Hi Adblock Plus...lets talk about the word irony.

Adblock Plus is launching a new service that puts more ads on your screen. Yes, you read that correctly. The #1 ad blocker is now selling ads.

Rather than stripping all ads from the internet forever, Adblock Plus is hoping to replace the bad ads — anything it deems too big, too ugly, or too intrusive — with good ads, ones that are smaller, subtler, and theoretically much less annoying.

It’ll begin doing that through an ad marketplace, which will allow blogs and other website operators to pick out so-called “acceptable” ads and place them on their pages. If a visitor using Adblock Plus comes to the page, they’ll be shown those “acceptable ads,” instead of whatever ads the site would normally run.

“It allows you to treat the two different ecosystems completely differently and monetize each one,” says Ben Williams, Adblock Plus’ operations and communications director. “And crucially, monetize the ad blockers on on their own terms.”

The marketplace is a extension of the Acceptable Ads program that Adblock Plus has been running since 2011. Since then, the ad blocker has defaulted to “whitelisting” approved ads, so that they show up even when users have the blocker turned on. But the program has been fairly limited in scope, since publishers and ad networks need to specifically work with (and pay) Adblock Plus to have their ads deemed acceptable. It’s a time-consuming process, Williams emphasized, which limits how many websites can sign up to display ads to would-be blockers.Adblock Plus hopes that, through this new marketplace, there’ll be a big expansion in the usage of Acceptable Ads. Because they’re already picked out and ready to go, any publisher will be able to sign up, plug some code into their website, and start running whitelisted ads. None of the ads are able to track visitors from site to site, and they’ll all be limited to certain dimensions and page locations, as defined by Adblock Plus’ guidelines.

The program is meant to be friendly to publishers — it is, after all, letting them display some ads instead of none whatsoever. But there’s still obvious reason for publishers to be unhappy. Acceptable ads are likely to be less valuable than the ads a publisher could otherwise display, limiting what a website can earn. And in setting up its own marketplace, Adblock Plus continues to position itself as a gatekeeper charging a toll to get through a gate of its own making.

Publishers will get to keep 80 percent of all ad revenue from marketplace ads, with the remaining 20 percent being divided between various other parties involved with serving the ads. Adblock Plus will receive 6 percent of total revenue.

The ad marketplace is launching in beta today and is supposed to launch in full later this year. At the same time, Adblock Plus is working toward setting up a committee of publishers, privacy advocates, and advertisers to figure out the future of what its Acceptable Ad guidelines should look like. That too is supposed to get nailed down sometime later this year, with committee meetings beginning next year.

Source: The Verge

Samsung smart TVs to start putting ads on top of things people are watching.

Samsung is quietly adding ads onto its smart TVs to try and boost revenues – even after people have bought the sets.The company has already added new “tile ads” to the menus in its premium Internet connected televisions. The move will even affect existing smart TVs since they can be updated with a software update over the Internet.

The ads sit on the TVs’ home screen, alongside the normal apps like YouTube or Netflix, and link out to external content. As such they are likely to prove unpopular among users, and might also draw the attention of regulators and networks.

It comes after Samsung got drawn into controversy over a policy that appeared to allow its TVs to listen in on everything people said in their living rooms. The company replied that the policy had been clumsily written.

Increasing the number of ads will help Samsung increase its revenues even after people have bought their TVs. Though Samsung already has some deals in place, like taking part of the revenues from people watching Netflix on their TVs, it has struggled to generate revenues on top of the money it gets from selling hardware.

The move is being made to try and counteract slowing growth in the TV industry, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news. Though Samsung is dominant in that market, selling 20% of units according to analysts, market share is declining because it is largely saturated.

Every small business should care about Millennials, here's why...

The ways that Millennials spend money matters. Millennials add an estimated $1.68 trillion in purchasing power annually to the U.S. economy and as their wealth grows, so will their financial influence. Take a look at what small business owners should keep in mind when dealing with this up-and-coming group of spenders:

Millennials Value Experiences over Financial Advantages
A study from Eventbrite found that 75% of Millennials would rather spend money on doing something, rather than owning something. They take trips, go out to eat, and are comfortable spending money on experiences. As a result, they care about how they are treated and how they feel at the places where they do spend money; and this is where small businesses have an advantage with this young-to-mid adult demographic.

Millennials are More Electronically Connected than Ever
Almost 90% of Millennials who own smartphones say that they have them at their side all of the time, even when they are sleeping at night. Small businesses need to find ways to have a presence on smartphones, tablets and devices, even if they do not have a dedicated application for their businesses. This can be accomplished through strong social media accounts that prompt engagement, weekly newsletters and even opt-in choices for text messages. In order to really reach Millennials, small businesses must be mobile.

Millennials like Customization
Millennials appreciate when brands really understand who they are, and what it is that they want to buy. Targeted marketing is effective and they say that they would gladly trade personal information, like contact details or social media accounts, with brands in exchange for incentives (like coupons, discounts or insight into products that are a good match). Small businesses should get to know their Millennial customers and their needs as intimately as possible in order to keep them informed of products or services that benefit them.

It’s important for small business owners to not simply write-off the Millennial generation when it comes to a mobile presence, retaining customers and daily operations. Even the smallest companies can tap into their marketing techniques to better reach this growing group of spenders and maximize revenue in the process.

Do you target Millennials specifically in your marketing strategies? IES can help setup and run a targeted marketing plan. Give us a call today at 781-816-9437 to get started.

5 tasks every business should have done by Halloween.

The season of pumpkin flavored everything may seem months away – and the holiday season even father off in the distance. Yet, in reality, once the back to school campaigns start to die down, small businesses should already be thinking ahead to the busy holiday season. Instead of waiting until the last minute to get ready, there are some steps you can take now to ensure that your small business ends the year on a high note.

Create a Holiday Marketing Plan
Did you know that 69% of consumers are more likely to frequent a local small business with a social media presence? It is important to decide how you will use all the marketing tools at your disposal, including social media and traditional routes, to your holiday advantage. The fall is also a great time to decide what holiday season outreach your small business will participate in and then start reaching out to get involved now.

Organize Tax Documents
Just as the whirlwind of the end of one year starts to settle, another looming time of year takes shape: tax season. Do yourself a favor and start getting organized now. Make sure you have important documents ready and available, and that your bookkeeping is up to date. If you plan to make any significant charitable donations before December 31, decide how much and where it will go.

Update Your Website
This is especially important if you are a retailer with an online presence. Make sure your site has your most recent merchandise listed and is easy to navigate for shoppers. While you are there anyway, double check all of your contact information and be sure that nothing has changed since you last modified it.

Decorate
Even if your business doesn’t tend to get “dressed up” on a seasonal basis, take advantage of the cooler temperatures to update the look of your office. Change out faded furniture, update office equipment or just add new accessories that rejuvenate your professional look.

Touch Base with Customers
Get ahead of the holiday marketing game by sending out an email promotion, or just an newsletter with information about what is new and happening at your small business. Invite the customers in your email database to follow you on social media and to subscribe to your company blog. By reaching out to your customers long before your competitors do, you will plant the seed for success when the holiday season rolls around.

Whether you are a small business retailer, or service provider, gearing up for the end of the year (and the start of the next one) is a great way to prepare for a less stressful, more lucrative holiday season.

Do you use Craigslist to sell? You may want to check out these facts to avoid ad deletion...

First and foremost, keep separate Craigslist accounts when posting from home and the office. When posting from home, you are likely the only person posting from that location. While at the office, chances are multiple people are posting. You do not know how others are posting, what tools they use, and what boards they are posting to, and not to mention multiple people from one location will look very spammy to Craigslist. Keeping your accounts separate will make sure your home account (most likely to in good standing) does not get polluted by other people’s behaviors in the office.

Keep your ad content varied.  Craigslist has an algorithm to detect spammy and duplicated ads. It is important to write good ad descriptions. We recommend writing multiple versions of ad descriptions for best results. Using one generic description for multiple ads is a huge red flag.

Do not post to multiple boards with one Craigslist account. Sometimes you might have multiple listings in very far locations, which might need you to post to different boards (like Boston vs. North Shore). Posting many ads to multiple board is another red flag.

Do not post simultaneously using one Craigslist account on multiple computers. Do not switch computers while using the same Craigslist account within 24 hours. To be safe, within 24 hours, only post from one location, with one computer, and one Craigslist account.

Do not switch between your Craigslist accounts in one location frequently. Switching between many Craigslist accounts in one location is yet another red flag.

Post locally, this means do not use proxies and VPNs, particularly public ones.  Each internet connection has an IP address, kind of like your mailing address, which is how others identify you on the Internet. You should post from a local location. For example, if you are posting from New York to the Boston board, Craigslist knows and will mark you as a spammer.

Don’t expect 100% go through rate. A 20% deletion rate is normal, particularly if you are posting every day. High deletion rate indicates something is wrong with either your location, your account or the ads you are posting.

If you are in need of a professional company to manage your Craigslist posting, give IES a call / email today! 781-816-9437 / contactus@iesadvisors.com