Pam Horan, President of the Online Publishers Association (OPA), shared some thoughts with us on both Apple’s and Google’s new subscription services. If you’re unfamiliar with the OPA, it’s a non-profit trade group representing content providers like ABCNews.com, About.com, BBC.com, Bloomberg.com, CBS Interactive, CNBC, CNN.com, Comcast Interactive Media, Condé Nast, ConsumerReports.org, Disney Interactive Media, ESPN.com, Forbes.com, FoxNews.com, Gannett Digital, Gawker Media, Harvard Business Publishing, The Huffington Post, Hearst Coproration, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, and many more.  

Regarding Apple’s, Horan says,  "Right now, one the most audible reactions I’m hearing from publishers is: what does this mean for the consumer? The concern is that Apple’s latest subscription policy limits one of the major needs that all publishers look to address – seamlessly offering their content on whatever platform the consumer wants to access it on." 

"Based on Apple’s policy, specifically, publishers may no longer provide links in their apps (to a web site, for example) which allow the customer to purchase content or subscriptions outside of the app," she continues. "Limiting the publisher to include links with offers or offering direct bundles through their own website, makes authenticating the consumer impossible. Apple’s one click access is great, but consumers have to realize that they are sacrificing portability."

"The second issue is that Apple’s doesn’t allow publishers access to any consumer information – from who is purchasing to what articles and tools that [they] are finding valuable based on their use," she adds. "Consumer insights are paramount for publishers to be able to offer consumers the products they want. We would hope that Apple would take these issues into consideration to ensure that we are all serving their consumers’ best interest."

On Google’s new service, Horan says, "At first pass, the Google OnePass model may address several of the concerns that publishers have with the Apple subscription model unveiled earlier this week. Google is sharing the customer’s name, ZIP code and e-mail address (unless the customer opts out) which will help publishers gain the valuable consumer insight that is necessary to help them evolve their products."

"Another difference between this and the Apple offering is the pricing structure – it appears more flexible as does the ability to purchase bundling solutions," she adds. "With OnePass, publishers can try different models, like subscriptions, so-called metered access and selling single articles. The service also lets publishers give free access to existing subscribers."

Horan is not alone in her analysis. Google’s model seems to be getting a lot better feedback than Apple’s, though Apple’s model certainly has its supporters. Apple’s model has actually been tied to antitrust concerns, though nothing has been made of such concerns on the parts of either Apple or the Justice Department. 

"The goal of our research was to help brand marketers better understand why consumers receive and respond to online brand advertising differently depending on the content environment in which the message appears," explains OPA president Pam Horan. "Our findings show that site destination matters as trust and relevant content are perceived differently across content environments.  This study concludes that consumers perceive and take action differently depending on where the advertiser’s message appears."

According to the research, 80% of participants who have purchased brands as a result of online ads say they have a strong, positive emotional connection to the sites where the ads ran.

The OPA and Harris Interactive ran statistical correlations to understand whether there is a relationship between how content is perceived in these environments and how advertisers are received and responded to. For reference, correlations measure the strength of the relationship between two variables, and can range from -1 to +1, with zero being no relationship. With that in mind, here are some key findings:

- Sites with relevant content correlate strongly with audiences being loyal to these sites (a correlation score of .445)

- Brands perceived as relevant are more likely to have a response to their online ads (a correlation score of .353)

More interesting yet are the environment-specific findings. According to the research, consumers are more likely to trust content on media sites (72%) than on portal channels (60%) and social media (23%). Audiences on media sites are significantly more likely to believe these sites’ advertisers are high quality and reputable (24%), compared to portal channels (20%) and social media (8%), the OPA says.

"The study clearly concludes that online media proprieties offer advertisers a distinct brand halo effect for their advertising messages," says Horan.

Of course social media gives advertisers a direct connection with consumers, by letting them become fans/followers, which can be a brand’s most loyal customers.

The OPA has released a six-year analysis of its Internet Activity Index (IAI), a monthly gauge of time spent with commerce, communications, community, content and search. The analysis found Internet users are spending significant time with community sites (social media), it’s coming at the expense of their time spent with communication sites whose main functions are email and instant messaging.

"In the six years that the IAI has reported on how consumers are spending their time online, we have seen some significant shifts, most notably the emergence of Community," said Pam Horan, president of the OPA.

"While Community has grown, data from the IAI proves that Content is still king; these sites continue to be a place where consumers spend the majority of their online time and provide an environment for brand marketers to reach and engage with consumers."

The percentage of time spent online with websites providing news, information and entertainment (content sites), has grown even in the wake of community sites like Facebook. Communication sites offering email and IM have decreased in the share of online time spent due to the ability to conduct these activities elsewhere.

"In 2008, we introduced the Community category based on the emergence and popularity of sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn," continued Horan.

"These new sites have had significant impact on the Communications category, which saw a 41 percent decline, due to the fact consumers are using Community sites where they can conduct these same activities more efficiently."

When comparing how people used the Internet in 2003 with how they use it today, the OPA found a number of factors behind the changes, including monthly average time per person:

When shifting from IAI’s time spent to the share of online time each category attracts over six years, there are significant changes in the ways consumers spend their time online:

The new ad units were originally announced in March with the goal of boosting creative advertising online that meets the needs of marketers by better integrating their messages.

A total of 37 OPA member companies are making the units available, up from the 24 originally announced.

Pam Horan

The OPA ad units include:

The Fixed Panel: 336 wide x 700 tall, remains constant as the user scrolls to the top and bottom of the page

The XXL Box: 468 wide x 648 tall, opens for seven seconds to 936 wide x 648 tall with 1/24x frequency

The Pushdown: 970 wide x 418 tall, opens to display the advertisement and then after seven seconds rolls up to 970 wide x 66 tall, with 1/24x frequency.

Some of the brands implementing the new OPA ad units include Bank of America, which will run the Pushdown ad on CNN.com and Time.com. The Cleveland Clinic is running the Fixed Panel ad on NYTimes.com and Mercedes-Benz will run various OPA units on FOXSports.com, Retuers.com, and The Wall Street Journal website.

"The new ad formats really struck a chord with the industry because they represented a change in the way marketers and agencies think about digital ads and new ways of delivering engaging brand campaigns," said Pam Horan, president of the Online Publishers Association.

"The caliber of the brands actively leveraging the new formats is impressive and our members are working hand-in-hand with agencies and marketers to provide the right tools for them to connect effectively with their readers."

In May 2009, the 37 publishers had a combined reach of 132.1 million visitors, or 68 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience.

Starting in July, online publishers including ESPN, Forbes.com, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, will start using one of three new ad units that are larger in size than traditional online ads.

Pam Horan
OPA President

"Agencies are looking for new ways to integrate their clients’ brand experiences with more interactivity on the page, and these new units provide a way for them to accomplish this while capitalizing on the halo effect of the high-quality media brands," said Pam Horan, president of OPA.

The proposed new advertising units are:

•  The Fixed Panel (recommended dimension is 336 wide x 860 tall), which looks naturally embedded into the page layout and scrolls to the top and bottom of the page as a user scrolls.
•  The XXL Box (recommended dimension is 468 wide x 648 tall), which has page-turn functionality with video capability.
•  The Pushdown (recommended dimension is 970 wide x 418 tall), which opens to display the advertisement and then rolls up to the top of the page.

The OPA also outlined three other key objectives related to the new ad types. The objectives include providing a greater share of voice for the advertiser, introduce a measurement to capture impact and increase engagement with the ads.
 

Web sites have an advantage over traditional media by allowing advertisers to target consumers in an affordable and very focused way, the association’s president, Pam Horan told Reuters at the OPA’s "Forum for the Future" in London.

"This ability to highly-target the right consumers, and do it in a way that is very efficient, means that online publishers should continue to see significant advertising growth even during this difficult economic period," Horan said.

The estimated growth rate for online advertising spending in the U.S. this year is a healthy 23 percent, a two percent decrease from last year, according to figures from eMarketer.

Horan says both global media brands and local online publishers should be able to be successful and those with the best brands and content will attract the most advertisers. With the worldwide economy, readers out side the U.S. are becoming more important to publishers. Advertising segments, including travel and financial news are in a good position to earn revenue from foreign visitors.

Social media, video, and the mobile Web are seen as primary growth areas for advertising dollars. Horan said publishers and advertisers are still figuring out the best way to generate revenue from social networks.

"We see great examples of how it can be leveraged for brand building and traffic but as a revenue stream it still remains to be seen," said Horan.

Horan warned that time spent on a site had to be put in perspective. Community activities make up just 7 percent of the time U.S. consumers spend online every month, according to the OPA’s Internet Activity Index.

In comparison more than 40 percent of their time spent is with content, making it the most valuable category of online activity for advertisers.