The Rise of Independent Media Brands Online - John Battelle's Searchblog

more than 80 percent of the advertising inventory on the Web today is sold for less than a $1 CPM. Compare that to the average sold CPM in the magazine business or on television - reports vary, but it’s anywhere from six to 40 times higher. That delta, to my mind, has everything to do with engagement. Or put another way, why is it that a brand marketer looking to reach college educated women, 18-34, is willing to pay $40 CPMs in Vanity Fair, but just $3 in an ad network? The first and most important reason is engagement - the reader of Vanity Fair is engaged in the magazine, and when she comes across that Lancome ad, the chances that the “between the ears magic” will occur is far greater than at a random site run by an ad network. The second and related reason is creative - a two-page spread is simply a far more effective media vehicle for the brand’s message than the IAB unit. So how do we solve for these two problems on the web?