DIGITAL MARKETING
Digital Marketing 13 March
13-03-2006
by Ciara O'Brien
Rich media ads may suffer with IE update | AOL offers to 'whitelist' some e-mail marketers
Rich media ads may suffer with IE update: Marketers relying on rich media content to advertise may suffer from recent changes to the leading internet browser. Microsoft has released an update for Internet Explorer that could affect the way some rich media content, including video, audio, interactivity and animation, is displayed on a website.
The update could mean that users may have to click on some ads or videos to play them. Microsoft brought in the change as a result of legal action taken against it by software firm Eolas, back in 1999. According to Eolas, Microsoft infringed its patent on browser technology that embeds interactive content on a website.
However, ad sellers have been aware of the impending update for some time now, and most have taken steps to ensure that clients will not be affected.
David Murphy, head of product development with Salesonline.ie, says most ads will be unaffected. "There's not going to be any major repercussions," he believes, pointing out that those companies that adhere to industry standards are unlikely to find themselves with any problems once the update takes effect.
Instead, he says, it will be the smaller custom-built ad serving technology that could encounter problems. Ad companies have been testing their systems with the update, and many have already reassured customers that there won't be any issues.
For those who do encounter issues, Flash-based elements are more likely to suffer, with those relying on the applet, embed or object tag to implement an ActiveX control being worst hit. While ads will load, any interactivity will need to be triggered by the user.
AOL offers to 'whitelist' some e-mail marketers: AOL has backtracked somewhat on its plans to charge bulk e-mail senders, such as legitimate direct e-mail marketers, for delivery to their users' e-mail inboxes. After fierce opposition from angry organisations over the plans, the internet firm has offered two solutions.
Those groups that stick to AOL's anti-spam policies and standards will be added to AOL's enhanced whitelist, which the company claims will deliver e-mail on a comparable basis to the service offered by Goodmail's Certified E-mail programme.
Senders on the whitelist can send trusted e-mail that passes through spam filters.
The second option is to use a third-party e-mail accreditation service to authenticate their e-mail, for which AOL will pick up the tab. This "pro-bono" programme is currently being tested and evaluated by AOL.
Regardless of the option that groups choose, they will get full e-mail functionality under AOL's e-mail system, including enabling images and web links in messages. "There will be no requirement, ever, for not-for-profits who deliver e-mail to AOL members to pay for e-mail certification and delivery," said Charles Stiles, AOL Postmaster.
However, protesters have not yet accepted the offer as a cue to stand down.
Not all are opposed to the scheme. "Despite the backlash AOL is receiving since the announcement, I do believe in principle that the certification service will benefit the industry especially where deliverability is a real issue," said Rebecca Walsh, Narragansett Technologies, Irish based providers of online marketing software solutions.
"In fact the increase in cost may help to validate e-mail as a marketing channel, and force marketers to be more disciplined in campaign planning. Every e-mail marketer should be applying good list hygiene principles. Currently, the reality is that very few do. This may be the wake-up call the industry needs."
Research firm Gartner believes that fears over the certified e-mail programme are exaggerated, claiming that it simply extends AOL's current "whitelist" programme.
Yet, this is still a major change in the way people use e-mail. An AOL user could sign up for a special offers newsletter and not receive it until the company pays a bounty to be able to successfully deliver to that user's inbox. AOL's actions may result in a change to the way all ISPs deal with e-mail.
Building your list: Denise Cox says that in order to build a subscription list you need to be proactive about securing subscriber attention.
