20th June 2002 1

Advertising and Web Sites

Kriss Fearon (University of York)Ralph Weedon (University of Strathclyde)

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Aim of the session

To provide a brief introduction to the key issues relating to online advertising

Using case studies, to allow participants to consider how their institution could handle specific problem situations

A written summary is provided

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What is online advertising? Promotion of a product or service

May have nothing do with the institution or page content

Includes internal advertising e.g. of a conference, catering services

In legal terms may not imply endorsement

but it might look that way to a user Compare sponsorship

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(Some of) the issues

Legal and regulatory – Ralph Ethical - Ralph Managerial - Kriss Technical - Kriss Financial - Kriss

Advertising on web sitesLegal & Ethical issues?

Ralph WeedonUniversity of Strathclyde/

JISC Legal Information Servicehttp://www.jisc.ac.uk/legalralph.weedon@strath.ac.uk

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Today’s Situation Ad industry statistics ... The Janet AUP The JISC’s view point? Institutional Policies The arbiter of taste?

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How Did We Get Here? A JISC Report - 2001 A study into Advertising on JANET http://www.jisc.ac.uk/pub/index.html#issues In: Word, RTF & PDF format Authors: Diane McDonald & Caroline Breslin, University of Strathclyde

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Legal Issues -- to advertising on the Web?

The ASA Code

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Legal Issues -- to advertising on the Web?

The ASA Code The background legislation ...

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Legal Issues -- to advertising on the Web?

The ASA Code The background legislation … Liability & Disclaimers

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Legal Issues -- to advertising on the Web?

The ASA Code The background legislation … Liability & Disclaimers Contract Law Professional Legal Advice

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Other relevant legislation?

Data Protection Act Freedom of Information Act SEN & Disability Act - Accessibility Copyright & Trade Marks

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Ethics -Should your institution care?

What do I mean by ethics? Problem areas include:

Tobacco and Alcohol Weapons Manufacturers

Academic Freedom Cola University? Privacy

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More ethical issues Possible product endorsement Compromises independence? Takes advantage of a captive audience? Unpopular with many academics Influences the institution’s corporate ID? Student Union campaigns - Nestle? Barclays?

Summary

Consultation … is a good thing Why do you want to use Advertising? Will it actually make you a ‘profit’? What are financial & reputation costs? Ads must conform to JANET AUP Note ASA codes & legislation Do you need a lawyer?

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Types of advertising Banners

Rotating versus static Link to the advertiser’s site or display only Rich media Animation

Branding Text-only links Superstitials (‘pop-ups’) Interstitials (‘transitional’ pages) May be paid-for or free – JISC rules apply

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Who are the ads for? Clear focus on audience – are

advertisers trying to reach: Students Staff External audiences, e.g. alumni

Who do you want to give access to? Problem: Unlike traditional media, HEIs

are not in the business of selling advertising around content

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Managerial

How is advertising managed in print? Can you re-use current practice, expertise, standard

contracts?

Conflict of interest Between centre and departments Between different offices accepting ads Between different media

Who will sell/design/put up advertising? Managing expectations on both sides Strategic decision needed

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Technical – the easy bit!

Create and edit ads Advertisers often need this service, can it be

provided in house? More traditional requirement and easier to cost

Ad server JISC requires both banner ad and page with

link to be hosted by the institution Provides user tracking (no need to rely on

advertiser figures)

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Technical – the hard bit!

Requirement to service the need to: Put up and take down ads Record usage - hits and click-through’s

Provide technical spec Load time, preferred format(s)

Accessibility Potentially could be claimed to disadvantage Javascript, rotating gifs

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Obtrusiveness Single thing which annoys users most!

Obtrusive when: takes ages to load, delays page download, flashes, rotates, is very large (or otherwise detracts from content) means the page will not print properly, needs a plugin, is inaccessible

Focus of the page for user is content not ads

But focus of the page for advertiser is ensuring users see their ad

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Financial Is the revenue really worth all the work?

Most are commercial in confidence Others are informal arrangements by individuals

not institutional policy so hard to scale Who gets what revenue there is?

Depts won’t do it if they don’t get (most of) the money or have their budget cut

Do departmental staff have the skill, time, experience to deal with advertisers?

So who spends their time servicing advertisers and how are they paid?

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Charging

What revenue model to use? Page views? Click through’s? Flat rate based on staff time? How to build in r and d time?

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Revenue models

Click-through’s/Page impressions Click through rate: ¼% of page readership 2% of those buy the product Page views should be from target audience

Flat rate Based on staff expenses Value for money?

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Moving forward

Management support essential Decide clear aims Collaborate with colleagues, use

existing expertise Test the systems in advance May not be popular now, but could well

be in the future Needs investment of resource so not for

everyone

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Scenarios/Case Studies

Work in two groups of six (or more) Choose a Reporter Try to take a look at both scenarios Add your own scenario! Add your own examples! Report back in 40 minutes time

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Scenario I

Your institution is offered ‘shedloads’ of money by a large, blue chip company for being the prime sponsor on/of your website.

They just happen to manufacture: Close combat laser weapons Alco-pops and Fast Food Cheap, trendy fashion garments made in

third world ‘sweatshops’.

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Scenario I - some questions

Do you accept their offer? If not, why? Does it make a difference if the ad is hosted

on your website, as opposed to ‘brought in’? What if they just sponsor a ‘chair’? Any legal worries? The ASA get a complaint … does it matter Who is responsible for ‘Take Down’? The company want to use Flash - OK?

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Scenario II Your institution is approached by an

advertising agency who offer £2K per month for ads on your WELCOME page (& elsewhere).

What managerial, technical and financial issues would you need to take into account?

What happens if, after 3 months, the agency fails to honour its contract?

What if an ad campaign fails?