Google is a household name all over the world, probably even in the fields of agriculture here in Tianjin.  Gone are the libraries; gone are the people who hand down ancient practices.  Today, if you want to find out something, you go to the Internet.

There really is no avoiding the implications or the sheer need for such a creation.  However, the Internet has become a force of its own.  Bringing down newspapers and magazines, supporting huge networks of people, and creating giants who control information, the Internet is hungry for more power.

There is a huge gap between who wants advertising space, and how much there is to give. Anyone logging on to the Internet will be overwhelmed by the gigantic supply of adverts, which pop up almost anywhere you look.

It is this gaping hole which is creating problems for the advertising industry as a whole. This is because the gap is being filled by sneaky, sometimes underhand methods. It seems that most people don’t understand how this is being done or how it will affect them.

An example of this is “behavior tracking”. This is the Internet’s ability to generate targeted adverts based on the web user’s personal details. While 92 percent of young adults believe behavior tracking is against their needs, the practice is on the increase. http://bit.ly/2IGHT8 In fact, with Google leading the way with targeted adverts for Google Mail users, it is becoming a big problem not only in America but also here in China.  The biggest problem is that most people don’t realize it is happening – or what they can do to avoid being advertised to in this way. In the meantime, they will continue to receive adverts which have been generated based on their sex, location, and age. It’s no wonder that people are starting to become wary of the Internet advertiser’s increased power.

It is particularly when you put advertising into the mix, that the implications for the media become clear. Currently, advertising is the sole model for growth of all media. Figures show that on the web, only 8 per cent of all users account for 85 per cent of all ads clicking. This is down by half through this year alone. http://bit.ly/2IRICw

While it was once the model for tracking, clicking is becoming outdated and new methods of cookie tracking are in force and taking hold.  Now your presence online can be targeted from your initial search query, all the way to your brick-and -mortar purchase, and used for profiling.

Who is King? Display, Search, Print?

The Internet accounts for over 50 billion dollars in advertising every year, with the US alone accounting for 20 billion. This figure is continuing to grow.  Premium online ads are going up 32 per cent year over year with no end in sight. http://bit.ly/2fvISY

Nowhere is this better exemplified than here in China, where some sites are so heavily overloaded with advertising you wonder what content is actually being provided.  Have you ever tried logging on at an Internet café and felt frustrated by the number of pop-up adverts blocking your way?

However China also puts things very much in perspective for advertisers.  This is because for brick and mortar stores selling their wares, the print media is still the most effective vehicle for advertising. http://bit.ly/9nFtB It seems that the Internet has created a strange void between national advertisers and your corner bakery.

This is not stopping the Internet in China.  Sina, China’s leading Internet portal is expected to grow by at least 35 per cent in this year alone. http://bit.ly/htkZb This is like nothing else around the world.  The reason for this is that Asian countries are dominated by display advertising over the Western-preferred search method.  Display here is expected to grow by 60 per cent by the end of 2010. http://bit.ly/3kDJ1a If I were a surfer, I would call that a dangerous reef.

Part of the reason for this phenomenal surge is that display advertising has found a home on social community and networking sites. http://bit.ly/2G8yS3 However, social community sites only hold about 15 per cent share of all online advertising.  In fact the dominance comes from search engines.

Search engine Baidu (which is up from $100.50 to a yearly high of $439.90) is now garnering new power as it integrates its new search results system, known as the Pheonix Nest System. http://bit.ly/QymgF

According to Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt: “Five years from now the Internet will be dominated by Chinese-language content.”  This might be a free pass for Baidu to start leading the way in which search is created and delivered to the world, while Google continues to focus on its operating system and mobile technology.

My phone is their life!

Another cunning advertising-dominated strategy comes from HTC – the company that makes the nine different Google Android powered phones. By launching its new Quietly Brilliant ‘YOU’ ad campaign, they are promoting the idea that: “You don’t need to get a phone. You need to get a phone that gets you.” http://bit.ly/3jy3cf Of course, they aren’t doing this just to impress upon you their new little toy; this is again an advertising dominated strategy.  Lenovo is even buying back its mobile phone business to pursue mobile Internet technology. http://bit.ly/54jD8Q

While most people are not going to buy a phone with the thought: “Wow! My telephone is now the new ad rag!”  There are many people who would gladly see ads as helpful if it meant that in return they could lower their costs of purchasing the phones or even the service charges. http://bit.ly/6BnSNT People would probably get used to it very quickly – you may have noticed how most phones here in Tianjin are inundated with ad text messages every time you hang up or send a message.

For some people this doesn’t matter because they delete the messages every so often. However, you may be the owner of a new smart phone, which takes several steps to acquire the message and provides you with that dirty little message-notification bleep that won’t go away till you look at the message.  These days there too many able capabilities to deliver full screen MMS messages to your phone while the phone is idle. http://bit.ly/7rvdpj Therefore that is the first thing you see when you click your phone on from the black screen.

Like the movement in the US to stop dinnertime telemarketers, many hope there will be movements to remove these developments in stealth advertising.  Although nifty in concept, after a while the most noticeable thing about them is how annoying they are.  This is a story where again the percentages are low and most people, if they had the chance, would never opt-in.

Hey executives, I’m my own company

But what if you’re on the dark side? Perhaps you’re an advertiser looking to utilize the Internet for your business? The good news is that there are several ways to turn the world of Internet advertising to your advantage.

There are millions of bloggers in cyberspace telling you how you can make money by monetizing your blog.  With so many people claiming to be in the know, how come there are still so few who are actually reaping the benefits?

The bright spot is in the creative.  This year there was a man in the US who made $83,000 broadcasting himself on the Internet.  What he did was go to consumer product companies and said he would wear their company T-shirt for a day. http://bit.ly/1IoWDg Then he got out there, into the sunshine, and took videos of himself wearing it. At the end of a day’s catwalking, he would get on Facebook and share his thoughts, write something on his blog, keep everyone up to date on his Twitter, and basically become a one-man billboard.

This idea has also been demonstrated in effect here in China.  Thousands of girls are online on Taobao promoting the clothes that they buy.  These skinny little things have themselves followed around by amateur photographers as they pose and primp themselves, creating beautiful pictures that the other girls online just simply can’t get enough of – adoring them for all those pretty little pink dresses and haute couture jeans they wear.

This is the new content: Blogging and news feeds.  Whether it’s fashion, how to use makeup, or providing a fresh take on the news, social content makes up 40 per cent of all online traffic – outstripping community, communication, e-commerce and search. http://bit.ly/9m4n5 This content sharing is the premium space on the Internet and the giants are trying to control it.

However, the giants are having a tough time trying to create fair competition in terms of asset prices in the difference between online sales and brick and mortar establishments. http://bit.ly/48zdSS It’s certainly the case that many people now go out shopping with the sole intention of window-browsing and then returning to the Internet to buy.  This creates an even larger supply side window, as more people try to fill the small portion of demand accrued by the big retailers and girl’s shopping sites like Hers.

The ad focus is tried and true and will be

This is a very narrow view on the whole topic, because in reality the Internet population is spread roughly equally across all social economic backgrounds and age groups. http://bit.ly/1HEzxT This comes from better-developed Internet markets. However, eventually this will take place within all cultures. Yet even with the wide swath of consumer interest, advertisers tend to pick on the younger more affluent customers.  The power of the Internet should develop to accept this swath of population, unlike magazines and television have done.

In China advertising is very family-centric with the young heavily influencing the older generation.  Many Chinese adverts try to pull families together.  But in social economic struggles, as we are experiencing now, advertising should associate their product with positive emotions of calmness rather than happiness. http://bit.ly/14cquu China’s advertising is still a little giddy and focuses much on the happy family unit a little too much.  By diversifying the mother from the father from the daughter, advertising will become more effective.

For instance with the various super novas, Google is trying very hard to take over the mobile phone industry by attracting younger generations who understand more how to utilize smart phones.  Apple is hoping to come into China to reach the mature wives market with its advertised ability to help the home become a place of prestige.  In addition, Microsoft is focusing on the business end, looking mainly at the older generation with their Software as a Service (SaaS) and helping the businessman of the house create value in their business. http://bit.ly/Z6kex

You are there and I will reach you

The Internet is the key to all of these changes and ChinaNet (CHNT) a full-service media development has already shown third quarter results in an increase of 21.7 per cent. http://bit.ly/3uGBcc It seems strange that companies similar in the US are at such a disadvantage.  The US currently wants everyone to pay for their content and only 50 per cent of US citizens would be willing to pay a fraction for their media content. http://bit.ly/aW9us

In addition, the US is currently thinking of using tax-payers money to finance journalism. http://bit.ly/Aomdf There are now even algorithms that generate story ideas, which in turn predict the revenue they will generate, and determine how much they are worth. http://bit.ly/8zBqkY Where China already has government regulation on content, the US is now stepping in to see whether this area needs regulation.

This could sound a death- knell for Internet advertising and cause it real harm.  Recently there have been privacy hearing and briefings. http://bit.ly/2auIjL This is mostly due to the usage by the adolescent age group who are now picking up the Internet heavily.  The line between what adults use as content and what children explore is becoming more blurred, especially here in China.

In the US KidZui is a new web browser that maximizes parent and child computer time to connect and converse through shared content online. http://bit.ly/e4H1w Here in China it is all too obvious that the children own the computer and the parents watch television.  There is almost no interaction at all.  High school students can spend endless hours after school staring at the computer while parents cook dinner, clean up and make themselves ready for bed.  There is almost complete separation between the family members.

However, while the students are busy studying at school, the parents are busy developing their new business models around advertising.   In the US, 42 per cent of SMBs have websites. http://bit.ly/25Ld80 In contrast to those that build websites the smaller businesses advertise more.  It is difficult to say whether this will come to Tianjin.  While the small guy sees the need to advertise, or otherwise the family network is soon to run out, many of the smallest businesses do this by using stickers or plasters.  The Internet is seen as a domineering component in advancement.

Small families with small time shops see traffic as the people who pass by their shop, not the people who see them as part of the local online community.  It is the children in the family who are building these neighborhood bonds.  How to maximize them as an integral part of the family business, most likely dismays them, let alone their parents.

That’s mine: Give it back!

As for television in China, $1.6 billion will be spent next year on China Central Television – an increase on previous years. http://bit.ly/2yzE4C There is no doubt that China will watch television in the future, but the dynamics of television are limited.  This again only allows national television sponsors and major foreign influences to enter.  The message will be clear: Following the age-old tradition – family is always first.  The market is huge and the focus is limited, for this reason supply is low and demand is high, therefore higher prices.  This is a good strategy if you are in the television business, but proves to be a bad buy if you are in advertising.  There are alternatives but there are also other things taking place.

In the US there have been eight quarters of double-digit drops for the advertising industry in newspapers. http://bit.ly/8VQppo Here in China, newspapers are still easy to get, and much is the same online.  For some reason, online newspapers are not cannibalizing the printed version.  They are almost one in the same.  It is like reading the printed version, simply transformed online.  There is not an overload of spotted advertising and the screen is left resilient enough that you are free to browse your e-paper.

However, China seems to be one of the more outstanding economies when it comes to context.  In most areas of the world, content is copied between four and 15 times around the Internet.  That means that the same story is just copied over and over.  With this in mind, how does the Tianjin newspaper fare when the locals can find the same content on most of their favorite sites, without ever going directly to the news channel site?  The reason is that it really takes that much to reach that many people.

However, in the US the FTC has claimed that newspapers have lost $20 billion over the last year. http://bit.ly/6ySRUu This is not happening in China at all.  Newspapers are so easy to get and they come in morning and evening editions, and people have so much time to break open the paper, that advertising is still a very strong medium here in Tianjin.

Hey hey hey, you figure it out

Tianjin is not worried about advertising.  In fact it is accepted and well reputed here.  The age-old saying of breaking through the clutter is almost dust in the wind here.  Clutter provides a promise that people will notice it.  And yet people try so hard.

Compared to traditional advertising, product placement can arouse the least unpleasant feeling from the audience because it is naturally merged into the scenes of a movie or game and does not interrupt the user’s enjoyment.  Integrating commercials into games can create more influence to users because movie product placement is static while in games it is interactive. In fact, when a user finds a new ad in a game in China that they are familiar with and used to playing with it, the first reaction is to not to ignore the ad but to click on it and see what bonus one can get by acquiring this product because such a product always possesses some properties that can give a hand in the game.

So advertising in China is well accepted.  The rest of the world should watch as China takes over the first initiative to incorporate advertising into everything that is online.  It is admired as well as empowering.  The overwhelming presence of the fad will not leave China.  The rest of the world will find it difficult to leave these fads unnoticed.  Millions of people are being attracted to seemingly simple advertising tools.  Although they may be cloaked in games or cinema, it does not matter because this country prides itself on the incoming of gigantic pulls in seemingly unnoticeable emotions, like joy.

Advertising is a giant, so it must have a purpose.  In most countries, critics cry out that there should be none.  But the true-to-heart know that advertising is likely to be here forever.  It seems safe to say that advertising will drive the economy in 2010.  Advertising will be the first notifier for every industry that will once again re-emerge. When people have the money to spend on advertising, it means that things are looking up for public spending. However this time, advertising is no longer the indicator but the master. It creates a cycle: Advertisers spend money trying to get people to buy their products – thus granting them more money to spend on advertising.

Google, as always, is at the forefront of this wave. The company is always trying to develop and innovate their adverts. They want them “Bigger, Better, more Interactive. We’ll keep trying new things until we discover the ‘perfect’ ads.” http://bit.ly/5OFXjB And this is all going to happen in a blink of an eye – or the click of a mouse.

This article is about the traditional mobile couponing campaigns underway.  My mom sent this to me and here was my response:

That is not what I am doing but very effective.  I allow users to collect the coupons rather than just be an open portal to discounts that they may or may not use, thus receiving anything and everything.  Also here in China I have to deal with no computers at the point of purchase but still have to verify that the coupon is valid.  I can also go from print to feed to mobile.  Not just surfing the net to feed to mobile.  By feed I mean that the users have a personal account at advertual.com and can collect more coupons from around the Internet, set their settings for advertisers to direct to sell to them, and access their feed of coupons from their phone, much like what I see in this article.  Sounds the same but mine can work for any retailer no matter how big or small with point of sale computers or not.

I checked out the sites that were in the article.  The coupons are so un engaging it is the exact same as cutting coupons the way you used to except on the computer.  Completely boring.  There is no sale done by the retailer except the money off.  Apparently the sale already has to be made then you have to find the coupon and then save.  My clickboard makes the sale, gives you the discount, and then rewards you at the final purchase.  This is advertual, not couponing.

Clickboards.net is currently under construction. Coupons will be able to be collected from the site and around the Internet using the Clickboards and sent to users coupon feed on Clickboards.net.

Coupons in users feed can be redeemed and verified at the point of sale for the records of the vendor and then be expired from the users feed.

Print and other media can use mobile device to collect coupons and send them to users feed to later be redeemed again using their mobile device.

Right now the mobile number and service is going to cost me RMB5000 a month.  The set up for the application to be used with the website will cost me RMB10000 a month for development.  The initial cost for development is water under the bridge and probably won’t be recouped for maybe a year.  I do believe I can sustain the site with no losses making RMB5000 a month.  Charging advertisers RMB1 a click or maybe RMB3 per acquisition of the coupons, that would mean I need 1500 coupons collected each month.  So if most people collect at least three coupons I would need 500 unique visitors to my site.  I believe that that number is attainable if I promote myself well and people see the relevance of the coupons.  Either it will become sustainable or die a quick death.

We also talked about the difference between SMS and MMS.  It seemed common that this idea worked better through MMS and that most phones are capable of receiving MMS.  We did argue about the potential plagiarism rights an SMS creates.  He was saying that people can simply send themselves coupons, thereby creating cause for theft.  He was saying that waiters can simply send themselves a bunch of messages, or even in the first place not tell that the SMS was used and pocket the money.  This led me to the validation step.  Currently his process does not have a validation system.  I suggested that once the coupons have been sent to the user, that they would be required to validate the coupon in front of the waitstaff thereby expiring the coupon from use by that user.  The total validated coupons received for that client could then by submitted at the end of the week or month for their records, eliminating theft from waitstaff.  But he saw that people would not pay the extra money to send one more message to validate their coupons.  This led me back to the fact that I wanted to change his model to be free to the user.

Regardless each message is locked in to costing RMB1 under his model so this would not work or change.  However he said I could have my own number to use for RMB3000 a month.  So the Clickboards on his site or others around the Internet could be accessed through my number.

He kept explaining that the mobile coupon market is still very young and has not taken off.  He has seen little success with this type of business model.  Something that can not support itself.  And charging the client for giving away the coupons is very difficult.  Alvin sees the light that the Clickboard has but not necessarily through coupons and believes charging clients RMB12 per acquisition of coupon will be difficult.  Getting any money out of them would be hard.  So he sees value in the Clickboard but not for this.  This is a conundrum.

He followed up his argument with a colleague he helped try to take print coupons to the mobile media for use.  He said there was little success.  However I am going to follow up with this person Andrew Collins of MailMan.com to see if he sees the light in what I’m doing.

We concluded by saying that I need to do my own stand alone website that would act as the hub for Clickboards and that I could on a trial basis use his website as an extended portal.  And again use my free number in which these discounts would be accesses through MMS.   This he said he would do on the basis of a friend.  However to build this standalone website with full Java applications could take three months with ten people working solely on the project for a grand total of RMB300,000.  This is currently what his mGuanxi.com website is worth.

I then asked what he is doing with mGuanxi.com and he said it was simple the social tool of his service.  I began to understand that not too many people are that involved with this site as their choice for a social media.  We then went into behavioral advertising and that kind of tailspinned as he did not see people interacting heavily enough with the site to truly allow it to work for the clients.  I see that and asked why there was no advertising on the site now and he said he did not want it to be overbearing to the user at this point but that is in the plans.

Currently Alvin is working more in Search Mobile Advertising which I agree is where most people see the potential for the mobile devices in the future.  He is working with some big names and I think that is where his aim is.  Maybe he will apply the Clickboard to this service in the future.  He liked the idea and I’m sure he is thinking of ways to utilize it.  One day I hope I still get credit.

He left me feeling encouraged that the idea has potential but told me the more you do the more pitfalls you will discover.  He is reluctant to change, that is one of the number one pitfalls that occurred during this meeting.  However if I was to start he would go with the flow and help me out.  So as he said keep talking to investors and get their advice.  So keep talking about it!

So that said I needed new options, I was going to re propose to him but now that I think about it, that would have been futile.  So as the opportunity came to my attention when talking to Don Stewart, an indirect colleague of mine here in the office, who at one point offered himself as an angel investor, he brought to my attention several services that are in the same field I am pursuing.  One of which was mGuanxi.  Unlike the other text discount services he put before me, this media had a very unique web portal.

This web portal had the ability for people to come together and add contacts and join groups, take polls, blog, and send messages.  Much like other social media sites.  However this had no connection to their mobile outlet and the benefit to the users over Facebook and local forum websites was quite minimal.  But to me, this was a perfect platform to develop Clickboards.

By adding another tab which would represent Clickboards, using the clicker icon, users would enter a section of the website where they could manage their mobile coupons and acquire Clickboards.  Here they could share with their groups or contacts and friends and redeem points for luxury vouchers.  Really this is the high dive that could really put Clickboards on the map.  These are the top four reasons I had Don tell Alvin of mGuanxi why he should listen to me and my proposal:

Gives a reason for people to interact (to share their coupons, rewards, freebies and earn more)

Makes service free for user and adds performance for clients

Advertisers can decide what and to whom they reward

Breaches the gap between behavioral marketing and static impressions

So far, I have no response and neither does Don from Alvin Graylin from mGuanxi owner of the parent company mInfo.  He may think he is a little taller than me in his high heeled boots and can’t see the relevance of a Jin Magazine editor having come up with a good idea for him because he is a dual major MIT graduate.  But if he could stop himself a minute and so could the rest of you to review what I keep going on about, he may see the true validity that my project has.  Or maybe he is just on vacation and I need to sit back myself for a second.

The real reason I am going after my boss and mGuanxi is so that I don’t have to develop my own brand image.  Jin has a name which would make the Jin Card more recognizable here in Tianjin, and although mGuanxi isn’t a true silver dollar in terms of user interaction, it does have some strength in its name, something that I could definitely build upon.

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Searching for ’social shopping’ I found several sites listed here.   They basically use words like Rave, Impartial Advice, Recommend, Community, Wish list, where people in the community act as promoters for products they bought.

Searching for ‘networking discounts’ and ‘network savings’ I found that networking basically means on the web or saving on getting your computer onto the network online.

All have nothing to do with a Social Savings Networked Utility.  The second search I did was the most relevant.  However it requires user interaction after the sale, which I would have to argue is a weak platform.  Even Wikipedia defines ’social shopping’ as making informed decisions from information about products posted by the community.  However, coupons and deals are usually researched or collected prior to the sale, so this system relies on people finding the deals and then becoming self promoters of the products they bought.  And none have anything to do with creating a network where you begin to save more with the more people in your network and the common characteristics in shopping behavior you all share regardless of whether or not you actively promote your shopping behavior.  Network here still just means a group of people not actually webbed together.

One site had the ability to pass coupons to friends where you gain commission from the sale if your friends buy the product.  There was also a site that rewarded you for using the coupons with bigger coupons that you can cash in your points for.  There is still only one degree of separation in these methods.

None of these integrated mobile possibilities.  In the mobile media playground here in Beijing, China, there a system where you buy a card and get access to the discounts around the city as well as 1200 points.  Each time you buy the card you get 1200 more points. These can be used at some locations like cash.  The discounts you recieve are obtained by texting the store code and price of purchase to the number.  A confirmaion text is sent back and you show that to the teller.  There are several similar services.  Again no mobile media has anything to do with a network.

I need to do more research but sounds like a plan to go after.

Well my oldest friend just looked at my site the other day.  He only looked at it for five minutes according to my Google Analytics, but anyway he went to at least five pages and got the idea within minutes.

He had a break through though.  His idea was to incorporate Clickboards outside the Internet.  He was saying each add would have a PIN number.  Now this is already true in my case to catalog the ads.  However he was a little more dynamic.  His example was for a 50% off coupon at the Gap.  You would text 50OFFGAP, to put it simply to your online account number.  This is much like Twitter and will most assuredly be one of my first projects after putting the website in place.

I just need to find out what number they text the promotion code to have the discount stored automatically on their Clickboards.net account.  Research Twitter more now, not that I would still know how it works from the inside.