europeforvisitors - 2:14 am on Mar 7, 2007 (gmt 0)

Adding to the list: New features that let advertisers bid on just the websites they want. Watch your EPC collapse when a couple of big, savvy advertisers figure out they can get more bang for the buck by paying higher EPC to just a handful of websites, and dropping out of the rest of the content network that happens to include your website.

But can big, savvy advertisers get more bang for the buck by paying higher EPC to just a handful of Web sites? I think that's potentially a bigger issue with site-targeted CPM advertising than with contextual advertising, simply because "a handful of sites" probably can't deliver enough keyword-targeted impressions for those big, savvy advertisers.

I'd guess that site-targeted contextual advertising may not be great news for really small publishers (especially in big, crowded categories where it's hard for a mom-and/or-pop publisher to be noticed), but it should benefit the reputable, established medium-size niche publisher whose potential advertisers are familiar with the Web sites in that niche. IMHO, developing a brand identity and building for the long term will become more important than ever when advertisers can pick and choose where their ads appear.