My focus lately has been on advocating the benefits of email marketing as I think it is a marketing channel that is poorly under utilized and yet so very cost effective! And remember, it has the highest ROI in any direct response marketing channel! But I’m stepping off my email marketing soapbox for a bit today to discuss display advertising. Why? Because Google is…… discussing it, I mean!

On September 28, 2010, a couple of blokes from Google gave the Keynote address at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s MIXX Conference in New York – where all the “Mad Men” hang out. The keynote was entitled “Display 2015: Smart and Sexy”. Ok – you got my attention!

Google made seven predictions for display advertising that the company thinks will happen by 2015.

Neal Mohan, the vice president for product management responsible for Google’s display advertising products, and Barry Salzman, managing director of media and platforms for the Americas at Google, who runs display ad sales, envisioned a Web where the ads are more social, mobile and real-time — and a lot more profitable.

1. 50% of ad campaigns will include video ads bought on a cost-per-view basis (that means that the user will choose whether to watch the ad or not, and the advertiser will only pay if the user watches). That’s up from very little today. Video ads are engaging and immersive and CPV will put choice and control in the users hands.
2. Today, advertisers are starting to deliver ads that are tailored to particular audiences. Many are using real-time bidding technology, so that they can bid on the ad space that they think is most valuable. In 2015, 50% of these ads will be bought using this real-time technology.
3. With smartphone growth skyrocketing, mobile is going be the #1 screen through which users engage with advertisers’ digital brands.
4. Today, the “click” is the most important way that advertisers measure their display ad campaigns, but it’s not always the best measure—especially if an ad campaign is designed to boost things like brand awareness or recall. With new measurement technologies emerging, in five years, there will be five metrics that advertisers commonly regard as more important than the click.
5. Just like most news articles on the web today can be commented on, shared, discussed, subscribed to and recommended, in 2015, 75% of ads on the web will be “social” in nature—across dozens of formats, sites and social communities.
6. Rich media formats work. They enable great creativity and interaction between users and advertisers, but today they only represent about 6% of total display ad impressions. That will increase to 50 percent, for brand-building ad campaigns.
7. All the investments that are making display advertising smarter and sexier will help publishers increase their revenues. Display advertising is going to grow to a $50 billion industry in five years

So – what do you think? Do you agree with Google’s predictions? Do you have any of your own?

~SocialSonya

P.S. For those who want to see the presentation live – below is the video!