MonetizingGovernment Websites A Feasibility Analysis

Webchutney Report 2011

Ankita Kapoor

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 2

RESEARCH APPROACH ..................................................................................................................... 2

TAKING A LEAF FROM GLOBAL COUNTERPARTS ........................................................................... 3

Case Studies ......................................................................................…………………………….. 3

RATIONAL(E) OVERVIEW FOR MONETIZING GOVERNMENT WEBSITES ...................................... 5

AT CROSSROADS: BARRIERS IN HOSTING ADS ON GOVERNMENT WEBSITES ......................... 5

THE WAY FORWARD .......................................................................................................................... 6

MECHANICS OF SPACE SELLING ON GOVERNMENT WEBSITES ................................................. 7

Direct Sales .................................................................................................................................. 7

Ad Network.................................................................................................................................... 7

DIGITALLY DEALING THE DYNAMICS: GOVERNMENT & AD NETWORKS ...................................... 8

Ad Server ...................................................................................................................................... 8

Tracking & Monitoring Features ................................................................................................... 8

MODEL FOR SPACE SELLING ON GOVERNMENT WEBSITES ....................................................... 9

GREEN SIGNALING PRIVATE ENTITIES TO CHECK-IN TO GOVERNMENT PORTALS ................... 10

LEVERAGING GOVERNMENT UNITS ON GOVERNMENT PORTALS ............................................... 11

THE FINAL VERDICT ........................................................................................................................... 12

APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................................... 13

Case Study ................................................................................................................................... 13

About Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP) ........................................................ 14

Ad Network .................................................................................................................................. 14

Ad Network Payment Terms ......................................................................................................... 15

Real Time Graphical Reporting Features ..................................................................................... 15

Ad-Pricing Methods ..................................................................................................................... 16

Ad-Pricing Methods Relevant for Monetizing Government Websites ......................................... 16

Examples of Government Websites Hosting Ads ....................................................................... 17

Ads on Government Owned Physical Infrastructure are Present Everywhere ............................ 21

Contents

The feverish pace of growth of internet bears testimony to the rise of an IT-oriented world, with increasing substitution of traditional media with digital tools including blogs, search engines, websites, and social media.

Increased affluence amongst the Indian populace has translated into greater internet access by consumers, particularly, with interested, relevant and highly focused audience groups aggregating at one place, presenting numerous opportunities before marketers to understand and realize the value of internet as a marketplace and target them across the interactive platform.

Increased use and adoption of technology coupled with a growing demand for transparency has led to a tectonic shift in the role of information - changing it from being privilege of a few, to a right, that citizens today increasingly desire, require and demand from their government(s).

Clearly, the task of building, managing and maintaining an IT infrastructure capable of supporting the government to reach out and connect with citizens, without incurring any additional expenses, is humungous. Accordingly, government websites are in a unique position conveying a sense of legitimacy, which is unlike and cannot be duplicated by any of the commercial websites. Also, thanks to an overtly-specific information objective with which people log onto government websites, their likelihood of reading and browsing through pages in detail is higher, turning government sites prime real estate for serious, content-related advertising.

The paper intends to conduct a feasibility analysis to evaluate the prospect of monetizing Indian government sites through effective placement of ads and understand which model of ad sourcing - from private entities or agencies within government is suitable for monetizing government websites.

2

Introduction

An in-depth study on the topic would focus on the following points:

n Map existing government agencies in India (if any) and abroad which permit/allow sale of advertising space of their websites

n Evaluate the kinds of ads being posted on government websites currently (in India and abroad)

n Map the categories of advertisers that may be interested in advertising on Indian government websites

n Determine product/service categories suitable for placement as ads on government websites

n Feasibility analysis to ascertain the best way to source and manage ads for government websites, analyzing who should be allowed - private entities or government agencies

n Evaluate most suitable metric for revenue generation on government websites

n Estimate potential advertising sales revenue by hosting ads on government portals

n Establish guidelines to ensure adherence to laws regulating content on government websites

Research Approach

#*JuxtConsult NIC

Quick Facts Figures (in million)

Internet users in India* 65 mn

Urban user base* 46 mn (approx.)

Rural user base* 16 mn (approx.)

YoY growth in users* 28%(from 2010 to 2011)

#No. of government websites in India 6,678 (approx.)

UK's National Weather Service Agency, The Met Office has been carrying ads on its website for quite some time now. The first government site featuring commercial advertising, the site has allotted relevant ad spots to a variety of brands.

Attracting over 3 million users a month, companies and brands both recognize the tremendous potential of advertising on Met Office website to reach out to their audiences.

Considering weather is of great significance for people looking forward to book a vacation in UK, there is a lot of synergy that exists between the portal and a host of brands. Ads ranging from hotels to car rentals, cough syrups to holiday trips have been found on the website.

“This initiative gives companies the chance to place their brand alongside that of the Met Office. By opening up this new revenue stream, we will also be able to invest more in the services provided on our website”, says Charles Ewen, Head of web business, Met Office.

The government portal has used a comprehensive tender process to design and build its website and provide web content management services, drastically improving its content management life-cycle and targeting of specialist groups, specifically those having a requirement for weather and climate information.

1Case 1: Met Office Website Generates Revenue through Ads

1Source: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/met-office-becomes-first-government-website-to-carry-ads/3006087.article

Exhibit 1: Met Office Website

Case Studies

Taking a Leaf from Global Counterparts

Across the world, governments have recognized the benefits of permitting ads on their sites to supplement their revenue stream and opened their doors to the same. The Indian government is at an advantage to learn from experiences of its western counterparts, guard against their follies and replicate their success stories to knit its own.

While numerous examples of governments permitting ads on their sites exist, here are some of the cases. (Refer appendix for more cases)

3

Washington State Ferries website began testing waters of internet advertising, starting with ads of Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau on the state ferries website. The ads start appearing from Jan 3, 2011, on pages providing ferry schedule information and tracking vessels on Puget Sound, and depending on their success, plans to extend the facility to websites of other state agencies are in the pipeline.

“Since ads can't be sold on dot-gov websites, the pages will be converted to dot-com addresses, but they'll be instantly linked when users click,” said Karina Shagren, a spokeswoman in the governor's office. While the site is expected to have revenue generating potential of $4 million to $5 million a year, severe caution will be exercised in choosing the product categories being advertised, and mostly, they will relate to travel or tourism.

The decision to allow ads on Washington Ferries website was taken after the Washington Legislature approved spending $75,000 on a yearlong test to determine whether ads can make money without disrupting people looking for ferry information.

"We join a handful of government agencies across the country exploring website advertising and how it might benefit taxpayers. This could potentially generate new revenue at a time when it's badly needed, as well as offer businesses a new way to reach potential customers,” Paula Hammond, Transportation Secretary said in a statement. The Transportation Department's Web pages get about 410 million page views a year and its 12 schedule pages and the ferry-tracking page receive nearly 1.2 million page views a month.

The Ferries Division already has been selling ad space aboard ferries and in terminals since 2007, which helped it bring in $474,000 in 2010. One of the key advertisers on the portal is the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, which paid as much as $12,800 for its ads on the ferry portal pages in January. The Transportation Department will receive about $7,000 of that, with the remainder going to an ad sales company. The portal expects its viewership to be attractive to businesses selling to drivers, travelers and tourists in Washington, according to Jeff Doyle, director of the Public-Private Partnerships Office.

2Case 2: Washington State Ferries’ Website Selling Hawaii Ads

2Source: http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/544361/Washington-to-sell-Hawaii-ads-on-state-website.html?nav=8

Exhibit 2: Washington State Ferries Website

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Over 65 million online Indians actively seek Additional revenue generated by government information from various portals including implies greater avenues for better allocation government websites, formulating a huge user and utilization of taxpayers' moneybase ensuring adequate traffic necessary for

Development of well-equipped government monetizing government websites

portals resulting in higher productivity and Government's monopoly over certain kinds faster delivery of services onlineof information ensures a loyal base of

More information shared with citizens through visitors, often inducing repeat visits

convenient website mode implies an extension Immense potential to generate revenue, of Right to Information Act 2005 - a stellar capable of supplementing government's example of Indian government opening up and traditional revenue sources and aiding welcoming transparency in its dealingsbudget constraints faced so often

Ads on government sites will help it to be Substantial reduction in costs incurred by seen as a far more accessible and government in facilitating access to approachable entitygovernment related information and services - both online and offline

Rational(e) Overview for MonetizingGovernment Websites

Here's a need-benefit analysis to understand why allowing ads on Indian government’s websites makes sense:

At Crossroads: Barriers in HostingAds on Government Websites

The idea of allowing ads on government websites faces criticism from several quarters including arguments about the following:

Nature of Content:

Potential Privacy Violations:

Implied Endorsement:Lack of control over Redirects:

Accessibility:Implied Liability:

Use of government site in case of dissatisfaction, courting legal trouble pages for commercial, non-mission-related and possibility of negative publicitypurposes or hosting of misleading content

Profit-oriented including ads for illegal activities, tall claims,

private entities hosting ads on government sites spurious products, intended towards duping

may run cookies and gather user-behavior related people, is possible and therefore the idea is

data, violating individuals' privacy or challenge seen with skepticism

security of government displayed content Ads on government

Controlling the websites can lend a sense of legitimacy to

content of pages to which ads on government advertisers and their products and services and

sites redirect the user, is difficult for the lead users to believe that they are endorsed by

government. These could lead users to the government. For instance, a bank's ad on a

questionable or problematic websites and result government website can seem to imply that the

in unintended consequences for visitors or bank is the preferred bank according to the

government or bothgovernment

Adhering to NIC guidelines, Ads on government sites may

making government websites accessible to all be construed as a guarantee being provided by

users, irrespective of device in use, technology or government for products and services being

ability can in some ways be seen as a barrier in advertised and users clicking on the ads for

hosting ads on government websitespurchase may seek redressal from government

5

3Refer Appendix for DAVP

The Way Forward

n Adopt, build and develop adequate security mechanisms to verify the content of ads to be

displayed on government websites before actual display. For this, either an internal team can be

constituted by the government to check for authenticity of content or instructions can be passed

onto the ad server to select ads as per a list of specifications given

n Display a clear disclaimer delinking government's association, responsibility or liability towards

products/services being advertised on its pages to help citizens take more informed decisions

n Set a strict set of guidelines, to be adhered to by all advertisers hosting ads on government sites

n A list of ad-specifications can be prepared and handed over to the ad network to automatically

screen the irrelevant content type

n Consult a legal counsel to thoroughly consider the implications of permitting different types of ads

before hosting them

n Identify and empanel a group of advertisers, enter into agreements with them over expected

behavior and code of adherence. Another way could be to forbid private entities and allow only

agencies within government to place ads on government websites and thus promote perception

of unified, close knitted relationships between various government factions

n Allowing agencies within government to place ads on government sites would ensure

appropriateness of content and safeguard users and government both from unauthorized content

n Feed instructions into the ad-server to cross check and verify content of pages to which the ads

are linked to prevent users from being directed to undesirable content

n Instruct the ad-server to accept only those ads that adhere to NIC's accessibility guidelines to be

hosted by government sites

n Issue instructions to all entities wishing to advertise on government portals, to adhere to a set of

accessibility instructions and appoint an agency on lines of Directorate of Advertising & Visual 3Publicity (DAVP) to keep tab on adherence of the same

6

Several models of management for selling ad space exist before the Indian government. While

permitting advertisements across various products/service categories would help government propel

its revenue generation, selecting the correct management model for sale of ad space is crucial.

Under this, the government would be required to directly sell ads on its website by hiring staff to

manage its sales, accounting, and technological requirements as well as purchasing and maintaining

the hardware and software associated with the exercise. However, this is an expensive exercise that

would necessitate hiring of additional full time employees in sales, management as well as Information

Technology to build, manage and coordinate activities. However, the advantage is that the government

would be able to net the full price of every ad sold under this method, but it is important to state here

that this is a very expensive sales management model. Moreover, additional expenses will be incurred

for ad serving technology, however, these won’t be a lot, as major ad serving vendors offer hosted

solutions, build and manage their own infrastructure. Usually, major ad serving vendors do not list their

prices and prefer to negotiate with each customer.

According to this model, the government will enter into a contract with an ad network - a company that

sells ad space for different websites and connects sites with ad space with advertisers looking forward

to advertise, paying royalties to website owners.

It is easy for the government to sell its ad space through an ad network and the costs involved are also

minimal. However, an additional body, possibly on lines of DAVP, will have to be created to manage the

government's relationship with the ad network. In terms of resources, this arrangement will work well

for the government as no additional sales or implementation staff will be required, as in exchange of a

percentage of revenue, most ad networks provide these services. However, a one-time effort involving

government's web development team to configure the site to the ad network's server in order to

display ads being hosted by it will have to be made.

Direct Sales

Ad Network

Mechanics of Space Selling onGovernment Websites

Relevant Method

Clearly, of the given models, the best way is to create a body on lines of DAVP and entrust it with

the responsibility of coordinating government's relationship with the ad network. It would help

keep costs and risks low, and provide a good enough opportunity to the government to generate

revenue out of sale of ad space on its websites. However, here careful selection of members of

the government unit handling its relationship with ad network and feeding instructions into it

would be critical. Presence of an ad network would mean that the government would not be

required to develop a sales force, generate awareness in the market or license any ad serving

technology. The unit would ensure that government's ad slots are connected with those of the ad

network's server and beyond this government's role would be fairly limited, while revenue would

start getting generated over a period of time.

7

With its set of procedural constraints, security and trust issues, the government, can handover the

responsibility of selecting and a reliable agency on

lines of Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP), which is the nodal agency for government,

and handles all its communication requirements.

The internal agency within government with the mandate of ensuring sale of ad space on government

portals will have to carefully select an ad network like and contract them for use

of their ad server - a tool that provides all facilities related to online advertising.

Ad servers can be fed with robust tracking facilities and fraud detection features, particularly, keeping in

mind the fact that severe care and caution has to be exercised in determining the

suitable for placement on government websites. Instructions can be fed into the server to notify if an

advertiser exceeds the threshold for fraud set by the DAVP-type agency and can automatically notify the

body, in case of default. Immediate action in terms of pausing or terminating the ad posted by the

affiliate can be taken by the agency accordingly.

Online audience base across a range of Indian government websites is extremely diverse, spanning

several demographic sections and categories. The agency can monitor and track demographics of

people visiting the mentioned 750 government websites and accordingly tie up with them. So for

instance, while a Government of India Website (www.india.gov.in) is likely to have centralized traffic

across various socio economic classes (SEC), a specialized website like Ministry of Women and Child

Development (www.wcd.nic.in) will have a different kind of demographic base possibly comprising of

social activists, NGO's, media etc. Tracking these, the agency can feed into the contracted server to

track audience base of its inventory and accordingly serve ads relevant to different demographic

groups, thereby enhancing traffic on the site and revenue for the government.

managing its relationship with an ad network to

DoubleClick or Zedo

type of content

Ad Server

Tracking & Monitoring Features

Digitally Dealing the Dynamics: Government & Ad Networks

8

Model for Space Selling on Government Websites

ReportsReports

Inventory

Govt Sites

Ad Server(Double Click/Zedo)

Real-Time AdGraphical Reporting

A

D

D

ML

N

Q

O

P

CPC,CPL

CPM

CPA

Banners

Textlinks

Emailer/EDM

Banners

Textlinks

Emailer/EDM Sites to

be tagged

with server

Banners, Text links and

Mailers uploaded on site

via server

Govt. Agency on lines of DAVP

Advertiser/Agency

A

Annual hosting feeplus impressions

based fee

Inventory of 750websites that need

to be monetized

Govt. Agency on lines of DAVP

Advertiser/Agency

9

Advertisements on government-owned physical infrastructure/assets including buses, trains, Metro rail,

flyovers, railway stations and bridges, are a common phenomenon and have helped subsidize their

cost of construction, maintenance and operations management for decades. (Refer appendix)

4Today the size of advertising industry in India is Rs. 23,646 crore , of which online advertising accounts 5for Rs. 917 crore, with a YoY growth rate of 28% . With about 6,678 websites currently being hosted by

government, the opportunity for monetizing a huge, already available inventory is immense. Some

governments in the west have successfully opened their portals to allow ads by a host of private

advertisers across a range of product/service categories, giving them an opportunity to connect with

local audiences easily and effectively. Indian government's existing policy of disallowing ads on

government sites is resulting in wastage of its humungous online inventory, frittering away of a

dedicated visitor base, and putting strain on use of tax payers’ money.

Having a huge online populace and potential to attract a highly interested and relevant audience base,

allowing ads on government sites can help government supplement its revenue while letting private

entities disseminate information about their products/services.

However, there are serious concerns over

like government portals. These include:

Private entities promoting themselves on government

websites would amount to government promoting

which is against the latter's principle

of treating all entities equally.

on government

portals

Difficulty in categorizing screening out

certain products/services, capable of denting government's

reputation (e.g. ads for cigarettes, liquor etc.)

Lack of compliance with government portals'

guidelines

Lack of control over content of links users from

the websites

The aforementioned factors make it increasingly difficult for the

government to open its doors to private advertisers. However,

the barrier here is not the idea of advertising on government

websites but letting private entities take charge of it. Monetizing

government portals to generate revenue is a compelling reason

for government to consider the proposition of allowing agencies

within government to advertise on its portals.

allowing private entities take charge of sovereign entities

n

commercial activities,

n Potential privacy and security violations

n permissible content,

n accessibility

n redirecting

Green Signaling Private Entitiesto Check-in to Government Portals

4Pitch-Madison Advertising Outlook 2011 http://www.pitchonnet.com/PitchMadisonMediaAdvertisingOutlook/Outlook-2011-Internet.asp5India Online 2011 Report, JuxtConsult10

While the idea of allowing private entities to advertise on government sites is fraught with dangers, an

immensely viable way is to forbid private players and allow agencies within government to advertise on

government websites. Arguments in favor of the proposition include:

Allowing agencies within government to advertise on government portals will help provide visibility to

the activities, functioning, future plans, funding etc. of various government agencies which otherwise do

not merit attention-both within media as well as in public domain. This would help them connect with

the growing online Indian populace, which is increasingly on a lookout for government related

information and help foster greater camaraderie and closer relationships with citizens.

However, there should be a cost attached to providing this visibility and therefore agencies within 6government should be charged on Cost per Mille (CPM) basis by the hosting government portals.

The idea is to leverage each other’s presence to enhance and build up the overall web presence of

government as well as reach out to citizens, while developing substantial web assets for various

government agencies. Additional revenue generated through ads on the sites can help supplement

government's sources of income and can eventually be put to greater uses.

In a bid to attract traffic to monetize themselves, this move will compel agencies within government to

improve their existing websites, infrastructure and promote IT development and bring their web

properties at par with those of governments in developed nations. Bringing information traditionally

available through cumbersome offline modes, to a convenient online route, would propel various

government agencies to focus on building and refurbishing their online assets.

In times when public faith in government/departments and their functioning is at an all-time low,

channelizing the power of internet in becoming more accessible, approachable and receptive to

citizens and their needs, government agencies can help restore faith and garner a lot more than just

votes from public.

While greater control over type of content, specifications, images, links etc. can be exercised, the

sanctity of government web pages can be maintained by allowing agencies within government to

advertise on government portals in place of private advertisers. Moreover, doubts about ads disrupting

security of government web properties can also be put to rest with not-for-profit government agencies

advertising in place of private advertisers.

Information Dissemination

Revenue Generation

Building Web Assets

Restoring Public's Faith

Control over content

Leveraging Government Units on Government Portals

6Refer Appendix for CPM

11

The Final VerdictWhile the idea of an electronic government is still in a stage of infancy,

the role played by internet in delivering government information and

services cannot be ignored any further. As advertisers across the

world have recognized the enormous potential of advertising on

government websites, it’s time the Indian government takes note of

the possibility of developing a revenue source capable of

supplementing its existing revenues as well as offset costs of

developing and implementing expensive e-government initiatives.

However, there are certain legal, ethical, and administrative

challenges that must be resolved before the government can proceed

with such an enterprise and service citizens’ demand for more

information. Monetizing government websites is feasible; what is

required is dedicated efforts on government’s part to address security

concerns and understand the revenue generation schema before

expecting benefits from hosting ads on its portals. Exploring the

possibility of allowing entities to display ads on government websites

definitely merits attention. While the question of who - whether private

entities or government agencies should be allowed to make a foray

onto government websites along with the technicalities of the

guidelines to be issued can be assessed, monitored and evaluated in

greater details, the proposition of turning government websites into

prime time inventory to supplement government’s revenue seems

immensely viable.

12

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead council has started selling ads on its portal from June

2011, typically following cuts to its budget. With about 30,000 users frequenting the site in a week, the

site's viewership and consequent revenue generation potential is substantial.

“Through ads, the council can generate income without increasing the financial burden on Royal

Borough residents,” said Anthony Kemp, Strategic Resources Director. Decisive about not promoting

certain product categories including tobacco and alcohol, the website's advertising policy was

approved by the council's cabinet in March this year.

The Council website is hopeful of making money through ads and using it for betterment of citizens

instead of burdening them with additional taxes to raise money. In a budget cut situation, such an

option is immensely useful.

Case Study

Windsor & Maidenhead Council Website Host Ads 7to Combat Budget Cuts

7Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-12960481

Exhibit 3: Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Website

Appendix

13

Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP) is the nodal multi-media advertising agency of

Government of India and services communication needs of all Central Ministries/Departments,

autonomous bodies and PSU's by providing them a single window cost effective service. Operating as

a strong catalyst for social change and economic growth, the channels of communication used by

DAVP include:

Advertisements - Release of press ads

Exhibitions - Putting up exhibitions

Outdoor Publicity - Display of hoardings, kiosks, bus panels, wall paintings, cinema slides, banners etc.

Printed Publicity - Booklets, folders, posters, leaflets, calendars, diaries etc.

Audio & Visual Publicity - Spots/Quickies, jingles, sponsored programs, short films etc.

Mailing of publicity material - Distribution of publicity material

n

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Ad NetworkAn ad network is a group of websites that can be purchased by a single sales entity and this collection

of sites could be owned by the same publisher (e.g.: AOL, CNN, Sports Illustrated, etc. are all owned by

AOL/Time Warner) or it could be an affiliation of sites sharing a firm.

Ad networks have tie ups with publishers (websites with ad space) and provide advertisers' clients full

freedom in selecting and deciding the sites on which advertisers can chose to advertise. An ad server is

a suite of hosted software which allows one to upload creative inputs (ads in varied forms including

vanilla/rich media/interactive) and then serve them from one central location to all publisher websites

with whom the network has tied up for ad space.

Above this basic functionality of ad server, additional features including refinements, tracking features,

optimization features and vendor specific customizable features can also be added. Ad servers

generally serve a number of purposes including easy distribution of creative inputs (ads), useful data

generation and consistent counting methodology. While they place scripts on web pages, these scripts

contain important information that can be customized to specify the kind of ads one wishes to display.

Parameters along with which ad scripts can be customized include:

Ad format

Specific banner dimension

Static ad or rotating ads

Server ads for a specific publisher

The advantage of using an ad server is that it can be endowed with and

that can carry out affiliate approval and to verify

authenticity of advertiser as well as maintain a database of

Preparing and maintaining a database of fraudulent advertisers with inappropriate ads can help take

quicker decisions of debarring them in future.

n

n

n

n

robust tracking facilities

advanced monitoring tools background check

fraudulent affiliates.

About DAVP

14

Appendix

The contracted ad server can be instructed to generate and provide real-time reportage about

the success/failure of ads on government websites. The reports generated can be highly

specific and can include multiple graphing/charting options—from pie charts to 3D views, data

sliced, diced and dissected across flexible user-defined criteria such as filter, campaign, date

range et all, to give a better idea about on government websites.

Primarily, what this implies is that in real-time the ad server would be able to capture reports

about how well a particular ad is doing, what kind of users are

and so on. Hence,

the agencies advertising on government sites (intra-governmental advertisers) can know

immediately which creative is working, which is not or which banner positioning is attracting

more eyeballs and which one is being ignored. Moreover, this data can be generated at any

etc.

While the government agency managing relationship with ad network can retain a copy of this

automatically generated report and keep it for reference, another copy can be shared with

intra-governmental advertisers to help them know and understand the success of their

respective campaigns. Another advantage of real-time report generation and sharing is that

based on performance, modifications/alterations can be made to the existing ads, and

changes in placement of the ad on the page as well across a range of available government

sites can be made to improve impressions and aid

performance of various ads

visiting it, click rate, views,

impressions, time spent on the page, depth of interaction with the ad

time-daily, weekly, bi-monthly, monthly

revenue generation.

Real-Time Graphical Reporting Features

Ad Network Payment Terms

Specialized ad servers with varying features are

available in the market today, notable amongst which

are DoubleClick and Zedo. The government will be

required to pay them a for serving

ads on its sites, along with a based on

number of impressions. If a consolidated block of

government's inventory is made and offered to the ad

server, better negotiations can be carried out with the

latter and a lower price for impression fee can be

achieved, resulting in greater saving and

for the government.

fixed hosting fee

variable fee

more

revenues

15

Appendix

A number of methods are available before government to charge agencies using its ad space.

These include CPC, CPM CPA and CPL.

The advertiser will be charged on basis of number of clicks registered on his/her ad

The advertiser pays for an explicit sign-up from an interested

consumer interested in the advertiser offer

It is an online advertising pricing model, where the advertiser pays for

each specified action (a purchase, a form submission, and so on)

linked to the advertisement.

It is a costing method that charges on basis of per 1000 impressions.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

Cost Per Lead (CPL)

Cost per Acquisition (CPA)

Cost per mille (CPM)

Ad-Pricing Methods

Of the various available metrics for charging advertisers for advertising on government websites

including CPC, CPL , CPM and CPA, the most relevant method is CPM or cost per mille. This is

because the remaining are all which are more relevant for

sites with high traffic, frequency of visit and a high level of consumer engagement, resulting in greater

revenue generation for ad space provider.

For instance, on a website like Yahoo, people across different social- strata visit, providing

innumerable opportunities for engagement –clicks, sign up, registration as well as buying. Hence, if

CPL, CPA or CPC were to be adopted as costing methods, the high level of engagement would result

in high revenues for Yahoo. However, in case of government websites, traffic type is highly target

oriented, i.e., comprises of people looking for certain kinds of information only and opportunities for

engagement are restricted. Moreover, if agencies within government were to advertise on government

websites, the opportunities for engagement (click-driven traffic) will not be too high,

as costing methods. Also, under performance oriented costing methods (CPC, CPL

and CPA), it will be possible to do the following:

Define ad units or number of ads to be placed

Select sites for placement of an ad

Select pages for ad placement

Determine the kind of ad that is relevant for the site

Thus, government websites can be successfully monetized only if they charge on basis of cost per

1000 impressions.

ad-performance based costing methods,

ruling out CPC,

CPL and CPA

NOT

n

n

n

n

Ad-Pricing Method Relevant forMonetizing Government Websites

16

Appendix

Examples of Government Websites Hosting Ads

8http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/things_see_do/attractions.html 9http://cookcountyassessor.com/

9Case 2

17

Appendix

8Case 1

Examples of Government Websites Hosting Ads

10http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SXh9eUh5Osw/SFj5vLuOWhI/AAAAAAAACZ0/U5HOoATFTIs/s1600-h/lincolnshire.jpg 11http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SXh9eUh5Osw/SFkBMSMBviI/AAAAAAAACaU/rQ46RgXtHKE/s1600-h/flyde.jpg

10Case 3

11Case 4

18

Appendix

Examples of Government Websites Hosting Ads

12http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/13http://www.bromley.gov.uk/

12Case 5

13Case 6

19

Appendix

Examples of Government Websites Hosting Ads

14http://www.tandridge.gov.uk/YourCouncil/StrategiesPolicies/advertising.htm15http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/news_and_events/press_releases/2010_press_releases/ media_releases_for_october_201/advertising_on_the_councils_w.aspx?addlink=yes

14Case 7

15Case 8

20

Appendix

Ads on Government Owned PhysicalInfrastructure are Present Everywhere

21

Appendix

On Foot Over Bridges At Railway Stations

At Bus Stops On Buses

On Delhi Metro Platforms Inside Delhi Metro Coaches

Ankita Kapoor is a Research Analyst at Webchutney.

She has completed her MBA in Marketing from ICFAI Business

School (IBS), Hyderabad. Prior to this, she graduated in

Journalism from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. She has

interned with ‘HPCL-Mittal Energy’ (HMEL) and ‘Business

Standard’ during her post graduation and graduation

respectively. Her strong analytical and communication skills and

deep interest in the field have lent new perspectives to various

research publications such as the Vertical Digital Marketing

Reports in the Automotive, Consumer Durable Goods, Mobile

Handset and Healthcare sectors at Webchutney.

She can be reached at ankita.kapoor@webchutney.net

Ankita Kapoor

22

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