banners

OK, so the title might be over-stating the case just a fraction, but the value of the good old-fashioned display advert is certainly suffering.

A recent comScore study claims that while Facebook and MySpace represent 20% of total US display advertising volume, they only represent 5% of total value. In total, the social networks are depressing average CPMs (cost per thousand impressions).

Social networks are averaging just $0.56 CPM compared to $2.43 average. Take Facebook and friends out of the equation and the CPM rises to $2.99.

UPDATE 1: @decappeal have been in touch with official banners.

UPDATE 2: Please use #techhaiti in tweets & blogs, tech volunteers and Crisis Camp.

I was working late when the news started to come in about the earthquake in Haiti. The sense of something major unfolding on an unimaginable scale reminded me of listening to the radio as I heard reports of the tsunami.

What can you do? Put your hand in your pocket. Done.

Next up, spread the word using the channels at your disposal. For me, one of these is using the advertising space on Chinwag.com for worthy causes. We've helped Do The Green Thing in the past and using the space to help promote donations is a no-brainer.

I did a lot of searching for banners to use, as I'm conscious of copyright and keeping everything legit when there's money involved. I tried Twitter to no effect and then through LinkedIn, was pointed in the direction of Oxfam Ireland who have a page full of banners (congratulations to their comms team for turning this round so quickly).

Unfortunately, none of them fit the size used on Chinwag (MPU - 300x250), so I've mustered my meagre design skills (and that's probably overstating the case) to create a banner that'll have to do in the meantime: