Technology media, research and events company International Data Group (IDG) has launched a pay-per-click ad auction platform - TechWords - across its six U.S. technology-related websites (including cio.com, computerworld.com and networkworld.com) using a private-label version of Quigo's AdSonar, reports ClickZ. TechWords ads will appear in search results on the U.S. sites and contextually alongside news and other content.

Colin Crawford, IDG's VP of business development, is quoted as saying the company wanted to offer opportunities to "smaller advertisers who want to spend more modestly," as well as provide a vertical-market alternative: "We find that the big general search engines serve up good results when it comes to more horizontal markets. When it comes down to the vertical enterprise sites, their results aren't quite as targeted."

Crawford expects much of the TechWords ads to come via the self-service interface on IDG sites. They may also be purchased from IDG sales reps and Quigo or its partner ad agencies.