Solidifying Your Foundation: An Ad Ops Perspective

The current state of the economy is having an impact on large, medium, and small sized businesses across the online industry, each feeling its effects in their own unique way. For many online publishers, advertising is typically the primary source of revenue generation, and online ad spending needs to remain strong for these businesses to be profitable. Moreover, due in large part to the current economic downturn, websites that haven’t traditionally run advertising, such as online retailers, are now beginning to do so in order to make up for decreasing sales. To weather the current economic challenges, these businesses need to secure a strong foundation on which to continue operating intelligently, which includes focusing on best practices within their support divisions.

New ad creative types, the ever expanding ways to advertise within video, interest targeting, and re-targeting technologies, are just a few of the blossoming areas within the online advertising industry. Agencies are constantly pushing the envelope by using these new and/or improving technologies to ensure that their advertising campaigns stay ahead of the curve and perform at their highest level. Publishers will always endeavor to support these new ad technologies in order to make sure their websites are eligible for inclusion on as many agency RFPs as possible. In order to do this, publisher-side advertising support teams must be prepared to quickly adjust to the ever-changing advertising landscape.

In addition to supporting evolving advertising technologies, publishers have also been combating potential risks to their bottom line using other approaches. Some have expanded their reach of saleable inventory by way of network affiliate sites, while many others are constantly managing remnant ad placements to drive incremental revenue and maximize effective CPMs. These heretofore time consuming tasks have been simplified by several emerging technologies, such as DART Network Builder, which enable publishers to more easily manage ad inventory across multiple sites, and remnant optimization technologies, such as AdMeld, PubMatic and Rubicon Project, that automatically optimize remnant impressions to maximize revenue. Proper implementation and support of these technologies is integral to ensure successful deployment and revenue recognition.

It’s important that companies perform a thorough analysis of how to best build out their advertising operations division. Having an experienced ad ops team in place can be the difference between recognizing millions of dollars in revenue instead of having to offer countless costly make-goods. One option these companies should consider is outsourcing this component to a team of professionals.

Here are a few of the significant benefits that can be achieved by working with an experienced outsourced ad operations partner:

• Staffing: Staffing around tight budgets can be avoided. For the same financial commitment, or possibly less, a company can have a whole team of ad operations professionals at its service. Worries regarding vacation days, unanticipated sick days, and potential employee turnover become things of the past.
• Coverage: Most of the big players in the outsourcing business offer multiple time zone coverage, which is especially useful when those last minute deals come in and need to be handled right away.
• Knowledge: Equipping companies with a high level of knowledge/expertise in all things related to ad operations allows them to keep up with industry buying trends and new technologies.
• Programming Efficiency: Companies will be able to keep their trafficking errors to a minimum, as their outsourced company will have well developed QA procedures in place.
• Partnerships: Avoid the frustration of figuring out which ad technology to work with, or which ad system to implement. Companies can leverage the established partnerships their outsourced company has built over the years.
• Focus: The current economic climate can distract to the point of derailment. Outsourcing allows companies to stay focused on both the task at hand and their vision, while their ad operations partner is making sure that requests are being handled properly and in a timely fashion.
• Motivation: Aside from finding qualified traffickers, the biggest challenge employers face within their trafficking department is keeping their traffickers motivated (more info on that and other trafficker related challenges can be found here).
• Play It Safe: Another angle to think about is outsourcing as a preventative measure. Companies can use an outsourced team as a component of their current team, to handle overflow, and/or for redundancy purposes in the event of unanticipated employee time off or turnover. It’s a great way for companies to protect themselves. There truly is safety in numbers.

The online advertising business is constantly evolving. Having a solid foundation in place on which to sell and deliver ad campaigns is a key contributor towards a company’s success. Companies who reinforce that foundation in order to further protect and maintain their advertising revenue will be better aligned to move forward, especially in a down economy. As detailed above, partnering with a strong outsourced ad operations company would accomplish exactly that.

Craig Leshen is the President of Outsourced Ad Ops (www.adops.com), a leading provider of around-the-clock online ad management services to both website publishers and agencies. Clients receive unmatched quality of service from their experienced staff of ad operations professionals. Outsourced Ad Ops’ offices are located in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Denver. Their strong ad ops teams operate in concert across all of their locations utilizing our highly efficient process that results in increased revenue recognition for your business.

(This has been re-posted from AdOps.com:  http://www.adops.com/news/?p=29)

Light The Night Walk – Mom’s Page

http://pages.lightthenight.org/nyc/Manhattn09/TeamMom

As many of you know, our mother passed away in June due to Acute Leukemia. This is a vicious disease that attacked an otherwise completely healthy person. It can take as little as days to manifest and grow in the blood, and as Blood Cancer doesn’t discriminate against age, race, or gender, this could happen to any one of us. The speed of the disease is remarkable; Mom was diagnosed on a Wednesday, and passed away only a week-and-a-half later.

Now, it’s time to regroup, rebuild, and renew. Join us in our aid to fund new research so we can help cure all forms of this disease.

Light The Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s evening walk and fundraising event. It is the nation’s night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) funds lifesaving research that has contributed to major advances in the treatment of blood cancers and treatments for other types of cancer, such as chemotherapy and stem cell transplants. These treatments have helped patients live better, longer lives. New targeted therapies that kill cancer cells without harming normal tissue are providing drugs and procedures that are improving quality of life.

• A donation of $25 provides patients and their loved ones with FREE booklets that contain up-to-date information on their disease and help them make informed decisions about their treatment options.

• A donation of $50 makes possible a Family Support group with a trained facilitator where comfort can be found and experiences can be shared among patients and family members.

• A donation of $100 helps supply laboratory researchers with supplies and materials critical to carrying out their search for cures.

• A donation of $1,000 makes possible one- on-one conversations with health care specialists who provide patients with information about their disease, treatment options, and helps prepare them with questions for their health care team.

Please make a donation to support our participation in the Light The Night Walk and help save lives. Be sure to check this Web site, and the site linked to above and below this post, frequently to see my progress.   Thanks very much for your support!

http://pages.lightthenight.org/nyc/Manhattn09/TeamMom

Outsourced Ad Ops on MSNBC’s “Your Business”

Craig Leshen, President of Outsourced Ad Ops, on MSNBC’s “Your Business” discussing small business practices: Click for video.

Updated on 10/03/09:  MSNBC posted an additional video clip:  Click for the additional video.

Carl Crawford, 6. Yankee Game, 0.

While I was waiting around at Yankee Stadium for no reason (the game was canceled due to rain), Carl Crawford decided to go out and tie the modern era record for stolen bases in a single game (6).  I was impressed when Dexter Fowler stole 5 bases in a game the other day, but evidently Crawford wasn’t…

Rays swipe series from Red Sox | MLB.com: News

Shot of the day – Lebron is ridiculous!

One Word:  Incredible.

WOW! Skype for iPhone! WOW!

Ok…this is cool…  It’s only a rumor, but…

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/26/skype-for-iphone-coming-soon/

http://theappleblog.com/2009/03/26/skype-on-its-way-to-the-iphone/

Puppies first trip to the dog run!

We posted new photos of Rania and Milo’s first trip to the dog run:

Click here to view the pics.

Yes…they were exhausted after their busy day of playing with 100 of their new friends!

Puppies – Ready for their close up!

The Puppies Go For Their First Walk Outside

A little bit of a “walk”…more  like, a little bit of a “drag”…  Made up and down the block, and introduced them to the crew at Java Girl (home of the best iced coffee on the planet).  By the time we got back to the building, they were just about done, and then they made some friends…

…and of course, there’s a video:

Link to video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3J65NM_v5o

End result:  Rania was all about walking everywhere at first, and Milo was terrified/not moving.  By the end of the walk, Rania was done/not moving/exhausted, and Milo was ready to run everywhere.  Spent about 20 minutes with them outside.  They didn’t realize they were allowed to go to the bathroom (lots of sniffing and smelling though — maybe next time), so they went when they got back upstairs…thankfully on the wee-wee pads.  ;)

My 2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft Results

Our 2009 fantasy baseball draft took place earlier today.  It’s a 15 team league, 25 round draft (plus 2 DL spots), which counts the following categories:

Hitting:  HR, RBI, R, SB, H, AVG
Pitching:  W, S, K, H, ERA, WHIP

My Draft Results…

=====================
Catcher:  Brian McCann
1B:  Prince Fielder
2B:  Robinson Cano
Shortstop:  Jose Reyes
3B:  Aubrey Huff
Corner Infielder:  Chone Figgins
Middle Infielder:  Troy Tulowitzki
Outfielder:  Vladimir Guerrero, Rick Ankiel, Jose Guillen
Utility:  Elijah Dukes
Bench Hitters:  Ken Griffey Jr., Denard Span, Cody Ross
=====================
Starting Pitchers:  Cole Hamels, Javier Vazquez, Max Scherzer
Relief Pitchers (Closers):  Kerry Wood, Trevor Hoffman, Matt Lindstrom, Chris Perez
Relief Pitchers (Middle/Setup):  J.J. Putz, Octavio Dotel
Bench Pitchers:  Damaso Marte, Matt Thornton
=====================

We’ll see what happens…

The Reds made their own “Paint The Town Red” Video! GO HOTCAKES! GO LEE!

SO COOL!

The Reds will “Paint The Town Red” – Video | reds.com: Multimedia.

YAAAY! Apple ‘iPod Touch HD’ 10-Inch Screen!

Ok, this is something I’m excited about..  Apple *will be* (no longer “might be”) releasing a 10″ touchscreen netbook later this year.

Apple’s ‘iPod Touch HD’ Will Have 10-Inch Screen: Report (AAPL)

The possibilities are endless with this one..  It could be a stand alone device, or it could be something that plugs into a desktop workstation (example:  http://www.maclife.com/patents).

Get psyched!

Lee’s Band – The Hotcakes – Covered in the New York Post!

THE RUMBLE – New York Post.

GO LEE!  Congrats to Lee and the whole band!  Well done!

BlackBerry App World – Sign up at 10pm EST tonight!

The link to BlackBerry App World goes live at 10pm EST tonight!  You’ll be able to sign up to be notified when the store launches here:

http://www.blackberry.com/appworld/

Here’s more info about the Blackberry App World launch on Engadget:

RIM names its app store ‘BlackBerry App World’

Enjoy!

Dear Apple, Thanks for the time waster.

Why bother with a patch like this?

Apple TV Gets Updated, Breaks Boxee and Other Hacks | Mac|Life.

…especially after hearing the user comments on the article:

“this update, as previous ones, removes the added entries for boxee in the menu. repatch-sticking the atv brings all the good back.”