Ad:Tech San Francisco Trends from Expo 2008

Posted by Alexander Tsatkin

April 18, 2008

ad tech san francisco picture

I went to visit Ad Tech San Francisco wednesday and saw some trends which I thought might be worth sharing. First off I want to say I only spent about 2.5 hours there, but thats all I could handle. It felt like a circus in there. Also, I want to mention that I did not go to any workshops or keynote speakers, because I did “have” a full time job, and because I am too poor to afford the tix.

When I first walked in I noticed a booth giving out beer, I helped myself to one to loosen up. I then noticed a booth with cute girls giving out free messages. Although, I was tempted I knew my girlfriend would rip off my nuts, kill me, plant the nuts so two new Alex’s would grow and kill those too. I decided it was time for business and tried to navigate the maze that is AdTech.

Here are the three trends I noticed.

1. TONs of Affiliate Programs - Besides Commission Junction there must have been 5 other affiliate companies promoting themselves. I hope this means that the space of affiliate marketing is still growing. Not too much innovation from any of them, but a lot of them kept hyping up CPA programs. When I asked what products can I sign up with them I kept getting the same thing. What I care about are the micro niches not the usual:

Finance
Dating
Ring Tones

2. Video Ads - I guess no one has cracked the shell on this one. How to monetize video. Pre roll, post roll, pop up, click in video, video overlay, you name it there was a way to advertise on video. Don’t these people get it? All of these ads are intrusive. The way to go is to create vector images around objects actors interact with and insert the brand most relevant to that viewer. For example I am watching a video where I guy takes a swig from a can.

13 to 20 male - he sees the guy taking a swig of Coca Cola
21 - 44 male - sees a guy taking a swig of Budweiser
45 and over male - sees a guy taking a swig of Prune Juice

3. Lead Qualification - the new buzz phrase. Buying leads has been around for a while, but I am seeing a conversions of many different technologies and ideas to improve qualities of leads. For example LeadQual utilizes the phone to qualify leads on the fly and sell them to their clients in real time based on the client criteria.

One trend that I did not see from anyone I asked is more demographic data. I get it your BS gets x impressions, you can target by keyword blah blah. What I want to know is who are your users. What gender, income level, etc. Maybe it is because of my traditional advertising background, but I do not think behavioral marketing and split testing is the holy grail. We need to incorporate both to maximize potential revenue.