This article by Hollis originally appeared in ClickZ on May 19, 2009.
Preparing a direct-response campaign requires analytical thinking. With direct-response campaigns, not only does the client have quantifiable goals it seeks to meet, but those goals must be met within certain thresholds of often tightly controlled metrics to be deemed a [...]

This article by Hollis originally appeared in ClickZ on May 5, 2009.
Why, after all these years, does our industry still ignore one of the most important and largest segments: the B2B (define) advertiser? Most B2B advertisers don’t directly transact commerce online; their entire online marketing objective revolves around generating sales inquiries.
While large, the B2B segment [...]

Earlier this month, Google began beta testing the inclusion of phone numbers within AdWords ad text, as reported by multiple sources including Search Engine Land.  (This is not to be confused with Google’s click-to-call feature.)  Basically, a phone number is shown just below the ad headline that will allow advertisers to track users who may [...]

This article by Hollis originally appeared in ClickZ on April 21, 2009.
I’ve written a lot about contextual advertising, mainly because it works. Performance-wise, it can give search a run for its money. Unlike search, the inventory may not be as constrained. And because there are so many different ways to deliver [...]

This article by Hollis originally appeared in ClickZ on April 7, 2009.
As media planners, we really need to understand the entire Internet ecosystem to develop the best media strategy and plan. To keep up my continuing education, I frequently attend (and sometimes speak at) industry conferences.
Personally, I like going to conferences even [...]

When it comes to online video, everyone is familiar with YouTube (unless they’ve been living under a rock these past few years).  But YouTube often isn’t the best place to go if you’re looking for videos related to a niche topic or industry; sometimes YouTube doesn’t even have a relevant category!   According to ComScore, by [...]

Google recently changed the design of its search engine results pages (SERPs), adding advanced search tools, incorporating more universal search results, and displaying enhanced visuals throughout.  We want to know you think of the changes—tell us in the poll!

This article by Hollis originally appeared in ClickZ on March 24, 2009.
“Is Advertorial a Four-Letter Word?” That’s a question I tackled in a two-part column in 2005. Why? Although we saw quite strong results from our online advertorial placements, many publishers eschewed discussing them. Advertorial, in case you aren’t acquainted with [...]

This article by Hollis originally appeared in ClickZ on March 10, 2009.

The organization responsible for setting measurement and standardization guidelines in our industry, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), has been busy lately creating new guidelines, compliance and education programs, and business practice standards to help move us forward. Because there’s [...]

Having been inspired by the recent Business Insider article, “10 Reasons To Delete Your Facebook Account,” (a solid and rather frightening case for privacy protection) I thought I’d add a few additional remarks about using Facebook:
1. If it ain’t public now, it might be at some point – When I do public speaking about [...]