Advertising on e-commerce marketplaces, wherein sponsored product listings are interleaved with organic product listings, is a large and growing phenomenon. In this paper, we both theoretically and empirically study whether including sponsored listings improves or hurts the overall quality and relevance of the set of products displayed to consumers. Our theoretical analysis reveals that the relevance of the ads to the consumers' search queries depends on the level of information asymmetry between the marketplace owner and the sellers who sell products with different degrees of relevance. Specifically, when information asymmetry is low (high), i.e., the platform can (cannot) easily distinguish between high- and low-relevance sellers, then low-relevance (high-relevance) sellers have a greater incentive to advertise. However, even when low-relevance products are displayed as ads, consumers end up finding well-matching products as long as search and evaluation costs are reasonable; therefore, the overall impact on sales is relatively small while the marketplace benefits from the additional revenue from selling ads. We obtain data from a large-scale field experiment run at Flipkart, a leading online marketplace in India, and find that various empirical patterns implied by our theoretical results hold in the data. Our study provides several practical implications for managers of online marketplaces.

THE BEST MARKETING BOOK OF THE YEAR Winner of the American Marketing Association’s Berry-AMA prize In 1848 gold was discovered in California, setting off a frenzy that sent men and women from across the American continent flocking to the West Coast in search of fortune. The Gold Rush brought wealth to some, but most left empty-handed. Today, marketing consultants Ed Keller and Brad Fay say social media is unleashing a new kind of frenzy. Blinded by the shiny allure of sites like Facebook and Twitter, companies are spending billions, pinning their hopes on social media marketing without appreciating how social influence truly functions in the marketplace. That’s where Keller and Fay come in. For the past six years, they have undertaken a unique, ongoing study of consumer conversations. The surprising result? Over 90 percent of consumer conversations still take place offline, primarily face to face. The implication is clear: Social media is big and growing, but it is dwarfed by the real world in which people live and interact. Make no mistake. There is a hugely important social wave rolling across the world of business today. New scientific evidence reveals that we humans are fundamentally social beings for whom social influence determines nearly every decision we make. And the greatest impact comes when those conversations happen face to face, as emotions and nonverbal cues are communicated along with words. In The Face-to-Face Book, Keller and Fay offer key insights and recommendations for how businesses, both large and small, can best succeed in today’s socially motivated consumer marketplace by looking at how consumers act in real life as well as online. The authors share their extensive research and the stories of companies—large, such as Apple, General Mills, Kimberly–Clark, and Toyota, as well as innovative small businesses—that have hit pay dirt with a balanced and holistic approach to social marketing. They also discuss those that have bet big and lost by overcommitting to online social media alone. The Face-to-Face Book does not overlook the extraordinary growth and importance of social media, which offers important new tools for businesses of all kinds; however, the authors caution against placing too grand a bet on online social media at the expense of other forms of social marketing. This book is a celebration of the supremely social nature of all human beings and how that drives the consumer marketplace. It’s a story that will leave you thinking anew, and talking.

This accessible and comprehensive textbook explores the role of advertising in the marketplace. It investigates how firms’ advertising strategies are informative, persuasive or add value to the product advertised. The book explains in detail empirical methodologies used to identify the impact of advertising on consumer demand and on market structure and reviews some recent empirical findings. It concludes with an in-depth exploration of digital advertising and auctions along with a framework for current antitrust investigations into two-sided platforms (Google, Facebook) that are funded by advertising revenues.

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Business economics - Marketing, Corporate Communication, CRM, Market Research, Social Media, grade: NA, , language: English, abstract: In this short paper an attempt will be made to present the old and new scenarios of marketing. This paper focuses on the old versus new rules of marketing. The separator of old and new rules of marketing is the web. Prior to the arrival of the web, marketing organizations had only two significant options for attracting attention of clients: Buy expensive advertising or get endorsement, mainly through advertorials, from the media. But the web has changed the rules. Organizations that understand the new rules of marketing develop relationships directly with consumers. In this scenario advertising today is a money pit of wasted resources. The web has opened a tremendous opportunity to reach niche buyers directly with targeted information that costs a fraction of what big-budget advertising costs. With old rules of marketing it simply meant advertising and branding; advertising needed to appeal to the masses; advertising relied on interrupting (for instance a TV show) to gain people’s attention to a product; it was one way, company to consumer; creativity was deemed the most important component of advertising; it was more important for the ad agency to win advertising awards than for the client to win new customers. None of this is true anymore; the web has transformed the rules; this paper would like to argue that a company must transform its marketing to make the most of the web-enabled marketplace of ideas. Old style Advertising and Public Relations firms’ role may have diminished drastically but their role is not extinguished. In the cyber age these have gone online. The wise thing for companies to do is to combine both the old and new ways of marketing, the emphasis perhaps being on the new. Online has provided companies the best opportunity ever to expand into global markets. Marketing has become borderless. This is a paper presented at an international conference.

In today’s multi-platform ecosystem, marketers rely on advertisements that can be accessed across multiple digital platforms to enhance audience engagement and outreach. Advertisers are exploring the global impacts of social and mobile media as part of this integrated approach. Multi-Platform Advertising Strategies in the Global Marketplace examines the international diffusion of multi-platform advertising communication practices in an increasingly globalized economy. Featuring coverage on relevant areas including cross-media, digital marketing, and consumer behavior, this extensive publication is suitable for researchers, marketers, advertisers, and business professionals interested in the global impacts of multi-platform media on the advertising industry.

Inspired by the success of platforms such as Airbnb, Etsy or Fiverr? Want to know how to build an online marketplace business? This is the book for you. In this step by step guide, we will go through everything you need to know about developing your idea into a sustainable business, offering lots of practical advice and actionable ideas along the way. This book is the result of two experts putting almost two decades of experience together, in order to create a repeatable method for creating a successful online marketplace. The applicable tactics and techniques can be studied in advance, helping you avoid the most common pitfalls. It's a handbook for anyone building an online marketplace. The same methods will apply whether your organization is a startup, a cooperative, a non-profit, or a big brand. Not every marketplace will be as big as Airbnb and Uber, but we believe there are thousands of marketplace ideas out there that can make for great, sustainable businesses. With the help of this book, you're one step closer to building the next one. Critical acclaim "Juho and Cristóbal have written a practical in-the-weeds guide on marketplace execution that will prove invaluable for all entrepreneurs looking to start a marketplace. No fluff, just actionable ideas." - Sangeet Paul Choudary, best-selling author of Platform Revolution and Platform Scale "Building marketplaces can be hard. The Lean Marketplace is a very useful step-by-step guide to help entrepreneurs think through the challenges and solutions to create the next Uber or Airbnb." - Boris Wertz, Founder and General Partner, Version One Ventures "Must read for every marketplace entrepreneur. I'm going to ask everyone in our team to read this book." - Bram de Zwart, Co-founder and CEO, 3D Hubs "As I'm friends with both authors, I know first hand that the information in their book is hard won from long experience helping dozens of marketplaces succeed and consulting the top experts from around the world. However, the quality and comprehensiveness of the content speaks for itself. It covers all the essentials of growing an online marketplace, and in the most straightforward way possible. It is an impressively practical, must read resource for any current or aspiring marketplace entrepreneur. I can't recommend it highly enough, but please see for yourself." - Neal Gorenflo, Co-founder of Shareable "The essential guide to building an essential marketplace." - Tristan Pollock, Co-founder, Storefront, Partner, 500 Startups "Reading Juho's and Cristobal's advice online before launching our platform helped us save so much time and avoid the most common mistakes. If you're considering building a marketplace business, read this book first. Seriously." - Agne Milukaite, Co-founder and CEO, Cycle.land "Envisioning, validating, building and growing a marketplace is no small challenge: the most important aspect to nailing this challenge down is all about avoiding losing time and energy in the myriad of wrong directions that can come up your way. This book is an essential guide, the lifeboat for the marketplace founder that faces the ocean of bootstrapping." - Simone Cicero, platform strategist and consultant, creator of Platform Design Toolkit "I bootstrapped my marketplace business from launch to profitability in 6 months. Reading this book will help you do the same." - Mike Williams, CEO and Founder, Studiotime

How today's most successful online advertisers and marketers maximize their online presence, and how you can too This updated and expanded Second Edition of the bestselling guide to online advertising is must reading for everyone who wants to take advantage of the most important new advertising medium since television. A complete primer on online advertising for businesses of all sizes, it gets you up to speed on the crucial issues, hot new trends, and most effective new technologies in Internet advertising. Loaded with examples of some of today's most successful online advertising and marketing initiatives, it gives you the inside track on: * Successful online ad models * Market research online * Direct marketing, including opt-in e-mail, promotions, and sweepstakes * Targeting and personalization * Internet advertising management tools * Traffic measurement and gauging the effectiveness of your ads * Buying and selling ads on your Web site * Advertising locally * Advertising to an international market * Legal aspects of Internet advertising * How to advertise for free, or almost free (contributed by Eric Ward, the father of grassroots advertising strategies) On the companion Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/zeff you'll find: * Links to additional training and tool resources