Aegis Group made a short announcement that they acquired the Bluestreak, a small but innovative ad serving platform, thus entering the ad serving business. – Ad Operations Daily – Aegis Media Moves into Ad Serving by Acquiring Bluestreak
Internet Advertising
Google's AdPlanner
The New York Times is speculating [no longer speculation] that an announcement from Google at the Advertising Research Foundation meeting this week will unveil a new product called AdPlanner. Details are understandably sketchy, though the NYT quotes an anonymous source on the product as saying it will help Ad Agencies to find demographics that match an ads target audience.
Valleywag, though, makes the logical connection by envisioning a tool that could eliminate the need for Ad Agencies all together. If Google is successful and all the data that an Ad Agency needs is available through this tool, it could easily be rebranded for the direct market. This is certainly within SOA for Google; they use technology to eliminate redundancy and establish direct, dependent markets. Some of these efforts like AdSense, AdWords and GMail are clear winners. Others, like Google’s little know newspaper and radio ad placement drive, are mired in the mud.
My personal opinion is that Google will succeed in creating a very useful tool that will in no way replace the unique talents and skills of Ad Placement Agencies. This is going to raise the bar for Ad Agencies expectations on reporting and information within content networks which can only be a plus for the Ad Agency’s clients; business owners buying up online ad space.
Your Customers May Soon Be Voting On Your Ads
A growing number of marketers are taking their chances with having their ads rated, and possibly banished, on social networks and community-oriented Web services that have grown popular by inviting users to rate what they see. – This Ad Stinks: Let Readers Vote – Business Week
Websites and social networks which allow their readers to vote on advertisements may provide you valuable feedback for your marketing campaigns. However, they may also humiliate your company on a public stage. Learning how ratings work on a site/network and whether there is any chance for removal are key to understanding the risks involved in being involved on these sites.