Performics: Ads Ignored On TV and Online

Half of DVR owners had watched shows online, but just four percent do so on a weekly basis, according to Performics. Google's DoubleClick Performics unit examined the commercial watching behavior of 500 viewers. 35 percent of DVR owners said they pay attention to ads seen on TV. But only nine percent said paid attention to ads online. […]

Posted: Friday, May 9th, 2008

Beware the Ides of Proprietary Rich Media Platforms, Mozilla Warns

Proprietary rich media techologies, such as Flash and Silverlight, threaten the open nature of the internet, warned the founder of Mozilla Europe this week. Mozilla's Tristan Nitot made the statements at London's Internet World conference on Tuesday, ZDNet reports. With upcoming revision of the HTML specification, HTML 5, Nitot said technology like Flash and Silverlight will no […]

Posted: Friday, May 9th, 2008

Demographic-Based Search Tool Returns Relevant Sites with Available Ad Space

Quantcast has launched a service that allegedly enables marketers to search for websites by readership demographic. "If a marketer is targeting black male readers, over 40, with an income over $60,000, then Quantcast’s new service serves up a list of websites which attracts that audience, and also tells you whether or not the site accepts advertising," […]

Posted: Thursday, May 8th, 2008

Radius Incorporates User Reviews in Display Advertising

BazaarVoice has unveiled a partner program, Radius, which ports customer comments and reviews into online ads. Radius gives firms access to an open API which enables clients to syndicate comments and reviews from product pages, then include them in display ads or other units. Content can also be ported to comparison shopping sites. BazaarVoice said Radius will […]

Posted: Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Spot Runner Scores $51M from Publishing and Other Media Firms

Video ad creation firm Spot Runner has secured $51 million in financing elicited from firms like Daily Mail, General Trust, Grupo Televisa, and Legg Mason Capital Management. The inclusion of the Daily Mail suggests Spot Runner may use its "war chest" to explore opportunities in print.

Posted: Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Industry Buzz & Snippets: 5/6/08

Ad Networks and Analytics: Rise in revenue from its ad network were just enough to offset drops elsewhere at AOL. Analytics platform Media6Degrees raised $2 million in financing from Coriolis Ventures. Blinkx is licensing a toolset called Advanced Media Platform to publishers. The platform lets users manage video search ad inventory. New deals with both BlueLithium and Marchex will […]

Posted: Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

Fox Interactive Creates DIY Video Ad Marketplace

Fox Interactive is adding self-service video ads to its menu of online ad options. The FIM AdStore will allow advertisers, especially small businesses, to find video producers and other talent needed to create a video spot. There will also be tools for developing banner ads. AdStore puts Fox Interactive in direct competition with other companies, like […]

Posted: Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

ABC to Pump More Ads into Online Commercial Breaks

Starting this week, ABC will insert multiple commercials into ad breaks within shows streamed online. Each break typically serves one :15 or :30 commercial. Because the medium is new, the standard for streaming TV shows is one spot per break. Some sites, like Hulu, give users the option of watching a single two-minute trailer at the […]

Posted: Monday, May 5th, 2008

Google Attempts to Patent Ad Consumption Behavior

Techdirt reports that Google is trying to patent targeted video advertising behaviors that compel audiences to watch a set number of TV commercials in exchange for programming. The patent for "Targeted Video Advertising" includes the following clauses: [1] 'Users may be allowed to skip particular commercials, but required to watch or accept a set number of commercials […]

Posted: Monday, May 5th, 2008

Yahoo Exposes Cars.com to 'We Sell, You Sell' Model

Yahoo hopes to broaden its business relationship with Cars.com as it expands its power in vertical-friendly sites. The elaborated Cars.com liaison would follow Yahoo's newspaper consortium model: each party may sell inventory on another's site. Yahoo calls this the "We sell, you sell" model. This will broaden the advertising opportunities on Yahoo's recently-launched AMP ad platform. It […]

Posted: Monday, May 5th, 2008

Dockers Invites Users to Build Ad Spots

Dockers wants customers to create — and of course, disseminate — their own commercials. The effort kicked off on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Viewers were sent to a microsite at which they may "evangelize the Dockers brand." In tangent with agency Draftfcb, Mixercast provided the platform where ad elements can be customized. Submitted creations will […]

Posted: Friday, May 2nd, 2008

PIXSTA Fuses Advertising to Image-to-Image Search

London-based PIXSTA has launched a search engine that lets users search for images with other images — a capability unmatched by text-to-text and text-to-image search engines. PIXSTA visitors query by clicking on a product's photo, which returns items of similar color, shape or texture. Clicking on the new options re-submits them as search terms, further terracing […]

Posted: Thursday, May 1st, 2008

DoubleClick Mobile to Integrate with Online Ad Platforms

DoubleClick Mobile is fusing with ad networks like AdMob, Google AdSense and Millennial Mobile, according to a company release. Mobile content publishers can offload ad sales to a participating network while managing inventory on DoubleClick. They will also be able to keep track of inventory they personally sold, versus inventory managed by a network, from […]

Posted: Thursday, May 1st, 2008

ADSDAQ Exchange Fills Campaign Holes with Extra Reach

ContextWeb's ADSDAQ, an online exchange for site publishers and advertisers, has launched a "reach extension program" that enables publishers to fill campaign gaps on short notice. "The program eliminates inventory holding cost for publishers and is essentially risk free since publishers buy on the exchange only when they have a specific need for additional audience and […]

Posted: Thursday, May 1st, 2008

Platform-A Draws Behavioral Targeting Strengths from Tacoda, Advertising.com

In June, behavioral targeting technology by Tacoda shall roll out across AOL's Platform-A network. The integration is expected to improve reach for Platform-A advertisers. Tacoda's technology adds to existing behavioral-targeting data points provided by Advertising.com. This is the latest of AOL's efforts to integrate subsidiaries into unified offerings. Last month, it combined Quigo and Advertising.com's search […]

Posted: Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

24/7, Mindset Put Heads Together for Predictive Ads

24/7 has partnered with Mindset Media to launch Mindset Buys, which serves ads based on educated guesses about future purchasing behavior. Mindset gathers past online behavior to build unique profiles. Based on that data, 24/7 shall deliver targeted ads that presuppose what users might buy next. Sensing a potentially major source of pushback, executives involved said no […]

Posted: Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

Cox Adds Adify to Multi-Channel Ad Spread

Cox Enterprises has just purchased Adify for $300 million, reports PaidContent. The union joins a major online ad network with a high-profile representative of major news and cable ad alliances. Last August Adify launched the Gay Ad Network, which now tops the LGBT category. Adify also helps power Six Apart Media and enjoys the attentions of major […]

Posted: Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

Streaming Ads Get High-Def Treatment — and are Likely Better for It

DoubleClick and Brightroll have incorporated high-definition (HD) video into streaming advertising, reports ClickZ. Since the debut of Adobe's high-definition video format, HD video spots have primarily been used in expanding banner ads. DoubleClick and Brightroll now offer units that begin in a normal video window, but which can then be expanded to full-screen, high-definition video. A number […]

Posted: Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

AP to Launch Ad-Supported Mobile News Network in Q2

The Associated Press (AP) is teaming with Verve Wireless, a wireless publishing platform, to power the public foray of its AP Mobile News Network. The service gives mobile users a central space for local, national and international news and is "tailored to smart phones," according to the AP. The beta program was announced just recently; it […]

Posted: Friday, April 25th, 2008

Industry Buzz & Snippets: 4/24/08

Ad Networks and Analytics: Adap.tv launched OneSource, the first "universal" video ad platform for multi-site video publishers. Broadband Enterprises has signed on as the exclusive provider of video overlay ads to ScanScout. Behavioral targeting firm Phorm could run afoul of online security firms if they decide Phorm's cookies are adware. So far, no one has made that claim. Gorilla […]

Posted: Thursday, April 24th, 2008