A Dated Introduction to Online Marketing*

*Note: This is the original version of a whitepaper that was authored in 2001 by iCondotta's founder and principal consultant, Stephan Aarstol. It's a useful primer, but dated - pre-Wikipedia (2001), pre-Google AdWords PPC (2002), way pre-YouTube (2005), you get the picture...

Impressions

In advertising circles, the term impression is often used interchangeably with the term page view. In general terms, an impression occurs when a web user requests a single web page from a website server and the advertiser’s advertisement is displayed somewhere in the web surfer’s browser. Note that a recorded impression says nothing about an ad being viewed by a web surfer. Whether or not the advertisement impression is actually viewed by the web surfer depends on a number of factors, some of which are somewhat uncontrollable, including:

1. If the web surfer’s browser is graphics enabled – the vast majority are, but some aren’t.
2. What the web surfer’s monitor resolution is – a small resolution monitor means less of the page is viewable at one time.
3. Where the ad is on the web page – If you ad is at the bottom of the page or more than 640 pixels to the right, then a user with a really old or small resolution monitor may have to actively scroll before they even have the possibility of viewing your ad. All else being equal, ads “above the fold” (a term borrowed from the newspaper industry that on the web means the immediately viewable area of a web page on most monitors, typically the top right 800x600 pixel region and sometimes only the top right 640x480 pixel region on really low resolution monitors) have a better chance of being seen.
4. If the ad loads into the browser before the web surfer clicks to another page.
5. If the web user even notices the ad – there could be an entire book theorizing about which ads get noticed more than others, and for the most part, the jury is still out because the web is such a new and evolving medium. One safe assumption is that the location of an ad is generally more important than the creative of an ad.

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Authored in 2001 by Stephan Aarstol
while Director of Business Development
at AuntMinnie.com