Why Flexibility in Ad Networks Must Be Part of the Conversation

Advertising billboards in Times Square.Advertising billboards in Times Square.Ad billboardAdvertising billboards in Times Square.

Vintage hat advertisement.

A vintage advertisement, presumably targeting an appropriate audience.

Running a site reliant upon ad networks can be full of surprises. At a previous position, one of my duties was to assure that the site, a food publication, was not serving inappropriate advertisements that would turn off our audience and clientele. If someone came to read an article on wine pairings for the holidays, it was almost certain that one of our spots earmarked for the ad server would slot in an ad for addiction treatment centers. It was then my job to root out the source of the ad, which wasn’t always easy to find. Flash ads were pretty good at hiding their origins at times. If I was able to find the source, I would manually block it. That would never be the end of it, and the cycle would require repeating whenever we published any content involving alcohol.

The Guardian is having trouble with ads being served in support of the National Rifle Association (NRA). These ads sneak in due to both insufficient blocking tools, and the ads themselves being designed to show items like membership duffel bags instead of guns, thereby passing initial filters. Yet these demonstrate how hard it can be to have control over the advertising your site displays. Having someone be on top of this is one way to do it, but it can be tedious work, and you can’t endlessly refresh your own site’s pages, serving more ads, so you have to check in measured amounts, making these inappropriate ads easy to miss for a while.

For our food website, things we didn’t want to serve to our readers were rehab ads, diet ads (including those “one weird trick” scams), weight loss programs, political ads, medical advertisements, and other things that didn’t veer into the unappetizing or assumptions about someone’s ability to drink responsibly. In order to make us more attractive to other, outside ad clients, pairing rehab ads with wine articles wasn’t going to cut it.

When an ad server gives minimal customization options (as is my experience handling ad placement split between networked ads and independent ones), these slips are going to be common. Networked ads are cheap and, unfortunately, that puts the power in the hands of the advertisers, not the site management or the audience.

There is constant discussion about the present and future of web advertising, ad blocking, and the migration of many to mobile devices. Yet, as the trouble even The Guardian has keeping gun ads off of its site, shows, the power continues to sit in the hands of the advertisers. Greater web media is still figuring out ways to adapt to various aspects of the modern web, but this lack of control over how we can serve our audiences has not changed in some time. Ways to let ad networks serve both advertisers and media should be an integral part of the conversation.

“No Girls Allowed” – Chicken or the Egg?

I wanted to comment on the recent piece “No Girls Allowed” by Lydia Heitman over at Kotaku. Heitman is a woman working in gaming PR. Her take on the PR side of the business in light of the sexism that still goes on made some refreshing points. For all the insistence that gaming is male-dominated and that’s where companies should focus their marketing, it becomes a chicken and egg question. Do women not play as much in certain categories because they’re uninterested or do they not play as much in those genres because they feel unwelcome or are simply not marketed to?

That holds true for recent controversies over not just Duke Nukem Forever, but Brink, which touted its extensive character customization options but featured no female character models at all, supposedly because including them would’ve half-assed the development on all customization options. The message there was simply, “You’re not worth it to us”. Unfortunately, not all signs of being unwelcome are so blatant nor communicated with gamers at large.

There are also focus groups for which women are never even considered for invitation. I understand that there are target demographics for different games, and the audience is not necessarily the same for Hello Kitty Online as for Age of Conan (though in my case, they are). But as far apart as those extreme examples are, they are just that: extremes. Somewhere in the middle, there are many games and potential game ideas that could have much wider appeal than people think at the concept and marketing stages. Developers and publishers are throwing away potential money by ignoring the needs of customers and potential customers. Blatantly saying female avatars aren’t worth the development sink is a slap in the face. It turns me off to anything developed by Splash Damage. Brilliant marketing work there, isn’t it? Any company that says to me, you are not worth even considering isn’t worth considering when it comes to where I send my money.

The default marketing target is usually a young, white male customer. According to the EGSA, the average gamer is now 37 years old, and women comprise over 40% of the audience. There is still a sense of elitism and an insistence on looking down on those one might not consider “real” gamers among pockets of the community at large. If that’s the case when the audience numbers are actually heading toward parity,  when most developers are still overwhelmingly white and male, perhaps there are remants of similar biases among them. The example Heitman uses about the party illustrates that facet of things well.

My sister is seven years old. Whatever she chooses to play shold be open to her, with devs and community willing to listen and respond positively to their female audience members. But the issue is not just applicable to current customers. Games are art to me, but they are also a busess. Part of running a successful business is drawing more customers into the fold. And as Heitman’s piece and examples like Brink illustrate, there are still a lot of blocks to that, whether because those in charge of marketing the games can’t wrap their head around women’s interest in their titles, lingering culture issues, or both. On a somewhat brighter note, most girls now grow up playing games, so the importance of acceptance by devs and by gamers is hopefully something that will be less of an issue in years to come.

Trend: Video Game-inspired Drinks

As I sit here, unable to sleep yet, possibly having picked up my mother's flu, I look to the internet to provide me with a little distraction. After reading about the Super Mario Power Up! energy drink yesterday, I just read about yet another video game inspired set of drinks.

I tried Mountain Dew's Game Fuel tie-in in both soda and Slurpee forms. I heard the taste described as "liquid gummy bears" once, and I'm inclined to agree. Final Fantasy Potion hasn't made its way here from Japan yet. I've heard it tastes terrible, but I'd certainly try it once for the novelty.

Many of these drinks and game-inspired foods are Japan-only, and unlikely to ever get here, but it is another
example of this type of cross-marketing. Beyond that, it's another way
video games are a more mainstream part of life these days in many parts
of the world. I'm sure eventually, we'll see more examples of this sort of thing here in the US. I just wonder what sorts of flavors will be on tap.

Remember When Developers Just Made Games?

Real life and some other business has kept me away from blogging here for a while. But I'm back now. and look, another post about gaming. Well, it is E3 week, and I promise I don't always rant. I will be talking pleasantly about gaming soon enough.

I read this a short time ago:

Ubisoft Unveils Imagine(TM) Video Game Series for Girls
Thursday July 12, 3:06 pm ET
First Video Games in Series Available in October

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announced its all-new Imagine(TM) series of video games targeted at girls ages 6 to 14 years old. The Imagine line allows girls to explore their favorite interests and hobbies – as indicated in extensive lifestyle research on this audience – in an interactive and entertaining way. Ubisoft's Imagine series is part of the company's strategic expansion into the casual video game market.

Source: Ubisoft   

The first games in the Imagine line will launch in October 2007 for the Nintendo DS(TM) system: Imagine(TM) Fashion Designer, Imagine(TM) Animal Doctor, Imagine Babyz® and Imagine(TM) Master Chef. Imagine(TM) Figure Skater will follow in early 2008.

"Ubisoft is excited to finally offer young girls a line of games that give them the chance to explore their hobbies and interests in interactive and creative experiences," said Helene Juguet, senior director of marketing at Ubisoft. "Our consumer research revealed that the young girls' market has been relatively overlooked. We are happy to introduce a variety of titles relevant to what girls in this age group have indicated they are most interested in."

Imagine(TM) Fashion Designer invites players to become hip Manhattan designers handling all aspects of the fashion business, from creating their own line of clothing to directing photo shoots. Online gameplay allows players to share their designs and ideas with friends and fellow aspiring young fashionistas.

Imagine(TM) Animal Doctor puts young players in the role of a veterinarian, not only by treating and curing all types of animals, but also by creating new facilities to expand the veterinary hospital.

Imagine(TM) Babyz® is the first simulation game focused on caring for babies. Players take on the challenges of raising a baby throughout all stages of development and will also be able to take photos and exchange tips and clothing through a unique online component.

Imagine(TM) Master Chef allows players to create recipes from all over the world using the stylus to prepare, stir and cook ingredients. Players can customize their kitchens with utensils and appliances. Fun mini-games include cooking quizzes and kitchen challenges.

In Imagine(TM) Figure Skater, players live the life of a champion who needs to balance her life between training, school and friends. Girls take on the role of a professional figure skater and use the stylus to perform jumps, spins and a variety of skating combinations.

source link: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070712/20070712005947.html?.v=1

I remember back when developers just made games and we all played them. I'm sure some little girls would have a blast with these, but do we actually need such specialized titles and marketing? Why not just market games to everyone? I swear, the games marketed to little girls are some of the cheesiest, cheapest sounding titles out there. I think if these were the types of games that I played when I was a
little girl, I wouldn't be a gamer today. They're mostly sims. Yes, these are backed up by market research, but there's a problem: many gaming focus groups exclude females completely unless the company behind them specifically decides to make a game with females in mind. Who's to say that those other games wouldn't appeal to female players, even little girls? Don't they deserve better?