NEW YORK – ContextWeb, Inc., which operates the ADSDAQ Ad Exchange, the largest independent ad exchange, announced the launch of ContextWeb Real-Time Classifier (RTC). ContextWeb RTC categorizes web pages in real-time across more than 450 content categories. With this announcement, the company is productizing its industry leading RTC technology for licensees, enabling them also to maximize the impact of content and adhere seamlessly to the IAB’s taxonomy guidelines. ContextWeb’s ADSDAQ Ad Exchange, which already utilizes RTC, also adheres to the taxonomy standards that are a part of the IAB’s Networks and Exchanges Quality Assurance Guidelines.

The new IAB Quality Assurance Guidelines provide universally defined content categories for trading media against this content, and are designed to bring transparency, control and simplicity to buyers and sellers who trade media on ad networks and exchanges. With ContextWeb RTC, all parties buying and selling ad inventory—advertisers, publishers, agencies, ad networks and exchanges—can trade media more easily using IAB standardized content categories.

“When determining which ad impression to purchase on behalf of our clients, context is a key characteristic,” said Jessica Ciliento Group Director of Digital Strategy at OMD.

“In the future, we’ll be more likely to do business with partners who plan to adhere to the IAB’s networks and exchanges quality assurance guidelines—partners like ContextWeb.”

In a world defined by media and audience fragmentation with more than one million web publishers carrying advertisements and billions of impressions bought and sold every day, content is a necessary data point for trading media. Identifying valuable, high performing audience segments begins with a clear understanding of content and environment. Only ContextWeb RTC enables this in real time.

“The IAB’s new guidelines bring a new level of consistency and dependability to online advertising by creating a lingua franca for ad trading,” said Jay Sears, General Manager of ContextWeb’s ADSDAQ Ad Exchange. “Rolling out ContextWeb RTC and adopting the IAB taxonomy are just the first in many steps ContextWeb will take to advance and fully adopt the new IAB Quality Assurance Guidelines.”

“Content is almost universally available for each saleable ad impression on the web. This makes content the perfect basis grade for evaluating tradable impressions and reinforces the importance of the IAB guidelines,” added Sears. “Other types of data, like user demographics, interest and in-market presence, can add additional value to the impression, but unlike content they are not consistently available or scalable enough to achieve advertisers’ desired reach. ContextWeb RTC enables strategic partners and sellers to leverage content for their offerings.”

ContextWeb RTC examines web pages in real-time and determines which of more than 450 standardized content categories the page should be classified into allowing sellers to organize their online ad inventory and make it more attractive to prospective advertisers. Today, ContextWeb RTC not only powers the ADSDAQ Ad Exchange, but it also works with exchange partners’ products like PointRoll’s Ad Control to enable advertisers to dynamically generate rich-media ads, in real-time, based on the content of the page across IAB standardized categories.

About ContextWeb, Inc.

ContextWeb operates the ADSDAQ Ad Exchange—the only online ad exchange where advertisers and publishers both enjoy complete control. The ADSDAQ Ad Exchange works with more than 12,000 ad buyers and ad sellers every day. Using page-level, contextual technology the ADSDAQ Ad Exchange delivers category-specific, brand-safe inventory along with extensive in-category reach, all with a purchase comparable to a site or portal buy.

The ADSDAQ Ad Exchange ranks among the top 20 ad-supported properties according to comScore. ContextWeb, Inc.’s investors include leading venture capital firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson (“DFJ”), DFJ Gotham Ventures, DFJ New England, Updata Partners and Investor Growth Capital. For more information, please visit: www.contextweb.com.

SAN FRANCISCO – After several months of in-market use with select customers, Kontera, the leading provider of relevant In-Text Advertising and Information Solutions, formally launched its newest ad unit family… the Freedom Ads.

The Freedom Ad family provides the opportunity to deliver deep brand engagement via an elegant user interaction by using an advertiser’s product or brand as the frame and dominant element of the unit. The ad unit’s unique out-of-the-box capabilities bring products and brand experiences to life, capturing the eye and imagination with an instantly recognizable, and relevant, communication. Kontera’s advanced semantic technology identifies highly pertinent key phrases, placing the units within the ideal context to deliver end-user value and maximize engagement and brand lift.

A familiar brand found the unit very effective: “With the perception of oatmeal being boring, OMD was challenged by Quaker Oats to deliver an impactful and engaging message to connect the dots between Quaker Instant Oatmeal and a rich oatmeal experience,” said Pranav Pandit, OMD’s Group Director of Digital Strategy. “Working closely with OMD to deliver an innovative ad solution, Kontera’s custom creative and Freedom Ad unit delivered on the campaign objectives while also returning the highest click-through rates across the campaign.”

The Freedom Ads family initially consists of two unit types, the Product Freedom Unit and Brand Freedom Unit:

The Product Freedom Unit delivers an elegant, instantly recognizable visual depiction of the advertiser’s product directly from within a highly relevant key phrase. This unique unit drives higher consumer engagement rates and overall product awareness.

Product Freedom units employ a clean design, simplicity, and actual product visuals, for maximum effect. Their compelling imagery and limited copy result in instant consumer recognition.. Product Freedom Units are ideal for product focused advertisers like CPG, Automotive, Apparel and Beauty, Consumer Electronics, and Retail.

The Brand Freedom Unit delivers a unique and holistic brand experience through tasteful interaction that engages, educates, and delights the consumer.

When combined with Kontera’s semantic relevance, the Brand Freedom unit delivers brand lift and superior brand engagement results. It does so by engaging qualified consumers directly with the brand, conveying the brand’s essence and value — maintaining elegance and gravitas all the while. The Brand Freedom unit brings to life elements of the brand that are instantly recognizable.

“Freedom Units enable brands to connect with their customers in a visceral way, when they’re most receptive,” said Hal Muchnick, President of Kontera U.S. “Our in-market results demonstrate that consumers engage at very high levels with these visual depictions.”

Advertisers concur. Answering a survey question on how well the new unit met “brand or awareness needs,” on a scale from 1-5, where 1 indicated “Very bad” and 5 meant “Excellent,” the 15 brands and agency teams who tested the unit gave the unit an average rating of 4.2. Asked how well the unit performed from a metrics perspective, the brands and agency teams gave it the identical rating of 4.2.

When they were asked how well the unit performed compared to all other units and networks on on-line ad venues on the campaign, the numbers rose to 4.8 out of 5. With a 5 meaning “Performed Much Better”, and a 1 meaning “Performed Much Worst.”

Would they use the Freedom Unit again? 100% of respondents said “Yes.”

In-Text advertising meets brands’ desires to connect with qualified consumers, and to deliver compelling brand experiences and promotional units. Kontera’s unique rich-media units, combined with its Story-Level Targeting delivers in-text brand placements that are highly relevant to the page contents and to user interests. As a result brands are able to effectively connect with users when they are most engaged and receptive. To learn more about Kontera’s advertising solutions visit http://www.kontera.com/index.php/advertisers

About Kontera

Kontera delivers the most relevant In-Text Advertising & Related Information solutions online. Kontera’s patented technology performs real-time semantic analysis of content and other information to dynamically hyper-link the terms that most accurately represent and predict user-intent and engagement. Kontera enhances consumer experience through superior phrase relevance, driving increased user interaction, unparalleled campaign performance for advertisers, and substantial revenue for publishers. Reaching more than 100 million unique users per month, Kontera’s exclusive network features over 15,000 vetted premium and niche publishers and represents a unique opportunity for advertisers to reach their target audiences through innovative text, rich media and video advertising units. Founded in 2003, Kontera is backed by Sequoia Capital, Carmel Ventures and Tenaya Capital and has offices in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta and Tel Aviv. To learn more about Kontera, Kontera’s Related Information and Content solutions, Semantic Advertising or Contextual Advertising visit: www.kontera.com.

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/.

- Epic Advertising Appoints Rob Wilson
Epic Advertising (www.EpicAdvertising.com), the New York-based online marketing leader, announced today that it has appointed international online marketing veteran Rob Wilson to the position of Senior Vice President and General Manager, Europe. Mr. Wilson will be based in London, England, and will start his new post on October 16, 2008. In his position at Epic Advertising, Mr. Wilson is responsible for the further development and general strategic oversight of the company’s European-based businesses. He will also oversee all operational facets of the European-based division, including office expansion and staffing, as well as strategic oversight and P&L. Prior to joining Epic Advertising, Mr. Wilson served as Regional Director for the US and UK markets for Zanox, a performance marketing company headquartered in Berlin.

“The sheer volume of submissions coupled with the extraordinary level of creativity that cut across such a wide swath of platforms and technologies speaks to the vitality of the interactive advertising industry,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB. “Interactive advertising is breaking new ground in engaging consumers in ways that we had not even dreamed of, and the pace of change will only continue to accelerate.”

This year, submissions jumped by nearly 40 percent, and were sent in from hundreds of leading agencies, representing traditional advertising agencies and native digital shops which entered work across virtually every major vertical industry.

The gala’s ultimate honor, Best in Show, went to TEQUILA\ and Nissan for its “Rogue Launch.” TEQUILA\ and Nissan took home additional honors for digital video, digital integration and VOD and interactive television, winning golds in all three categories. “The Rogue Launch” was based on consumer insights geared to Generation X males who wanted to still feel “in the game” and tap into a sense of playfulness. The campaign was credited as the most successful new car launch in Nissan’s history.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners, last year’s Best in Show agency winner, won two golds this year in Product Launch and Business-to-Business for its campaign “Adobe Layer Tennis” for the launch of Adobe’s Creative Suite 3. And in a testament to the breadth and variety of brands’ interactive campaigns, some marketers were honored in multiple categories for work with different agencies. BMW, for example, was honored for its work with three different agencies—Dotglu, JOGO Media and GSD&M Idea City across the categories of Direct Response and Lead Generation, In-Game Advertising and Social Marketing, respectively.

The MIXX Awards are the only juried advertising competition that evaluates all critical components of the interactive marketing mix, including strategy, creative, execution and results. To view the complete gallery of the MIXX Winners please visit: www.mixx-awards.com/gallery

The Complete List of 2008 MIXX Award Winners:
Best in Show

Nissan and TEQUILA\ for “Rogue Launch”

Brand Awareness and Positioning
GOLD: American Express OPEN and Digitas for “OPEN Forum”

SILVER: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! and BlockDot for “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Now You Know Better!”

BRONZE: U.S. Army and Universal McCann for “U.S. Army Halo 3 Experience”

Product Launch
GOLD: Adobe Creative Suite 3 and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for “Adobe Layer Tennis”

SILVER: Verizon and Campfire for “My Home 2.0”

BRONZE: P&G/Downy and Digitas for “Discovering Radiance”

Direct Response and Lead Generation
GOLD: ING of the Americas and BBDO Atlanta for “ING Numbers”

SILVER: BMW North America and Dotglu for “1 Series Interactive Launch”

BRONZE: McDonald’s and OMD for “Dollar Menunaires”

Business-to-Business
GOLD: Adobe Creative Suite 3 and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for “Adobe Layer Tennis”

SILVER: Dell and T3 for “Times Square We believe: in small business”

BRONZE: Motorola and BBDO New York for “Cityscape”

Public Service/Not-for-Profit
GOLD: The Ad Council / U.S. Department of Justice / National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Merkley + Partners for “Think Before You Post”

SILVER: The Bridgespan Group and Sapient Interactive for “One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference”

BRONZE: Roundabout Theatre Company and Situation Marketing for “Sunday in the Park with George – Connect: The Dot Project”

Search Marketing
GOLD: Honda Certified Used Cars and RPA for “Custom Search Program”

SILVER: Covad Communications and Geary Interactive for “Localized Search Campaign”

BRONZE: Adobe Systems Incorporated and Adobe Search Marketing for “AIR/RIA”

Super-Rich Media
GOLD: Apple Inc. and TBWA\Media Arts Lab for “ Don’t Give Up”

SILVER: Apple Inc. and TBWA\Media Arts Lab for “Banging, Knocking & Hiding”

BRONZE: HBO and Deep Focus for “Flight of the Conchords”

Multicultural
GOLD: U.S. Army and Sensis for “Leaders Among Us”

SILVER: The Home Depot and The Vidal Partnership for “Colores Origenes “Mixer” Campaign”

Widget Marketing
GOLD: Honda Civic and RPA for “Honda Civic Tour: Panic at the Disco”

SILVER: Kimberly-Clark and MindShare for “Huggies Baby Countdown”

BRONZE: Samsung and Cheil Worldwide for “Juke by Samsung”

In-Game Advertising
GOLD: BMW and JOGO Media for “BMW M3 Challenge”

SILVER: Nissan and OMD for “Forza 2”

BRONZE: The Coca-Cola Company and MediaVest for “Sprite NBA Gaming”

Digital Video
GOLD:

Nissan and TEQUILA\ for “Rogue Launch”

SILVER: Neutrogena and Tribal DDB Worldwide for “The Wave Power Cleanser”

BRONZE: Microsoft Small Business Products and Cole & Weber United for “Microsoft Small Business Summit”

Social Marketing
GOLD: Alberto-Culver Company and Carat for “Extreme Style by VO5”

SILVER: BMW and GSD&M Idea City for “1 Series – Facebook Graffiti Contest”

BRONZE: Verizon and Campfire for “My Home 2.0”

International Award
GOLD: Vodafone and OgilvyOne Worldwide, Athens for “Livefeeds”

SILVER: Air New Zealand and Host for “Home Sweet As”

BRONZE: Coke Europe and Sapient Interactive for “Coke Burn Alter Ego”

Mobile Platforms
GOLD: Virgin Atlantic Airways and McKinney for “ Love from Above”

SILVER: MasterCard Worldwide and MRM Worldwide for “Peyton Pep Talks with Peyton Manning”

VOD and Interactive Television
GOLD:

Nissan and TEQUILA\ for “Rogue Launch”

SILVER: AXE and BrightLine iTV for “Art of Skin Contact”

BRONZE: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! and BrightLine iTV for ”Sprays in the City”

Brand Destination Site
GOLD: MasterCard Worldwide and MRM Worldwide for “Priceless.com”

SILVER: American Airlines and TM Advertising for “AAdvantage Milestones”

BRONZE:
Pabst Brewing Company and Cole & Weber United for “The Tales of Colt 45”

Digital Integration

GOLD:

Nissan and TEQUILA\ for “Rogue Launch”

SILVER:

Liberty Mutual and Hill Holliday for “The Responsibility Project”

BRONZE:

ING of the Americas and BBDO Atlanta for “ING Numbers”

Cross-Platform Integration
GOLD: Liberty Mutual and Hill Holliday for “The Responsibility Project”

SILVER: ING of the Americas and BBDO Atlanta for “ING Numbers”

BRONZE: Verizon and Campfire for “My Home 2.0”

MIXX 2008 Judges:

Marketers:

* Cheryl Guerin – VP, Global Digital Marketing, MasterCard Worldwide
* Jenny Howell – Manager of Interactive Marketing, American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
* Carole Irgang – SVP, Integrated Marketing Communications, Kraft Foods
* Carol Kruse – VP, Global Interactive Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company
* Tim Murphy – Senior Director Digital Marketing, Anheuser-Busch
* David Roman – VP, WW Marketing Communications, Personal Systems Group, Hewlett-Packard Company
* Debbie Jo Severin – VP, Marketing, Covad Communications Group, Inc.

Agencies:

* Marty Cooke – Chief Creative Officer, SS+K
* Jean-Philippe Maheu – Chief Digital Officer, Ogilvy North America
* Hans Neubert – Executive Creative Director, Avenue A | Razorfish
* Michael Prieve – Chief Creative Officer, Doremus New York
* Alan Schulman – SVP, Executive Creative Director, Executive Director of User Experience, imc2
* Baba Shetty – EVP Chief Media Officer, Hill Holliday
* Joanne Zaiac – President, Digitas, New York

Publishers:

* Heidi Browning – SVP, Client Solutions, FOX Interactive Media
* Mark D’Arcy – Chief Creative Officer, Time Warner Global Media Group
* Jane Grenier – VP, CondéNet
* Wonya Lucas – EVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Discovery Communications
* Suzie Reider – Director of Advertising, YouTube
* David Sturman – Chief Technology Officer for Massive (a Microsoft company)
* Lauren Wiener – SVP, Meredith Interactive Media

MIXX Awards Sponsors:
Adweek Media
Brightcove.com
Broadband Enterprises
Comcast Spotlight
Forbes.com
International Data Group (IDG)
Microsoft Advertising
Terra Networks
Traffiq
ValueClick Media
Yahoo!

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.

• Worth International (www.worthit.com) is a leading publisher of both print and online publications. Worth has a forty year track record, producing publications to such varied industries as travel and tourism, culture and the arts, sports, aviation, retail, healthcare and others. Their publications include Recommend, the highest circulated North American travel publication.
• Oddcast (www.oddcast.com) is the leading provider of speaking avatar based products. Oddcast has over 8,000 clients and partners and deploys more than 200 million avatars across the web on a monthly basis.

• Wi-Fi Guys (www.wi-figuys.com) provides high quality, managed high-speed internet access networks for the hospitality industry; their hotspot products are deployed by leading hotels, resorts, restaurants and marinas.

• Fixion Media (www.fixionmedia.com) serves to monetize digital media content (web, mobile, widgets, etc) in a push to harmonize the interests of local and global marketers in music and entertainment industries. In 2008 alone, the company will serve 1 billion premium ad impressions alone through ADTECH’s HELIOS IQ solution.

“These new client wins demonstrate our best in class offerings for publishers, agencies, advertisers and ad networks alike,” said Dirk Freytag, CEO of ADTECH. “We’re tremendously excited to be working with Worth International, Oddcast, Wi-Fi Guys and Fixion Media and adding them to the superior client roster that we have built here in the United States.”

To speak with Dirk Freytag of ADTECH regarding the new client wins please email pandreu@5wpr.com

About ADTECH US
ADTECH US is the American arm of ADTECH AG, a leading international digital marketing solutions company. The company is an independent and majority-controlled subsidiary of AOL’s Advertising.com division. Since opening in the US in September of 2006, ADTECH US has signed on such clients as The A&E Television Network, interactive marketing agency Artyso and photo blogging community FOTOLOG to ad serving agreements. Headquartered in New York with an office in San Francisco, the company’s flagship product is the Helios IQ ad serving platform, a next-generation suite of applications which enables Web publishers to manage, serve and report on their online advertising campaigns. Helios IQ allows its customers to enhance efficiency, reliability and ROI in their online advertising businesses. Globally, ADTECH AG, founded in 1998 works with such customers as Sky TV, Clear Channel and OMD in 25 countries.