Roehm

A group of top advertisers led by Wal-Mart's Julie Roehm are looking to test a proposed online auction site to buy and sell TV ad time, AdAge reports (via MediaBuyerPlanner). The group - including Hewlett-Packard, Masterfoods, Microsoft, Philips and Toyota - is asking for advertisers to contribute $50 million for the test. The proposal is a version of a new approach to TV ad buying that Roehm has been pushing for the last two years, one which would replace the upfront market with an online trading system for ads.

In addition to $50 million to test the idea, the group is asking for the creation of a steering committee, working through the ANA, to choose what technology, auction forms and media types to use in the test. Ebay has presented an online trading platform that would allow an advertiser or agency to click on a network, age, gender and time, view the available inventory and enter a bid.

Members of group have been trying to position the effort as a joint one, but AdAge and other coverage has attributed it to Wal-Mart, writes MediaPost. Some of the largest national advertisers are apparently opposed to the idea, and the ANA is not formally endorsing the pilot program despite being a strong proponent - along with the American Association of Advertising Agencies - for "eBiz for Media" systems.