The ads will run on a number of websites belonging to
BazaarVoice clients. The company works with some of the globe's
most sizable online retailers, including Kmart, OfficeMax and Overstock.com.
TripleLift's ads will take the form of the content of the sites,
blending in with their tiled layouts. When clicked, the ads will
bring consumers to a web page of the advertisers' choosing.
"We've seen every category from insurance to CPG, travel to
automotive -- brands across all of these industries are trying to
influence people while they are exploring, researching, or
selecting a product or service," said Josh Wetzel, general manager
of Bazaarvoice Media. "They're also looking to
shift away from traditional banner ads in favor of a more native
look."
The ads can be especially effective for promoting products in
the categories people are shopping for, Mr. Lewine said. "The idea
is to influence the consumer when they have their wallet out," he
said. "And if people are willing to pay a significant premium for
that, it can be a lucrative business."
As an example, Mr. Lewine said when a consumer visits a product
page for cameras, an ad for Canon could be surfaced.
Sharing Native Dollars
In recent years, native has emerged as a savior of sorts in the
eyes of many digital publishers -- a medium with the potential to
garner ad dollars that have been held offline due to the banner
ad's limitations. But native ads on ecommerce websites can
potentially be more attractive than publisher inventory due to
their proximity to the point of purchase.
Sixty percent of digital ads dollars are
spent on direct response, according to eMarketer.
Mr. Lewine said publishers shouldn't feel threatened by
ecommerce's adoption of native though, citing differences in the
ads' focus. "A lot of the publisher-driven native ad dollars are
packaged with content creation," he said. "And a lot of the custom
things from ecommerce are merchandising or placement focused. So
they're in different genres."
It may seem odd that ecommerce companies are willing to sell ad
space on their websites in the first place. But it's a way for them
to see revenue from every visitor, not just some, according to Mr.
Lewine.
"This gives them a means to monetize each visit whereas if you
rely entirely on ecommerce you may only monetize three or four
percent of visits," he said.
What's more, with little cost associated with creating the
content the ads run next to, the revenue for ecommerce companies is
almost entirely incremental, said Mr. Lewine. "It's pure gravy," he
said.
