Microsoft unveiled a new online advertisement-tracking program Monday able to analyze not only a customer's  last click before making an Internet purchase, but also the previous ad clicks that may have led to a buying decision, a technology it calls "Engagement Mapping." The new online advertising initiative will launch in a test format on March 1, 2008 to select firms including Best Western International Inc. and Citi Cards, with the first tracking results expected by the end of June, Microsoft announced Monday at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Ecosystem 2.0 conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Moving Past Last Click Measurement Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said that so-called Engagement Mapping will change the way advertisers measure the success of online ad campaigns, by keeping track of a consumer's history of clicking on any combination of search, rich media or display ads leading up to a purchase. "The ‘last ad clicked’ is an outdated and flawed approach because it essentially ignores all prior interactions the consumer has with a marketer’s message," said Brian McAndrews, senior vice president of advertising and publishing at Microsoft, in a statement. McAndrews, the former chief executive at online marketing company aQuantive - which Microsoft purchased for $6 billion in May 2007 - sees the program as a big leap from previous systems that looked at only the single ad a customer clicked on before making an online purchase. "Our Engagement Mapping approach conveys how each ad exposure — whether display, rich media or search, seen multiple times on multiple sites and across many channels — influenced an eventual purchase. We believe it represents a quantum leap for advertisers and publishers who are seeking to maximize their online spends," said McAndrews. Fast Growing Online Ad Market Microsoft hopes the new Engagement Mapping tool, which it has built into its Atlas Media Console online ad  campaign booking and management software, will help present a stronger challenge to the online advertising dominance Google has amassed using the decade-old "last click" method, by giving advertisers more information about what leads consumers to the purchases they make over the Web. "Since we announced our acquisition of aQuantive, 60 new publishers have switched to the Atlas publishing platform," Microsoft general manager of investor relations Colleen Healy said in January speaking about the Media Console, which was developed by Atlas, a firm that was owned by aQuantive. Microsoft said the Engagement tool adds reporting capabilities within the Atlas Media Console, and can measure online ads "on a real-time basis," while taking into account "the impact that recency, frequency, size and ad format (such as rich media and video) have on a consumer’s online path to action." By 2011, revenue from Internet advertising is expected to climb to $50.3 billion, twice the amount seen in 2007, according to a recent report from the Yankee Group. Grew From aQuantive Initiative McAndrews has been tasked with turning around a Microsoft online services unit that has been loosing money, some $245 million during the last quarter, and has high hopes the new Engagement Mapping tool will succeed by convincing marketers the program will provide valuable new information about online ads, and help them look beyond the last click a consumer makes. The new Microsoft advertising campaign tool, which also included a test version of an online campaign reporting and optimization solution called Engagement ROI (return on investment), could help ad agencies and advertisers fine tune their online ad campaigns by measuring the routes consumers follow before making a purchase. The tool could follow a consumer's ad-clicking history over weeks before making a purchase. For example, a computer printer company could find that the customer who bought a new printer online had clicked on three types of ads - text, video and banner - before completing the purchase. That is, as long as the printer maker has signed up for the new Microsoft program. Microsoft said the new program will allow advertisers to " map and assign value to various touch points, gaining a more complete picture of a campaign," and according to the statement, "takes into account for the first time all the various online touch points and interactions a consumer experiences before an eventual sale." Partners To Test New Tool A number of national advertising agencies and clients have signed up to help test Microsoft's new tool, including the following firms:  | Agência Click + UNICA | | Best Western International Inc. | | | BKV (Bennett Kuhn Varner) | | Citi Cards | | | GSD&M Idea City | | Ingenuity Media of The Martin Agency | | | Initiative | | McKinney | | | MEC Interaction | | Mindshare Interaction | | | Monster Worldwide Inc. | | Neo@Ogilvy | | | Sprint | | World Vision | The test firms will help Microsoft determine whether text-based Web ads may be over-emphasized. "The text links may be overvalued and the video site is probably being undervalued," according to John Chandler, principal analyst for Microsoft's Atlas ad-serving division, in a recent CNET - News.com article. Microsoft said Monday that its Engagement Mapping software examines several aspects of a online ad to determin how it has affected a purchase, including the format and size of the ad and how recently it has been displayed - all a part of the world's largest software maker's "engagement mapping" process, which it said is the most advanced method yet to measure Web traffic and sales. Microsoft Launches Engagement Mapping Online Ad Initiative One member of the popular online discussion forums operated by WebmasterWorld, a community of mostly technically savvy webmasters and search engine marketing (SEM) professionals founded by chief executive Brett Tabke, reacted positively to the Microsoft Engagement Mapping announcement. "It might well be that what Microsoft suggests actually makes sense," said the member, using the handle "Lord Majestic." Monday's announcement at IAB came less than a week after another firm, start-up VideoEgg, launched a similar program for online video advertising. The impact Microsoft's Engagement Mapping tool will have on the Internet advertising industry remains to be seen once the first results come in later this year, but the possibility of having additional tracking measurements available may make the reporting tool attractive to advertisers looking to do more than count clicks. Related Links:
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10:21 pm on Feb. 25, 2008 (utc 0)