Pay Per Play: The 5-Second Infestation

Pay Per Play, Pay-Per-Play, PayPerPlay, and PPP. However you spell it, advertisers and users will lose.

I just started hearing about a new form of advertising, Pay Per Play Ads. There's currently a big push to get Pay Per Play deployed and I was interested because unlike most advertising, site owners will get paid every time a page is viewed and a 5 second audio Pay Per Play ad is played, or seems to be played.

http://www.sellingppp.com/samples.html

But after hearing some samples, I see Pay Per Play as a bad implementation of a good idea. Recorded ads are good, but having them play automatically is bad.

I listen to music constantly while I am working on the computer, and that is about 10-16 hours a day on average. On many days I would never hear ANY of these ads, since I listen to the radio or a CD and must flip a switch on my stereo to hear any computer sound. When I do have my computer sound on, it's mostly because I am listening to Techno music, and when the ads play they are very hard to hear and understand over that hard-thumping beat I enjoy. And I would hate to be listening to more normal music, a Podcast, or classical music and have these Pay Per Play ads intrude upon my enjoyment. What's funny is one of the sites promoting these audio ads say these are "non-intrusive". Maybe to the eye, but not the ear!

So that is two problems for advertisers, users with no sound on or sound that drowns out their Pay Per Play ads. Advertisers should also worry about "page-view fraud", where pages are requested by automated scripts and no one ever sees them or hears the ads. Yes, a web page file request would not play an ad, but it would be easy enough to request the Flash media file and that would make it seem like the ad was played.

I would not be posting about this dumb Pay Per Play idea, but the promoters are looking for site owners to run the ads, and since it's "impression-based revenue", which means you could have any kind of traffic to your site and earn from it, the incentive will be high for webmasters to add it to their sites. Man if you search for "Pay Per Play" in Google you will see a flood of paid ads for the service, but all that I looked at all seem to be copies of the same affiliate site...!

http://www.sellingppp.com/
http://voice2page.com/info/gaa.html

So check it out and see what you think. I think this idea is headed right for the trash for any self-respecting webmaster that does not want to annoy their visitors, but I fear it will not die completely once it takes root. Contact me if you want to know a simple method to block Pay Per Play Ads on most Windows computers...!

(hris

Winemaker Goes from Crude to Cabernet

From the Oilfields to the Vineyards: New Small Lot Winemaker Goes from Crude to Cabernet

After spending much of his life taking oil samples and grading gasoline, new winemaker now takes barrel samples and pours vineyard soul. Small lot winemaking has always been big in Europe. The trend is growing in the U.S.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) September 20, 2007 -- After spending much of his life taking oil samples and grading gasoline, new winemaker now takes barrel samples and pours vineyard soul. Small lot winemaking has always been big in Europe. The trend is growing in the U.S.

Jonathan Branch remembers hearing the old man say it first. He was sitting at a cafe table in a small town in Italy. The old man said the word "Animae" to the waitress. He was describing a wine to her. After the man left, Jonathan asked the waitress what "Animae" meant, and she said "soul". The wine had soul. He instantly new that he wanted to make wine. Wine that had soul.

Jonathan had worked for 17 years with Britsh Petroleum. Taking crude oil samples and grading finished gasoline. Work allowed him to travel the world, and he had his first experience with a great wine from the Alsace region while visiting Paris. It changed his life.

Paris was a long way from the hard and violent streets of the fifth ward in Houston, Texas. He considered himself lucky to make it out. But many of the older folks who lived in the fifth ward were transplanted farmers, and they also knew about "Animae". They grew much of their food in their backyard.

So what does a person with a great job do when he falls in love with the idea of making his own wine ? He quits. Volunteers to work at a co-op winery shoveling grape skins, sorting the spiders from the fruit, and doing punchdowns until his arms are about to fall off. In doing this, some of the best winemakers around gave up their knowledge, and allowed Jonathan to source some excellent fruit from Napa, and produce his first wine. A 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. Which is aptly titled Branch Cellars "Animae"Blend."

Jonathan Branch has no regrets about leaving the 90 octane tests, and hopefully scoring some 90 point reviews of his wine. He knows African -American winemakers are rare , and small production wines are just starting to catch on, but he believes people are coming back to things that are made with a little love, and a little "Animae."

2005 Branch Cellars "Animae" Cabernet Sauvignon
A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot; this desirious red wine truly has soul. Aromas of blueberry, cocoa, and tobacco are featured prominently on the nose. The palate delivers mouthwatering, fruit forward, flavors of black cherry, cocoa and subtle mineral notes that compliment this red's soft tannins. --Tom Dinardo of WineSquire

Press Contact: Jonathan Branch
Company Name: Branch Cellars
Phone: 626-840-6745
Website: branchcellars.com

Truck Photo Contest

AZtrucks.com Launches 'Show Us Your Truck' Photo Contest

Thousands of dollars in prizes to be awarded to owners of the best looking custom trucks, vans and SUVs on the road.

Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) November 14, 2007 -- AZtrucks.com is looking for a few good trucks. The online distributor of aftermarket parts and accessories has launched it's first "Show Us Your Truck" photo contest, offering thousands of dollars worth of accessories to the winners who are voted by it's viewers as "The Best of the Best" in terms of creativity, style and originality of their decked-out, souped-up, customized pickup trucks, vans and SUVs.

Prizes will be awarded for viewer favorites, with a grand prize of $1,000 AZtrucks.com gift Certificate. Two second place prizes of $500 gift certificates, and five third place prizes of $100 gift certificates will also be awarded to the runners up.

The contest is open to any owner of a pickup truck, van or SUV, and entries are being accepted on the AZtrucks.com website through December 31st, 2007. Entries selected by a panel of custom truck experts will be posted for viewing on the AZtrucks website in January, 2008, and viewers will then be given the opportunity to vote for their favorites. Winning entries will be announced in February, 2008.

Full contest details and entry form are available online at http://www.AZtrucks.com/contest.

For more information, please contact Henry Perlmutter.

About AZtrucks.com:
AZtrucks.com is one of the leading online distributors of aftermarket parts and accessories for pickup trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Now in its 6th year of operation, and based in Phoenix, Arizona, AZtrucks.com is a sister company of Simpson Tool Box Company, one of the largest retailers of truck parts and accessories in the southwestern US, with retail stores located in Phoenix, Deer Valley and Mesa, Arizona.

Contact:
Henry Perlmutter
Vice President of Marketing
AZtrucks.com
602-840-0900
http://www.AZtrucks.com

Press Contact: TERI ROSS
Company Name: AZtrucks.com
Phone: +1-952-593-0776
Website: http://www.AZtrucks.com

Cell Phone Ads To Infest Phones

SMS Media Group Launches 'Cell Phone Ads'

SMS Media Group announces the launch of Cell Phone Ads, the first of its kind network for advertisers to market to opt-in cell phone subscribers. Cell Phone Ads offers a non-intrusive way to advertise on cell phones due to the fact that subscribers have signed up to receive content they enjoy getting on a regular basis that is ad-supported.

Aliso Viejo, CA (PRWEB) December 3, 2007 -- SMS Media Group announces the launch of Cell Phone Ads, the first of its kind network for advertisers to market to opt-in cell phone subscribers.

The Cell Phone Ads network lets advertisers place up to 60 characters of text on mobile content such as news, entertainment, finance and other timely alerts.

Advertising on cell phones is predicted to be worth $10 billion by 2010, and SMS is expected to be the most widely used platform by wireless users. Over 350 billion text messages are sent each month around the world, with over 15 percent of these messages, according to Yankee Group, being commercial or marketing in nature.

Unlike mobile web or mobile search advertising, Cell Phone Ads offers direct SMS marketing to the wireless users inbox. These advertisements can be targeted according to user demographics and list preferences. "It's the next evolution of direct marketing, and it's virtually untapped by advertisers," says Gary Brooks President of SMS Media Group.

Cell Phone Ads offers a non-intrusive way to advertise on cell phones due to the fact that subscribers have signed up to receive content they enjoy getting on a regular basis.

"The Cell Phone Ads network was developed to fulfill three purposes," explains Brooks ... "First, to provide a way for advertisers to reach their mobile audience; second, to allow publishers to monetize their mobile content; and third, to allow subscribers to receive mobile content that is ad-supported."

According to Forrester Research, 43 percent of U.S. marketers are using or are about to use mobile marketing in the next 12 months, and nearly 90 percent of major brands plan to market on mobile phones by 2008.

To learn more about advertising on cell phones or to request a data card, go to CellPhoneAds.com.

About SMS Media Group
Founded in 2002, SMS Media Group (SMSMG) is a mobile media company specializing in permission-based SMS communications to cell phones, otherwise known as "text messaging." The company's focus and strategy is divided into three segments: messaging, advertising, and content. SMSMG's mobile messaging platform, SMSdelivery™, allows businesses to send text messages to wireless subscribers.

Press Contact: GARY BROOKS
Company Name: SMS Media Group Inc
Phone: 888-681-3965
Website: http://smsmediagroup.com