The key to online success is to drive quality targeted traffic to websites that are easy to understand, and simple to navigate. It must be transparent WHO you are, WHAT you sell, WHERE it can be purchased, WHY consumers should purchase it and HOW they should do it. When you use a search engine like Google, your goal is most likely to find the most appropriate answer to your questions, no matter what device you happen to be using.

HTML5 is the latest and greatest version of the HyperText Markup Language that was developed in the late 1980s. It was meant to describe documents that linked to one another. Back in the day, the role of HTML was rather simplistic-to help describe the structure of documents and to permit them to cross-link. Today it’s used to enhance a text file with bits of code (or markup) that describes the structure of the document.

In December of 2016, a cybersecurity firm called White Ops announced that Russian cybercriminals had built a new high-tech ad fraud enterprise. The scheme involved showing real ads to fake people, and to date, has syphoned over $180 million from the online advertising industry. This highly sophisticated bot farm operation is called “Methbot,” and according to White Ops COO, Eddie Schwartz, “This is a very advanced cyber operation on a scale no one’s seen before.

A recent study concluded that an advertiser on a primetime television broadcast could have reached 56% more adults (18-49) by also placing their video on YouTube. The screens that ads appear on are losing their relevance, but content, reach and timing will always be of the upmost importance. In today’s advanced technological world, there is very little that can’t be viewed onscreen. Whether it appears on a television screen, a computer screen or on a mobile device … we still see it.

According to leading marketing forecasters, the dollar amount that’s spent on advertising via social media is predicted to equal what is spent on newspaper ad revenues by the year 2020. This rapid shift in advertising trends has rocked the media industry over the past few years. Firms have started moving their marketing budgets from the more traditional advertising sources like newspapers, for instance, to online sources across all channels and screens.

The measurement and tracking of today’s advertising results is easily contaminated; plagued by malicious fraudulent activity. In order to validate the effectiveness of a company’s ad spend, all efforts must be put forth to eliminate ad fraud from their programmatic advertising system. But as attractive as that sounds, is it really possible? The answer is a resounding “YES!” One way to accomplish this is to utilize the services of multiple (and reputable) third-party validation companies, incorporating just one of them to oversee what the others are doing with the campaign.

On average, only 5% of the consumers’ time is spent searching; the other 95% is spent on reviewing content as they secure their decision on what to buy, and from whom. It has become obvious that customers don’t always end up purchasing the brand they initially set out to buy. Facts, figures and information placed in front of their faces can sway their decision-making. In addition, the competition is actively seeking their business as well, bombarding them from every direction.

The holiday shopping frenzy has begun, and consumers are increasingly turning to the internet to discover what is in, who they should purchase from or where they should go to find it. Last year, over half of the holiday shoppers polled said that they would be willing to buy from new retailers. They certainly don’t stick with the same vendor just because they have been there in the past. Today’s consumers want to find the best product at a fair price, and this is gold for marketers.

Most brand marketers recognize that we are now living in the future; at least technologically. Now, successful companies are recognizing that they must be there for consumers during the pertinent moments of their purchasing journey. With the new mobile technology, advertisers can now reach out to more consumers than has ever been possible in the past. Thanks to the advancements in programmatic digital marketing, engaging consumers in all walks of life has become much easier; but they must be present in the moment!

Online consumers are used to seeing ads pop up as they browse the internet. This is not a bad thing. In fact, with the programmatic technology in full swing, these ads can be a great assist to consumers as they search for products and services that they have heretofore displayed an interest in. That fact, however, has spurred certain technology companies to introduce software that effectively blocks ads from coming through to them, allowing them to surf the internet practically ad-free.