Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
Ad Revenue 2009
Yesterday, PubMatic produced a successful, day-long event, Ad Revenue 2009, that brought together all sides of the online advertising ecosystem. AdExchanger.com was there in force (that means I was there) and moderated a fast-paced panel with Varick Media’s Darrren Herman, VivaKi’s Sean Kegelman, Razorfish’s Matt Greitzer, MediaMath’s Joe Zawadzki and Collective Media’s Andrew Kraft, who made the case for the ad network in the emerging demand-side platform (DSP) world. The panel could have easily lasted another hour – at least from my perspective! It was a lively conversation which bubbled-up many of the innovative developments on the demand-side which are often discussed here on AdExchanger.com.
After speaking with a few audience members after the panel, my impression is that publishers are just starting to understand that they need to get their arms around all the data that they have at their disposal and its opportunity – just as the buy-side is actively pursuing today. It appears that yield optimizers such as the show’s producer, PubMatic, or AdMeld or Rubicon Project or Yieldex are starting to break this data piece out for the publisher. I’m sure other players will pop into the space.
Ultimately, sellers (publishers) will need to start thinking like buyers or media traders. The buying platform or trading desk will not be the exclusive domain of the demand-side as publishers, particularly the big ones, will look to drive price in the open auction and reap the rewards of arbitrage between their site’s remnant/unsold inventory and the open market – while balancing the direct sales efforts. Publishers should make it a priority in the coming year to close the gap between buyer and seller proficiency as it relates to the leveraging of data to drive overall yield.
In a Q&A on PeHub, CEO Simon Kooyman of Knowledge Networks, a consumer research firm, discusses their acquisition this week of Dimestore Media, an online ad survey company, co-founded by 24/7 Real Media’s David Moore. Kooyman notes the importance of cross-channel attribution as being an important driver in the purchase saying, “Now more than ever, they want to measure the return on Internet advertising on its own and in conjunction with traditional media.” Read more.
Burst Media Buys Giant Realm
Burst Media, a takeover candidate in the recent past, is on the acquisition trail itself as yesterday, the Boston area-based company bought vertical ad network, Giant Realm, for $2.1 million in cash and stock according to PaidContent’s David Kaplan. The vertical ad network offers custom ad integration targeting young male gamers. Read the release.
The Ad Tech Entrepreneur Struggle
Burt’s CEO Gustav von Sydow discusses his Copybox product that debuted at last year’s TechCrunch 50 as well as the travails of the ad tech entrepreneur on the Burt “Be The Meme” blog. Von Sydow says, “One big challenge is that creating great advertising technology incorporates the most demanding parts from both B2C and B2B at once, meaning that we need to make products people actually want to use (like in B2C), but feedback cycles are often long and reliability is crucial (like in B2B).” Read the post.
VivaKi Becomes Google Pro
The Google Conversion Room blog announced that VivaKi has become a “Google Conversion Professional” (It would seem from the post that’s it’s just in the UK and Ireland, but the designation likely extends globally.). What does this mean? Basically, it means that VivaKi can help clients spend and run campaigns through Google’s AdWords product. In effect, Google refers business to VivaKi who will return the favor and spend through Google. Is money being spent through the DoubleClick Ad Exchange due to the relationship? If it’s display, sure. AdWords display buying is connected through Google’s new 2.0 version of the DoubleClick Ad Exchange. Read more.
The Bahama Botnet
It sounds like a new Tom Cruise film – The Bahama Botnet. But according to the Click Forensics blog, a new “bot” they’re calling The Bahama Botnet is causing a ruckus in the world of ad networks and search engines. In a YouTube video by Click Forensics, you can plainly see that after entering “HP laptop” in Yahoo’s search engine and clicking on what appears to be a link to an HP branded site, the user is redirected to a comparison shopping site. The video also provides an example with Dell using Google’s search engine. PC World is calling this a “robin hood” bot in that it’s redirecting traffic from big players to small. See the video. Read the blog post.
The Lobby Indicator
Ed Carey writes on the Undertone Network blog that he’s noticing busy agency lobbies – filled with sales people bearing gifts. This means only one thing according to Carey: the ad business (at least online) is back. Read more.
[x+1] Pours Data Exec Into The Mix
Demand-side platform provider, [x+1] announced that it has hired Ken Rona as VP of Data Strategy and Analytics. Rona’s former place d’emploi was IXI Digital Media, where he was in charge of the company’s analytics and product management efforts around display advertising. Read the release.
Nielsen Attempts Cross-Channel Plunge
Claire Atkinson — Broadcasting & Cable is reporting that Nielsen has contacted many of its largest clients (advertisers, agencies and media cos.) and is asking them to come to a big meeting on October 16 to discuss how to begin bringing better attribution as the consumer moves between online and TV outlets -for traditional TV programming. It would seem this is a first step in addressing how Hulu might be added to Nielsen’s TV ratings system. Read more.
Teracent Raises Another 1/2 Million
According to Silicontap.com, online creative testing provider, Teracent, has raised another $500,000 – this time in convertible debt or as bridge financing (bridging to where?…) according to the site. Read more.
Ad Networks Proliferate
If you think ad networks are going away, you are mistaken. For instance, publishers continue to dive into the opportunity. In the UK’s New Media Age (NMA), a small network of IT publishing sites is being brought under one vertical ad network umbrella courtesy of a deal with Adify. Speaking with Suzanne Bearne of NMA, Dennis Publishing CEO James Tye said of his company’s ad network plans, “One of our biggest competitors now isn’t necessarily competing brands but the ad networks. So rather than fight against it, let’s become an ad network ourselves.” Read more.
If Jesus Had An Ad Network…
In a release, a vertical ad network called Faithadnet says that it now reaches 20 million monthly unique Christians. CEO Michael Moon said, “Our aim is to improve online advertising in the Christian space for everyone involved through innovation.” Read the release.
Mobile Marketplace Gains Traction
Singlepoint, a mobile marketplace provider for “SMS and MMS ad campaigns generated by popular interactive TV shows on major networks” -which also has a deal with NBC Universal – claims 11 million monthly unique users are now running through their system. Ad network participants include Movoxx, Mojiva, Millennial Media and Marchex (“M” is for mobile I gather!). Read the article on ITVT.
