Ad Operations Online » Widget Ads

Online Video Provider SundaySky Announces Partnership With StudioNow, a Division of AOL Advertising.com Group

Otilia Otlacan — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:27:31 +0000

NEW YORK – SundaySky, provider of automated online video production that is scalable, personalized and effective, announced a partnership agreement with StudioNow that will significantly extend SundaySky’s sales channel and introduce its video capabilities to new markets such as real estate, financial services, automotive sales and various retail segments.

SundaySky’s video capabilities allow customers to plan, create, integrate and launch branded videos using the SundaySky platform to automatically generate new videos using existing Web content, so material will always be fresh and relevant.

The partnership with StudioNow has already yielded a new customer, ListingBook™, an online real-estate service. ListingBook will use the SundaySky platform to produce product showcase videos that are personalized for each user wishing to buy or sell a home.

“Businesses in nearly every market realize the power online video has in attracting prospects and converting them into buyers,” said Jim Dicso, President and CRO of SundaySky. “Working with StudioNow to extend SundaySky’s capabilities to its customers and content properties will enable users to fully leverage the potential of automated, customized video generation.”

“StudioNow provides companies with the resources they need to create, manage and distribute premium video that connects with consumers and builds brands. By adding the SundaySky technology to our suite of services, we can offer clients a way to create dynamic, highly personalized video in real time so they can produce on an even larger scale,” said Roy Oron, Vice President of Global Business Development.

About SundaySky

SundaySky has developed a newer, smarter way to use video to communicate with consumers in a deeper, more engaging, and more effective way. By using automated, real-time, personalized videos, leading organizations are significantly increasing their profits. Among our customers are Office Depot, Overstock.com and History Channel. Hundreds of thousands of videos are generated daily by SundaySky’s SaaS-based platform to connect with consumers in different stages of the customer lifecycle, driving them to take action. To learn more, please visit www.sundaysky.com.

About AOL

AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is a premier global media company with a suite of brands and products serving consumers, advertisers and publishers worldwide. The AOL Huffington Post Media Group is a leading source of news, opinion, entertainment, community and digital information comprising a wide range of destination websites, including AOL.com, The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Moviefone, Engadget, Patch, AOL Music, StyleList and MapQuest. The AOL Advertising.com Group includes Advertising.com, ADTECH, Pictela, Video (inclusive of AOL Video, goviral and 5min Media), Content Solutions and Sponsored Listings and serves a combined content and advertising market at scale through video, brand advertising, content and ad serving. AOL is focused on engaging consumers and providing online advertising services and solutions on both AOL Huffington Post Media Group destination websites and third-party websites, in addition to serving consumer platforms including AOL Mail, AIM, about.me, and mobile experiences. AOL also operates one of the largest Internet subscription access services in the U.S., which serves as another distribution channel for its consumer subscription products, such as AOL TechGuru and Computer Checkup.

Video Advertising Innovator EyeWonder Supports Launch of Microsoft Silverlight 3

Otilia Otlacan — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:00:56 +0000

As a driver of in-stream video advertising adoption, EyeWonder works with Silverlight to provide engaging user experiences that allow publishers to monetize their content and create new ad space

ATLANTA — EyeWonder Inc., an innovator in interactive digital advertising technologies and services, announced its support of the launch of Microsoft Silverlight 3.

“Last fall EyeWonder delivered the first in-stream advertising solution via Silverlight for New York Magazine,” said CIO Ricky McClellen. “A pioneer and innovator in the video advertising space, EyeWonder is focused on providing increased monetization opportunities for publishers, and with partners like Silverlight, we’re able to create unique online ad experiences that engage users, which in turn drives measurable results for advertisers and brings more traffic to publishing sites.”

With online media now mainstream, consumers—and in turn publishers—have high expectations for quality. As part of the launch of Silverlight 3, Microsoft provides high-quality yet cost-effective online video experiences through Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7) Smooth Streaming technology.

“Silverlight aims to increase user engagement by creating more opportunities to reach audiences with compelling advertising content,” said Steve Sklepowich, group product manager for Silverlight at Microsoft Corp. “IIS7 Smooth Streaming delivered by Silverlight creates engagement times on par with traditional broadcast channels, allowing marketers to bring their online campaigns to the next level of success. When Microsoft combines its technologies with partners like EyeWonder, it is able to provide highly innovative, interactive user experiences.”

EyeWonder-powered campaigns utilizing Silverlight technology enable agencies and advertisers to create, launch, measure and quickly respond to online advertising campaigns through powerful controls and fully integrated tools to build campaigns with superior user engagement, discoverability and analytics-driven accountability.

EyeWonder’s Universal In-Stream Framework (UIF) supports interactive in-stream ads within any Silverlight-based video player. UIF is an open standard platform that enables a “create once, play anywhere” ad solution to drive scale within the in-stream advertising industry and allows for complete interactivity within any in-stream ad format. UIF fully supports the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Digital Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) and Video Player-Ad Interface Definitions (VPAID) Guidelines, giving publishers that adopt the technology the ability to immediately be in full compliance with these standards.

EyeWonder offers a variety of ad features and formats through Silverlight, including linear pre-rolls, post-rolls and interstitials as well as non-linear tickers, bugs and transparent overlays.

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 and Los Angeles. 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.

Business.com Founder & CEO Jake Winebaum Joins Gigya’s Board of Directors

Otilia Otlacan — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:00:14 +0000

Media & Internet Veteran to Guide Leading Widget & Social Technologies Company

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Gigya, Inc., the leading widget and content sharing platform for the social web, today announced that Jake Winebaum has joined Gigya’s board of directors. Winebaum was until recently the chief executive officer and founder of Business.com. He is currently working on a new start-up. As a board member, Mr. Winebaum will provide strategic oversight to Gigya’s direction and progress.

“I am thrilled that Jake has agreed to share his time and expertise with Gigya,” said CEO Dave Yovanno. “The opportunity to add an internet media and publishing leader of Jake’s caliber to our board is extraordinary. With his track record of success in new media, and as a driving force behind bringing Disney into the Digital Age, Jake understands the intersection of digital and traditional media and will be a significant contributor to Gigya’s success.”

A media industry veteran, Mr. Winebaum co-founded eCompanies and prior to that served as chairman of Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG), encompassing Disney.com, ESPN.com, ABCNews.com, ABC.com, and Family.com, and also as president of Disney Online, where he led the team that extended the Disney brand onto the Internet. Jake took on the role of president of Disney Publishing after The Walt Disney Company acquired FamilyFun magazine, a publication which he founded and for which he served as president, editor and publisher.

“Gigya is one of the most innovative companies helping to shape the next generation of the Internet, and it’s an honor to join their board,” said Winebaum.” The company is playing a critical role in how content is shared across a distributed and social web, and I’m looking forward to helping the team as they continue to grow and evolve.”

In addition to Yovanno, Winebaum joins current board members Michael Eisenberg of Benchmark Israel and Navin Chaddha of Mayfield Fund, as well as Eyal Magen, CSO and Eran Kutner, CTO, two of Gigya’s three co-founders.

About Gigya

Gigya’s technologies give people the power to socialize and share content across the web, providing publishers and marketers with powerful tools for increasing audience reach and engagement online. Reaching more than 174 million people each month, Gigya’s technology platform includes world-class sharing, analytics and monetization features. The company’s products simplify access to more than 50 unique web platforms, distributing content across the social web and bringing users’ social graphs to any site. Each day, millions of people use Gigya to engage with their friends and with content from Gigya’s publisher and advertiser clients such as CNET, DoubleClick, Electronic Arts, Levis, MTV, RockYou!, Toyota, Unilever and Walmart.

LSN Introduces Local Content Widgets in Yahoo! Go for Millions of Mobile Users

Otilia Otlacan — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:31:47 +0000

ATLANTA – LSN, Inc., Local Solutions Network, with the nation’s largest local mobile advertising network, announced the availability of their LSN Local Content Widgets in Yahoo! Go (http://go.yahoo.com), leveraging Yahoo! Blueprint, Yahoo!’s mobile development platform. Starting today, Yahoo! Go users will be able to access local news, weather, sports, school closings and much more from LSN’s affiliate network of 140 local media partners, including ABC, NBCU, Telemundo, McGraw Hill, Cox, Gray, Raycom, and other leading media.

Yahoo! Go is Yahoo!’s award winning all-in-one mobile application, available on more than 280 devices across 19 countries. Yahoo! Go lets users enjoy the best of the Internet on their phone. Users can send email, upload photos, download a map, search for answers, check stock quotes, or get breaking news—all from one application on their mobile device.

“By providing all developers and publishers access to Yahoo! Blueprint and giving them the necessary tools to create exciting new mobile content and services, we are furthering our goal of enabling an open mobile ecosystem,” said Michael Shim, Senior Director of Mobile Advertisers & Publishers, Yahoo! Connected Life Americas. “Yahoo! Blueprint enables innovative new experiences that we believe will drive further adoption of mobile services by millions of users around the world.”

“For mobile subscribers, LSN’s new Mobile Widgets are the best gateway to get where they want to go on the mobile Internet,” said Lee Durham, Founder and CEO of LSN. “We are extremely pleased to partner with Yahoo! to extend the capability and value subscribers can obtain from their mobile phones.”

To date, mobile users have downloaded applications written in Yahoo! Blueprint across thousands of mobile devices from manufacturers including Research in Motion®, Nokia®, Motorola®, and others, getting a user experience specially optimized for their device. Developers can now turn to Yahoo! to alleviate the cumbersome process of porting and rendering their application across a wide variety of devices, while also taking advantage of Yahoo!’s extensive mobile distribution network and monetization capabilities.

About LSN, Inc.

Local Solutions Network, Inc. (LSN), headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a mobile media and marketing company that enables local broadcasters and brand advertisers to extend their reach to the mobile consumer market via their handset. LSN has the nation’s largest network of local television news content, in both English and Spanish, currently offering news, weather, sports and more to over 200 million mobile users. Through its Direct Mobile Marketing & Advertising Group, LSN enables companies to rapidly deploy direct mobile marketing campaigns to mobile users via text messaging, rich media content, and interactive mobile marketing campaigns across all wireless carriers and handsets.

To learn more, please visit www.lsnmobile.com.

MIVA Direct Launches ALOT Desktop Beta

Otilia Otlacan — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:45:27 +0000

New Widget Delivery Platform Extends the Reach of MIVA’s Expanding ALOT Brand

NEW YORK – MIVA Direct, Inc., the toolbar, homepage and content division of digital media and advertising company, MIVA, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIVA), announced the beta release of ALOT Desktop, a free software application that enables users to display widgets directly on their computer desktops without having a browser window open.

Through the new product, users can choose from a range of different ALOT widgets that they can customize and then add to their desktops. These widgets include an online radio player, news headlines, weather and celebrity gossip. It is intended that with future releases of the product, users will be able to access any widget from MIVA Direct’s rapidly expanding online widget portfolio, ALOT Buttons.

The ALOT brand was launched by MIVA Direct in Q4 2007 and is designed to ‘Make the Internet Easy’ by aggregating ‘best of the web’ content within widgets that can be displayed across toolbars, homepages and now desktops. ALOT’s toolbar and homepage products come pre-configured across 40 different categories, enabling MIVA Direct to build up niche vertical audiences. The ALOT music and recipe toolbars, for example, currently have over 900,000 and 500,000 users respectively.

“Our objective with ALOT is to create an integrated widget platform that users can interact with across a variety of different touch points,” commented Peter Corrao, MIVA’s President and CEO. “We believe that adding increased integration through the launch of products like ALOT Desktop not only enhances user experience, but also provides a valuable platform for brand and direct response advertisers to reach potential customers.”

The beta release of ALOT Desktop follows the October launch of MIVA Direct’s new, fully customizable toolbar and homepage products, ALOT Toolbar and ALOT Home. Together, ALOT’s toolbar and homepage products generate over 110 million searches each month1.

According to an October 2008 report from Razorfish, 55% of “connected consumers” — people with broadband who use social networks and digital media — use widgets on their desktops with some frequency, and 62% use them on personalized homepages and social networking sites.

http://www.alot.com

www.alot.com/desktop/

http://www.miva.com

About MIVA Direct, Inc.

MIVA Direct operates a portfolio of consumer websites, interest-specific toolbars and personalized homepages. MIVA Direct’s millions of active toolbars span a range of niche sectors including jokes, music, recipes and horoscopes and offer consumers search functionality in addition to one-click access to tailored content. MIVA Direct is owned by MIVA, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIVA).

About MIVA®, Inc.

MIVA, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIVA) is a global digital media company with a mission to deliver valuable digital audiences to advertisers. MIVA has two focuses to its business: owning and operating a growing portfolio of consumer destination sites and interest-specific toolbars, through its MIVA Direct division; and running a third-party contextual Pay-Per-Click ad network focused on key vertical sectors, through its MIVA Media division. MIVA, Inc. operates across North America and Europe.

Buddy Media Releases White Paper: What Advertisers Need to Know About Branded Social Media Applications

Otilia Otlacan — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:45:58 +0000

“App-vertisments” Engage Consumers, Creating “Social Brand Advocates”

NEW YORK – Buddy Media today released a new white paper entitled What Advertisers Need to Know About Branded Social Media Applications, which describes the development of branded social media applications, or “app-vertising”, and how companies can use this new form of advertising to build brands and drive sales.

“Over half a billion people worldwide regularly visit social networks,” said Michael Lazerow, CEO of Buddy Media. “And as we describe in the white paper, branded social media applications are the perfect way for brands to advertise on social networks, in that they provide deep levels of engagement, can be shared with others on the network and provide clear metrics on their success.”

What Makes a Successful App-vertisment?

Through its experience building successful app-vertisements for brands such as New Balance, InStyle and Anheuser-Busch, and from data culled from its BuddyBrain analytics tool, which provides advertisers and brand managers with accurate and accountable data on their social media app-vertising campaigns, Buddy Media has determined that there are five key factors that determine whether an app will break-out or go bust, which they classify as:

* Super Social Invites
* Status
* Visibility
* User Identify
* Benchmarks and Milestones

Applications which address these five factors have a much greater chance of creating “social brand loyalty” — the intense adoption of, commitment to and interaction with a brand in a social network. Such loyal social brand advocates do not just engage in a conversation with the company about their brand, but embrace the brand, and share their brand enthusiasm with others on their social network.

“Just as it is unreasonable to expect poorly conceived and executed Internet banner or keyword ads to work, so is it unreasonable to expect poorly conceived and executed branded social media applications to work,” said Lazerow. “However, when properly constructed, branded social media applications don’t just reinforce brand messages, but also engage consumers with the brand, evoke consumer emotion and provide measurable results.”

“Given this, and the fact that more and more people — from college students to grandmothers, high-level executives to blue collar workers — are spending time on social networks, using branded social media applications as part of one’s overall marketing strategy is no longer just an option for major brands– it is a necessity.”

About Buddy Media

In today’s social media world, every brand needs a Buddy. Buddy Media develops and promotes social app-vertising campaigns that increase engagement and interaction between people and brands. Some of the world’s largest brands, including AmEx, New Balance and Anheuser Busch, work with Buddy Media to create social brand loyalty. Based in NYC, Buddy Media is a privately held company backed by Softbank, European Founders Fund and GreyCroft partners amongst other investors.

Ad Ops Daily Briefs: December 17 2008

Otilia Otlacan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:00:59 +0000

- Indianapolis Ad Agency, Beltrame Leffler Advertising, Unveils Brand Machine
Beltrame Leffler Advertising, an award-winning branding and creative agency in Indianapolis, today announced the launch of Brand Machine, their own “bailout” for small to medium-size companies. The founding partners of Beltrame Leffler have streamlined a process that trims the “big agency” overhead to assist companies in building brand which is especially critical in the current economic environment.

- Pangea Media Expands Quibblo.com Functionality
New Consumer Features and Greater Targeting and Performance Capabilities to Enhance User Experience and Improve Advertiser Returns
Pangea Media (PangeaMedia.com), a leader in online quizzes and quiz technology, today announced several updates to its popular Quibblo.com site. These new features provide Quibblo users enhanced functionality and offer marketers additional ways to engage users with innovative advertising products.

Glam Media Launches Glam Applications Network with More Than 50 Charter Widget and Application Developers and Media Companies

Otilia Otlacan — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:03:04 +0000

Glam Media Pioneers First Brand Ad-Enabled Distributed Media App Platform Requiring IAB Standard Ad Units for Ad-Supported Widgets

Silicon Valley, CA and New York, NY—November 18, 2008—Glam Media, Inc. (www.GlamMedia.com), recently ranked comScore Media Metrix Top 10 Web property, today announced the launch of the Glam Applications Network. The platform that enables brand ad-enabled applications and widgets to be integrated into web sites and blogs, Glam Apps “Atako”, includes a standardized payment system for developers, publishers and media companies. Apps and widgets will be available in the Glam Apps Store (www.GlamApps.com), which provides a curated set of applications for publishers to add new features, build traffic and create new revenue streams. Today, Glam Apps names more than 50 premier charter developers, including: Sphere (a division of AOL); BuzzFeed; Meebo; PollDaddy; PicApp, JS-Kit and Kwanzoo. GlamTV, a signature application on the Glam Apps platform, features video content from select media partners including Cinelan, Diagonal View and Young Hollywood.

As the largest vertical content network, Glam Media fills a unique position in the marketplace, bringing together publishers, developers, content producers, media companies, agencies and advertisers to create branded, distributed media content and applications. The Glam Applications Network, launching today in beta, is immediately available to the 700+ web sites in the Glam.com and Brash.com vertical networks—and will be open to all professional Web publishers in early 2009. Examples of Glam Apps include: polls; slideshows; video commenting and contests; content feeds & syndication; ratings; recipe search, quizzes and shopping search.

Glam Apps Atako was built with brand advertisers’ needs in mind. Glam Apps’ ad-supported widgets contain IAB standard ad units that can be sold by Glam Media, the media publisher, agency and/or the developer. Today, most widget platforms are designed only to add functionality to social networks with no targeting technology or controls for brand advertisers, like brand proximity and relevance. For example, the main display ad may be a retail client, with widgets on the same page showing non-targeted or even competitive retail ads. Glam Media’s platform is also noteworthy because it solves the challenge of revenue-sharing with a built-in distributed ad payment system. Glam Apps Atako allows a range of monetization and distribution choices for developers building applications: ad-enabled with required IAB-standard ad units, sponsored or advertorial widgets, paid for or subscription based applications and free no-ads utilities.

“Widgets and distributed content are great examples of how interactive media companies are transforming marketing in search of new ways for consumers to engage with brands,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB. “That these widgets adhere to IAB ad standards, simplifies the interactive ad buying process and will help expand the value and measurement capabilities of widgets.”

Glam Media has already created many successful application campaigns for advertisers. Glam Apps builds on this success with a platform that allows developers to create the apps and for advertisers to sponsor them. With Glam Apps, brand advertisers can develop custom publisher features and share-of-voice branded widgets on targeted sites, resulting in deeply immersive campaigns and advertorials. Agencies can use Glam Apps Atako to create integrated brand applications and widgets that leverage the distribution of the Glam Publisher Network. Application campaigns previously built on the Glam platform include: a styling video built for Levi’s® brand Luv My Levi’s® campaign; a flirting widget for V05; Glam Re-Skins, which enable a publisher to automatically re-skin their entire site with specific ads; and Glam Spotlight units which allow an advertiser to distribute video in a brand-engaging/skinned module.

Media companies can use Glam Apps Atako to create widgets for content distribution in a “rights-managed” system with monetization or distribution from content networks. Video providers and media networks can use GlamTV and BrashTV applications to distribute protected video content packaged with high-CPM display and video ads.

Glam-developed applications that are part of Glam Apps at launch include:

GlamTV/BrashTV: an innovative video application that allows for the distribution of professionally-produced premium content across the Glam Network, reaching 22 million users with over 50 million views per month three months after its beta launch.

Glam Now: a vertical content story headlines widget promoting the hottest story links in the Glam Network, reaching 31 million users with over 100 million widgets views per month.

“The Glam Applications Network allows developers and advertisers to easily promote and distribute applications on a wide variety of web sites with a built-in system for monetization,” said Ryan Roslansky, VP of Products & Audience for Glam Media. “Not only are we expanding the app distribution market for developers, we are opening up new opportunities for publishers to add functionality to their sites and for advertisers to reach users with innovative campaigns.”

The charter developers for Glam Apps at launch include: Apture; Bang International; BuzzFeed; CookThink; FoodChannel; Fotoviewr; Grouptivity; Meebo; Kwanzoo; NearbyNow; Ojingo (Blipback); PicApp; Pixsta; Predictify; Poll Daddy; TheFind; JS-Kit; Sphere; ShareThis; Polyvore, The Astrologer and WeSeed.

“Sphere partnered with Glam Media to build a module for Glam Apps that is distributed content at its best,” said Tony Conrad, CEO of Sphere. “For Glam’s publishers, Sphere’s module connects their articles to contextually relevant content from their archives and also displays related content from around the Glam Publisher Network. Participating publishers will serendipitously see inbound traffic from other Glam sites. The module also integrates a high quality ad unit that provides marketers a new and innovative way to engage with their audience and drives incremental revenue for the publisher.”

“JS-Kit provides ultra-lightweight community services like Comments, Ratings, and Polls for any web site,” said Khris Loux, CEO of JS-Kit. “Glam Apps gives us a new way to access premium web publishers and advertisers at the same time.”

“PicApp is thrilled to be selected by Glam Media as a developer partner,” said Eyal Gura, PicApp’s CEO. “PicApp gives Glam’s publishers easy access to millions of premium images from sources such as Getty Images, Corbis, Splash News, Newscom, Image Source and others. Our images not only enhance and drive traffic to publishers’ sites, but also encourage viewers to further interact with the content. The partnership with Glam Media, and other partnerships to be announced soon, is a further demonstration of PicApp’s appeal to blog networks.”

Built upon standards including Google Gadget, OpenSocial and OpenID, the application distribution software powering Glam Apps Atako is scheduled for full open source release in Q4 of 2008. Glam’s first open source release underscores the company’s commitment to creating a vibrant community of developers with the common goal of integrating functionality into a wide variety of publishing platforms. Integration with OpenID creates a whole new class of consumer applications in a distributed media environment, where users can use one log-in across the wide Glam Publisher Network or specific vertical networks, enabling social networking and communication applications.

Today, Glam is also launching GlamID, a distributed login and registration platform built off OpenId for use across Glam Media properties. Glam Apps Atako is built on Google’s open source Gadget technology. Glam Apps allows developers to leverage Glam Evolution, Glam’s unique ad services platform with full Brand Sense Accountability and ROI measurement for advertisers. Glam is also one of the first to use the newly announced tracking comScore Extended Web measurement (CXW), to help measure and report reach and advertising for distributed Web content such as Glam Apps. This allows targeting, measurement and reporting of key data to brands and agencies.

For additional information, please visit www.GlamApps.com.

About Glam Media
In creating a new prototype, Vertical Content Networks, the founders of Glam Media have introduced a revolutionary new media model that powerfully brings brand advertisers to targeted vertical audiences online. With more than 700 sites, Glam Media comprises Glam.com, a carefully curated network of popular and influential lifestyle women’s websites, blogs and magazines, and Brash.com, the newly launched network catering exclusively to men. Glam Media’s reach is deep and far-reaching; it is a comScore Top 10 Web property, with a total reach of 52 million unique monthly visitors in the U.S. and 88 million uniques globally, and is also a Top 10 Display Ad Publisher. Glam Media is backed by Hubert Burda Media, GLG Partners, Accel Partners, DAG Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Walden Venture Capital and Information Capital. The company is headquartered in New York City, New York and Silicon Valley, California, with international offices in London, Munich, Berlin and Tokyo.

Gigya Builds Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Resource Widget

Otilia Otlacan — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:26:13 +0000

Portable widget provides instant access to IAB News, Editorial, Events and Ad Guidelines.

Palo Alto, CA — November 3, 2008 — Gigya, Inc., the largest widget and content sharing platform for the social web, today announced that it has created a widget for the Interactive Advertising Bureau The IAB widget was designed to provides easy access to the latest IAB news, upcoming events, standards and guidelines, and a feed of the IABlog, a recognized industry news blog featuring commentary from IAB President and CEO Randall Rothenberg

“As a member of the IAB, we were delighted to work together to create a widget that fosters engagement with the valuable content and services the IAB provides,” stated Liza Hausman, VP of Marketing at Gigya. “We work with hundreds of brand advertisers, web publishers, and media and entertainment companies to help them engage their audiences through widgets, and we see this IAB widget as a clear reflection of the IAB’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of online media and advertising.”

“The IAB widget will allow us to deliver our latest, most in-demand content to our key stakeholders in the interactive community and extend our reach on behalf of the interactive industry,” said David Doty, senior vice president, Thought Leadership & Marketing of the IAB.

The IAB widget can be grabbed and shared from the IAB website www.iab.net/widget and the IAB Facebook page and is also accessible through the Facebook application directory under the name IAB-Interactive Advertising Bureau Daily News+. Incorporating Gigya’s Wildfire technology, the IAB widget can be installed with ease to over 50 online destinations including blogs, start pages, desktops and social networks including Facebook and MySpace.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 375 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.

About Gigya:
Gigya gives people the power to socialize and share content across the web, providing publishers and marketers with powerful tools for increasing audience reach and engagement online. Reaching more than 174 million people each month, Gigya’s technology platform includes world-class sharing, analytics and monetization features. The company’s products simplify access to more than 50 unique web platforms, distributing content across the social web and bringing users’ social graphs to any site. Each day, millions of people use Gigya to engage with their friends and with content from Gigya’s publisher and advertiser clients such as CNET, DoubleClick, Electronic Arts, Levis, MTV, RockYou!, Toyota, Unilever and Walmart.

Avenue A|Razorfish & Gigya Honored as 2008 MIXX Award Finalist for LEVIS 23/501 Widget Advertising Campaign

Otilia Otlacan — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:55:21 +0000

The Interactive Advertising Bureau to Showcase Finalists at the 2008 MIXX Awards Gala

PALO ALTO, CA – Gigya, the leading social technologies company, announced its Levis® widget campaign, co-created with Avenue A|Razorfish, has been named by the Interactive Advertising Bureau as a finalist for the 2008 MIXX Awards in the category “Widget Marketing Campaign.” Avenue A| Razorfish and Gigya partnered to conceptualize, design, and execute this widget advertising campaign for Levi Strauss & Co®. The final Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will be announced at the MIXX Awards Gala on the evening of September 23, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza Times Square Hotel in New York City.

“We are excited that our Levis campaign created with Avenue A|Razorfish has been recognized by the IAB,” said Ben Pashman, VP of Sales & Business Development at Gigya. “This is a great validation of Avenue A’s vision, of widgets as effective ad vehicles and of the vital role Gigya is playing in this emerging industry.”

The coveted MIXX Awards is judged by an independent panel of highly recognized representatives of the entire interactive advertising network – brand marketers with direct control over many of the largest advertising budgets in the country, major media company executives and advertising agency experts who create campaigns for the world’s most powerful brands. The intense scrutiny of the judging process ensures that the finalist and winning campaigns truly reflect the industry’s best work. With two intensive phases of judging by some of the most demanding marketing executives, winning a MIXX Award is the highest recognition in Interactive Advertising.

Levis® 23/501 Campaign Specifics
Levi Strauss & Co.’s ® advertising agency Avenue A|Razorfish used Gigya’s full-service solution for design, production and distribution. Gigya collaborated with Avenue A|Razorfish to design and develop an innovative, high-impact widget, featuring one-click scrolling through a gallery of 23/501 product shots. An anticipation-building countdown timer ticked off the hours, minutes and seconds to product availability, and store location information was put at the users’ fingertips. The widget also incorporated a soundtrack of fresh hip-hop tracks from Sony’s Jive Records, chosen specifically to appeal to the 23/501 target demographic and add to the widget’s perceived value. The campaign focused exclusively on driving widget installs to the social network profile pages of the target. Gigya incorporated its Wildfire platform, enabling the widget to be easily grabbed and shared, and distributed the widget on its network, focusing exclusively on sites frequented by young urban males.

“We are honored that our Levi’s® 23/501 campaign is a finalist and will be showcased at the 2008 MIXX Awards,” said Rob Toledo, Senior Account Director at Avenue A | Razorfish. “Gigya helped make this campaign a success with their comprehensive widget solution which encompassed concept design, distribution and tracking. This campaign effectively engaged our target audience and generated buzz around the Levi’s® 23/501 Limited Edition Collection, which ultimately sold out in less than 50 seconds.”

About Gigya
Gigya gives people the power to socialize and share content across the web, providing content companies with powerful tools for increasing audience reach and engagement. Reaching more than 150 million people each month, Gigya’s technology platform includes world-class sharing, analytics and monetization features. The company’s APIs simplify access to more than 50 unique web platforms, distributing content across the social web and bringing users’ social graphs to any site. Millions of people each day use Gigya to engage with their friends and with content from publisher and advertiser clients like CNET, DoubleClick, Electronic Arts, Levis, MTV, RockYou, Toyota, Unilever and Walmart.

Ad Operations Online » Widget Ads

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