Is Web Advertising Efficient? 

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Example: 

Printed, International Edition of PC Magazine vs. Interactive, PC Magazine 

Average audience over a two week period 
Printed, PC Magazine: 3,236,500 
Interactive, PC Magazine: 200,000 est. 

Avg. number who see ad over 2 week period* 
Printed 932,112 or 28% 
Interactive 2,962 est. 

4/color ad page cost covering a 2 week period 
Printed $52,470 
Interactive $6,662 

CMP based on those who see ad 
Printed $56 
Interactive $2,249 

(* Source: Intelliquest-read all/most of a typical issue) 

The primary objective for most web advertising is to increase traffic to the advertiser's web site. From a media standpoint, print magazines are approximately 40 times more efficient than their web counterparts and they also provide an 8-1/2" x 11" page, compared to a 1" x 3" box on the web, to convince readers to visit their web site. The secondary object of selling product is also achieved more efficiently via print, because it allows you to reach a much larger number of potential customers who may not yet be on the net. 

The main reason the web is not yet an efficient media vehicle, is that the advertising is not intrusive. A reader has to search for your icon, find enough interest in it and download the file just to see the ad. To download an ad using a 14.4 modem takes, on average, 50 seconds, that is if the server connects you on the first try. 

In comparison, print advertising is very intrusive, because most readers flip pages following editorial when, POW, the ad hits them. It is up to the creative execution to stop the reader or to get him/her to remember the message, but at least the reader saw the ad. This is why print advertisers can count on the majority of the circulation to see their ad. 
The Facts 
No major Internet magazine can tell you how many people have seen your ad unless they register 100% of their viewers. 
Neither a HIT, GIF or unique session can be used for measuring the number of people who click on a web page. 
A page request is defined as someone who clicks on a link or icon in order to see another page on the web. 
Advertising on the web is not intrusive. 

Ziff Davis 
- Ziff is charging $39,975 for three months of advertising on its ZD Net. 
- Your icon, appearing on two home pages at any given time, rotates weekly between the 15 home pages within ZD Net. The icon, if clicked, links you to the ad. 
- On average, an advertiser receives 1,481 page requests a week. 
- Two week CPM = $2,297 (41 times that of the printed version of PC Magazine) 

CMP 
- CMP is charging $15,000 for three months of advertising on its TechWeb. 
- This cost only covers an icon on one magazine's home page. The icon, if clicked, links you to the ad. 
- On average, an advertiser receives 96 page requests a week. 
- Four week CPM = $13,020 (213 times that of the printed version of Windows Magazine) 

Wired 
- Wired is charging $15,000 to run an ad for a month on its HotWired Internet magazine and requires registration from 100% of its readers/viewers. 
- Your icon is rotated every two weeks from section to section within the magazine, but never put on the home page. The icon, if clicked, links you to the ad. 
- On average, an advertiser receives 1,300 page requests a week. 
- Four week CPM = $2,884 (56 times that of the printed version of Wired), 
The Assumptions 
We calculated the average number of people who see the ad as follows: 
- For the printed magazines we took the publication's average issue audience and multiplied it by the percentage of readers who say they looked at or read all/most of the pages in a typical issue. We used the Intelliquest Study to obtain the average issue audience and readership data. 
- Wired estimates their average audience to be 714,960. 
- For the interactive magazines we doubled the average weekly page request for an advertiser's page, that the publisher reported, to compare against the biweeklies and quadrupled the number to compare against the monthlies. 

Is comparing web advertising to traditional print advertising an apples to apples comparison? 
- Yes, both have text, 4/color graphics and the ability to obtain more information by calling an 800# in the print ad or by clicking on a link within the web page. 
- Until the web can deliver video and text at an acceptable speed, print will remain the best benchmark. 

To give the interactive magazines the benefit of doubt when comparing them to print vehicles, we made the following considerations: 
- We did not weigh the fact that the printed magazines are audited and charge subscribers an annual fee, while the web magazines are un-audited and cost nothing to the reader. 

Conclusion 
As advertising becomes the key financial supporter of the Internet, its users will be more accepting of intrusive ads and the efficiencies of such ads will improve greatly because of the sheer number of people who will see them. This will have to happen before the web becomes an efficient media vehicle. This does not mean, however, to cancel your companies web efforts, it is a matter of efficiently promoting your web site/product so your ROI is maximized. 

Once auditing organizations like Nielsen take the guess work out of the numbers, the only hurdles left will be the speed that it takes to download information and the availability of sound and video. Once these obstacles are overcome, and they will be in the next two to three years, television will be forced to defend its turf to the web.