verticals where spending jumped.

Overall, advertising spending dropped by 15.4 percent, a drop of about $10.3 billion.

“While some of the larger categories have cut back spending, we see others that continue to raise the ante on their media investments,” said Annie Touliatos, VP for Nielsen’s advertising information services.

Ad spending on cars, trucks and automotive services dropped by the largest margin: 31.4 percent nationally and 26.2 percent in local markets. Pharmecuticals took the second largest dip: 11.3 percent. It’s no wonder, fewer people are going to the doctor to get the newest drug, just like they are staying away from big purchases like cars — even with the “clunker” bump.

“What’s interesting is that we’re not just seeing a rise in spending for recession-friendly products like fast food restaurants. We’re seeing a lot more promotion of technological innovations like smartphones, computer software, and consumer-driven web sites. These advertisers see potential for their products despite our stressed economy and are leveraging advertising to drive their success,” said Touliatos.

Recessionary products like fast food and cable television saw those good gains as they sought the broke, homebound masses affected by the grim economy. Cable TV also saw a boost with the DTV switch as more people opted to look for cable instead of deal with the hassle.

Some other business actually spent more on ads too, seeking people who had some money, but weren’t making those big purchases. Advertisers also sought people looking for cheaper services for things like taxes and insurance, both of which saw gains in ad spending.

Financial service providers also aimed to take advantage of people afraid about what might happen to their money.