zanox Blog

 

Our Senior Architect Dr. Dragan Milosevic had the exceptional opportunity to speak at “Lucene/Solr Revolution”, one of the top conferences for Lucene and Solr, in San Diego, California. Being the only German and one of the 3 European speakers in an else US-focused event is an honor and shows that the topic he presented was spot-on. Other speakers from the industry were Erik Hatcher (Lucene in Action, Grant Ingersoll, Taming Text, und Ted Dunning, Mahout in Action), Mark Miller and Yonik Seeley (SolrCloud), Eric Erickson as well as Lewis Farrell (Solr und Lucene).

Participating in this event offered Dragan the chance to connect to other great minds from the Lucene and Solr world. As a speaker this was even easier as many networking events were organized, like the LinkedIn speaker’s dinner the night before the conference.

Overall, Dragan had a fully packed week with many great impressions and ideas he brought back home.

A review and pictures can be viewed here.

In an otherwise very balanced and eminently readable article, these were the harsh words that German IT trade magazine GOLEM.de (http://www.golem.de/news/tracking-krieg-der-cookies-1303-98386.html) used to heat up the discussion surrounding the planned technical innovations in version 22 of the Firefox browser. GOLEM speaks of “panic” among online advertisers. And the IAB’s first commentary on the matter was no less drastic: On Twitter, Mike Zaneis even described the innovation as a “pre-emptive nuclear strike against the advertising industry”. In an official statement (http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/), the IAB sees the imminent end for “great diversity in the net”, because thousands of smaller companies and their websites would be facing ruin.

Here on the zanox blog, we’d like to summarise the essential findings on the future Firefox 22 development for all of our customers and partners and to provide further information and links.

What exactly has the Mozilla Foundation announced?
At the end of February 2013, the Mozilla Foundation, as the developer and operator of the Firefox browser, announced that, beginning with version 22 of their browser, third-party cookies will be blocked as standard (that is, as per its default browser setting). The exception for automatic blocking of these third-party cookies is supposed to be: Where a first-party cookie has already been written on the user’s device by the respective domain, it will also be possible to set a 3rd party cookie on the site of an external domain. This first-party cookie may have been set either as the result of a direct visit to the domain, or through a user-action on an ad medium belonging to the respective domain.

What does zanox think of this development? Is this a declaration of war against the advertising industry?
zanox is taking this development very seriously. In particular, we take the fears and concerns of our affected publishers for their respective business model very seriously, just as we do those of the advertisers, who see this as a trial of the sustainability of this sales channel. To this end, we will be holding individual meetings with the relevant publishers in the coming weeks, in order to present and discuss solutions that will minimise the impacts this development may have on our shared business interests.
Nevertheless, we consider it to be of great importance that the “major attack against the entire online advertising industry”, as so dramatically conjured up by some, is put into proper perspective.

Three key points on the matter:

• Publisher models: Publishers whose business models are predominantly based on third-party cookie technology are particularly affected by the new Firefox browser settings. This refers especially publishers in the fields of post-view display (termed zanox TPV in the zanox network), retargeting and RTB (in the zanox network via the integration of zanox MasterTag). However, this blockade only becomes effective if the computer has still yet to receive a first-party cookie from the relevant domain.
  On the other hand, click-based publisher models are not affected, since these click-cookies – provided they are set as the result of a direct user-action – are interpreted and accepted as first-party cookies. Here, it is important that the click-request occurs, wherever possible, directly or as a redirect, whereby intermediate sites, pop-ups etc., which then execute the redirect via scripts and the like, could also possibly be interpreted as third-party requests.


• zanox network: zanox reaches more than 50 percent of online users in Europe. And the majority of cookies we set as a network are click-cookies. As click-tracking takes place via zanox Redirect, ONE zanox cookie on a user’s computer is sufficient to ensure the acceptance of a third-party cookie. In this respect, it makes no difference which publisher in the zanox network was responsible for setting the cookie. For our publisher customers, this means, very specifically: You benefit from the size and reach of our network, because it substantially increases the likelihood that a cookie has already been set and accepted. And, with this, there is also an increased likelihood that further third-party cookies are accepted by the browser. Internal tests have shown that, due to the network reach, one set first-party cookie from zanox can also be found in up to three quarters of all post-view transactions in the zanox network.


• Market penetration: Mozilla has announced the release of version 22 for June 2013; at the moment we are still on official release number 20. Version 22 is currently available on the market as a beta-release under the name, “Aurora”. In our tracking data, we can see that the majority of users have switched from version 19 to version 20 during the past four weeks. This massive wave of updates can be primarily attributed to the automatic update function in Firefox. It is therefore to be assumed that the final release of version 22 will also see the majority of users switching to the new version within 3-4 weeks of it becoming available. Although this slight time-lag between the release date and market penetration buys us a little time, it does not change a thing with regard to the fundamental modifications.


• Safari: From a technical viewpoint, the solution introduced by Mozilla is not a new development. It has already been around in a similar form for a number of years in the Safari browser from Apple. And even using Safari, zanox is able to provide reliable and sound tracking, thereby enabling fair and transparent remuneration of its partners.

Which web offerings will benefit from the new browser settings of Firefox version 22?
As third-party cookies are accepted once a first-party cookie has already been written by the respective domain, those sites which attract a large proportion of direct traffic will be the ones that benefit the most – in other words, the major international portals in particular.

What market share does Firefox have (in Germany)?
In contrast to the Safari browser, which has already had a similar default set-up for third-party cookies for a number of years, Firefox has a highly relevant level of market penetration, particularly among German users (http://www.browser-statistik.de/ -> with Firefox at a 36.9%-market share in Germany). In the overall zanox network, we see that roughly 25 percent of all transactions are made using Firefox in one or other of its versions. In this regard, the analysis of zanox tracking data showed that, in the past few weeks, there has been a substantial shift in share from Firefox version 19 to version 20.

In detail, the distribution of the number of transactions in April 2013 is as follows

• Firefox share of transactions in the zanox network (status: 17.-23.04.13)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Share accounted for by individual Firefox versions (status: 01.-07.04.2013)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Share accounted for by individual Firefox versions (status: 17.-23.04.2013)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What other problems does zanox see in the third-party cookie blockade by Firefox 22? Keyword “Tracking points”!
Affiliate marketing is a partnership-based model between publisher, advertiser and network. At the centre of this model is the transparent and fair remuneration of the publisher by the advertiser, for which the network provides the required tracking and reporting tools.
However, this partnership model will be placed in serious doubt, if the advertiser begins integrating non-transparent external tracking points in a way that the publisher is unable to follow. For this reason, and even without Firefox 22, our clearly worded request to advertisers is that they be transparent in specifying their individual tracking requirements, the technologies deployed and the de-duplication logics they use in the zanox marketplace. Only in this way can publishers gain the information they need in advance and tailor their measures individually to suit.
With the introduction of Firefox 22, the challenge for the transparent and fair integration of external tracking points from the advertiser’s sites becomes even greater. Many external tracking providers work with cookies. However, if these cookies are not integrated via the advertiser’s domain/sub-domain, the browser will see them as classic examples of third-party cookies. In this event, Firefox 22 will prevent the cookies being written; this will result in the advertiser interpreting the traffic as “native traffic”, which, in turn, means that a commission payment to the publisher no longer occurs.
In the event that advertisers run a customer journey analysis via third-party-cookie-based systems, these are also affected by the Firefox 22 blockade and will be greatly diminished in terms of the quality and meaningfulness of the information provided. Similar impacts are also to be expected for many web-analysis tools, whose measurements are directly based on third-party cookies and where it is not expected – or at best, only in very isolated instances – that a relevant cookie has already been written onto the computer as a first-party cookie.

So, once again, our request to advertisers:

• The use of tracking and cookie points should be fully transparent and shown in advance in the zanox marketplace.


• In the interests of fair remuneration of publisher services, the advertiser’s external tracking points should work via redirect or the respective sub-domain of the advertiser, in order to prevent blocking as a third-party cookie.


• In some cases, it may be advisable to talk to the relevant zanox contact regarding the possibility of implementing zanox SPOT (Single Point of Tracking), which, for certain models, can represent a useful alternative to pure third-party cookie-based technologies.

Our request to publishers:

• Every single publisher can make a huge contribution to the strengthened acceptance and activation of third-party cookies by employing so-called “cookie gates”, in which the individual browser settings for cookie preferences are automatically checked and can be directly adjusted by the user.
  Publishers have already employed similar approaches for several years, in order to check for activated ad-blockers. These “cookie gates” are not technical script solutions for circumventing the Firefox 22 cookie blockade, but rather an active form of communication with the user, to enable changes to be made to restrictive default settings in the browser and to permit third-party cookies. Our experience in connection with the topic of e-privacy (NB: A further article on this subject will follow here on the zanox Blog in the near future) in the Netherlands and in Great Britain has shown very clearly, that active information, transparency and enlightenment of users have brought about substantially improved user-acceptance of cookies.

What alternative tracking methods are there for post-view?
Just to point out the relevance once more as clearly as possible: Post-view tracking via third-party cookies is only affected, if no other first-party cookie from zanox has been written onto the user’s computer. As soon as one first-party cookie has managed to make it onto the computer from anywhere within entire zanox network, third-party cookies will also be permitted for post-view tracking. This applies in around three quarters of all post-view transactions in the zanox network.
Cookies form just one part of tracking, though. Even today, other alternatives, such as fingerprint tracking, are already well developed at zanox and deliver dependable results in click-tracking, thus making for fair and transparent remuneration.
The challenges faced in using advertiser tracking points, as outlined in the previous answer, are even weightier in the case of post-view with Firefox 22. Due to the fact that, in post-view, not only the actual impression itself but also all subsequent requests are interpreted as third-party requests and, consequently, blocked in Firefox 22, converting the tracking points to a cookie of the advertiser’s domain/sub-domain will generally do little to solve the issue. In this case, the advertiser needs to switch the tracking points to alternative tracking methods.

First Safari, now Firefox – can we now expect a wave of third-party blockades?
It is almost impossible to tell in advance. It will however become a central task for the entire online advertising industry, to clearly analyse and communicate the impacts of such developments on the online advertising market and, with this, on one of the internet’s central financing models. To this end, zanox will also be working very closely with official associations, such as the BVDW and IAB Europe.

How is zanox reacting to these developments given that they place the future of cookie tracking in real doubt?
zanox and its Tracking Team are continually and consistently developing new tracking facilities beyond the cookie. For example, even today, our fingerprint tracking delivers highly dependable results in the field of click-tracking. As such, the future expansion of fingerprint technologies into the post-view area is fundamentally conceivable and will be checked for technical and legal feasibility, together with a number of other alternatives.
In the field of mobile technology, we have just recently introduced the zanox iOS and Android Advertiser SDK for comprehensive app-tracking, which even now, under certain conditions, is based on cookie-independent roots.

What are the firm measures zanox will take until Firefox 22 is released?
All zanox account managers, technical contacts and colleagues from the client service departments will be receiving intensive training in this subject from our specialists.
We will be keeping all customers and partners informed about further developments and measures, both here on the zanox Blog, and though our newsletters.
Naturally, advertisers, publishers and agencies can also get in touch directly with their zanox account managers.

Further links:

• „The New Firefox Cookie Policy“


• „Affiliate Marketing in einer Post-Cookie Ära”


• “Mozilla Firefox” bei Wikipedia


• Offizielle Infoseite

UPDATE (May 17th, 2013):
“War of the Cookies”!? – postponed but not cancelled

The implementation for the default 3rd party cookie blocking is postponed – see current post on the Mozilla developer site (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Site_Compatibility_for_Firefox_22):

“Third-party cookies are blocked by default
…
Update: This change has been postponed to collect and analyze data on the effect of blocking some third-party cookies. In the Beta and Release channels, the default preference will be kept to allow third-party cookies.”

And please also see first media stories on that: http://www.adexchanger.com/data-exchanges/mozilla-delays-blocking-third-party-cookies/

(Autor: Thomas Bilz, Senior Product Manager Tracking bei zanox)

M-commerce continues to grow in importance for European consumers

• M-commerce still on growth course in Europe
• Financial Services providers and Retail & Shopping providers record highest m-commerce growth in Europe
• iPad increases its lead in revenue shares with 53 percent – Android overtakes iPhone and secures 2nd spot
• iPad users are the kings and queens of shopping in m-commerce

During the past year, the mobile shopping volume generated by smartphones and tablets in Europe increased by over 140 percent compared with the previous year. In this regard, the iPad is the No. 1 mobile revenue-generator, accounting for 53 percent of all revenues. German consumers still prefer the Apple platform for their mobile shopping trips: More than two thirds of mobile transactions in Germany in 2012 were made using iOS devices. These are the central findings of the current analysis of the “zanox Mobile Performance Barometer 2012”. The analysis is based on an appraisal of over 1,000 advertiser programmes in seven European markets (Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Benelux, Scandinavia and Poland) with annual consumer transactions in the double-figure millions range.

“The boom in new devices, such as smartphones and tablets, in new cloud technologies and in the availability of mobile internet, offers consumers more possibilities for online shopping. Consumers appreciate the comfort of having information and shopping possibilities available at all times and in all places and now determine their personal e-commerce journeys independently,” says Thomas Joosten, zanox CEO. “This ‘consumerisation of e-commerce’ is a challenge for the whole provider side. However, at the same time, it also offers a basis for new business models for the advertising industry, the e-commerce market and even for stationary retail.”


1.Country development: M-commerce still on growth track in Europe

• The mobile sales channel also continues to grow in 2012: In an annual comparison, there was a 142-percent increase in revenues generated via mobile devices across Europe. In 2012, the mobile sales channel accounts for a 3.9 percent-share of the total e-commerce revenue.
• Scandinavia is the 2012 European champion in mobile commerce, with the largest mobile channel-share of total e-commerce revenues in the region (7.3 percent revenue share) and the second-highest growth rate from 2011 to 2012 (240 percent). With this, the mobile channel-share of total revenues in Scandinavia is almost double that of the European comparison (3.9 percent).
• With 356 percent, the Benelux countries record the highest growth rate for mobile revenues in the entire zanox network.


• In a comparison of European countries, Germany lies around the European average with a mobile channel-share of the total e-commerce revenues of 3.5 percent and revenue growth of 135 percent.




2.Sector growth: Financial service providers and Retail & Shopping providers record highest m-commerce growth in Europe


• Products and services from the Financial Services sector demonstrate the greatest growth potential in a comparison of revenue growth from the year 2011 to 2012; these are directly followed by products from the Retail & Shopping segment. The four most important sectors in the European zanox network are:
• Financial Services: 155 percent growth in an annual comparison
• Retail & Shopping: 153 percent growth in an annual comparison
• Telecommunications & Services: 121 percent growth in an annual comparison
• Travel: 96 percent growth in an annual comparison
• In Germany, the Telecommunications sector represents the fastest-growing m-commerce sector with year-on-year revenue growth of 163 percent.






3.Revenue share: iPad increases its lead – Android overtakes iPhone and secures 2nd spot


• In an annual comparison from 2011 to 2012, and with a still-growing overall market, Apple’s iOS operating system for iPad and iPhone devices exhibits a slight loss of ground in m-commerce, whilst still making the biggest contribution to mobile revenues with a share of 73 percent (2011: 78 percent).
• The launch of the iPad 3 in March 2012 injected new impetus into Apple’s tablet – the company registered record figures in 2012 with the iPad 3. Accordingly, the iPad was able to further cement its leading position as the No. 1 mobile revenue-generator and, therefore, as the motor for mobile commerce in Europe. In 2012, 53 percent of all mobile revenues in the zanox network were generated by iPads (2011: 43 percent).
• In the following places however there has been a switching of roles – the “power-shift” between Android and iPhone took place in March 2012. While the revenue share generated by Apple’s iPhone is in decline (from 35 percent in 2011 to 20 percent in 2012), Android devices now claim the 2nd spot and are forcing the iPhone into 3rd. In the annual comparison, Android managed to increase its m-commerce revenue share by more than eight percentage points to 25 percent, thereby accounting for a quarter of the total m-commerce revenue (2011: 17 percent).




4.Number of transactions: European consumers prefer Apple’s iOS


• Apple’s iOS operating system also holds the top spot in Europe with regard to the number of transactions. In 2012, 67.3 percent of mobile transactions in the zanox network were made via iOS. (2011: 69 percent).
• Android is the platform with the highest growth rates in mobile transactions. In 2012, almost a third (29.2 percent – 2011: 23 percent) of the transactions in Europe were generated by the Google operating system.
• The majority of consumers in Poland and Spain shop with Android devices, thereby forming an exceptional case in Europe. In 2012, Poland also took over from Spain as Android-region No. 1, with Android transactions at 64.9 percent and iOS at 23.1percent.
• Germany registers the most transactions via iOS devices in a European comparison (75.4percent); 22.9 percent of transactions are accounted for by Android devices.




5.Device performance: iPad users are the kings and queens of shopping in m-commerce


• iPad doesn’t just have its nose in front in terms of the number of transactions, but also with regard to the average revenue generated per transaction. iPad-users are particularly keen consumers and spend more per transaction than the users of other devices.
• On average, the spend per transaction via the iPad is around 50 percent higher than that for iPhone and the Android devices.




About the “zanox Mobile Performance Barometer”
With its transaction-based business model, the international zanox performance advertising network provides the largest and most relevant European platform for the analysis of trends and developments in the fields of e-commerce and mobile commerce.

The analysis is based on an appraisal of over 1,000 advertiser programmes in seven European markets (Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Benelux, Scandinavia and Poland) with annual consumer transactions in the double-figure millions range. With this, the findings of the “zanox Mobile Performance Barometer” provide decisive indicators for shifts in market shares and user habits in m-commerce. The “zanox Mobile Performance Barometer” is a sure gauge for developments in m-commerce – one which is not based on projections, surveys or other expert opinions, but rather, plainly and simply, on real consumer transactions; in other words, purchases, contract completions or subscriptions.

We are happy to give you an update about the zanox WINTER RALLY that took place during November and December 2012. The challenge for publishers was to achieve the most revenue increase within these two months. Last weekend the 15 winning publishers finally met in Stockholm to fly together to Kiruna in Northern Sweden. There they enjoyed a great stay in the world-famous ICEHOTEL including an adventurous tour on snow-scooters in Swedish Lapland. Read the rest of this entry »

We would like to thank you for the pleasant cooperation in 2012!
We wish you, your family and friends happy holidays and all the best for the new year!

 

 

 

zanox Mobile Performance Barometer: The consumer behaviour of iPad-users differs considerably from traditional online shopping

They surf longer, watch more TV shows online and play more promotional games – iPad-owners behave differently to the average internet-user. This is demonstrated, among others, by a study conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe (IAB Europe). But these are not the only differences. In the current “Mobile Performance Barometer 2012”, the performance advertising network, zanox, shows that users of the Apple tablet also have different online shopping-habits. Accounting for over 53% of revenues generated, the iPad is the most important source of sales in European mobile commerce (Status: September 2012). More than sufficient grounds for zanox to take a closer look at the shopping habits of iPad users.

The Revenue King: iPad
In order to produce a detailed picture of the shopping behaviour of iPad-users, zanox conducted an analysis of de facto transactions completed on over 1,000 of its advertiser programmes. During the process, it was noted that over half (53 percent) of all transactions in European m-commerce were completed on iPads. Revenues generated by iPhones make up 19 percent of the total volume, while the revenue-share generated by Android devices is 25 percent.

Shopping after work and on Sundays
“iPad-users are not only very well-funded: their buying habits also differ considerably from those of PC and smartphone-users,” explains Stefanie Lüdecke, Chief Sales Officer of zanox. Ordering the newest trends or downloading the latest tunes after work – these are typical everyday scenes for users in the iPad-community. Almost a third of all daily transactions (27.13 percent) are made between 6 pm and 9 pm. In addition, there is increased activity among iPad-users on Sundays. The number of transactions completed on Sunday is around 25 percent higher than the weekly average per day.

The user-scenarios for all other mobile devices, as well as for e-commerce via laptops and PCs look different. These user-groups usually shop between Monday and Thursday, with the number of transactions dipping slightly on Fridays and over the weekend. Beyond this, it is not possible to clearly deduce a preferred time-of-day for online shopping: Viewed over the course of the day, transactions remain at a similar level over all devices during the period from 6 am hours to 10 pm.

Retailers and fashion shops alone generated 63 percent of the m-commerce revenues made in Germany via the iPad in the first three quarters of 2012. If one compares the growth figures for the different sectors for the period between January and September 2012 with those for the previous year, it can be seen that the “Retail & Shopping” (222 percent), “Telecommunications and Services” (223 percent) and “Travel” (213 percent) sectors, in particular, have experienced substantial increases in transactions made using iPads.

iPad-commerce is not the same as m-commerce
“The development of a one-fits-all m-commerce-strategy for all platforms will not be an adequate response to the specifics of different mobile user-groups. The iPad is an m-commerce channel with laws of its own. Companies and the operators of online shops must bear this in mind if they wish to fully exploit the revenue-potential of this channel,” adds Lüdecke. “Sales campaigns for the iPad must be adapted to suit the specific consumer habits of its users.”

A good example for consideration of the habits of iPad users comes in the form of advanced STORE. An exclusive VIP publisher in the zanox network, they attuned themselves to the needs of this special target group some time ago. “The iPad is the most important driver in the m-commerce market and there are clear differences in shopping habits compared with other channels. For this reason, we have a long-established practice of optimising all of our ad media specifically for the iPad,” explains Marc Majewski, Founder and CEO of advanced STORE. “We started adapting our ad media for the new user-group back when the iPad 1 was launched. This entails measures such as the deliberate avoidance of Flash or the targeted use of fall-back ad media for the iPad.”

The “zanox Mobile Performance Barometer 2012” is the second analysis carried out by zanox on the basis of e-commerce transactions in the double-figure millions range from over 1,000 advertiser programmes in the European core markets (Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Benelux, Scandinavia and Poland). The transactions were reviewed with regard to their relevance for m-commerce.

The important end-of-year season is getting started, zanox enters the race and will provide you during 8 weeks with exclusive promotions and incentives.

Duration: 5 November – 30 December 2012.

During the next 8 weeks, our publishers will compete to become  ”zanox Winter Rally” champion. The 15 most successful publishers with the highest revenue growth will be rewarded with an exclusive trip to Northern Sweden, including a stay in the famous ICEHOTEL and a snow scooter safari! (See terms and conditions on the landing page)

Starting today, we will launch for the next eight weeks the best weekly Advertiser promotions to help our publishers increase their revenue during the zanox Winter Rally.

If you would like to join the rally as an advertiser with your promotion, simply speak to your zanox account manager.

For further information, please visit ou zanox Winter Rally page.

Dear zanox partners,

Due to maintenance work on our internal system on Saturday, 3^rd November and Sunday 4^th November we might see limitations in performance or availability of our system or individual services.
The zanox tracking functionality is not affected.

We apologize for any inconvenience during this time.

Your zanox Team

It took us a bit longer than we expected, but on November 3, we are finally turning off the old 2009 version of the Publisher API, per our migration strategy. 

If you haven’t done so yet, please migrate to the 2011 version.

Information regarding the shutoff can be found at: http://wiki.zanox.com/en/Changeover_2009_to_2011

To stay informed about all important issues regarding the Publisher API, please subscribe to the developer mailing list at http://www.zanox.adjoli.de/subscribe/zxapi.

In just a few weeks, our classic UI will be retired and upgraded to our new User Interface: the zanox marketplace.

This new User Interface arms you with a host of brand-new features and tools to take affiliate marketing to a whole new level of performance. Read the rest of this entry »