Targetability

Ability of precise targeting in online advertising is incomparable to the traditional media. Ads can be targeted according to language, geographic region, time of the day and platform to name few (Zeff, 1999:13).

Newly emerged advertising platforms, such as Google AdWords and AdSense, went far beyond common targeting and advertise extensive targeting possibilities as one of their key features. In Google AdWords, ads can be targeted according to:

■ Language of the user

■ Location of the user up to the level of a city

■ Searched keywords on google.com and its partner websites, which include AOL, Netscape Netcenter, Shopping.com, Ask.com etc.

■ According to context and topic of other websites.

■ Website category or even particular websites using site targeted ads. (Google AdWords Learning Center, 2007)

Google's AdWords service has received tremendous acceptance, boosting Google's revenues to USD 10.6 billion in 2006 (Google Press Release, 2007) and its stock price grew five times in three years since Google's IPO in fall 2004. (Yahoo Finance, 2007)

Affiliate marketing provides even further ways of targeting. According to Hoffman and Novak, whereas in traditional online advertising it is the merchant, who decides how to target the advertising, by employing affiliate marketing, content providers themselves asses which merchants and products best suit their audience (Hoffman & Novak, 2000). Nevertheless, merchants can still decide, which content providers they want to cooperate with. (TradeDoubler, 2007).

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