For example, in an article about ski resorts on MensFitness.com, the keywords ‘Whistler’s alpine summit’ might be hyperlinked. When a user rolls-over the keyword, a Kontera Hybrid unit opens showing related articles, information and a MensFitness.com advertiser. The unit might include links to articles and videos about skiing at Whistler, or it could display other similarly themed content from MensFitness.com. Click here to see the Kontera Hybrid in action.

User engagement rates of over 20% with elements from within the unit (including clicks on the ads of the content) have been seen by clients using the Kontera Hybrid technology, including several American Media, Inc. (AMI) websites. A significant increase in pages views as well as three times the user click-throughs on Kontera Hybrid links compared to traditional In-Text Ads was also reported.

Pamela Russo, VP, Director Interactive Operations of American Media Inc said “As a premium magazine publisher, with a wide variety of online properties, my biggest asset is my content. We chose the Kontera Hybrid to be AMI’s exclusive In-Text solution provider because it generates additional advertising revenue. Kontera’s technology drives high click-through rates for both the ads and the related content areas because of the high degree of relevancy. The fact that the technology can dynamically deliver my own database of advertisers into the Kontera Hybrid is a benefit to AMI.”

Bryan Everett, SVP or Sales and Business Development for Kontera told Adotas “For the first time in the In-Text market, the Kontera Hybrid is offering an In-Text solution that incorporates contextually relevant content and advertisements in a single unit whose unprecedented click-through rates serve as proof of the value provided to users, publishers and advertisers alike.”

Industry insiders gossip that this may cause advertiser to be more cautious when considering contextual ads, claiming many will turn to alternatives.

Click Fraud Index report showed that Q2 traffic from botnets doubled from Q1. President and CEP of Click Forensics, Tom Cuthbert stated, “Advertisers running campaigns on content networks are especially vulnerable as they are increasingly targeted by a growing pool of fraudsters, from botnets [groups of compromised computers that can be used to commit crimes like spamming and identity theft] to publishers and individual site owners that have created made-for-ad sites.”

FBI officials have been cracking down on botnet rings. They have reported over 1 million US computers to have been hijacked by bots. Both Yahoo and Google are making changes to try to help their advertisers feel safe against the threat of click fraud.

Despite Google’s launch of AdWords and changing of Quality Score; as well as Yahoo’s “openness” policy with its advertisers and their control over Panama and the appointing of Reggie Davis to vice president of marketplace quality; many critics agree that not enough is being done to prevent revenue losses from fraudulent clicks.