> Creating opportunities
>
> Nonprofits getting 1 billion free Web ads
>
> Public service ads for national nonprofits will run on highly
> trafficked Web sites under an agreement between the
> Advertising Council and the Internet Advertising Bureau.
>
>
> By Sean Bailey
>
> Nonprofit organizations will receive an estimated 1 billion free
> advertisements on the World Wide Web under a program
> launched this week by the Advertising Council and the Internet
> Advertising Bureau.
>
> The advertising banners will appear over the next year on many
> of the Web's busiest sites, including search engines and media
> companies.
>
> "This is a huge breakthrough," says Donna Feiner, senior
> vice-president of media at the Advertising Council.
>
> She estimates the program represents a 10-fold increase over
> current Advertising Council advertising on the Web. The ads
> will make up as much as 5 percent of available ad space at some
> of the participating media Web sites, such as ESPN Sports Zone,
> Microsoft and C-Net.
>
> Feinner says the Internet public service announcements will be
> effective because the Web surfer actually takes the initiative to
> retrieve more information about the nonprofit.
>
> "The Internet allows people to get information when they want it,
> without any one calling them on the phone or bothering them."
>
> A key element to the program is the participation of NetGravity,
> an Internet software company whose NetGravity Adserver
> Network will manage and deliver the Advertising Council
> banners.
>
> The Internet Advertising Bureau, formed in 1996, promotes the
> use and effectiveness of advertising on the Internet. It
> approached the council with the proposal to expand Web public
> service ads. The Advertising Council, formed in 1942, works with
> a select group of nonprofits and promotes those organization
> through free advertising in print, TV, radio and, now, the
> Internet. The organization's most well-known ads include the
> characters McGruff the Crime Dog, Vince and Larry, the Seatbelt
> Dummies; and Smokey the Bear.
>
> The banners will be produced by interactive advertising agencies
> associated with the Internet Advertising Bureau.
>
> About 40 nonprofits are beneficiaries of public service
> announcements developed by the Advertising Council,
> according to Feiner. The groups are selected by the council
> based on its areas of interest. Typically, a nonprofit must be a
> national organization and have local affiliates.
>
> Currently, the organization supports nonprofits that assist
> children and families, part of a 10-year program called
> "Commitment 2000: Raising a Better Tommorow." About 80
> percent of the ads will support groups working in that arena,
> Feiner says. Two to five new nonprofits join the group each year
> as others are phased out. Council advertising backing typically
> lasts for several years.
>
> Feinner says the Internet banner advertising program is designed
> to develop data that will tell the council how many people
> interact with the ads, go to the nonprofit Web sites and complete
> other activities.
>
> "We are going to track impressions and responses and we hope
> to have some nice case histories, as well."
>
> She was uncertain how prepared the nonprofit Web sites are to
> convert new traffic to online donations.
>
> "Many of these organizations don't have the resources or the
> experience in driving traffic to their sites, to begin with. It's hard
> to know how they are doing."
>
> Robbin Zeff, author of the Nonprofit Guide to the Internet and
> also Internet Advertising, says the ad program indicates the
> seriousness of the Internet Advertising Bureau, which is just a
> little more than one year old.
>
> "I think this is a great first step," she says. "They realize
> advertising should not just be used for commercial purposes but
> also for public service."
>
> She says she hopes opportunities are created for other
> nonprofits to get public service advertisements on commercial
> Web sites. "It will be up to other nonprofits to find their
> audience online and then ask for the PSA space."
>
-- 0--------------Better Living Thru Better Living!--------------0 0 GABRIELLI WINERY: Mendocino County, California -- Yummy! 0 0 Zinfandel Reserve, ASCENZA (white-blend), Pinot-Noir 0 0------------ http://www.interport.net/~rugosa ---------------0
****** A-Infos News Service ***** News about and of interest to anarchists
Subscribe -> email MAJORDOMO@TAO.CA with the message SUBSCRIBE A-INFOS Info -> http://www.tao.ca/ainfos/ Reproduce -> please include this section