SAN FRANCISCO – Federated Media Publishing (FM), a next-generation media and publishing company, announced Ad STAMP, a premium, high-impact display advertising product designed to overcome the challenges faced by marketers, publishers and consumers in today’s digital media ecosystem, and take advantage of the opportunities for engagement provided by today’s social media environment. Ad STAMP dedicates an expanded amount of Web page real estate to the marketer, while enhancing the media experience for the reader, and bringing both parties together in mutually beneficial conversation.

“Ad STAMP is a premium ad product that adds value to all parties in the media ecosystem,” said James Gross, vice president of Federated Media. “It provides a cleaner, clutter-free environment for the reader, it allows a marketer to present its message in a more impactful way, and it offers the publisher increased revenue opportunities. We’ve already seen some very encouraging demand in the marketplace, and I think the available features and functionality fill a need that we’ve consistently heard from our marketing partners.”

Ad STAMP includes persistent placement of three innovative ad units that are executed on a “takeover” basis, meaning that, while STAMP ads are running, the advertiser owns 100% of the ad space on the site. This reduces the noise common to many digital media environments, focuses all of the attention on the marketer’s message, and offers the marketer the maximum ROI due to its adjacency to the high-quality content of premium media brands.

STAMP includes:

The “Pushdown”

The Pushdown makes an immediate, unmistakable impact with a large dynamic ad that expands to 970×418, then collapses to a mere 970×66. This ad provides an appropriate amount of real estate and a temporary interruption in order to bring the brand’s message to the website’s audience.

The “Tower”

The Tower is a 300×600 ad unit that lives in the side-bar. This is an ad format that has quickly been adopted by the Web’s leading publishers. It offers continued exposure for the brand message as the user scrolls down through the page.

The “Conversationalist”

The Conversationalist is a 600×250 social ad unit that allows brand advertisers to engage their readers in conversation directly within the ad unit via social media tools like corporate and product blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages, RSS feeds, syndicated content and more. This unit offers persistent placement within the editorial well of the website, increasing engagement to a level more typical of that enjoyed by the content itself.

Ad STAMP was designed to work in an organic way within the design of social media sites. Marketers have full creative control over the execution and are armed with a full array of creative tools including rich media and “companion ad” functionality. The “Conversationalist” ad unit is fully customizable based on the goals, priorities and social assets of the advertiser. All three units run concurrently. Ad STAMP is exclusive to one brand per day and is available 5 weekdays per month.

“At comScore, we’ve been strong proponents of the value of online display advertising and the need for more creativity in its use,” said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore. “Federated Media has always been an innovator in digital media and it’s great to see the company now turning its talents to the design of new display ad units. This is just the kind of ad execution that should appeal to brands that are used to buying full-page magazine spreads or 30-second television spots.”

“It’s been clear for some time now that the state of display advertising on the Web leaves plenty to be desired,” said John Battelle, founder, president and CEO of Federated Media. “We applaud all marketers, publishers and organizations that are pushing the envelope on innovative advertising products. We hope that Ad STAMP helps solve a challenge that brands and publishers have faced since the days of the first banner ads: how to increase the value of an impression.”

About Federated Media

Federated Media (FM) is a next generation media and publishing company that connects the highest-quality conversational content with leading brand marketers. FM Represents more than 100 of the world’s most respected websites, blogs, and social networking applications. With a unique combination of quality, safety and scale, FM leverages deep, long-term relationships with brand marketers and advertising agencies to create cost effective and meaningful media and marketing executions. Learn more at www.federatedmedia.net.

ATLANTA — EyeWonder Inc., an innovator in interactive digital advertising technologies and services, announced its new PageMorph™ takeover ad format, a high-premium “flagship” offering for publishers.

With PageMorph™, an ad functions as a homepage takeover and appears to manipulate the surrounding Web page by shrinking, stretching, crumpling or otherwise animating a real-time screenshot of the page. This impactful, high-reach ad format benefits the interactive digital advertising ecosystem by creating premium selling space for publishers and allowing agencies to provide the best return on investment for their advertisers.

“We created PageMorph™ to help address the demand in the publishing space for premium and highly impactful advertising opportunities for advertisers,” said Erin Quist, Vice President, Enterprise Solutions. “Publishers are looking to create premium placements to sell to advertisers while also keeping ad clutter off their homepages. In addition, advertisers are seeking online ad space that will give their brands extensive reach and exposure to large audiences—PageMorph™ fills both those needs.”

Because PageMorph™ functions as a homepage takeover, audiences are immersed in the ad experience, meaning every impression counts. EyeWonder reports these ads often see a higher-than-average total time of interaction—some placements nearing the one-minute mark.
Working through its agency, PLAN.NET, BMW Germany has already run a campaign utilizing PageMorph™ on the homepage of motorsport-total.com.

“We were very pleased with the online exposure the BMW 7er series campaign received,” said Markus Maczey, Creative Director for BMW online campaigns at PLAN.NET. “Ad formats such as PageMorph™ allow agencies to push the creative envelope by developing fresh, out-of-the box ad executions that invite user interaction with the brand, a clear win for all parties involved.”

About EyeWonder, Inc.

EyeWonder, Inc. is the pioneering interactive digital advertising provider, extending the reach of online rich media and interactive video ads to digital device displays. Through its superior technology, products and services, EyeWonder empowers advertisers, advertising agencies and content publishers with the ability to create, build, deliver, track and optimize interactive advertising campaigns proven to drive industry-leading results. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., EyeWonder, Inc. has domestic offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Los Angeles and Detroit. International offices are located in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Australia. For more information on the company’s interactive digital advertising solutions or its global office network, please visit http://www.eyewonder.com.

“PremiumChannels.com has developed a platform proven to deliver tangible results with our Echoes process,” said PremiumChannels.com founder Ken Margolis. “With the Online Advertising Industry striving to prove the value of its media, our method has been proven to increase click-through rate and conversions with measurable results.”

The Premium Campaign Echoes™ process is a unique service offering, working directly with short and mid tail websites integrating an advertiser’s messaging that “echoes” the banner creative.

Take over ads are a major feature that provides 100% share of voice on key site pages, allowing for the client to see their ads live on the sites in a traditional true branding opportunity.

Additional components include:

* Product editorial placements seeded in the website to educate the site’s audience about the offer
* Site Newsletter product placements and editorial mentions
* Blog product placements and editorial mentions
* Text links promoting the advertiser’s message
* Promotions with a viral component that will receive a greater response than the individual ad placement alone

PremiumChannels.com is made up of 45 vertical channels, with the sites represented generating over 450 million monthly US visits with 19 billion page views as verified by a 3rd party.

Aggregating short, mid and long tail sites by their niche, PremiumChannels.com then presents and assembles third party traffic and demographic data on a unique Premium Channel URL, making it simple for media buyers to review. Advanced targeting, guaranteed share of voice with fixed positions on top niche sites, combined with messaging integration and viral promotions make PremiumChannels.com unique in the market.

PremiumChannels.com is the newest brand from Premium Network, Inc. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company was founded by Ken Margolis in 1994 and is one of the oldest online media companies. For additional information he may be reached at (415) 575-1444.

NEW YORK – KickApps (www.kickapps.com), the industry’s leading on-demand social media, video player and widget platform, today announced that it has made it extremely easy for web publishers to add video advertising into their editorial and user-generated videos using the KickApps Widget & Video Player Studio. With drag-and-drop ease, it is now possible to add translucent overlay, interstititial, pre- and post-roll video, and other new video advertising formats to all KickApps powered video players. As part of this new feature, KickApps supports out-of-the-box integration from Google AdSense for Video, Scanscout, Adap.tv, and 24/7 Real Media. Support for DoubleClick’s DART and others will follow shortly.

Online video has emerged as one of the most engaging applications on the web today and advertising budgets are following suit. Recent research conducted by Bain & Company in coordination with the Interactive Advertising Bureau finds that video advertising is garnering an average CPM of $43, with demand for video inventory outstripping supply.

KickApps customers that have bought out the advertising inventory from their KickApps powered social media and video websites will be able to access these new advertising features. Integrating video ads is a simple three-step process:

1) Create a custom video player using the KickApps Widgets and Video Player Studio

2) Select from a list of modules of ad networks or pre- and post-roll

3) Provide the ad network’s publisher ID number or the URL of a Flash video file

“As social media and online video become a greater part of every web publisher’s website, technical and business complexity should be replaced with efficiency and a easy path to revenue generation,” said Alex Blum, CEO of KickApps. “We’ve applied this principle throughout the KickApps Platform, making it incredibly easy to create compelling social media and video experiences, and now making it easier than ever for web publishers to monetize video on their websites. With the enhancements we’ve made over the last few months to the Platform and the KickApps Widget & Video Player Studio, every web publisher and designer is just a few clicks away from being a social media rockstar.”

About KickApps

KickApps provides on-demand social media, online video and widget applications that enable web publishers and marketers to grow, engage and monetize online audiences. Its SaaS platform includes social networking, user-generated content, programmable video players, drag-and-drop widget building, WidgeADs™ and other applications that are tightly integrated with robust media moderation, member management and reporting. The KickApps Platform seamlessly integrates with any website using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, feeds, Widgets and APIs (REST and SOAP). Customers include: SOAPnet, CW Television, Guinness World Records, Scripps Network Interactive, HBO, Cinemax, Cox Television, the Phoenix Suns, the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers and thousands of other sites. For more information, visit www.kickapps.com and www.kickdeveloper.com.

“Sneeze” comically depicts one man’s struggles during allergy season, cleverly positioning Superpages.com as an easy relief solution. To view the award-winning ad, which ran on sites including AOL.com, CNET.com, MSN.com, People.com, TVGuide.com and Yahoo.com, click here: http://awards.tmastaging.net/2008/OMMA/Superpages/sneeze.html. (From here, click on Sneeze Vertical or Sneeze Horizontal.)

“Sneeze” was created in collaboration with Janimation and EyeWonder and bested finalists A&E Television (client: A&E Television) and VML (client: Dr Pepper).

Other recent awards won by TM Advertising for the Superpages.com campaign include: Runner-Up 2008 Most Effective Online Marketing Strategy Award presented by the Dallas Ft. Worth Interactive Marketing Association (DFWIMA) for excellence in interactive marketing; and a 2008 Regional Silver ADDY Award for a Superpages.com outdoor bulletin, presented by a regional chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF).

“Since it is critical that we deliver quality leads to our small business advertisers, we are continuously leveraging advertising to promote our products to consumers,” said Briggs Ferguson, President-Internet, Idearc Media. “Thanks to TM Advertising, our advertisements receive the critical attention they deserve, and we are honored to have recently received the prestigious OMMA Award.”

Created in 2006, the OMMA awards honor brand marketers, agencies and content providers who continue to push the potential of online advertising creative.

“Our innovative campaign for Superpages.com is a fantastic way for us to showcase our clients’ passion for creating and delivering the most successful interactive branding campaigns,” said Tom Hansen, President of TM Advertising. “We’re thrilled to be recognized by OMMA and to be in such great company with the other finalists.”

About TM Advertising

TM Advertising, headquartered in Dallas, with offices in Austin and Seattle, is an independently managed subsidiary of Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), one of the world’s largest marketing communications companies. Agency clients include the brands of American Airlines, Bell Helicopter, Discover Network, EDS, Fossil, Group Health, Nationwide Insurance, Redhook Ale Brewery, Superpages.com and Texas Tourism. For more information, please visit www.tm.com.

About Idearc Inc.

Idearc Inc. delivers products on multiple platforms to help consumers find the information they want, wherever they are. Idearc’s multi-platform of advertising solutions includes Superpages.com®, Superpages MobileSM, Superpages Mobile SM for BlackBerry®, Switchboard.com, LocalSearch.comSM, Verizon® Yellow Pages, Verizon® White Pages, smaller-sized portable Verizon® Yellow Pages Companion Directories, FairPoint® Yellow Pages, FairPoint® White Pages, FairPoint® Yellow Pages Companion Directories, reFresh reCharge reNew™ magazine, Solutions At Hand™ magazine, and Solutions on the Move™ and Solutions Direct™ direct mail packages. For more information, visit www.idearc.com.

Standard, Flash or Rich Media Banner
Agency: A&E Television / Client: Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels
Agency: IAC Advertising Solutions / Client: Bacardi
Agency: MS3 Marketing / Client: Castrol SYNTEC

Standard, Flash or Rich Media Expandable Banner or Overpage Unit
Agency: Juxt Interactive / Client: Coca-Cola Co./Coke Zero
Agency: Liquid / Client: Paramount/The Spiderwick Chronicles
Agency: Unicast / Client: Warner Brothers/Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Homepage Takeover/Sponsorship
Agency: AvatarLabs / Client: Sony Pictures/Pineapple Express
Agency: AvatarLabs / Client: Walt Disney Pictures/Wall-E
Agency: The Visionaire Group / Client: Universal Pictures/Wanted

Content Integration
Agency: Digitas / Client: American Express OPEN
Agency: Monster Worldwide Inc. / Client: PBS/Military.com
Agency: Sojern / Client: Delta Air Lines/E-Ticket

Standalone E-mail
Agency: Digitas / Client: American Express and DailyCandy, “Local Deals”
Agency: Merkle Inc. / Client: Corporate Express
Agency: Yesmail / Client: HP

E-mail Campaign
Agency: Moxie Interactive / Client: Verizon Wireless
Agency: Smith-Harmon Inc. / Client: REI
Agency: Tribal DDB / Client: Pepsi-Cola North America, “Pepsi Stuff Insider”

Search Campaign
Agency: 90octane / Client: Globus Family of Brands
Agency: Bigmouthmedia / Client: Hilton Hotels
Agency: Stinson Partners / Client: Costa Cruise Lines

Video Appearing in a Banner, Pre-Roll, Interstitial or In-Stream Unit
Agency: A&E Television / Client: A&E Television
Agency: TM Advertising/Janimation/EyeWonder – Client: Superpages.com
Agency: VML / Client: Dr Pepper

Standalone Video (Not Principally Deployed on YouTube)
Agency: AKQA / Client: AOL News, “Where Are They Now?”
Agency: Enlighten / Client: Bioré, “Let’s Face It”
Agency: Vibrant Media / Client: Unilever, “Blondes vs. Brunettes”

YouTube Video Ad
Agency: Element79 / Client: Gatorade, “Ball Girl”
Agency: Intuit / Client: TurboTax, “Ping Pong and Taxes Made Easy”
Agency: KulaVortex.com / Client: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, “28 Seconds Later”

Rich Media Campaign
Agency: A&E Television / Client: Paranormal State
Agency: Avenue A | Razorfish/Euro RSCG Worldwide / Client: Nabisco/Ritz, “Open for Fun”
Agency: PointRoll/Armchair Media/Turf / Client: College Board

Contest/Promotion/Sweepstakes
Agency: Dailey / Client: Intuit/TurboTax, “Tax Rap”
Agency: Exopolis/MMA Creative Group / Client: Roxy and Schick Quattro, “Follow Your Heart”
Agency: Liquid Advertising / Client: After Dark Films, “Miss Horrorfest”

Campaign in Social Media
Agency: Avenue A | Razorfish / Client: Washington Mutual
Agency: McCann Erickson / Client: VeriSign Inc.
Agency: Sapient / Client: Coca-Cola Co./Burn

Mobile or Wireless Campaign
Agency: Ad Infuse/Mindshare/Phonevalley / Client: Strongbow Cider, “Flirtogram”
Agency: AKQA / Client: Nike, “PHOTOiD”
Agency: Moxie Interactive / Client: Twentieth Century Fox/Jumper

Use of Gaming
Agency: AKQA / Client: McDonald’s
Agency: MS3 Marketing / Client: Colgate Palmolive/Speed Stick 24/7
Agency: Play/Denuo / Client: General Motors/Buick

Use of Widgets
Agency: Cheil Worldwide / Client: Samsung/Juke
Agency: Euro RSCG 4D / Client: iShares
Agency: Mediaedge:cia/Mindshare / Client: Ford/Sync

Viral Campaign
Agency: Brief Attention Span Communications / Client: Serena Software, Inc., “Just @#$% It” and “Go @#$% Yourself”
Agency: Element79 / Client: Gatorade, “Ball Girl”
Agency: McKinney / Client: Virgin Mobile, “Promiscuous Text”

Advertising/Promotion Web Site or Microsite
Agency: 65 Media / Client: Twentieth Century Fox/The Simpsons Movie
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners / Client: Adobe Creative Suite 3, “Adobe Layer Tennis”
Agency: Q Interactive / Client: UPS, “UPS Whiteboard Headquarters”

It’s not that I haven’t seen traces of this campaign (bumped into a few roadblock ads, closed them as soon as possible and browsed on) but it was just not memorable enough. Eye-candy, yes. Efficient? I wouldn’t think so.

What is it?

Coca-Cola couldn’t help not to take advantage of this year’s biggest (questionably so) event, the Beijing Olympics. They came up with a collaborative project named WE8 (suggestive, right?) and brought together eight artists from the East and eight from the West side of the world, in an attempt to create new bottle designs and a music track to celebrate the Olympics.

The WE8 name stands for West and East, plus an “8″ as a Chinese symbol of good luck. Or well… 8 for 2008.

I’m not sure this campaign will be a success, since, in my opinion, it kicked off a little too close to the event. Plus, the roadblock ads aren’t really the most user-friendly ones in the world and they really don’t convey much of a message: some pretty bottle designs is all there is to be remembered, if anything.

The new ‘skip intro’ feature provided next to the site titles allows users to reach the desired page without having to wait for animations to load or having to click themselves the ‘skip intro’ link. Not only will this help skipping the very annoying fancy-schmancy Flash presentations you’re bound to bump into when visiting certain sites, but it can also help you skip roadblock ads even before you get to see them. Sure, you could have skipped the ad yourself if you wanted to, but Google now offers a more rapid, direct approach to doing so.

How will this affect the advertisers and publishers?

I’ve already heard many voices moaning about what a hit this is for anyone who employs roadblock ads, and how Google should stop messing with other people’s businesses. While I wholeheartedly agree to the last part, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Sure, the ‘skip intro’ option can potentially be a big hit into the impressions volumes, as the user can skip the ad without even having it loaded in the browser. On the other hand, those who do not avail of the feature are probably more receptive to advertising and closer to an ideal audience, leading to higher CTRs and conversions for the advertisers.

Ultimately, this could translate into more value for advertisers employing roadblocks, even if it may be more difficult to achieve the impressions delivery goals.

If you want to see how the feature appears on the search results pages, check out Phillip’s entry Google Blogoscoped here.