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Eyeblaster helps brands, agencies track consumer behavior

Eyeblaster announced Channel Connect for Search for brands and ad agencies to track consumer behavior.

The new tool that lets agencies and advertisers look beyond the last click to fully understand the consumer: where they're going, how they got there and why. Ad agency Mindshare New York and handset manufacturer LG Electronics are among those using Channel Connect for Search to get an in-depth look at the consumer's path to conversion across search, standard banners and rich media.

"For any advertiser, it is a mistake to disregard the 99.5 percent of people who do not click on an ad," said Dean Donaldson, digital experience strategist for Eyeblaster, London. "No other media are measured on an immediate response, rather a piqued interest that moves a consumer along a conversion cycle.

"The linking of the data sets of both display and search give insights into actual user behaviors and helps justify investment in display advertising beyond the click," he said. "Pulling the results from both areas brings a more unified analysis on behalf of an advertiser as well as revealing the bearing each discipline has upon the other."

In beta testing with brands worldwide, Eyeblaster claims that Channel Connect for Search demonstrated a substantial lift in search keyword performance by display advertising.

The service also showed the contribution of different publishers to cross-channel conversions.

Channel Connect for Search offers advertisers the flexibility to integrate any search marketing tool, revealing important information about the user's path to conversion and the consumer experience.

Channel Connect for Search produces a clear picture for advertisers, agencies and brands that show how one channel affects another.

Eyeblaster is currently running major campaigns for many verticals, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, broadcast entertainment, automotive, financial and consumer packaged goods.

"From an agency perspective, it reveals crucial insights as well as a huge time saving in concatenating or de-duping information," Mr. Donaldson said. "It also helps agencies develop a more natural strategy for advertiser-consumer dialogue, with less forced emphasis on immediate clicks as a way to measure campaign effectiveness.

"In other words, unified reporting provides clear evidence that the credit for conversions must be distributed beyond the final impression, whether it be search or display," he said.

The path to conversion analysis takes into account all publishers in the user's path, allowing marketers to diagnose how different digital channels influence each other.

Channel Connect for Search supports the existing SEM tools and native search engines, claiming to be easily adoptable for customers using different vendors.

Eyeblaster launched in 1999 with a focus on rich media communication.

Today, Eyeblaster extends its heritage in digital advertising through Ad Campaign Manager.

ACM enables interactive agencies, advertisers and publishers to manage campaigns across digital media channels, including online, mobile and in-game.

ACM supports a variety of formats, including rich media, in-stream video, display and search.

Eyeblaster promotes ACM as a platform that allows customers to focus on campaign strategy, creativity and media efficiency without having to worry about the technical complexities associated with managing global advertising campaigns online.

In 2007, Eyeblaster delivered campaigns for nearly 7,000 brand advertisers serving approximately 2,500 ad agencies across over 2,700 global web publishers in over 40 countries worldwide, including North America.

"The link between awareness and interest has always been a key aspect in a purchase funnel," Mr. Donaldson said. "Traditionally, mass-media advertising has driven foot-traffic to brick-and-mortar shops where sales staff has been able to answer inquiries live.

"With web 2.0, much of this conversation now happens online, as consumers look for product reviews and ratings to help qualify their research methods beyond mere information," he said. "Being able to measure the effects of display advertising beyond an immediate click-through has always been at the heart of rich media."

Eyeblaster touts its metrics as an apples-to-apples approach to gauging campaigns and measuring conversion rates.

"Much of the missing data regarding brand effectiveness beyond the impression is seen by consumers seeking further information -- in a way they feel more in control -- and that is via search," Mr. Donaldson said. "Linking search and display is in essence being able to measure the conversation between a brand and the consumer more completely.

"It is now possible to follow the conversation across multiple impressions and channels to the final conversion, giving marketers full visibility of their sales funnel," he said.