Auction.ph’s very own advertising program was introduced just a few months after the main site was launched in August 2006. The mechanics of the web program was roughly based on Google’s Ad Sense. The downloadable widgets were like harbingers of double happiness. On one end, it has Auction.ph sellers delighted because of all the free advertising they can get and on the other end, it had blog owners and web publishers raving about one more tool for revenue generation.
Rightly so, with intentions straight and true, the landscape of Ad Auction seemed paved with opportunity in the beginning. Abe Olandres, one of the country’s most prominent blogger, even said that Auction.ph and Ad Auction gave “a glimpse of the future of e-commerce in the country.” Despite positive predictions, the Ad Auction program did not really fly. Other auxiliary programs were introduced in hopes of salvaging modest ROI from a familiar system that works and that should, in theory, perform even better because it was geo targeted. Even with Ad Auction Buddy, a networking system that could help multiply earnings, Ad Auction failed to deliver. And with the future of advertising now staring us in the face, Ad Auction went back to basics and got a much- needed facelift.
In retrospect, the basics of Ad Auction were all correct and the intention held the concept together. With no other place to look, it was quite obvious that the weak link lurked somewhere in the mechanics. Here is how the original program worked:
And here’s how it didn’t work:
In the original program, categories were randomly assigned. Meaning, it was likely that blogs about models and swimsuits will randomly subscribe to widgets displaying food and furniture. For almost everyone concerned, seller, blogger, and even visitor, that’s just whack.
With specific learnings from the previous outing, Auction.ph went back to the whiteboard and found a straightforward solution to a very simple problem. The new, improved Ad Auction program will leave widget selection to blog/website owner. No one knows a site better than the owner. And since owners are after stronger yields, it would be logical to select widgets that are appropriate. For sellers on the other end, they can take comfort in the fact that their merchandise will be viewed by an appropriate audience.
And with that simple tweak in the mechanics, the new Ad Auction program should effectively uphold its original intention. There is also a plan to revise the incentive scheme which will be finalized soon.
The new AdAuction is currently undergoing reprogramming, incorporating the new mechanics that should be beneficial for bloggers. After all, you might notice that we are blogging now and we’re starting to get a grasp on what bloggers are after. ;) (That’s what we’d like to think.)
Attention Bloggers: By this time, you should have received an invite for Auction B-Day happening on August 14. After reading this post, tell us how we can further improve the Ad Auction program. We will take all your comments into consideration and hopefully, we can use them to serve you better.
And! All your comments will be counted as one raffle entry! We will draw lots on August 14 and announce the winning post during the party. Send us your comments and we’ll see you on the 14th! Good luck!
theauctioneer said,
July 31, 2008 @ 8:41 am
You may start posting your suggestions here. Valid comments will be your official raffle entry to win 5,000 e-money. See you at the party and Goodluck !
Jehzeel Laurente said,
August 2, 2008 @ 2:58 am
An integrated payment method in Paypal or Moneybookers will be a great new feature to auction.ph.
History of searches / logs per account din, para makita ng user kung ano yung sinearch nya before, at pag nakalimutan nya, pwede nya balikan sa search history nya and it will be saved kahit san ka pumunta, not just a browser cookie ika nga. :)
Another suggestion is, the pages of auction.ph is not SEO friendly. It should be optimized well sa search engines to rank high for search terms na available sa auction.ph. :) Based on me observation, auction.ph is the auction website with the lowest Alexa rank and traffic as of now kahit maraming offline advertisements and maraming marketing efforts ang ginagawa., pero I know it can be improved with proper SEO. :)
Lastly, .. ahmm yun lang siguro muna ang suggestions ko :) Yiheeeee!
sylv3rblade said,
August 4, 2008 @ 8:34 am
A list of related products/item for sale on the item page would surely improve CTR. Helps customers sift through items in their particular interest (I.E. Play Asia) and gives them more choices without re-entering the search page.
And a more persistent My Profile link which is currently only available via the Home Page.
Jan Alvin said,
August 4, 2008 @ 3:06 pm
Si Jehzeel talaga!
Anyway first let me compare aution.ph and asiacenturyph.com, I think you should check on how the advertisement system differ from the other. I think dapat magkakahiwalay lahat ng items for sale. Napansin ko kasi na nasa isang widget ang assorted items, why not try to segment them into a smaller piece. Kunwari Product A, may sariling banners and etc. at si Product B ay ganun din. Check out Market Leverage for example, segmented ang mga products nila at meron silang option para sa Email Marketing which is good kasi mas maraming option sila na ibenta ung product.
And about dun sa SEO ni Jehzeel, tama siya. The site needs improvement sa SEO, hindi ko siya masyadong nakikita sa mga search ko.
And gumawa kayo ng mga online gimmick para sa mga bloggers para mas lalong ma-heightened ang spirit nila. Kunwari bigay kayo ng reward sa mga high sellers.
Auction.ph celebrates its b-day with a bang! « Buddy Blogs said,
August 6, 2008 @ 8:56 am
[...] fact, they have revised their AdAuction service which they said, are making both sellers (as advertisers) and publishers (those who put ads [...]
Euri said,
August 7, 2008 @ 3:49 am
Hmm… I didn’t know AdAuction is still alive. XD
Leah said,
August 7, 2008 @ 8:43 am
Some suggestions to improve AdAuction program:
1. Every clicks or impressions must have corresponding
compensation also aside from every successful sale
generated thru the ads. There should be also referral
system. For example, for every buyer who clicks on the ad
and sign up as a new auction.ph member, there should also
a commission for that.
2. The publisher/blogger must have an option to choose
what category of items that can only be displayed on the
widget. For example, I have a blog where I sell cellphone
load and epins, I would like to display items in the widget
just from the cellphone prepaid category.
3. As a seller of auction.ph, I would like also to display my
own items on the widget. Or there should be also an option
to choose an specific seller of items to be displayed.
glitch said,
August 13, 2008 @ 8:47 am
1. add credit card (more convenient)
2. add email verification (reduce fraud members)
3. add more games sa funplace
^_^
SHOP.blink.ph - Philippines Online Guide: Internet Trading Auctions Shopping Buying Selling Classifieds » Blog Archive » Auction.ph taps bloggers to improve ad service said,
August 16, 2008 @ 1:00 am
[...] Auction.ph blog also gave a teaser of what’s to come in the soon-to-be-reloaded Ads Service. And so we are [...]
Jehzeel Laurente said,
August 16, 2008 @ 5:38 am
sinong nanalo dito? hehehe.. di ako nakapunta i forgot :(
theauctioneer said,
August 20, 2008 @ 5:44 am
Hi Jehzeel,
Too bad you weren’t able to come. A lot of our invited guests were not able to attend actually because of the terrible weather. Next time. :)
Anyway, to answer your question, we also solicited suggestions from our guests and one of them won the grand prize.
We’ll post photos from the party here on the blog so stay tuned. Thanks!