??? 最近有消息稱微軟(Microsoft)、雅虎(Yahoo)和美國(guó)在線(AOL)正計(jì)劃展開廣告銷售業(yè)務(wù)合作,。三家公司是不是為了試探市場(chǎng)反應(yīng)而有意放出的風(fēng)聲呢,?
????如果真是這樣,那么市場(chǎng)的最初反應(yīng)并不樂觀,。上周三,,科技網(wǎng)站AllThingsD透露,來自三家公司的高管們于上周二晚,,在曼哈頓的一場(chǎng)晚宴上向“一些頂級(jí)的網(wǎng)絡(luò)出版商和廣告買家”介紹了合作計(jì)劃,。看來他們對(duì)合作計(jì)劃并非三緘其口,。
????上周四,《廣告周刊》(Adweek)發(fā)表文章稱,,微軟的一位發(fā)言人透露:“我們相信選擇,、公開和競(jìng)爭(zhēng)有助于促進(jìn)市場(chǎng)創(chuàng)新。正因?yàn)槿绱?,我們一直在?shù)字廣告生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中尋找合作伙伴,,探索合作方式。我們的目標(biāo)是提供創(chuàng)新的解決方案,,讓廣告商和出版商都能從中受益,。不過,我們目前并不打算提供更多細(xì)節(jié),?!?/p>
????換句話說:我們確實(shí)正在進(jìn)行籌劃此事,而且我們已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好了推廣口號(hào),。不過,,在確定市場(chǎng)的批評(píng)會(huì)有多尖酸刻薄前,,我們并不打算正式公布計(jì)劃。
????到目前為止,,市場(chǎng)的批評(píng)之聲不絕于耳,。《廣告周刊》的基利?梅?赫斯納稱,,該雜志采訪了一些媒體買家,,他們一致認(rèn)為,這個(gè)計(jì)劃“有點(diǎn)絕望的味道”,。
????買家們并未看到此項(xiàng)合作能給自己帶來太大的好處,,他們想知道在處理所謂的“第二等級(jí)顯示廣告”方面,這三家公司能比外部廣告網(wǎng)絡(luò)強(qiáng)多少,。當(dāng)然,,他們能獲得更多收益,不過他們必須將系統(tǒng)整合到一塊運(yùn)作,,而且還必須讓銷售人員為自己的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手兜售廣告,。
????此外,廣告合作還可能帶來另個(gè)麻煩——出于反壟斷考慮,,美國(guó)聯(lián)邦政府一直在密切關(guān)注在線廣告業(yè)務(wù),。三家聯(lián)盟可能會(huì)招來監(jiān)管者的注意。在正式公布計(jì)劃之前,,三家公司也可能是在試探政府的反應(yīng),。
????此次涉及的廣告是這三家公司無法獨(dú)自銷售的顯示廣告。目前,,這部分廣告由廣告網(wǎng)絡(luò)運(yùn)作,,當(dāng)然,這些公司要從中分成,。這次合作將讓三家公司留住并分享所有收益,。
????微軟的參與無疑給這次合作加了分。假如只有雅虎和美國(guó)在線合作,,那么看起來更像是孤注一擲之舉,,因?yàn)檫@兩家公司如今都風(fēng)雨飄搖。微軟想要搶谷歌(Google)的生意,,但假如這次合作不成功,,對(duì)微軟來說問題并不嚴(yán)重,因?yàn)槠浯蟛糠质杖雭碜攒浖?。但?duì)雅虎和美國(guó)在線而言則是件大事,,因?yàn)閮烧叩臉I(yè)務(wù)都倚賴廣告,而谷歌正日漸成為廣告市場(chǎng)的主導(dǎo)者,。
????譯者:項(xiàng)航 |
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????Could the news that Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO) and AOL (AOL) are planning to join together to sell ads on each other's sites be a trial balloon –- a leak designed to test reaction?
????If so, the early responses aren't so encouraging. AllThingsD broke the news on Wednesday, reporting that executives from all three companies made a presentation to "a group of top Web publishers and ad buyers" at a dinner in Manhattan on Tuesday night. Not the epitome of stealth.
????In a statement to Adweek today, a Microsoft spokesman said: "We believe that choice, openness and competition help drive innovation in the market. As such, we are always looking for ways to partner with others in the digital advertising ecosystem to offer innovative solutions that benefit advertisers and publishers. However we have nothing specific to share at this time,"
????In other words, yes, we're doing this, and yes, we've already got the marketing boilerplate prepared, but no, we don't want to officially announce it until we see how caustic the criticism will be.
????Pretty caustic, so far. The idea has "a whiff of desperation about it" is the consensus of the media buyers interviewed by AdWeek, writes that publication's Ki Mae Heussner.
????Those buyers, who don't see much advantage for themselves in the arrangement, wonder how much better the companies will be than outside ad networks are at handling so-called "Class 2 display inventory." Yes, they'll get more of the revenue, but they'll have to make their systems work together, and they'll have to get their sales staffs to sell ads for companies that are, after all, supposedly their rivals.
????That brings up another potential problem -- the federal government is closely scrutinizing the online advertising business for antitrust concerns. This alliance could draw regulators' attention. The companies could be testing those waters, too, before formally announcing the plan.
????The ads in question represent leftover display inventory that the individual companies can't sell on their own. Currently, such ads are handled by ad networks that, of course, take a cut. This arrangement will allow the three companies to keep all the revenue and share it among themselves.
????The presence of Microsoft no doubt helps. It would look even more desperate if it were just Yahoo and AOL, both of which are faltering. Microsoft wants to take business away from Google (GOOG), but if this doesn't work out, it won't be a huge deal to the company, which makes most of its money on software. It's a much bigger deal to Yahoo and AOL, whose businesses depend on advertising, a market that Google increasingly dominates. |