Media Curmudgeon

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November 28, 2006

Just The Facts, Please

The lead story in the November 27, edition of Advertising Age was an article titled "The Short Tail," ostensibly about the fact that, according to the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) 2005 report on internet ad spending, that 72% of all the internet ad money went to the top ten websites. That figure is now a year old, and we know how things can change in a year of internet time.

I've been told by at least two knowledgeable internet people that the 2006 figure is 80%, and it goes to the top five websites: Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, and MySpace, leaving 20% to tens of thousands websites that scramble for crumbs (hard, hard work).

I write "ostensibly" because Abby Klaassen's Advertising Age article headline seems to imply that "If there's long tail for internet ad dollars, it's still a very skinny one. There has been much talk about how the democratizing the web has opened a brave new long tail (in Wired Editor Chris Anderson's coinage) world, where many small sites can survive and thrive. But in truth, where internet ad dollars are concerned, is that it seems to be shaping up to look at lot like the broadcast world, with a handful of players dominating marketers' spending." OK, so far. Klaassen seems about right.

But, later on in her story, the author writes, quoting Google's Gokul Rajarum, product manager for AdSense, that, "In all cases, [engagement for] the niche site was just as good and performed just as well or better," which seems to contradict the "Short Tail" headline.

I see this article as another example of "he-said, she-said" journalism that one too often gets from the MSM (main-stream media. I think the article tries to make a case for the niche sites, as the author quotes small-site publishers and from the pitch that the Online Publisher's Association is making on behalf of smaller sites.

I say "don't bother trying to be balanced, just give me the facts, mam." The long tail concept only works for tiny sites that have little or no overhead, sites that are put up by bloggers or tech-savvy people who can maintain them for a tiny investment and a lot of time. Thus, even pennies of advertising are profit. I like the headline, "The Short Tail," which communicates the concept that the internet is now being dominated by the big sites, and gives numbers to back it up, even though the numbers are a year old, to be sure. Don't waste my time with balance. Like this and other blogs, gimme a fast opinion and let me make up my own mind, don't bore me with balance and trying to be well liked by everyone.

Are you listening New York Times?

Posted by Charles Warner at November 28, 2006 10:16 PM

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