The final solution probably does reside somewhere in-between the two models. So, moving forwards a delicate balance for publishers may well need to be found between an advertising model supported by a micropayments offering for smaller elements of premium content. At Hi-media we are particularly well placed for these developments as we offer a full range of publisher solutions in both areas.

But why is it that publishers are being forced to even consider these different models? With so many people now consuming the majority of their premium news content online why is it that digital display advertising is struggling to fully support this growth?

Part of the reason lies with the industry’s obsession with the “last click” rule of attribution. As Randall Rothenberg (president and CEO of the IAB) stated last year, we have been “toiling under the tyranny of the click for too long”. Rothenberg’s statement is perfectly incisive as it succinctly nails this major issue which has been holding back the industry for the last 15 years.
The “last click” rule ignores entirely the influence of any advertising seen by the consumer prior to their ultimate conversion, which is simply attributed to the final click-through to purchase. Many display ads prompt users to further research products long after their engagement with the marketing message and there is no value attributed to other obvious positives such as increased brand-awareness, buzz or loyalty reinforcement.
Research from comScore further supports how pointless measuring click rates were as it revealed that 16% of internet users account for 80% of all the clicks from display ads – and that the majority of these serial “Natural Born Clickers” were low-earning males who were simply intensely curious. Therefore, those users clicking directly on the ads are not even the target audience of the marketer! The more valuable consumers seem to spend their time researching the products and brands further prior to making a final decision.
The vital role which display plays in this entire process is hugely undervalued, resulting in online marketing being increasingly dominated by direct sales strategies rather than taking a well thought-through brand building approach.

Digital is a unique medium as it gives brands unprecedented access and opportunity to truly engage and interact with a well-targeted consumer audience. It would be very dangerous and limiting for this age of procurement to persist and continually stifle the essential creative processes required to truly engage online users.

The sooner we all realise that it is everything that matters, not just the final click-through, the sooner the online advertising industry can then benefit from providing true measurement and attribution. This, in turn, will provide greater insight into the actual return on advertiser’s investment and the resulting growth in spend may then help fuel the future development of quality online publishing for those that cannot afford to generate the premium niche content required to justify a pay-wall model.

For further information on time consumption by country, please click below:
Hi-media Blog Digital Influence Index study June 2010
To download the complete report and read the 9 key findings, please click here : http://bit.ly/9qy86Z

The Hi-media Group Advertising activity strongly increased (+87%) during the first half of the year 2010 due to the AdLINK Media acquisition impact.

The Hi-media Group Payments activity posted growth acceleration (+21%) during the first half of the year. This progression rate is the best performance ever registered by the Group over the last 12 months. It results from a higher contribution of the international activities and the dynamism of the online video games segment which represents the main industry client of Hi-media Payments. Mobile payment (Premium SMS) was the most dynamic method of payment during the first half of the year.

To read the press release, please click here: Hi-media PR 20072010

This study reveals that Games garner most of the Social Net Spending among teens. In fact, they have purchased items such as currency for virtual items in a game (35%) followed by music (33%), avatar accessories in a game (30%) and points to level up in a game (23%).

For some key highlights, please click here: Hi-media Blog Roiworld study April 2010
For more on how teens are spending their time and money online, check out a portion of The Teens and Social Networks study embedded below: www.scribd.com/doc/33751159/Teens-Study-June-2010

Hi-media Mobile offers European advertisers a comprehensive portfolio of mobile
advertising and promotion solutions:
- A mobile advertising inventory of over 80 million ad impressions1 from a broad portfolio
of European mobile sites. Advertisers can opt for a choice of classic or high-impact
formats according to their particular needs.
- Range of websites consultable from every type of mobile, and creation of event-specific
micro-sites for special campaigns. Various options can be integrated to make sites even
more interactive: audio and video animations, SMS alerts, downloads, etc.
- Development of mobile apps.

The Hi-media Mobile offer is based on an exclusive network of mobile Internet sites,
split into three verticals: News & Sport / Entertainment / E-commerce & Travel.

To read the Press Release please click here: http://bit.ly/dg1fdO

This international and annual event has between 50,000 and 80,000 visitors and allows people to discover the latest innovations in video games and multimedia.

Besides this event, the 7th edition of the ESWC will take place. The ESWC (Electronic Sports World Cup) is one of the major video game competitions with qualifying tournaments all over the world and a grand final gathering all national champions.

Hi-media Payments and GamesCrunch strove to segment this market that is forecasted to represent revenues of $8.2 billion in 2010 (+32% relative to 2009). The study presents and analyses the activities of the main actors in the online gaming industry, based on several criteria: number of employees, year of creation, main games and associated business models…

This quantitative analysis is enhanced with the views of the online gaming actors. Using the statements that they collected, Hi-media Payments and GamesCrunch have identified and plotted the market’s major trends, the various existing economic models and the key success factors.

The study describes an online gaming industry that is constantly changing. The market is now more diversified than ever: over and above the technology-driven developments, the industry is constantly adapting to the evolving behaviour of web surfers. As such, online games have integrated the viral and social community dimensions that have developed through social networks.

While becoming more diversified, accessible and social, the online gaming industry has also become more competitive, resulting in an evolution of business models towards the Freemium model that is now becoming more generalized. This has resulted in an increase in the number of free online games offering payment-based options that can be acquired via micro-payment platforms.

Marketed by Hi-media Payments and GamesCrunch, the study will be updated on a regular basis. For more information: http://www.gamescrunch.com.

Hi-media Payments continues to post strong organic growth rate with a 16% activity increase, while the advertising activity almost doubled with an 81% growth rate compared to last year first quarter, thanks to the successful integration of AdLINK Media.

Commenting on these figures, Hi-media Group’s founder and CEO Cyril Zimmermann declares:

« We posted another strong activity growth quarter thanks to the dynamism of our organic activity and the positive impact of the successful integration of AdLINK Media. During these first months of the year, the advertising market has demonstrated a slight improvement which should accelerate throughout the year. The micropayment fundamentals are very well oriented with publisher demands to invoice part of their content that get stronger and stronger. On both activities, the good positioning of the Group and the launch of new offers will enable Hi-media to perform for all the yearlong with strong perspectives for the second half of the year».

To read the Press Release please click here: http://bit.ly/cRzLt3

The event will focus on helping social games developers build, monetize, and grow their social games.

On May 6^th, the Social Gaming University offers a half-day seminar that will provide insights into how social games work and what it takes to successfully build, promote and monetize a social game.

On May 7^th, panels will bring together the leaders in free-to-play games, social networking, and payments infrastructure for a full day of panels and talks. Executives from Zynga, Playdom, Crowdstar, EA / Playfish, RockYou, Meteor Games, Tall Tree Games, myYearbook, PopCap, Slide, Playfirst, Challenge Games, ngmoco, and Kongregate already confirmed their presence.

The Summit will be held at the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco (55 Fourth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103).

For more details on the Social Gaming agenda please visit: http://www.mediabistro.com/socialgamingsummit/program/

If you are a game developer or publisher looking at effective ways to promote and monetize your games globally, we would be happy to meet you. With our turnkey micropayments solution Allopass, we process over 8 million transactions a month and help game developers and publishers monetize their audience in more than 60 countries with subscriptions, virtual goods, virtual economies, VIP services and more.

We take the complexity out of international payments by providing you a fast-to-integrate, comprehensive and relevant set of payment options in a clean, integrated user interface.

And we remit funds faster than any other provider in the space (within 7-10 days of the transaction)!

Drop us an email to learn more: Chris Simamora (csimamora@allopass.us)