Yesterday I participated in a panel about new monetization strategies at the UBS Media Conference. Ben Schachter, the moderator, posed this wrap-up question at the end of the discussion: “Where do you think things will be for you a year from now?” The answer I gave was about lots of unique, new companies having the ability to steal market share from the entrenched players because of how easy it is to access supply and demand within the Right Media Exchange. While that wasn’t incorrect, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to say.

I just read this book called “The Futurist,” which is about a guy named Yates who gets paid by corporations to predict the future trends that they want to hear. His defining moment occurs when he decides to get up in front of a government audience and basically comes clean–he knows nothing. He can’t predict anything because the speed of change is too rapid and, well, unpredictable.

I felt like Yates yesterday–I can’t possibly predict what Right Media’s world will look like in a year. In our business, that kind of time feels like a decade. Our business is changing so quickly–there’s massive new adoption of our platform, which means that there is also massive adaption occurring. Every new client we bring on board changes us slightly, simply because everyone’s business is unique. We also like to think that we help our clients adapt as well. By partnering together, we’re seeing real change happen. We’re not always sure what that change will be, but as long as we continue listening and responding, we’re likely to be headed in the right direction.

So, what I should have said yesterday was that I don’t know. I don’t know where we’ll be in a year, but I’m really excited to find out.

One of the things that application developers have to balance is choosing to add or subtract features. How do you satisfy the user while also keeping things simple? Does the user always know what’s right, or do we have suggestions as experts?

We’ve tried to add on features that you–the user–wanted, but also ones that ‘we’ thought would help.

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You asked for it, so we gave it to you.

a) More payment options–under the Setup tab.

b) Custom dating and reporting intervals–under the Analyze tab.

c) ‘Group by Frequency’ ability–under the Analyze tab.

d) A way to auto-link to your YM related accounts–under the Link tab.

…and we could go on. (more…)

Fairfax Digital’s The Age says online publishers down under are dropping prices by up to 60 percent as massive amounts of new, lower-priced inventory hit the market (Low-cost online rivals hurt major net publishers). In contrast, the article also quotes a major buyer who expects only a 5% to 10% price drop, and a publisher who suggests that deflation will end and prices will rise again when brand advertiser budgets start kicking in next spring.

Regardless of whether Australia is a bellwether, the concerns of buyers and sellers about unstable inventory and pricing are universal. In the U.S., total display inventory has more than doubled over the past 18 months according to AdRelevance, while prices have continued to rise for both premium and non-premium ads (eMarketer).

Working with research provider Insight Express, Right Media recently surveyed top 200 web publishers for their views on inventory and pricing and the outlook for 2007. Among pertinent findings, the research shows that publishers who have invested in a dedicated yield management effort - i.e., they’ve committed the organization to measurable goals, assigned accountability to people with authority, and implemented appropriate systems - are more optimistic about the future.

These publishers simply have more confidence in their ability to spot material changes in supply and demand ahead of time and to make necessary adjustments before significant changes become crises.

On the flip side, publishers who have not invested in people, process and philosophy appear to be counting on a buoyant market continuing to carry them. Perhaps they are still unaware that tools are readily available to help them get the most out of every impression - regardless of whether the inventory is sold by their own sales team or by multiple ad networks.

Watch this space for details about a white paper detailing the study, “How publishers think about, manage and monetize non-premium inventory.”

Here at the Right Media Ad Network, we’ve been quite busy these days. Those that know us likely have run performance-based campaigns utilizing dynamic pricing across our auction-based network. But more and more of our partner marketers and agencies have been looking for more than the traditional network buy. This has led us to create a number of new offerings around our core capabilities.

Most exciting has been a new name to go along with our new solutions - Remix Media.

We’re still part of Right Media, leveraging the huge scale of the Right Media Exchange. But we now have a distinct identity to further expand our network with data-enabled targeting and customized solutions.

So check out our new site at www.remixmedia.com. We’re announcing the new name at iMedia’s Agency Summit this week and would be pleased to talk with you about it there. If we miss you there, give us a call.

So we continue with our second installment of Forum Talk: a look at what people are talking about in our RMX Direct fourms.

Now, around here, we all know a big secret. And we try to tell everyone out there in online advertsing land about it.

Here it is. Are you ready?

(Really ready? OK. Here it is…) (more…)