MediaPost: RSS Offers Targeted Ad Opportunities

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a bit of technology used to deliver content from many sources to one desktop or web-based application. It allows readers to scan and read topics of their choosing - provided publishers use the alternative format - in an uncluttered environment. That is, until advertisers heard about it. Faced with difficult issues surrounding email marketing, advertisers are looking for a new channel to communicate with consumers. RSS is one of those channels.

RSSAds is one company that is betting RSS will emerge from early adopter stage to mass market use. RSSAds helps advertiser place ads in syndicated RSS newsfeeds by matching users aggregated content with contextually relevant ads. The difficulty will lie, as it always does, in user acceptance of this model. After all, RSS was clearly designed to be as uncluttered as possible, and advertising - at least in the consumers' minds - is a form of clutter.