NEW YORK – Inc. magazine has ranked Spongecell, the interactive display advertising company that is leading the creative resurgence of online display, at 76th on its annual ranking of the nation’s 500 fastest-growing private companies in recognition of Spongecell’s three-year sales growth of 3,064 percent. In addition to being No. 76 on its overall list, Spongecell also ranked No. 9 within the Advertising and Marketing industry and No. 7 within the state of New York.

The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent entrepreneurs. Companies such as Microsoft, Zappos, Intuit, Jamba Juice, Zipcar, Clif Bar, Vizio, Oracle, and many others achieved gained early exposure as members of the Inc. 500.

Spongecell, a New York based company that transforms standard banner ads into dynamic flash ads with rich media-like functionality has grown from pre-revenue in 2007 to $3.8 million in sales in 2010. Last year the company ran over 1,000 campaigns, up from 10 in ‘08. In that same time span, the company staff has grown from 5 to 40 located throughout the United States and Europe. The company recently completed a new round of financing led by Eric Schmidt, Google’s Executive Chairman, and Jim Pallotta, Chairman and Managing Director of Raptor Group.

“Spongecell’s growth has been extraordinary, especially in a struggling economy,” says Founding CEO Ben Kartzman. “But staying at the forefront of API-enabled technology that is pushing the boundaries of the next generation of display advertising has been a major factor. We are pleased that our extraordinary sales growth has been recognized by Inc.  It’s a great honor, and we remain committed to delivering the best possible technology and products to our clients and partners.”

The 2011 Inc. 500, featured in the September issue of Inc. is a group of companies that are smaller but much faster-growing than last year’s crop. Aggregate revenue is $10.5 billion, with a median three-year growth of 1,275 percent. The companies on this year’s list employ more than 46,000 people and generated over 35,000 jobs in the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 500, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found on Inc.com/500.

Here is a link to this release:
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=230705

Spongecell (https://Spongecell.com/) is leading the creative resurgence of online display advertising by combining speed, innovation and advanced engineering to transform standard banner ads into rich-media-like interactive ads that can run in any ad placement on the web.  The company works with creative and media agencies to serve thousands of engaging campaigns across billions of impressions for global brand advertisers every year. Spongecell is an independent company founded in 2006 with headquarters in New York and offices throughout the United States and Europe.

SAN FRANCISCO – Federated Media Publishing (FM), a media company that powers the best of the independent web, announced the acquisition of Foodbuzz, the leading online food property.

Exclusive relationships with more than 4,400 independent food bloggers allow Foodbuzz to reach more than 14 million unique users per month. Combined with FM’s premier food sites, including Serious Eats and Bakerella, the new offering is the best way for marketers to engage with top-quality audiences discussing food.

“There’s a reason so many people share recipes, watch their favorite chefs on TV and talk about where they ate last night,” said Deanna Brown, President and Chief Operating Officer of FM. “Food is a universal topic that everyone loves to discuss. With Foodbuzz, FM can invite brands into the very best of those discussions at significant scale.”

Ben Dehan, the Founder and CEO of Foodbuzz, who is joining the senior management team at FM, said, “When you look at the innovative display-ad units, content marketing and blogger outreach programs created by both of our companies, this combination is a natural fit. The sales teams, product mixes and great bloggers from both FM and Foodbuzz belong together, and we can’t wait to put this new offering in front of the best brands.”

FM’s purchase of Foodbuzz comes on the heels of three other significant transactions:

- The acquisition of BigTent, the leading community platform for local groups, especially groups of parents.
- The acquisition of semantic-search technology from TextDigger.
- A partnership with the Clever Girls Collective to reach audiences on more than 1,000 top-quality lifestyle blogs.

About Federated Media

Federated Media (FM) is a next-generation media company that connects the world’s largest brand advertisers with the Internet’s most innovative media brands and platforms. With a unique combination of premium content, influential audiences, and advanced advertising capabilities, FM harnesses a native understanding of the social and real-time Web to create media, marketing and digital solutions that engage influential audiences in an authentic way. Learn more at http://www.federatedmedia.net.

About Foodbuzz

Foodbuzz is the largest online food community and the fastest growing food property on the web, reaching 14 million people each month, according to Quantcast. Foodbuzz has exclusive partnerships with more than 4,400 food bloggers and provides a social media platform for users around the world to interact and share their food experiences. It also partners with hundreds of brands to provide a comprehensive engagement platform featuring contextual display advertising, content sponsorships and blogger outreach. Foodbuzz won the 2010 OMMA award for Online Advertising Creativity in the Sponsorship category. Learn more at http://www.foodbuzz.com.

For more information, please contact Emily Goligoski, 415-230-5610 or egoligoski@federatedmedia.net.

“Yahoo!’s unique combination of Science, Art and Scale connects advertisers with consumers in ways that drive results,” said Frank Weishaupt, VP, North America Ad Marketplaces at Yahoo!. “Smart Ads will continue to be an important component of display advertising and the acquisition of Dapper will help Yahoo! to more efficiently deliver dynamic and personalized ads for customers across more of our network.”

The acquisition builds upon Yahoo!’s current display advertising leadership and will accelerate the adoption of Yahoo! Smart Ads. Yahoo! currently partners with Dapper, along with others in this space, and owning this technology will help the company deliver innovative solutions to an even broader range of advertisers and integrate dynamic ad serving into key Yahoo properties. Yahoo! is committed to the Smart Ads program and remaining open to working with innovative third parties in addition to providing a proprietary solution with the acquisition of Dapper.

“Yahoo!’s product strategy is focused on creating engaging and meaningful experiences that keep users entertained and informed,” said Dev Patel, VP, Advertiser and Publisher Solutions at Yahoo!. “Utilization of consumer insights to deliver relevant consumer and advertiser experiences are built into our technology from inception and Dapper’s capabilities will further enhance the experiences we deliver.”

Dapper was founded by Eran Shir and Jon Aizen in 2006 with a vision to transform display advertising with personalized, relevant content.

“The Dapper team is thrilled to be joining Yahoo!, already the largest and most successful force in display advertising,” said James Beriker, President and CEO of Dapper. “The addition of our technology platform will bring advertisers and agencies a highly scalable solution for building and optimizing dynamic ad campaigns with the reach and quality of Yahoo!’s network.”

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Yahoo! expects to complete the acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2010.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most visited Internet destinations and a world-class online media company. Yahoo!’s vision is to be the center of people’s online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com or the company’s blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Vertical online ad network Digital Throttle launched a new service today that will allow advertisers to easily build display ads at no extra charge using the Canned Banners self-service platform.

Digital Throttle, a vertical ad network built on the Adify platform, gives advertisers the ability to reach a targeted audience of over 6 million motoring enthusiasts, motorsports racers, and motorcycle riders. With on-demand ad creation using Canned Banners, clients will now be able to launch new campaigns rapidly, avoiding the costly and time-consuming process of developing banner ads.

Bryan Robb, President and Founder of Digital Throttle, said: “The Canned Banners solution is a great compliment to our network. Our network simplifies the online advertising process for the automotive and motorcycle aftermarkets. Advertisers of all sizes will discover this solution saves an incredible amount of time and ultimately produces a more robust portfolio of ads.”

Digital Throttle clients will access a private-label version of the Canned Banners platform featuring customized Digital Throttle ad templates. Clients will be able to use Canned Banners at no extra charge.

Myles Younger, Co-founder and Head of Marketing at Canned Banners, said: “We want to give Digital Throttle clients a hassle-free experience. Using the Canned Banners platform, they can choose one of our ready-to-go templates, add their own text and images, and in just a few minutes produce a high-quality Flash banner ad that’s completely unique and customized to their business.”

Automotive and motorsports advertisers should visit www.digitalthrottle.com or contact bryan.robb@digitalthrottle.com to find out how the Digital Throttle ad network can help them reach a highly targeted audience of automotive, racing and motorcycle enthusiasts.

Ad networks and publishers should visit www.cannedbanners.com or contact myles.younger@cannedbanners.com to learn how Canned Banners can help automate the ad creation process for advertisers.

About Digital Throttle:
Digital Throttle (www.digitalthrottle.com) is a vertical ad network, providing online advertising across an independent network of niche automotive and motorcycle sites. The network selectively partners with sites targeting consumers seeking to repair, customize, restore or race their vehicles.

About Canned Banners:
Canned Banners (www.cannedbanners.com) allows small businesses and marketing professionals to quickly create their own professional-looking Flash banner ads. Users select from a variety of templates and then add their own text, images, and logo. Canned Banners offers small businesses access to sophisticated Flash banner design at a low price, and offers larger companies a cheaper and more nimble alternative to the agency process.

New York, New York – A periodic analysis of global benchmarks released by MediaMind, the leading independent provider of integrated digital advertising solutions, reveals that when more consumers engage with an ad, conversion rate increases, showing a direct link between a high Dwell Rate and a high Conversion Rate. The full benchmark report is available from http://bit.ly/EB_Benchmark_Q1_Q4_09.

MediaMind analyzed the results of more than 13 billion rich media impressions served in 2009 and directly compared the relationship between Dwell and Conversion Rate.  Results show that when more consumers engage with an ad for more time (i.e. Dwell), they are more likely to end up converting.  On average, increasing Dwell from 5% to 15%, increases conversion rate by 45%, from 0.4% to 0.6%. Thus, ads that allure users to engage are more effective in generating conversions.

Furthermore, a recent research by Microsoft Advertising, comScore and MediaMind also confirms that digital campaigns with high Dwell are more effective for branding.  The study compared users who were exposed to campaigns with low Dwell and users who were exposed to campaigns with high Dwell. The results indicate that campaigns with a high Dwell triple brand related keyword search, increase traffic by 69% and increase brand engagement—number of page viewed and time spent on the advertiser’s site.

“It’s encouraging to see the same metric applicable to different marketing objectives” said Gal Trifon, CEO and co-founder at MediaMind. “The connection between engagement and conversions emphasizes the value of digital display as a response medium, while the joint research with Microsoft Advertising shows clear branding correlation.”

For more information on MediaMind’s latest benchmark report, visit www.mediamind.com. To download research, see http://bit.ly/EB_Benchmark_Q1_Q4_09.

About MediaMind
MediaMind is a global provider of digital advertising solutions that optimize the use of media, creative and data for enhanced performance. Our unique platform incorporates display ad serving, search, rich media, video, dynamic ads, mobile and emerging media; providing marketers with a cross-channel view of ad campaigns. Our leading Eyeblaster Rich Media and Video capabilities service the most innovative and inspiring global digital campaigns.
The company is committed to publisher-neutrality to assure the broadest range of media choices for its customers. MediaMind is certified and complies with the three IAB measurement guidelines: ad serving, video and rich media.

NEW YORK – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) released the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report for the first half of 2009. U.S. Internet advertising revenues were at $10.9 billion in that period, a 5.3% decline from the same period in 2008.

Search and display-related advertising continue to represent the largest percentages of overall interactive advertising spend. Search revenues amounted to more than $5.1 billion for the first six months of 2009, up slightly from that same period in 2008. Display-related advertising—which includes display ads, rich media, digital video and sponsorship—totaled nearly $3.8 billion in the first six months of 2009, showing a relatively modest 1.1% decline from the same period in 2008. Digital video continues to experience robust growth with a 38% increase from the first half of 2008.

“We are in one of the most difficult economic slumps in decades. Interactive is one of the advertising sectors that has been least affected,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB. “In recent years the digital revolution has driven a transformation of how consumers experience advertising and media. As the economy improves, we’re confident that brands will devote an even greater share of their budgets to reaching consumers as they make interactive media a larger part of their lives.”

“While the overall advertising market has continued to be impacted by current economic conditions, marketers are allocating more of their dollars to digital media for its accountability and because consumers are spending more of their leisure time online,” said David Silverman, PwC Assurance partner.

The following data highlights key first six-month revenue data breakouts; dollar figures are rounded.

($ millions if not indicated):

Advertising Formats: Search and Display-related ads continue to be leading formats.

FH 2009           FH 2008
Search           47% ($5,148)           44% ($5,064)
Display Related:           34% ($3,759)           33%($3,799)
-Banner Ads           22%($2,394)           21%($2,418)
-Rich Media           7% ($704)           7%($806)
-Digital Video           4%($477)           3%($345))
-Sponsorship           2% ($184)           2% ($230)
Classifieds           10% ($1,116)           14% ($1,611)
Referrals/Lead Generation           7% ($728)           7% ($806)
E-mail           1% ($149)           2% ($230)

Industry Concentration: Percentages of revenues by the top 10, top 25 and top 50 have remained consistent.

FH 2009           FH 2008
Top 10           71%           70%
Top 25           82%           81%
Top 50           89%           90%

Pricing Models: Performance deals continue to be the leading pricing models, followed closely by CPM deals.

FH 2009           FH 2008*
Performance Deals           58%($6,363)           54%($6,260)
CPM           38% ($4,059)           42% ($4,750)
Hybrid           4% ($478)           4% ($500)

*NOTE: FH, 2008 Pricing Models numbers have been restated based on additional data received after the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report covering the first six months and the second quarter of 2008 was published on October 7, 2008.

The IAB sponsors the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, which is conducted independently by the New Media Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers. The results are considered the most accurate measurement of interactive advertising revenues because the data is compiled directly from information supplied by companies selling advertising on the Internet. The survey includes data concerning online advertising revenues from Web sites, commercial online services, free e-mail providers, and all other companies selling online advertising. The full report is issued twice yearly for full and half-year data, and top-line quarterly estimates are issued for the first and third quarters. PwC does not audit the information and provides no opinion or other form of assurance with respect to the information.

A copy of the full report is available at: http://www.iab.net/AdRevenueReport

About PricewaterhouseCoopers:

PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders. More than 140,000 people in 149 countries across our network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice.

“PricewaterhouseCoopers” refers to the network of member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity.

About the IAB:

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.

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. – Advertise.com, a premier platform for search and display and CPA marketing, announced it has created eight new positions in response to increased demand for its current offerings, as well as anticipated demand for new services the company will shortly be rolling out. Advertise tapped both industry veterans and fresh talent in its latest expansion, reflecting the online ad industry’s continued strength despite softness in print, television and other advertising sectors. Advertise.com is a premier platform for search and display marketing that enables advertisers to reach a wider audience through an exclusive network of search engines and publisher properties.

Bucking a recent report from UCLA, which predicts continued sluggishness in California’s economy and rising unemployment rates, Advertise.com is growing to meet demand for its services and need for increased customer support. New hires will help Advertise.com manage its momentum after the company’s recent re-branding and launch at Ad:tech, San Francisco, and will provide support for new products in the CPA and Display Ad divisions. In addition to the Client Service Representatives, Advertise.com expanded its management team. New members include:

* Maricel Maling Dehne, CPA Operations Manager – Previously an Advertise.com Search Affiliate manager for more than two years, Maricel brings her extensive background in the CPA space and will lead CPA operations.
* Ulysses Davalos, Ad Operations Manager – Ulysses brings 10 years of experience as an Ad Operations Manager in the online space to Advertise.com and will take on the responsibility of managing the quickly expanding Display and Banner Division.
* Sheryl Madden, CPA Advertiser Account Manager – Sheryl will utilize her previous Account Manager experience to assist Maricel Maling Dehne in building out a unique high quality advertiser network.
* Dan Yates, Large Ad Agency Account Manager – Bringing his five years of advertising agency experience to Advertise.com, Dan will be responsible for managing the company’s growth and relationships with large ad agency clients.

“Given Advertise.com’s mission to serve as the destination location for a wide variety of online marketing solutions, we saw the economic situation as an ideal opportunity to get closer to our advertisers and publishers and introduce new services,” said Daniel Yomtobian, founder and CEO of Advertise.com. “We are excited about both our near and long term prospects, and strengthened our staff with great new hires to further support and address the needs of our customers.”

Advertise.com’s hiring push comes just two months after the launch of the Advertise.com name, which encompasses well-known brands such as ABCSearch, the largest privately held pay-per-click (PPC) search engine and a world leader in online cost-per-click (CPC) advertising and award-winning social search engine, Scour.com.

ABOUT ADVERTISE.COM

Advertise.com is a premier platform for search and display marketing that enables advertisers to reach a wider audience through our exclusive network of search engines and publisher properties. We have been leading the charge in online advertising since 2001, connecting thousands of advertisers with millions of consumers every day – now delivering more than 10 billion ad impressions each month. [1]

Offering a range of high-quality pay-per-click advertising, contextual targeting, and banner ad opportunities, Advertise.com is focused on providing the most effective, most affordable, and easiest-to-use search-and-display advertising platform in the industry.

[1] Advertise.com Metrics Impression Count, March 2009

LONDON, U.K. – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, announced the U.K. launch of comScore Ad Metrix, a breakthrough service in digital media campaign planning and buying that provides comprehensive insight into where display ads are viewed online and the demographic composition of the audiences reached. The service captures multiple varieties of display advertising, including static banners, rich media and video ads.

“comScore Ad Metrix is the first online advertising measurement service in the U.K. to accurately account for the total number of display ads viewed online and attribute those views to the specific users exposed, as well as to the publishers displaying the ads and the advertisers responsible for their content,” said Mike Read, SVP and managing director, comScore Europe. “Never before have the tools associated with traditional media measurement been so closely aligned with online accountability metrics, and we are delighted to be able to offer a range of capabilities through this service including share of voice, ad clutter, ad exposed unique visitors, frequency and reach of ads, GRPs and publisher-level demographics.”

Top 10 Online Display Ad Publishers
Facebook.com ranked as the top U.K. display ad publisher in April with 12.5 billion ad views (21.6 percent market share) reaching 22 million people online. Microsoft Sites ranked second with 3.8 billion ad views (6.5 percent), while eBay ranked third with 2.9 billion ad views (4.9 percent).

_____________________________________________________________________
Top 10 U.K. Online Display Ad Publishers*
Total U.K., Age 15+, Home & Work Locations**
April 2009
Source: comScore Ad Metrix
_____________________________________________________________________
Property                  Total Display    Share of   Advertising
Ad Views (MM)    Display    Exposed
Ads (%)    Unique
Visitors (000)
Total Internet                   58,105       100.0%         35,350
Facebook.com                     12,532        21.6%         21,988
Microsoft Sites                   3,758         6.5%         25,433
eBay                              2,868         4.9%         17,720
AOL LLC                           2,494         4.3%         13,827
Yahoo! Sites                      2,011         3.5%         20,178
Google Sites                      1,056         1.8%         24,904
Fox Interactive Media               825         1.4%          8,584
Autotrader.co.uk                    693         1.2%          3,836
Tagged.com                          438         0.8%          1,549
Amazon Sites                        411         0.7%         12,199
_____________________________________________________________________
*Reflects display advertising only, excludes small ads and house ads (<2,500 pixels in dimension).
**Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Top 10 Online Display Advertisers
The ranking of the top 10 display advertisers was led by telecom companies. With a significant digital advertising campaign promoting the availability of the iPhone 3G on contract, Telefonica O2 ranked as the top display advertiser in April 2009 with 1.1 billion ad views (1.9 percent market share) reaching 29.2 million people. Other top display advertisers included T-Mobile with 750 billion ad views (1.3 percent share), dieting service Oneweek.co.uk with 610 billion ad views (1.1 percent share) and Royal Mail Group.

________________________________________________________________
Top 10 U.K. Online Display Advertisers*
Total U.K., Age 15+, Home & Work Locations**
April 2009
Source: comScore Ad Metrix
________________________________________________________________
Property               Total Display   Share of    Advertising
Ad Views (000)  Publisher   Exposed
Ad Views    Unique
(%)         Visitors (000)
Total Internet             58,104,615     100.0%         35,350
Telefonica O2               1,128,236       1.9%         29,231
T-Mobile                      750,459       1.3%         28,715
Oneweek.co.uk                 610,255       1.1%         25,150
Royal Mail Group              575,444       1.0%         12,190
Orange Sites                  557,593       1.0%         26,483
Virgin Media                  545,004       0.9%         26,984
Sky Sites                     526,904       0.9%         25,849
British Telecommunications    394,958       0.7%         24,221
Microsoft Sites               379,732       0.7%         22,020
Camelot Group                 321,979       0.6%         19,635
_________________________________________________________________
*Reflects display advertising only, excludes small ads and house ads (<2,500 pixels in dimension).
**Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo

The study used McPheters & Company’s AdWorks™ methodology to provide comparable measures of ad effectiveness across multiple media, using 30-second TV ads, full-page 4-color magazine ads, and Internet banner ads in standard sizes. Additionally, eye-tracking software was used to determine whether – and under what circumstances – Internet ads were actually seen by respondents. The work was conducted in CBS Vision’s state-of-the-art Television City facilities at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Matched groups of respondents were recruited to spend 30 minutes with a single medium in a laboratory setting. They either watched a choice of sit-coms, read a magazine they selected, or surfed the Internet at will. At the end of the period, they filled out similar online surveys that asked whether they recalled seeing 4 ads which appeared in the medium they consumed; in order to establish the level of over-claiming, which is known to vary by medium, they were also asked whether they recalled seeing 4 ads that had not appeared. These results were then used to calculate net recall or ad absorption for each medium.

Among the major findings were:

* Within a half hour, magazines effectively delivered more than twice the number of ad impressions as TV and more than 6 times those delivered online
* Though TV doesn’t deliver as many ads per half hour as do magazines, net recall of TV ads was almost twice that of magazine ads; magazines in turn had ad recall almost three times that of Internet banner ads
* 85% of Internet ads served appeared on-screen and could be identified by brand
* Among web users, 63% of banner ads were not seen. Respondents’ eyes passed over 37% of the Internet ads and stopped on slightly less than a third
* For Internet ads, almost all net recall could be attributed to ads that were seen
* Internet video ads appeared much less frequently than banner ads, and their exposure skewed heavily towards young men. When they did appear they were twice as likely to be seen as banner ads.

When study results were used in combination with other information on probability of exposure, a full-page 4-color magazine ad was determined to have 83% of the value of a 30-second television commercial, while a typical Internet banner ad has 16% of the value.

According to Scott McDonald, Senior Vice-President of Research for Condé Nast, “Because different media deliver ad impressions at vastly different rates, this study provides clear evidence that time spent with a medium does not translate into value for advertisers. It also indicates that magazine advertising is undervalued relative to its effectiveness.” Dave Poltrack, Chief Research Officer for CBS and President of CBS Vision, said “As more and more advertisers try to figure out how to communicate their story across media platforms, this form of experimental research will become an increasingly critical element in pre-campaign planning.”

“Our findings indicate that we need to learn more about how to engage Internet users with advertising content,” said Rebecca McPheters, CEO of McPheters & Company. “We look forward to expanding this work to look more closely at other forms of Internet advertising, as well as other media – such as cable, newspapers and radio, and specific types of programming or content. While the sample sizes were not significantly robust to release results for individual ad categories, the study suggests that there are real differences in performance that are worthy of further exploration,” she added.

About McPheters & Company

McPheters & Company specializes in strategic planning and research for brands and for companies in media-related fields, including media owners, advertisers, and ad agencies. The company develops business strategies to enhance both long- and short-term profitability. Much of its work is focused on enhancing and documenting the advertising value produced by media brands.

NEW YORK – Internet advertising revenues in the U.S. remain strong, topping $23 billion, according to the 2008 Internet Advertising Revenue Report, released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC). Despite a difficult U.S. economy, interactive advertising’s continued growth, albeit at a slower pace, confirms marketers’ increased recognition of the medium’s value in reaching consumers online where they are spending more and more of their time.

* Full-year 2008 revenues totaled a record $23.4 billion, exceeding 2007’s performance, itself the former record of $21.2 billion, by $2.2 billion or 10.6%. By comparison, a variety of sources indicate weakness in overall advertising spending. The Nielsen Company, for example, reported that U.S. advertising for the full year 2008 was down 2.6% compared to the full year 2007.

* Fourth-quarter revenues of $6.1 billion mark the first time the interactive advertising industry achieved, and surpassed, $6 billion in a single quarter. The figures represent a $154 million or 2.6% increase from 2007’s fourth quarter, which had revenues of $5.9 billion.

* This is the fifth consecutive year of record results.

“We are seeing an ongoing secular shift from traditional to online media as marketers recognize that ad dollars invested in interactive media are effective at influencing consumers and delivering measurable results,” said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB. “In this uncertain economy, where marketers know they need to do more with less, interactive advertising provides the tools for them to build deep, engaging relationships with consumers—the experience marketers gain from this will deliver dividends especially after the economy turns around.”

Search remains the main driver of revenue growth according to the report, showing a 19.8% increase over 2007. Digital video, though still a small overall contributor, more than doubled its revenue with an increase to $734 million from $324 million in 2007, demonstrating how both marketers and consumers are embracing this dynamic platform.

As in 2007, retail, financial services, computing and automotive remained the four largest verticals among Internet advertisers in 2008. Consumer packaged goods, an industry vertical historically slow to embrace interactive advertising, notably increased its share of total Internet ad revenues by 60 percent over 2007. The Internet is now the third largest ad-supported medium, marking its increasing significance to marketers and consumers.

“Though some categories in the fourth quarter slowed or even dipped, reflecting the current economic challenges, the overall performance is up, confirming interactive’s ever-growing importance to the successful marketing mix,” said David Silverman, Partner, Assurance, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The following chart highlights full-year revenue data breakouts; dollar figures are rounded.

FY 2008    FY 2007
Share of revenue   Share of revenue
$’s (000)   $’s (000)

Search
45% ($10,546)   42% ($8,805)

Display Related:
33% ($7,640)   33% ($7,072)

-Banner Ads
1% ($4,877)   21% ($4,456)

-Rich Media
7% ($1,642)   8% ($1,656)

-Digital Video
3% ($734)   2% ($324)

-Sponsorship
2% ($387)   3% ($636)

Classifieds
14% ($3,174)   16% ($3,321)

Referrals/Lead Generation
7% ($1,683)   7% ($1,584)

E-mail
2% ($405)   2% ($424)

Conducted by the New Media Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the Internet Advertising Revenue Report was launched in 1996 by the IAB, and aggregates data from all companies that report meaningful online advertising revenues. The results are considered the most accurate measurement of interactive advertising revenues with the data compiled directly from information supplied by companies selling advertising on the Internet. The survey includes data concerning online advertising revenues from Web sites, commercial online services, ad networks, free e-mail providers, and all other companies selling online advertising. First and third quarter revenue reports are estimates, with the actual figures being released along with second and fourth quarter data respectively. PwC does not audit the information and provides no opinion or other form of assurance with respect to the information.

A copy of the full report is available at: http://www.iab.net/AdRevenueReport

About PricewaterhouseCoopers:

PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders. More than 154,000 people in 153 countries across our network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice.

About the IAB:

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.

NEW YORK – ad pepper media, the international online advertising network, announced the expansion to the U.S. of the iSense™ Network, the only ad network offering true semantic placement of display media across more than 3,000 content categories. With its award-winning technology and linguistic approach to online advertising, iSense solves the prolific problem of misplaced or out of context online display ads.

iSense Network combines ad pepper’s 10 years of ad network best practice with proprietary cutting edge technology. Underpinning iSense is a patented technology that provides real-time semantic analysis of web pages to identify their true meanings and serve relevant display ads. The result of 11 years of research and development by Professor David Crystal, one of the world’s leading linguists, iSense leverages an extensive semantic ontology in order to derive the subject matter of a page with unprecedented accuracy. Unlike other so-called semantic technologies that use a mathematical approach, iSense benefits from a deeper analysis of each and every word on a page. As a result, publishers profit from targeted ad monetization opportunities on every webpage, while advertisers benefit from more precise ad placement that eliminates wasted impressions whilst increasing contextual relevance and ROI.

“Every word in the English language has nearly three meanings, making sense disambiguation key to adequate and relevant contextual ad placement,” said Sacha Carton, President of iSense and Director of the Board for ad pepper media. “Our semantic approach to the analysis and classification of all the content on a webpage makes contextually relevant page-level targeting of display ads across a broad range of structured and unstructured online media a very effective process.”

Initially launched in the U.K. in January 2008, iSense is already successfully used by more than 200 clients including global brands 3M, EMI, Fujitsu Siemens, HSBC, Microsoft and T-Mobile, and agencies including Mediacom, Universal McCann, Mindshare, OMD and Media Planning.

“The tried and true iSense Network enables advertisers to put to more effective use, the near $5 billion projected to be spent on display ad campaigns in 2009,” said Carton.

iSense is the recipient of the Internet Advertising Bureau UK and E-Consultancy’s Digital Innovator award. Interested publishers and advertisers can visit http://www.isense.net for details on the network.

About ad pepper media

Ad pepper media is a leading independent international online advertising marketers, offering media agencies, advertisers and websites effective online advertising solutions in the areas of branding, performance marketing, affiliate marketing and ad serving.

With 16 branches throughout the U.S. and Europe, ad pepper media manages campaigns for thousands of national and international advertising clients in more than 50 countries worldwide. ad pepper media successfully sets itself apart with an extensive range of efficient marketing solutions, innovative proprietary technology system, and powerful ability to operate internationally so that transnational advertising campaigns can be conducted efficiently. For more information, visit http://www.adpepper.com/.

Fantastic insight into where display ads are now and where they’re headed to- get the whole article here.

- Sun-Times Media Group Announces Executive Changes

Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets: SUTM) announced the appointments of Thomas L. Kram as Senior Vice President, Finance, and Chief Financial Officer, and David C. Martin as Senior Vice President, Business Development, effective immediately. Mr. Kram will report to Jeremy L. Halbreich, Chairman of the Board and Interim Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Martin will report to Rick Surkamer, President and Chief Operating Officer.

LOS ANGELES – Traffic Marketplace, the leading independent online advertising network, announced a new strategic distribution agreement with ARTISTdirect Internet Group, Inc. (“ADIG”), making Traffic Marketplace the exclusive advertising and sponsorship sales agency for ARTISTdirect.com and the ARTISTdirect Internet Group Network.

With one of the web’s deepest and broadest catalogues of content, covering every genre of music and film, ARTISTdirect has established itself among the top online destinations for 24/7 in-depth coverage of entertainment. ARTISTdirect features one of the largest selections of free music content that ranges from over 10,000 music videos and 7 million albums, tracks and samples to millions of artist pages, as well as news that includes behind-the-scenes interviews, reviews and exclusive artist content with everyone from 50 Cent to Bruce Springsteen.

As the 5th largest Entertainment – Music network property on the Internet according to comScore, the ARTISTdirect Network attracts more than 12 million unique visitors per month. ARTISTdirect’s user demographic is characterized as young, net-savvy and extremely mobile — a highly desirable segment among national advertisers.

“The addition of ARTISTdirect further enhances our rich audience profiles and increases our network’s reach, notably among the teen demographic,” said Jim Waltz, President, Traffic Marketplace. “Beyond the additional reach, our advertisers will gain exclusive access to a dynamic network of popular sites and an extensive variety of advertising packages. This new partnership with ARTISTdirect continues our commitment to invest in products, services and relationships that give our advertisers visibility and innovation that no other ad network can offer.”

The ARTISTdirect Network inventory is now exclusively available to Traffic Marketplace advertisers. In addition to display banners, Traffic Marketplace and ARTISTdirect will offer customized advertising solutions including sponsorships, audio ads, video or audio player pre-roll, custom skinning, and wallpaper opportunities.

“Advertisers are always looking for new and innovative ways to tap into the young adult target,” said Dimitri Villard, CEO, ARTISTdirect, Inc. “In addition to getting more visibility with some of the biggest advertisers in the world, Traffic Marketplace provides us with the market know-how and expertise to integrate advertiser messages into our content in a holistic and compelling way that engages consumers.”

According to comScore Media Metrix, Traffic Marketplace reached 147 million unique users, or 77 percent of the U.S. Internet audience, in January 2009.

About ARTISTdirect Internet Group, Inc.:

Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, ARTISTdirect Internet Group controls some of the Internet’s leading consumer music and entertainment information properties. Its flagship website www.ARTISTdirect.com is the premier destination for all things related to music and film and their artists. Through its rich, multimedia repository of contextually relevant information and entertainment, the company creates deep connections between artists and fans that deliver benefits to both the entertainment consumer and the entertainment industry. ARTISTdirect.com receives over 3 million unique visitors per month while the ARTISTdirect Network, a family of related Web sites, draws more than 12.4 million monthly unique visitors. Featuring the latest hit videos, streams, free downloads, breaking news, in-depth interviews with musicians, actors, filmmakers and film score composers, a huge data base filled with biographies and discographies plus hard-to-find information, as well as CDs, concert and movie tickets for purchase, ARTISTdirect.com is the ultimate resource for anyone with an appetite for finding new and interesting content about their favorite artists and their music and films. ADIG’s other properties include the legendary Ultimate Band List, www.UBL.com, one of the web’s first music properties.

About ARTISTdirect, Inc.:

ARTISTdirect, Inc. (OTCBB:ARTD) is a publicly-held holding company with two operating subsidiaries: ARTISTdirect Internet Group, Inc., which operates one of the largest destination sites on the Internet for music and motion picture news, information and streaming music. ADIG also operates an ad network that is currently ranked 5 in comScore’s ranking of music sites. MediaDefender, Inc. provides intellectual property protection and business information services to major motion picture studios, record labels, television networks, gaming companies and software publishers and Internet marketing services to advertising agencies and other clients.

About Traffic Marketplace:

As the premiere B2A™ (Business-to-Audience) online ad network, Traffic Marketplace delivers relevance in online advertising by connecting advertisers with their target audience. Reaching more than 147MM unique users monthly, Traffic Marketplace generates in excess of 30 billion advertising impressions each month, delivering more than 20 million leads and customers a year through its targeted display advertising, lead generation, co-registration, email and custom hosted solutions. www.trafficmarketplace.com