Behavioral Targeting Making Gains: 24/7 Real Media

Marketers using behavioral targeting have seen their click-through rates climb by as much as 250 percent, according to a study expected to be released today by 24/7 Real Media.

In its second 24/7 Real Media Quarterly Targeting Research Report, the company claims a major movie studio used behavioral targeting to increase average click-through rates on movie ads by 25 percent over ads targeted demographically, in this case on women’s sites.

“The behaviorally targeted ads demonstrated their ability to reach and appeal to their target audience on non-traditional women’s sites whose ads cater to a broader demographic, as opposed to traditional women’s sites where a reasonable click-through rate could be expected,” the company said in a statement.

The company also says that the study of ad campaigns using its 24/7 OnTarget behavioral targeting technology found behavioral targeting increased the value of participating publishers’ lower-tiered ad inventory by 550 percent.

“Our studies clearly show that behavioral targeting across a large network of Web sites drives the greatest benefit for both advertisers and publishers,” said David Moore, chairman and CEO of 24/7 Real Media, in a statement.

The use of behaviorally targeted advertising is expected to increase by 65 percent and account for about 20 percent of all online ad buys in 2006, according to another recent study.

24/7’s announcement comes on the heels of an announcement last week that Revenue Science launched a pilot program allowing advertisers to place behavioral targeting campaigns across a range of sites at once, and to receive independent measurement of those campaigns.