TRAFFIQ News

TRAFFIQ Brings Renewed Order to Online Ad Buying With New Media Planning and Buying Tools

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:00:01 GMT

Enhancements Include Advanced Targeting, Inventory Packaging and Deal Negotiation Features

NEW YORK, NY, February 3, 2010 — TRAFFIQ®, the end-to-end digital media planning, buying and management platform, today introduced its next generation of media planning and buying tools, including an enhanced attribute matching engine for granular ad searching and targeting, along with multi-tiered inventory packaging options. These sophisticated new capabilities, along with new deal negotiation tools, make online ad buying and selling simpler and smarter and, ultimately, more successful for advertisers, ad agencies and publishers.

TRAFFIQ is the only online display media marketplace that directly connects agencies, advertisers and publishers. It promotes high levels of control and freedom for all parties through a single platform that consolidates media planning, RFP distribution, order execution, optimization and billing.

During the media planning process, agencies and advertisers now have more advanced options for ad searching and targeting, which increases campaign success. TRAFFIQ now offers insight into publishers with the broadest range of ad targeting options, including contextual, behavioral, re-targeting, geo-targeting and user-registration data, through its proprietary attribute matching engine. The platform also allows agencies and advertisers to communicate technologically sophisticated campaign requirements directly to publishers.

Adding further simplicity to the search process, TRAFFIQ now organizes publisher data into logical groupings of sites, networks and channels. This helps agencies and advertisers find the inventory they need for their campaigns without having to hunt through lengthy lists of potential ad placements.

TRAFFIQ’s new smart inventory packaging functionality allows publishers to offer multiple options, or “channels.” Agencies and advertisers can now drill down into individual content or site section channels, which carry their own unique audience, content and ad serving information. This easily searchable workflow makes it much simpler for publishers to quickly set up storefronts and promote themselves without getting into the final details of individual placements until the deal is negotiated.

During the offer negotiation process, agencies and advertisers now have the flexibility to target separate placements within a single buy. This streamlines a formerly complicated process and helps media planners meet campaign goals.

“Throughout the course of developing these new features, we listened closely to the agencies, advertisers and publishers that use the TRAFFIQ platform for their online ad buying and selling needs,” said Mark Kahn, TRAFFIQ’s CEO. “As a result, we’re helping agencies and advertisers build better campaigns and buy better inventory, while at the same time enabling publishers to maximize the value of their storefronts.”

There are millions of dollars of campaign demand and billions of impressions currently available on the TRAFFIQ platform. Prominent national and regional agencies such as Worldwide Partners, Havas Digital, AdStrategies, Capitol Media Solutions, Pavone and Torque are using TRAFFIQ to meet their clients’ needs.

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an end-to-end digital media planning, buying and management platform. It facilitates the buying and selling of display media with ease and efficiency, yielding maximum return on investment. Marketplace members include the leading advertisers, ad agencies and publishers. TRAFFIQ is a member of the IAB advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on best practices for industry growth. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Vienna, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com.

Media Contacts

Ted Rossman
New Venture Communications for TRAFFIQ
914-432-7083
trossman@newventurecom.com

TRAFFIQ Selects Datran Media’s Aperture Audience Measurement Solution to Optimize Campaigns and Validate Audience Reach

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, NY, January 20, 2010 — TRAFFIQ, the end-to-end digital media planning, buying and management platform, has integrated Datran Media’s Aperture technology into its platform in order to help agencies and advertisers better understand target audiences and fully optimize online campaigns.

Aperture is a proprietary audience measurement technology platform that enables marketers to discover the verified demographic, lifestyle and buying behavior of audiences that have viewed and responded to digital campaigns. Aperture technology allows marketers to more effectively reach and engage audiences using actionable intelligence and data. Aperture analytics combine verified household-level data with online consumer behavior to accurately identify, reach and measure online audiences.

“With Aperture, our agency and advertising partners are able to create robust media plans, precisely target audiences and adjust creative strategies in real time based on campaign feedback and audience needs,” said Mark Kahn, TRAFFIQ’s CEO. “Post-campaign, advertisers also benefit from strategic business intelligence that provides information on both responding and non-responding audiences. This data lends valuable insight into campaign planning and creative development, redefining the overall business strategy.”

Advertisers typically launch product campaigns to fairly consistent audience segments and validate the strategy by tying the data to purchase activity and other criteria. Aperture enables marketers to take a deeper look at the audience that their campaigns reach by allowing them to see a rich profile of more than a hundred consumer data points. The multitude of data points ranges from demographics like verified age, gender and marital status, to other qualifiers like income level, family size and buying history.

“Aperture brings an unparalleled level of precision and intelligence to digital marketing and audience discovery,” said Scott Knoll, senior VP and general manager of Aperture. “For a company like TRAFFIQ, that provides benefits for both advertisers and publishers. Aperture is an ideal solution that will enable both sides of the media buying equation to leverage data in entirely new ways.”

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an end-to-end digital media planning, buying and management platform. It facilitates the buying and selling of display media with ease and efficiency, yielding maximum return on investment. Marketplace members include leading advertisers, ad agencies and publishers. TRAFFIQ is a member of the IAB advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on best practices for industry growth. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Vienna, VA. For more information, please contact info@traffiq.com.

About Aperture

Aperture is an award-winning and revolutionary audience measurement platform that brings an unparalleled level of precision and intelligence to online marketing. Developed by Datran Media, Aperture is a unique media platform that combines household level data with online consumer behavior to help advertisers accurately identify, reach and measure online target audiences. Aperture modules include Audience Discovery and Targeting, Audience Finder, Audience Reach and Audience ROI. The world’s largest advertising agencies and global brands depend on Aperture to connect unique consumer audiences with the compelling content, products and services they desire.

About Datran Media

Datran Media is a leading digital marketing technology company that helps its customers manage all aspects of their multi-channel marketing campaigns—from branding and acquisition, to retention and monetization. Datran Media technology solutions include cutting edge technology for media distribution, and audience measurement and analytical tools. These solutions make it easy to drive maximum value and measure the results of digital marketing programs. More than 1,000 top consumer advertisers, publishers and agencies have partnered with Datran Media to increase brand favorability and strengthen the lifetime value of their customer relationships. For more information on Datran Media, visit www.datranmedia.com.

Datran Media and Aperture are trademarks or registered trademarks of Datran Media.

Media Contacts

Ted Rossman
914-432-7083
Senior Associate
New Venture Communications for TRAFFIQ
trossman@newventurecom.com

Lana McGilvray
512-857-7303
Vice President, Marketing
Datran Media
lmcgilvray@datranmedia.com

TRAFFIQ, Advantage Team to Streamline Ordering, Billing and Paying

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:00:01 GMT

New York, NY & Mooresville, NC—October 28, 2009—As part of its ongoing commitment to creating cost and time efficiencies for advertisers and agencies, digital media planning, buying and management platform TRAFFIQ® (www.traffiq.com) has partnered with The Advantage Software Company, Inc. (www.gotoadvantage.com) to streamline media buys into their agency management enterprise system.

TRAFFIQ advertisers can with one click now export a file that details the cost data for an entire TRAFFIQ campaign, and import that file directly into Advantage, one of the industry’s most widely used agency management systems. Advertisers can make buys on hundreds of publishers, track and reconcile the costs on their own accounting system, and forego individually recreating each new line item for new orders. This dramatically reduces the time it takes to process media buys and related invoices using the TRAFFIQ media management and buying console, and minimize errors often made in manual data entry.

“Advantage lends yet another important enhancement to TRAFFIQ’s platform and further enables us help advertisers be more productive and profitable,” said Mark Kahn, TRAFFIQ’s chief executive. “We are constantly on the lookout for ways to make our turnkey platform even more time and cost efficient and Advantage’s solution mapped perfectly with that mission.”

This partnership marks Advantage’s sixth media integration and its second Internet-specific deployment reinforcing its reputation of being one of the most robust and flexible systems on the market today.

“TRAFFIQ shares our vision of providing end-to-end agency management services and that made it a logical choice as a strategic partner,” said Advantage president, Ellen Coulter. “Many of our agencies are migrating a larger share of their buying online and our shared clients will recognize a more streamlined workflow and immediate benefits in billing and reporting.”

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an end-to-end digital media planning, buying and management platform. It facilitates the buying and selling of premium display media with ease and efficiency, always providing maximum return on investment. Marketplace members include the leading advertisers, ad agencies and publishers. TRAFFIQ is a member of the IAB advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on best practices for industry growth. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Vienna, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com.

About Advantage

The Advantage Software Company is the leading provider of advertising workflow automation and media buying tools for advertising agencies and in-house marketing departments. For over 30 years Advantage has led the industry with a wide range of solutions including browser-based solutions that accommodate both PC and Mac workstations. Advantage has the largest and most active Users Group in the industry. Its members play an active role in the software enhancement process and are a continuous source of innovation.

Media Contacts

Michael Berkowitz
Sr. Director, Marketing
TRAFFIQ
646-254-6561
mberkowitz@traffiq.com

Ellen Coulter
President
The Advantage Software Company, Inc.
704-662-9980x414
ecoulter@gotoadvantage.com

TRAFFIQ Appoints Steve Felsher to Board of Advisors

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:00:01 GMT

Leading Digital Media Planning, Buying and Management Platform to Benefit from Former Grey CFO’s Financial and Business Expertise

New York, NY—October 6, 2009—TRAFFIQ®, the industry’s leading digital media planning, buying and management platform, today announced that Steve Felsher has joined the company’s Board of Advisors. Mr. Felsher previously served as the Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer-Worldwide of Grey Global Group Inc., one of the world’s largest marketing communications firms. He managed Grey’s financial operations and all other corporate functions, and oversaw Grey’s integration into WPP Group plc after WPP acquired Grey in 2005.

“During his nearly 30-year career there, Steve was instrumental in building Grey into one of the most respected, responsible and successful companies in the marketing communications industry,” commented Mark Kahn, TRAFFIQ’s CEO. “His financial acumen and savvy business expertise will be tremendous assets for TRAFFIQ.”

Mr. Felsher joined Grey in 1979 to establish its legal department and subsequently became Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chairman. Since leaving the company in 2007, Mr. Felsher has worked with a number of intellectual property and marketing services companies to help them achieve their business goals. He is a graduate of Dickinson College and Yale Law School.

“TRAFFIQ has gained significant momentum through recent partnerships with Havas Digital and Worldwide Partners and a $10 million infusion of venture capital. TRAFFIQ has high potential and I’m excited to join the company’s Board of Advisors.”

TRAFFIQ’s Board of Advisors also includes Tom Iler, former Senior Vice President and CIO, Platform A; Chris Schroeder, CEO, HealthCentral; David J. Londoner, General Partner, The North River Company; Tom Wilde, President and CEO, Everyzing; and Mark Wright, Partner, Blue Chip Venture Company.

About TRAFFIQ

Media Contact

Ted Rossman
New Venture Communcations for TRAFFIQ
914-432-7083
trossman@newventurecom.com

TRAFFIQ Announces Strategic Partnership With Worldwide Partners, Inc.

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:00:01 GMT

World’s Largest Network of Owner-Operated Advertising and Marketing Agencies Adopts TRAFFIQ’s Online Advertising Marketplace as Digital Media Platform of Choice in U.S.; Partnership is TRAFFIQ’s Second Major Alliance in Q3

New York, NY—September 23, 2009—TRAFFIQ®, the industry’s leading digital media planning, buying and management platform, today announced a strategic partnership with Worldwide Partners, Inc. (WPI), the world’s largest owner-operated advertising and marketing communications network. This partnership designates TRAFFIQ as the digital media platform of choice for media teams at WPI partner agencies in the United States. This announcement comes on the heels of a similar strategic alliance that TRAFFIQ forged with Havas Digital in July, as well as a $10 million round of Series B venture funding that TRAFFIQ closed in August.

Media teams at WPI partner agencies in the U.S. will utilize the TRAFFIQ platform to help meet their clients’ online media planning, buying, reporting, negotiation and campaign optimization needs. TRAFFIQ will allow them to post RFPs directly to publishers, create vertical networks and connect with the most relevant publisher storefronts.

Unlike networks or exchanges, TRAFFIQ provides buyers and sellers with a single platform that consolidates planning, RFP distribution, order execution, optimization and billing. By enabling ad buyers to post RFPs and publishers to respond directly, TRAFFIQ returns control of the media buying process to the agency/advertiser. This level of visibility and access to real-time KPIs makes it easier for them to adjust campaigns on the fly to better meet clients’ goals. And, as an end-to-end solution, TRAFFIQ increases an agency/advertiser’s buying power and a publisher’s selling strength.

“We’re constantly evaluating new tools that will help increase the impact of our clients’ ad campaigns,” according to Al Moffatt, the president and CEO of Worldwide Partners, Inc. “We were drawn to TRAFFIQ because it combines ease-of-use, quality and cost-efficiency with tremendous granularity in placing our clients’ ads.”

Mark Kahn, TRAFFIQ’s CEO, added, “We’re thrilled to add WPI to our rapidly growing list of partners. WPI is a high-quality organization with tremendous reach. Their adoption of the TRAFFIQ platform is significant validation for our vision that ad agencies and advertisers should have greater control over the placement of their ads while keeping costs down.”

There are millions of dollars of campaign demand and billions of impressions currently available on the TRAFFIQ platform. In addition to its recently announced alliances with WPI and Havas Digital, TRAFFIQ also partners with prominent national and regional agencies such as IMRE, AdStrategies, Capitol Media Solutions, Pavone and Torque.

About TRAFFIQ

About Worldwide Partners, Inc.

Worldwide Partners, Inc. (WPI) is the world’s largest owner-operated advertising and marketing communications network made up of 92 agencies employing 4,500 people in 137 offices located in 55 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America. Based in Denver, Colorado USA, WPI is owned by the partner agencies that make up the network. WPI exists to explore and capitalize on global business development opportunities with multinational clients for its partners and to act as a hub that harnesses the creativity, local expertise and resources of the agencies in the partnership and apply them to solve problems for clients on a local, regional and international basis. This allows partners to expand their existing client relationships geographically and to compete effectively for international new business. Clients gain access to best-in-class, entrepreneurially driven agencies steeped in local knowledge in all markets they engage WPI shops. WPI’s partner agencies manage in excess of $3.9 billion in advertising expenditures. Clients serviced in five countries or more include Ciba Vision, Guardian Industries, Walden University and Wal-Mart Centroamerica.

Media Contact

Ted Rossman
914-432-7083
trossman@newventurecom.com

TRAFFIQ, Online Media Marketplace, Announces $10 Million in Series B Financing

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:00:01 GMT

New Investors Grotech Ventures and Greenhill SAVP Back Innovative Platform that Directly Connects Ad Agencies and Advertisers with Publishers

New York, NY—August 5, 2009—TRAFFIQ®, the online advertising marketplace and management platform that enables ad buyers to plan, negotiate and buy directly from publishers, today announced it has closed a $10 million Series B round of venture funding. New investors Grotech Ventures and Greenhill SAVP join existing investor Court Square Ventures in the new round. Grotech general partner Steve Fredrick and Greenhill managing director Brian Hirsch have joined TRAFFIQ’s board of directors.

“This funding supports our vision that the online ad buying process needs to change,” said Mark Kahn, CEO of TRAFFIQ. “At present, many agencies and advertisers have no control over the placement of their ads, and many publishers have high-value inventory that is going unsold. The online ad world needs a platform that addresses this disconnect between agencies, advertisers and publishers. With the TRAFFIQ marketplace, we bring flexibility, customization, choice and control to the massive scalability of the Internet.”

Unlike networks or exchanges, TRAFFIQ’s marketplace provides buyers and sellers with a single platform that consolidates planning, RFP distribution, order execution, optimization and billing. By enabling ad buyers to post RFPs and publishers to respond directly, TRAFFIQ returns control of the media buying process to the agency/advertiser. This level of visibility and access to real-time KPIs makes it easier for them to adjust campaigns on the fly to better meet clients’ goals. And, as an end-to-end solution, TRAFFIQ increases an agency/advertiser’s buying power and a publisher’s selling strength.

“TRAFFIQ is a true end-to-end advertising management platform,” remarked Marta Martinez, senior vice president of corporate partnerships for Havas Digital, an online media giant. “It gives buyers direct access to the entire spectrum of publishers, with complete transparency, access and control over the planning, negotiating and buying processes. This platform should eliminate a lot of the friction in the current ad operations process, thus creating efficiencies and increasing transparency.”

There are millions of dollars of campaign demand and billions of impressions currently available on the TRAFFIQ platform. These are provided by thousands of quality publishers and aggregators, such as WhitePages.com, Scripps Network, Shopzilla, PriceGrabber and ContextWeb.

TRAFFIQ partners with prominent national and regional agencies, including Havas Digital, IMRE, AdStrategies, Capitol Media Solutions, Pavone and Torque. These organizations, as well as leading mid-size brands such as Patio.com, Sleepy’s and Brown Harris Stevens, are using the increased efficiency of TRAFFIQ to meet their advertising needs.

“TRAFFIQ is a very cost-effective way for us to gain additional visibility into the buying process,” said Marci DeVries, vice president of digital at IMRE. “It allows us to spend less time researching and planning and more time executing high-quality campaigns.”

The TRAFFIQ platform supports all Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standard display-based digital media units. In March 2009, IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that 2008 online ad revenue totaled $23.4 billion—up $2.2 billion, about 11 percent, from 2007. This expansion continued even in the fourth quarter and many segments showed strong growth. Forrester Research, in its recently released “U.S. Interactive Marketing Forecast,” likewise projects a 17% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for U.S. interactive marketing spending over the next five years, to nearly $55 billion in 2014.

“TRAFFIQ brings a compelling, game-changing approach to the online advertising market, allowing ad agencies and advertisers to select specific opportunities from high-quality, highly targeted inventory in real time,” explained Grotech’s Fredrick. “TRAFFIQ simplifies and accelerates the ad buying process and is ideally positioned to help ad agencies, advertisers and publishers increase ROI from their ad spends.”

Greenhill’s Hirsch added, “TRAFFIQ is not just another ad network or exchange. By automating the ad buying process, TRAFFIQ is bringing the same level of ease and efficiency to display advertising for large and small ad buyers that Google brought to search. In an environment where advertisers and publishers are trying to get more agile, TRAFFIQ is making it a reality for large and small ad buyers.”

Proceeds from the financing will be used to further enhance the TRAFFIQ platform and accelerate the company’s sales and marketing efforts.

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an efficient, open and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers of online media through an end-to-end self-service platform. It facilitates the buying and selling of premium display media with ease and efficiency, always providing maximum return on investment. Marketplace members include the leading advertisers, ad agencies and publishers. TRAFFIQ is a member of the IAB advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on best practices for industry growth. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Vienna, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com.

About Grotech Ventures

Founded in 1984, Grotech Ventures (www.grotech.com) is a leading early investor in high-potential technology companies. Grotech seeks investments in communications and IT infrastructure, software and services, and Internet and digital media. The firm focuses on the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions and other select geographies. Grotech continues to invest and add value throughout the growth of its portfolio companies. The firm has a strong combination of financial backing, industry relationships, and deep domain and operational expertise to accelerate growth. With over $1 billion under management in its seven funds, Grotech supports early-stage companies through investments starting at $500,000.

About Greenhill SAVP

Silicon Alley Venture Partners (“SAVP”) was originally founded in 1998. In early 2006, SAVP and Greenhill & Co. combined resources to create Greenhill SAVP (“GSAVP”), a $102 million fund focused on early growth stage Technology-Enabled Services (TES) and Business Information Services (BIS) companies. GSAVP typically invests from $1 million to $8 million in companies primarily located in the Greater Tri-State Area from eastern Pennsylvania to northern Connecticut. Greenhill SAVP is an entrepreneur-centric fund, believing that great entrepreneurs and talented managers make for extraordinary success. The firm has a strong track record in identifying, recruiting, assessing and coaching talented entrepreneurs and managers, particularly in the TES/BIS sector. For more than a decade, their investment team has been investing and operating almost exclusively in these types of companies.

About Court Square Ventures

Court Square Ventures (www.courtsquareventures.com) is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage communications, information technology, and media companies, with a particular interest in enabling technologies. Court Square typically focuses on the “go to market” phase of a young company’s lifecycle, where technology innovation is necessary but often insufficient for success. During this phase, and throughout the life of a company, CSV’s principals apply their deep operating experience to the strategic problems and opportunities that arise. CSV invests throughout the U.S.

Media Contacts

Ted Rossman
914-432-7083
trossman@newventurecom.com

Lauren Dresnick
650-343-2735
ldresnick@newventurecom.com

TRAFFIQ Announces Strategic Partnership With Havas Digital

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:00:01 GMT

Leading Interactive Media Holding Company to Use TRAFFIQ’s Groundbreaking Online Advertising Marketplace That Directly Connects Agencies and Publishers

NEW YORK, NY, July 21, 2009 — TRAFFIQ®, the online advertising marketplace and management platform that enables ad buyers to plan, negotiate and buy directly from publishers, today announced a strategic partnership with Havas Digital, one of the world’s largest interactive media holding companies. This partnership designates TRAFFIQ as a main platform of choice for Havas Digital planners in Boston, New York and Chicago.

Havas Digital will utilize the TRAFFIQ platform to help meet the online ad planning, buying, reporting, negotiation, campaign optimization and consolidated billing needs of its blue chip customer base and many others across Havas Digital’s US companies. Agency media planners and buyers at Havas Digital companies will be able to employ TRAFFIQ to post RFPs directly to publishers, create vertical networks and connect with the most relevant publisher storefronts.

In contrast to an ad network or exchange, TRAFFIQ is a true marketplace of buyers and sellers, a single platform that consolidates planning, RFP distribution, order execution, optimization, and billing. By enabling ad buyers to post RFPs and publishers to respond directly, TRAFFIQ returns control of the media buying process to the agency/advertiser. And, as an end-to-end solution, TRAFFIQ increases an agency/advertiser’s buying power and a publisher’s selling strength.

“There are many tools that assist in the ad buying process, but TRAFFIQ is unique because it provides complete visibility and control over the exact placements of online ads,” said Marta Martinez, senior vice president of corporate partnerships for Havas Digital. “TRAFFIQ provides a comprehensive view of opportunities from across the Web in a contained format that is reminiscent of the much less complicated—but also less lucrative—days before online advertising.”

Mark Kahn, TRAFFIQ’s CEO, added, “Havas Digital’s commitment to standardize on the TRAFFIQ platform is an important validation for our distinct ability to facilitate meaningful interactions between ad buyers/agencies and publishers.”

About TRAFFIQ

About Havas Digital

Havas Digital is an umbrella holding company that manages all Havas Media’s interactive companies. In the US this includes: Media Contacts, interactive media network and Mobext, mobile advertising network.

Havas Digital brands provide data driven marketing solutions across all interactive channels: digital, direct response, relationship based media. Havas Digital’s companies work and complement each other bringing together professional expertise, proven strategic insight, and Artemis®, an advanced proprietary data platform and optimization engine, which allows the group agencies to maximize impact for the advertiser interactive media investment.

Havas Digital’s brands currently operate from 38 cities in 29 different countries across Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Oceania, serving over 400 clients, including the market leaders in many industries such as Air France, Danone, Diageo, Expedia, Fidelity, France Telecom, ING Direct, Nike, Peugeot/Citröen, Repsol, Reckitt Benckiser, Sears, and Vodafone, amongst others. Please check www.havasdigital.com for more information.

Media Contacts

Ted Rossman
914-432-7083
trossman@newventurecom.com

Lauren Dresnick
650-343-2735
ldresnick@newventurecom.com

TRAFFIQ Adds Advertising Technology Veteran To Board of Advisors

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:00:01 GMT

Former SVP and CIO of AOL’s Platform A Joins TRAFFIQ’s Advisory Board

NEW YORK, NY, June, 1, 2009 — TRAFFIQ’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Kahn, announced today that Tom Iler, the former SVP and Chief Information Officer for AOL’s Platform A, has agreed to join TRAFFIQ’s Board of Advisors.

“Tom is a fantastic addition to TRAFFIQ’s advisory board” said Kahn. “His deep understanding of the space and the technology that drives this industry is unmatched. Tom’s insight and experience in managing large and complex technology products is exactly the kind of knowledge base that we are looking for as TRAFFIQ continues to grow, and its underlying technology becomes more sophisticated. Tom will be a critical sounding board on all the features in our product pipeline, including better media targeting tools, time-saving workflow improvements, and services that make use of the valuable market data we collect.”

The industry’s only horizontal, direct-to-publisher display media management and buying platform, TRAFFIQ helps agencies leverage and increase their buying power, and improves publishers’ selling strength. This comprehensive system is engineered to incorporate all components of the media planning, buying and selling process, including site search and media planning, smart inventory packaging tools, automated RFP distribution, negotiation management and order execution, campaign optimization, and publisher reconciliation/invoicing.

“I am very excited about working with the TRAFFIQ team” said Iler. “I believe their solution is truly unique, and fills an important gap in the online advertising marketplace. As advertising alternatives continue to consolidate and converge, systems like TRAFFIQ’s will be needed to help advertisers manage an increasingly complex buying process.”

Other members of TRAFFIQ’s advisory board include Chris Schroeder, CEO of the HealthCentral Network; David J. Londoner, General Partner of the North River Company; Tom Wilde, CEO of Everyzing and Mark Wright of Blue Chip Venture Partners.

About Tom Iler:

Tom most recently served as SVP & Chief Information Officer Platform-A overseeing the technology division for the industry’s largest digital advertising platform. Platform-A offers the most comprehensive suite of online marketing solutions powered by the Web’s best advertising technologies. As CIO, Tom was responsible for the company's 340 technology employees located in eight cities across the US and Europe. In this role, he was responsible for providing leadership and oversight for the development, maintenance and operation of the Company’s information systems. Prior to AOL, Tom was the CIO of Advertising.com. As chief information officer for Advertising.com, Tom led the company’s technology team and was responsible for maintaining, developing and operating the company’s award-winning information systems. Platform-A and Advertising.com are a division of AOL/Time Warner. Prior to Advertising.com, Tom served as CIO for Baltimore County Government, overseeing the technology and systems which supported and served over 6,000 employees and 750,000 citizens.

About TRAFFIQ

Display advertising's impact extends far beyond the click

Fri, 22 May 2009 05:00:01 GMT

As an industry, we’ve continually worked to move past the click as the primary success metric. Anecdotally there has always been evidence that display and search advertising have a symbiotic relationship that must be considered when allocating digital budgets; this study supports our position that display buying MUST be part of every interactive media plan. TRAFFIQ’s platform presents advertisers and agencies the ability to make the most of this budget by centralizing the disparate, and therefore costly, parts of the display media planning and buying process into a single system. This means the reallocation of search budget to display is efficient, manageable, and via our analytics platform, just as quantifiable as search.

Thanks to a new study from iProspect, our anecdotal evidence is now proving to be scientifically accurate. Data gleamed from tracking how users respond to display advertising found that it plays a critical role in driving both brand awareness as well as conversions attributed to search queries—a position TRAFFIQ has stated from its’ inception.

The iProspect study shows that users initially respond to the medium as follows:

31% respond by directly clicking on an ad.
27% respond by searching for the product, brand, or company by launching a search on a search engine.
21% respond by typing the company web address into their browser and directly navigating to the website.
9% respond by investigating the product, brand, or company through social media venues.

When asked how they eventually respond to display, nearly half of Internet users (49%) launch a search on a search engine for the company, product, or brand that was the focus of the ad to which they were exposed. This figure is comprised of those who eventually perform a search and visit the Website from the search results (38% of these Internet users), those who do the same but actually purchase the product (14%), and those who perform a search but do not click on any of the results (11%).

Other findings from the study include:

One third of Internet users (33%) who respond to online display advertising eventually purchase from a company/offering with which they are familiar—more than twice the number who eventually purchase after learning of an offering/company for the first time from online display advertising (14%).
Nearly four in ten Internet users (38%) learn about a brand for the first time as a result of their exposure to online display advertising.
9% of Internet users initially respond to online display advertising by investigating the product, brand, or company through social media venues or message boards.

TRAFFIQ Releases Latest Suite of Enhanced Media Planning Tools

Fri, 15 May 2009 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, NY, May, 15, 2009 — TRAFFIQ, The Premium Advertising Marketplace, today announced the latest release of their integrated display media planning and buying platform. Focused on delivering increased efficiency, scalability and media planning depth to agencies, TRAFFIQ’s functionality now includes additional components that capture the entire spectrum of direct-to-publisher media planning & buying.

TRAFFIQ’s proprietary Attribute Matching Technology allows agencies to access a deep marketplace of premium publishers in order to find the best fit sites for their campaigns beyond just audience demography and site content. By then tying media planning tools to a live buying marketplace, an analytics engine, and a consolidated billing system, agencies can overcome the inefficiencies that occur when trying to buy across numerous publishers. “We continue to develop a host of much-needed features and tools for the industry” says Sung Shin, VP of Product Management. “Streamlining the entire process of media planning, buying, order execution and account reconciliation while fitting into the way planners work is long overdue.”

New platform features include a refined matching algorithm, dynamic media planning capabilities, consolidated RFP response & offer views, and an enhanced campaign management dashboard delivering new reallocation tools, pacing alerts and campaign KPI tracking. By combining these new tools with the industry’s largest premium marketplace, TRAFFIQ’s platform assembles a complete start-to-finish environment for all things display media.

“Oversupply of inventory and ongoing audience fragmentation is creating an even larger gap between advertisers and their target audiences,” says SVP Scott Portugal. “More choices means more potential, but it also means more work in finding and reaching a target audience at scale. Outside of maintaining a large and therefore costly team of media planners, ad networks and exchanges have traditionally been the only option an agency to gain efficient reach. We believe that by bringing together advertisers, agencies and publishers at scale—but by also providing each group with the requisite set of tools needed to interact with each other—agencies can exert better price and brand control while publishers will see increased yield on under-utilized inventory.”

The platform continues to attract both large and mid-sized agency shops as their preferred campaign management console resulting in huge cost savings and increased efficiency. “I’m very pleased with the adoption rate our platform continues to achieve,” says Dan Ballister President and Chief Operating Officer. “With heavy-hitting, brand-name agencies taking full advantage of everything we’ve built, the future of display media buying is changing rapidly.”

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an efficient, open and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers of online media through an end-to-end self service platform.

More Agencies Continue to Adopt TRAFFIQ as Their Display Media Buying Platform

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, NY, April 27, 2009 — TRAFFIQ – The Premium Advertising Marketplace, announced today that over the past 30 days, it signed five new dedicated media agencies to its growing list of buy-side marketplace participants. These newest agencies represent millions of additional annual display media budget that will now be deployed into the TRAFFIQ display media marketplace. TRAFFIQ’s patent-pending attribute-matching engine efficiently connects automated buyer RFPs to relevant publisher “storefronts” containing audience composition and ad packaging data.

“TRAFFIQ continues to attract and on-board digital media agencies to use TRAFFIQ’s digital media platform as their primary display media management console for planning, buying, serving, optimization, and publisher payment,” said Mark Kahn, CEO of TRAFFIQ. “These partnerships further validate our belief that TRAFFIQ delivers on the promise of total buyer control over ad placement, price-point, and all other deal points, across thousands of premium publisher partners. These deals extend TRAFFIQ’s value as an end-to-end, direct-to-publisher platform and to deliver higher return on media spend for their clients. It is clear that TRAFFIQ is good for media agencies in a good market, but even better in a bad market when companies are looking even harder to find ways to save money and deliver better return on ad spend for their clients.”

“We vetted a host of other solution providers for media and campaign management, but no one could provide the total package other than TRAFFIQ” said Eric Masi, partner at Torque Media in Chicago. “TRAFFIQ provides us with a no-cost, no-hassle horizontal platform that includes planning, direct-to-publisher buying and an ad serving and analytics platform. In addition, the reporting and publisher payment modules help to simplify the back-office publisher payment process.”

JT Hroncich, CEO of Capitol Media Solutions, added “A partnership with TRAFFIQ means my agency will save almost $100,000 a year in data and ad serving fees, and the inherent, common-sense efficiency of the platform means my team will now have more time to spend with current and future clients.”

“These agencies are archetypal users of TRAFFIQ’s technology and marketplace,” noted Scott Portugal, TRAFFIQ’s SVP of Business Development. “The fragmentation of audiences is an increasingly complex problem for media planning teams; brand-oriented advertisers must maintain control over messaging, price and data while still accessing the diversity in targeting options the web offers. For buyers, the real value exists when you can precisely target and find your audience deep in the web. TRAFFIQ allows buyers to find and buy across these quality sites with both scale and control–this is exactly the deficiency TRAFFIQ has sought to address in bringing its platform to market. In addition, TRAFFIQ integrates seamlessly with all the leading publisher ad targeting technologies, so our publisher partners are reducing their dependence on hard-to-control backfill feeds as they improve the overall yield from their ad inventory.”

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an efficient, open and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers of online media through an end-to-end self service platform.

About Torque

Torque (www.torquelaunch.com) is a Chicago-based creative branding and marketing agency helping businesses take on the challenge of evolving their brands and running complex integrated online and offline marketing programs. By getting answers to the right questions: what are your fears? What are your customers desires? What’s the big idea? Torque helps brands to understand themselves and their customers, and to develop strategies to reach them in the most impactful and engaging manner.

About Capitol Media Solutions

Capitol Media Solutions (www.capitolmediasolutions.com) is a full-service advertising agency headquartered in the Washington, DC metro area. Services offered include media planning and placement, advertising sales, public and media relations, branding and positioning, and creative development.

Media Contact

Scott Portugal
pr@traffiq.com
TRAFFIQ, Inc.
646-254-6558

TRAFFIQ Adds Industry Veteran to Board of Advisors

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:00:01 GMT

Founder and Former CEO of @Plan Mark K. Wright Joins TRAFFIQ’s Advisory Board

NEW YORK, NY, April 16, 2009 — TRAFFIQ’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Kahn, today has announced that the former CEO and founder of @plan, Mark K. Wright, has agreed to join TRAFFIQ’s Board of Advisors.

“We are extremely pleased to have Mark on our advisory board” says Mark Kahn, CEO of TRAFFIQ. “His depth of experience and expertise is unparalleled in the media agency, buying and planning space and his joining our company further validates TRAFFIQ and the value that it provides to digital marketers.”

The industry’s only horizontal, direct-to-publisher display media management and buying platform, TRAFFIQ helps agencies leverage and increase their buying power and improves publishers’ selling strength. This comprehensive system is engineered to incorporate all components of the media planning, buying and selling process, including site search and media planning, smart inventory packaging tools, automated RFP distribution, negotiation management and order execution, campaign optimization, and publisher reconciliation/invoicing.

Says Mark Wright, “I think TRAFFIQ’s mission of streamlining display media buying is worthy and long overdue. They have built a robust marketplace that adds incredible efficiency into being able to buy deep into the web, coupled with a platform that aggregates a huge amount of data that can be repurposed back to planners and buyers in a way that provides more value, insight and ultimately greater return on ad spend. I see huge potential in their model.”

Other members of TRAFFIQ’s advisory board include Chris Schroeder, CEO of the HealthCentral Network; David J. Londoner, General Partner of the North River Company; and Tome Wilde, CEO of Everyzing.

About Mark K. Wright: Mark Wright leads Blue Chip’s Media & Marketing industry practice and is responsible for six Blue Chip IV portfolio companies, including IXI, Third Screen Media, Verance, and [x+1]. Mark founded and chairs the Media and Marketing Technology Council, which meets monthly in New York and includes thought leaders, senior executives, entrepreneurs, and VC investors focused on the next generation of media and marketing initiatives. Mark is based in Stamford, Connecticut, which enables close contact with investment sources and entrepreneurs on the East Coast, especially the media and marketing communities in New York City.

Prior to joining Blue Chip in 2001, Mark was the founder and CEO of @plan, a successful Blue Chip II portfolio company. @plan became the industry standard market planning software system for online advertising and online retailing. Under Mark’s leadership, @plan completed a successful IPO and was sold to DoubleClick for $105 million. In the late 1980's Mark founded Inforum, which became the industry standard market planning software system for hospitals and other large healthcare institutions. Inforum also completed a successful IPO and was sold for $150 million to Medstat. Previously, Mark was an executive vice president with Ericson Marketing Communications, an advertising agency.

About TRAFFIQ

Deliver Better Results for Your Clients with TRAFFIQ Managed Services

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 05:00:01 GMT

Dear Colleague

I would like to introduce myself. I am Mark Kahn, CEO of TRAFFIQ®, and in many ways, I’m just like you.

TRAFFIQ operates a managed services division, Market Maker Interactive (MMi) which operates very much like a full service interactive agency and has been growing steadily over the last three years. While we now represent multiple clients with million dollar budgets, as early as November 2008, we began to feel the effects of the global economic recession. Some clients pulled back on media spend. Others suspended initiatives so they too could ride out the storm. As budgets shrink and margins thin, I am constantly looking for ways to do more with less. This means lowering operating costs, outsourcing where prudent and partnering with technology providers wherever possible to lower capital expenditures. These are sobering times to be sure.

Back in 2006, we founded TRAFFIQ with one central idea in mind: using technology to bring efficiencies to the time consuming and labor intensive process of media buying while also enabling our clients to unlock the value of mid-tail Internet publishers. At the time, I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression would arrive 3 years later. Yet here we are and I am pleased to announce that TRAFFIQ is delivering on its promise even in a dire economic climate.

I am reaching out to you now, because like me, I imagine you are looking to explore new ways to maximize your workforce efficiency and continue to deliver value to your clients. You signed up for TRAFFIQ previously with the same goal I am sure, but may not have been 100% satisfied with what you found.

A lot has changed since you last logged into TRAFFIQ and I would like to offer you a personal demonstration of our improved platform and its new features. TRAFFIQ has undergone a complete overhaul of functionality and interface to specifically accommodate the many needs of an advertising agency.

We have introduced new media planning tools and site/audience search functionality, which makes finding the right audience for your clients incredibly simple. We have introduced far more robust reporting capabilities with near real-time reporting, free conversion tracking, and budget reallocation and optimization tools.

With over 2,000 high quality publications available - and more joining every day—TRAFFIQ enables advertisers to find precisely the right publisher partners for each of your clients while also utilizing our suite of free tools for everything from free ad serving to optimization. Eliminating media planning expenses and/or ad serving fees can be the difference in achieving budget goals during these trying times.

Please call me today at (646) 254-6550 to set up a demonstration. I look forward to walking you through all the changes TRAFFIQ has undergone and all the improvements now available to you and your agency for free.

Best Regards,

Mark Kahn
Chief Executive Officer
TRAFFIQ—The Premium Advertising Marketplace

TRAFFIQ Marketplace Generates Unprecedented Ad Rates

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:00:01 GMT

TRAFFIQ Inventory Garners High Advertiser Demand, Generates Higher-Than Industry Average CPMs.

NEW YORK, NY, January 21, 2009 — TRAFFIQ® – The Premium Advertising Marketplace announced today that fourth quarter ad rates generated through its platform were found to be significantly higher than average CPMs generated through ad networks.

New data shows that the average rate for display ad inventory sold through some ad networks and 3rd party brokers in the fourth quarter of 2008, across all categories, was $0.26 per thousand impressions (CPM), down 48 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 (TechCrunch, January 13th, 2009). In comparison, display ad inventory sold through the TRAFFIQ Marketplace during the same period has averaged at $4.53 CPM - more than 17 times higher than the CPMs secured through many 3rd party resellers.

“These numbers validate our unique positioning as a marketplace for premium display advertising,” said Mark Kahn, TRAFFIQ’s CEO. “TRAFFIQ’s unique capabilities and complete media transparency provide an added value critical to both buyers and sellers of online media that is not available through remnant ad networks. It helps advertisers secure the best possible media for their campaigns, while maintaining premium pricing for publishers, which is now more important than ever.”

TRAFFIQ enables its publishers to micro-segment and bundle their inventory into its highest perceived value, making it completely transparent, accessible, and extremely attractive to potential buyers. It allows publishers to increase ad yield, at no risk, by replacing remnant ad networks. Similarly, TRAFFIQ ensures advertisers find and select highly targeted inventory within brand-appropriate sites, so buyers never overpay for inventory, but instead are able to optimize their budgets.

TRAFFIQ has recently launched new Agency Workflow tools, which allow ad agencies to manage multiple clients and campaigns with ease and to execute all media planning and buying steps through one intuitive interface. It has also launched advanced tracking capabilities, featuring full-path conversion tracking and reporting that capture not just the last ad clicked, but all brand touch points and actionable key performance metrics leading to conversion.

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ Announces Next Generation Advertising Marketplace

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 05:00:01 GMT

Sneak Preview to be Available at Ad:Tech New York

NEW YORK, NY, November 3, 2008 – TRAFFIQ® – The Premium Advertising Marketplace announced the launch of the most advanced version yet of its online ad exchange, boasting two new extensions that will make the platform even more powerful for buying, selling, and optimizing online display media campaigns:

A new Agency Workflow allows a single user to manage multiple clients and multiple campaigns with ease.
Full-path conversion tracking and reporting captures not just the last ad clicked, but all brand-relevant touch points and actionable key performance metrics leading up to conversion.

For ad agencies, the new Agency Workflow will drastically simplify the client management process. An intuitive interface allows a single user to navigate freely among a hierarchy of client accounts and campaigns—and to execute all media planning and buying steps: search for ad placements, build a media plan, secure media, launch and optimize the campaign, and review comprehensive reports.

Advertisers and publishers will also benefit from full-path conversion tracking and reporting, which will quickly replace the traditional last-ad-clicked paradigm for measuring campaigns. With complete capture of the path of user engagement, advertisers and agencies will be able to measure results against each campaign’s key performance indicators, and fine-tune placement and creative strategy for maximum impact; publishers will be able to gain a deeper understanding of the role of their inventory relative to other touch points, and price accordingly.

“Bringing significant change to the business of media buying and selling required the re-sculpturing of the underlying architecture of the ad network model,” said Mark Kahn, chief executive officer of TRAFFIQ. “Our new extensions and the ongoing growth of our premium display marketplace are helping streamline the media buying process from campaign planning to reporting and optimization, bringing us one step closer to an end-to-end media planning and buying solution.”

“An efficient agency workflow can significantly streamline the process of managing multiple campaigns,” said Claudette Baigorria, media supervisor at Freestyle Interactive, which handles accounts for NFL, Electronic Arts, Dolby, and Burton. “Flexible media buying tools can help agencies to easily find and secure targeted, brand-safe and effective online media on behalf of clients.”

“It is important to us to be able to quickly and easily launch highly targeted advertising campaigns where Sleepy’s has a retail presence,” said Greg Longmuir, director of sales at Sleepy’s®, The Mattress Professionals. “TRAFFIQ allows us to accurately reach our target audience, while at the same time ensuring our ads are placed on a pre-approved list of sites and publishers”.

“Selecting TRAFFIQ as our premium sales partner was a natural choice,” said Chris Schroeder, Chief Executive Officer of HealthCentral. “The platform's advanced inventory sales and campaign management capabilities are a great fit for a targeted, highly involved audience like ours, and can further extend the reach of our upfront sales teams.”

Other significant upgrades to be made available in this upcoming release include:

Media buyers can select their precise targeting balance preference, between demographics and contextual relevancy.
Percentages for specific demographics can now be assigned to inventory, allowing publishers to more fully and accurately describe the makeup of their audiences. The richer demographics, in turn, support deeper search filtering for media buyers as they match up inventory with campaigns.
A new question-based wizard speeds up the process of creating campaigns and listing ad placements for sale.

Live demo of the new platform to be held at ad:tech New York

For a demo of the new agency tools, conversion tracking and reporting, and other advances, stop by TRAFFIQ’s booth No. 926 at ad:tech, the New York Hilton, between Nov. 3 and 4.

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an efficient, open and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers of online media through an end-to-end self service platform. It facilitates the buying and selling of premium display media with ease and efficiency, always providing maximum return on investment. Marketplace members include the leading advertisers, ad agencies and publishers. TRAFFIQ is a member of the IAB advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on best practices for industry growth. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Vienna, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com.

TRAFFIQ To Preview Next-Gen Platform and Co-Host Panel on Value of Ad Exchanges, at ad:tech New York

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, NY, October 28, 2008 – ad:tech New York, Nov. 3-6, will offer two new events to glean the present and future of online ad exchanges: first, a preview of the next-generation platform soon to be forthcoming from TRAFFIQ® – The Premium Advertising Marketplace; and second, a myth-busting panel discussion on the real-world value of online exchanges, to be co-hosted by TRAFFIQ.

TRAFFIQ to Preview Next-Generation Platform of Advertising Marketplace

A live demo of the next advance in TRAFFIQ’s top-rated media management platform will be provided to agencies, advertisers, publishers and media companies at TRAFFIQ’s booth No. 926 on the ad:tech exhibition floor. The preview will include these pioneering advances, and others:

Dramatically extended conversion tracking and reporting, allowing advertisers and publishers to capture the full path of user engagement leading to conversion, rather than the last ad clicked.
A new agency workflow, allowing a single user to manage multiple clients and campaigns with ease and speed.
Enhanced publisher sales capabilities, providing publishers with unprecedented ability to accurately describe their inventory and demographics—making it easier for advertisers to identify and appreciate the value of matching inventory.

TRAFFIQ to Co-Host Panel Discussion on the True Value of Ad Exchanges

Dan Ballister, chief operating officer for TRAFFIQ, will participate in an industry panel that cuts through the hype and explores the actual value of online ad exchanges: How good is the inventory available within the exchange ecosystem—and how does it compare to the inventory available through advertising networks? What are the trends in pricing? How do buyers and sellers really feel about this evolving market? And what opportunities may be emerging for efficient cross-media buying, measurement, and optimization? The panel will offer industry-leader perspective on the role of Exchanges in buying, selling, and negotiating in today’s marketplace.

Panel details:

A Spade is Not a Spade: Analyzing the Exchange Marketplace
Thursday, November. 6, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
New York Hilton

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an efficient, open and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers of online media through an end-to-end self service platform. It facilitates the buying and selling of premium display media with ease and efficiency, always providing maximum return on investment. Marketplace members include leading advertisers, ad agencies and publishers. TRAFFIQ is a member of the IAB advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on best practices for industry growth. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Vienna, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com.

TRAFFIQ to Co-Host Panel About Emerging Self-Service Advertising Model, at the IAB MIXX Conference

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, NY, September 17, 2008 — TRAFFIQ® – The Internet Traffic Exchange will help shatter conventional thinking about interactive advertising not once, but twice at the upcoming Interactive Advertising Bureau’s MIXX Conference and Expo.

TRAFFIQ is co-hosting an expert panel on automation for online advertising, and sponsoring the prestigious MIXX Awards in honor of the industry's top creative teams and talent.

This year's MIXX Conference will take place on September 22 – 23 in New York. There will be the usual massive information exchange, with star speakers including Chrysler CMO Deborah Meyer, journalist Charlie Rose, author and virtual community maven Clay Shirkey, CBS President Les Moonves, and “Heroes” creator and producer Tim Kring.

TRAFFIQ's chief operating officer, Dan Ballister will participate on a panel discussing the rapidly growing self service model for media planning and buying and ad sales management.

Panel information:

“The Self-Service Revolution”: A completely automated process for setting up and executing highly targeted ad campaigns can't possibly be true—or can it? Just how far does the reality go? What are the possibilities, both today and in the near future? As chief operating officer of TRAFFIQ, Dan Ballister is ideally placed to answer such questions and more. He'll be joined by four other top experts.

Panel date and time: Monday, Sept. 22, 4:45 – 5:30 p.m.

MIXX Awards 2.8 Gala

TRAFFIQ is a sponsor of this year's awards gala for the best in interactive advertising. The MIXX Awards is the only competition that evaluates and rewards all facets of a marketing campaign, including strategy, creative development and execution, media placement and integration, and effectiveness and ROI. The awards are hosted by Rob Norman, chief executive officer of GroupM Interaction Worldwide.

Awards ceremony date and time: Tuesday, Sept. 23, 7 – 9:45 p.m.

About TRAFFIQ

It's official: Ad networks are bad for your health

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:00:01 GMT

A recent study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Bain & Co. indicates a possible conflict between web publishers and ad networks.

This very timely research, which launched an important discussion on AdAge, iMediaConnection and other industry publications, finds a link between the amount of inventory publishers release for sale through ad networks, and the CPMs those publishers can charge when selling their own inventory directly.

According to the newly released Digital Pricing Benchmarking Study, publishers are selling inventory through ad networks at up to a 90% discount versus direct sales rates—a trend particularly foreboding for branded publishers who traditionally have earned between $10–20 CPM.

“Online publishers are producing more inventory than the market demands and risk devaluing the premium nature of their brands, particularly in light of ad networks' growth and their dramatically lower pricing,” said John Frelinghuysen, a partner in Bain's Global Media Practice and author of the study. “Building more effective relationships between publishers and ad networks is critical,” he adds.

But there’s much more to this pricing issue than market supply, which the Bain report doesn’t pursue:

Allowing publishers to monetize their product is critical, not only because it creates an efficient market, but because it rewards publishers investing in quality and unique content.

It is also important for advertisers, as they constantly seek to place ads on quality sites that will provide good quality traffic and will not dilute their brand.

Publishers shouldn’t be penalized for having ‘too much’ inventory. Rather, they should be incentivized to and rewarded for creating original, quality and niche content—which is what brand advertisers crave. If it's quality content, or if a publisher generates valuable, targeted traffic—they can and should be able to secure fair market value for it.

The link between the amount of inventory publishers make available to networks, and the price those publishers can charge when selling direct is clear. And there is very little publishers can do to set higher CPMs, if they sell most, or their entire inventory through a network.

This is where some advertising exchanges offer the most value for publishers—by allowing them to set their own prices, and to easily control the amounts of inventory sold at any given moment.

Some exchanges, depending on the level of transparency and control they provide, also allow publishers to select their buyers and to sell inventory bundles at different prices, depending on seasonal availability and the advertiser. Very much like their direct sales efforts.

In the case of the TRAFFIQ exchange, publishers can choose to do all of this in private, negotiating directly with select advertisers—which gives them the freedom to maximize revenue for any amount of available inventory, and in turn, allows advertisers the opportunity to negotiate terms and secure quality or rare inventory.

It is this alignment of supply management and advertiser access that enables an open market to exist, and it’s the only way to ensure supply and demand are met—bringing together quality inventory and advertisers, and ensuring positive business results are achieved for both sides.

TRAFFIQ Adds New Head of Business Development

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:00:01 GMT

Scott Portugal Joins Leading Advertising Exchange as Senior Vice President of Global Business Development.

NEW YORK, NY, July 29, 2008 — TRAFFIQ® — The Internet Traffic Exchange today announced the appointment of Scott Portugal as senior vice president of global business development. Portugal will report to TRAFFIQ chief operating officer Dan Ballister.

In his new role, Portugal will be responsible for aggressively expanding TRAFFIQ’s global sales efforts. Until recently, Portugal was vice president of publisher development at TACODA—now a part of AOL’s Platform A network, where he managed publisher client services and business development. Scott has previously managed the MaxOnline ad network (Ask/IAC) and helped develop the Investor-Reach Advertising Network, a division of Zacks Investment Research.

“Scott has tremendous experience leading sales and business development efforts for large advertising marketplaces,” said Dan Ballister, COO of TRAFFIQ. “His strong relationships with the advertiser and publisher markets make him a great addition to our team, and will help establish TRAFFIQ’s advanced media management and inventory management tools as leading solutions in their field.”

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an efficient, open and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers of online media for optimized ad yield and maximum return on investment. Participants on TRAFFIQ include leading publishers, advertisers, and ad agencies. TRAFFIQ is also a member of the IAB Marketplace advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on the best practices that foster industry growth. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Falls Church, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com.

When best practices come true: TRAFFIQ and the new IAB guidelines

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:00:01 GMT

If you're in need of a summer recharge, take a look at the new guidelines released this spring and summer from the IAB: Campaign Setup Best Practices, Revised Ad Unit Guidelines, and Rich Media Creative Guidelines. They're just specs, yes—but I found them energizing, and so should anyone who cares about online media.

Why? Because the easier we make it for interactive agencies and publishers to work together, the better for everyone and the faster our industry will grow. These new guidelines are designed to facilitate exactly that kind of cooperation, by continuing the IAB's tradition of nailing down standards at all levels—from the granular (e.g., recommended Frame Rate to keep down CPU overhead for rich media) to the global (e.g., absolute clarity in contracts between agencies and publishers).

Also pleasing is how neatly these standards echo our own experience here at TRAFFIQ. This is no surprise, given that from the start we've sought and received feedback from the same agencies and publishers the IAB has been working with. They helped us create the blueprint for a truly open exchange; later, they helped with the usability studies we conducted to refine and extend the platform, from beta on through to today.

Here are just a few of the ways we think TRAFFIQ has realized the IAB guidelines in designing our workflows:

Inventory and campaign requirements use standard IAB terms and supply an abundance of meaningful detail, including placements by size, flight date, impression amount, target, and rich media format.
Operational inefficiencies, errors, and discrepancies are reduced throughout the campaign life cycle, from delivery through reconciliation.
Every workflow from start to finish supports direct, efficient communication between agencies and publishers.

If you want more detail, just look at the TRAFFIQ exchange screens—or for a more generalized view, at the new IAB standards. They encapsulate the right way for marketers, agencies and publishers to do business together.

Yet as accurate as they are, I know going forward they'll be refined and advanced in future review cycles. As will TRAFFIQ. For that is the way we like to do things around here—keep getting better.

What is it exchanges do again?

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 05:00:01 GMT

A recent blog raised some very thoughtful questions about the differences between the ad network and ad exchange business models, and we’re always happy to oblige with answers.

Here at TRAFFIQ, we see an enormous difference between blind networks and open exchanges such as ours. The very fact of being open can (and in our opinion does) make a world of difference for publishers and advertisers alike.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss how publishers can benefit from a fixed rather than fluctuating commission, how detailed performance data on a site by site basis can help advertisers optimize their budgets, or how transparency and openness make it easy for buyers to do their own validation of a publisher—everything from rate cards to whether site content is a match for brand. Try doing any of this in a blind network.

But the main point is simply this: an exchange gives advertisers far more value for their budget than does a blind network. It's the difference between a shotgun and a rifle—between wasting money on unknown or inappropriate placements, or securing the kind of appropriate, quality placements that naturally lead to higher conversion rates.

And in our view anything that benefits buyers will loop back and benefit publishers as well. The same transparency that allows buyers to make better choices means publishers' inventory will be better valued and more easily monetized. The only publishers who might not benefit are those with poor content or unprofessional management.

So is our business model working? Does our exchange provide the incentives for buyers and sellers to join up, work together, and create "massive scale"? All we can say is that since TRAFFIQ was launched, more than 1,200 agencies, brand advertisers, and quality publishers have come on board. These are not token members—they are actively buying and selling as we speak. We urge anyone who's curious to come check us out for themselves. You can test drive the TRAFFIQ exchange by registering for free right here.

TRAFFIQ Announces New Version of Its Online Ad Exchange

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:00:01 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, April 15, 2008 — TRAFFIQ – The Internet Traffic Exchange today announced it will shortly release the latest version of its Web-based trading platform for buyers and sellers of online media.

This release—being previewed April 15 and 16 at ad:tech San Francisco—adds a new tool for buying and selling ads, TRAFFIQ Source. Available only on TRAFFIQ and nowhere else, TRAFFIQ Source enables buyers and sellers to work together to quickly and easily “carve out” precision buys from available inventory, as follows:

Sellers can list all or part of their inventory, without constraint.
Buyers who find inventory they like can send a private request to the seller, indicating interest in a particular portion of that inventory.
Buyer and seller then negotiate terms for the inventory and conclude the sale.

From a buyer perspective, the immediate benefits are the ability to conduct complete searches of listed inventory, delving deep into sites, ad locations and ad units; the opportunity to proactively contact publishers; and the ability to carve out exactly the inventory they need, with 100 percent customization and flexibility—a surprisingly simple option, unavailable on any other platform.

Sellers meanwhile benefit from being able to list as much or as little inventory as they wish, without limitations or barriers. This ability to be more flexible and responsive to buyers’ needs will likely translate to increased sell-through.

Additionally, TRAFFIQ’s smart tag technology streamlines the process of ad trafficking by allowing publishers to manage multiple orders using a single ad tag. TRAFFIQ’s smart tag also provides sellers with an automatic failover solution, which allows publishers to sell their inventory at its highest market price and then seamlessly go to their next preferred monetization option.

“TRAFFIQ Source is expected to further boost the platform’s strong appeal to mid-tail publishers with original content and loyal users,” said TRAFFIQ CEO Mark Kahn, “in large measure because it will be easier than ever for mid-sized advertisers in search of such specialty publishers to find them and make precise buys.” Advertisers should see a better return on ad spend, better conversion rates, and brand enhancement by association with the publisher’s brand.

“We’re already working with the 100 largest U.S. and U.K. ad agencies, and the leading brand publishers,” Kahn noted. “This new tool further strengthens our appeal to the largest part of the market, made of medium-sized publishers and advertisers.”

Then there are the benefits already built into the existing platform. For buyers, these include brand protection, transparent transactions, maximizing ROI, no exchange fees, and full integration with media management tools; for sellers, these include the ability to secure fair market value, predictable revenue, and extended reach to large numbers of advertisers and active buyers.

Since TRAFFIQ Source will be made available alongside the platform’s existing tools for auctions and automated Requests for Listings, buyers and sellers will now have three distinct tools to choose from, allowing for an unprecedented degree of flexibility and control.

TRAFFIQ Source is scheduled for release on April 23.

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an efficient, open and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers of online media for optimized ad yield and maximum return on investment. Participants on TRAFFIQ include leading publishers, advertisers and ad agencies. TRAFFIQ is also a member of the IAB Marketplace advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on the best practices that foster industry growth. Other board members include CondéNet, Colgate Palmolive, Carat and Forrester Research. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in McLean, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com.

TRAFFIQ to Preview New Platform, Co-Host Panel, and Contend for People's Choice Award at ad:tech San Francisco

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, April 9, 2008 — TRAFFIQ – The Internet Traffic Exchange will have a strong presence at ad:tech San Francisco, emerging as a key authority in the industry discussion about the ongoing shift of advertisers and publishers to ad exchanges.

TRAFFIQ to Preview New Ad Exchange Capabilities:

Stop by TRAFFIQ’s booth No. 5271 in the Moscone Center Exhibit Hall on April 15 and 16 for a live demo of the latest evolution of the TRAFFIQ platform, featuring a unique new capability for online media buying and selling.

TRAFFIQ Nominated for People’s Choice Award:

TRAFFIQ has been nominated for the ad:tech “People’s Choice” award in the “Best Business to Business Transaction Web Site” category. This is in addition to the recent recognition of TRAFFIQ by Forrester Research as a leading example of a smart ad exchange choice for advertisers and publishers. Visit the TRAFFIQ booth for copies of the Forrester study and TRAFFIQ’s Ad Exchanges & Ad Networks whitepaper.

TRAFFIQ to Co-Host Panel Discussion on Strategies for Mid-Tail Success:

Dan Ballister, chief operating officer for TRAFFIQ, will co-host an industry panel on one of the hottest topics today among online advertisers and publishers: how to successfully engage and monetize the increasing numbers of consumers flocking to mid-tail sites. As inventory becomes tight among the portals and top 100 properties, advertisers are migrating to mid-sized Websites—following users who are spending less time at the big sites and more time within the mid-tail of the online ecosystem.

Forget blind networks and outdated metrics; come hear Dan and his fellow experts lead “Beyond the Banner/Beyond the Network,” a wide-ranging discussion of innovative and practical strategies for media success in this important new market. Event details below:

Panel details:

Beyond the Banner/Beyond the Network: The Mid-Tail and the Promise of Engagement
Thursday, April 17, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an efficient, open and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers of online media for optimized ad yield and maximum return on investment. Participants on TRAFFIQ include leading publishers, advertisers, and ad agencies. TRAFFIQ is also a member of the IAB Marketplace advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on the best practices that foster industry growth. Other board members include CondéNet, Colgate Palmolive, Carat and Forrester Research. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in McLean, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com.

Sneaking a Preview, Shifting the Paradigm: A Look Ahead to ad:tech San Francisco

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 05:00:01 GMT

We don’t go to every industry event—but ad:tech is special, whether it’s New York, as it was this fall, or San Francisco, as it will be next week.

The conversations that spring up at ad:tech panels, talks, and ad hoc gatherings are the sort that often as not, break new ground. Create real rather than faux insight. There are moments where you see a person’s eyes open up and you get a sense of the paradigm beginning to shift in their head.

As when a buyer or a seller begins to suspect the truth: blind networks are a dead end, ad exchanges are the path to the future.

San Francisco from April 15 to 17 is going to see a lot of this sort of nudging and shifting of the paradigm—and we at TRAFFIQ must certainly bear some major responsibility for this. Our fingerprints will be all over this event. For example:

We’ll be previewing the latest evolution of the TRAFFIQ platform, featuring a powerful yet easy new tool, one that further diversifies our suite of transparent, flexible, and streamlined means of buying and selling online ads. You can get a hands-on demo at our booth, Booth 5271 on the Exhibition Floor, on both April 15 and April 16.
We’ve been nominated for the ad:tech “People’s Choice” award in the category of “Best Business to Business Web Site.” It’s this kind of recognition from all quarters of the industry that’s starting to push the paradigm our way. It’s not just that ad exchanges are a clear winner over networks—but that TRAFFIQ stands out even among exchanges. That’s not according to us, it’s according to a new report from Forrester Research.
We’re co-hosting a panel on a crucial topic: the quest to follow and engage consumers as they flock to mid-tail Web sites with content that matches their passions. TRAFFIQ’s own Dan Ballister will take attendees beyond the obvious—that the mid-tail represents a deep and fruitful new source of inventory outside tapped-out portals and top 100 properties—and into the insightful: how to best to monetize this new territory, how best to match spend and return to the kind of creative campaigns that generate true engagement and word-of-mouth? The panel title is “Beyond the Banner/Beyond the Network: The Mid-Tail and the Promise of Engagement,” and you can catch it Thursday, April 17, from 3:30 to 4:30 pm

But don’t take my word for it. Check out ad:tech San Francisco for yourself. And stop by the TRAFFIQ booth there—besides seeing the demo, you can pick up a copy of both the Forrester Report cited above and our new whitepaper on vetting exchanges. They’re both good reads.

TRAFFIQ Advertising Exchange Nominated for ad:tech Best Business-to-Business Transaction Website Award

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:00:01 GMT

Award Identifies Most Advanced Web-Based Transaction Platforms

New York, NY, March 27, 2008 — TRAFFIQ – The Internet Traffic Exchange today announced it has been selected as a finalist for ad:tech’s 2008 ‘Best Business-to-Business Transaction Website’ award.

The ad:tech awards recognize web-based platforms that are able to simplify complex business processes and create new efficient markets in the online advertising space.

TRAFFIQ directly connects publishers and advertisers in a transparent and value-driven marketplace. It reduces the dependency on blind ad networks and makes the process of media buying and selling fast, simple and efficient. TRAFFIQ provides members with exclusive benefits and economic value unavailable through alternate media channels, and was designed to require very little labor for maximum results.

At any given time, there are over 1000 ad agencies, advertisers and premium publishers on the TRAFFIQ exchange, including: Technorati, Healthcentral.com, Sky Sports, PerezHilton and Drudge Report.

“We are very pleased with this nomination,” said Mark Kahn, chief executive officer of TRAFFIQ. “We’ve worked hard to design a platform that provides real and unique value to online advertisers and publishers, and are excited to be an integral part of the buying and selling process.”

Industry Panel:

Dan Ballister, TRAFFIQ’s chief operating officer, will be co-hosting a panel discussing online consumer engagement at ad:tech San Francisco, on April 17, 3:30 p.m. The panel: ‘Beyond the Banner/Beyond the Network: The Mid-Tail and the Promise of Engagement,’ will be moderated by Joey Dumont, partner and managing director of Questus.

Ballister, along with his co-presenters, will lead this session for the more advanced online marketers, exploring new approaches to leverage the Web beyond standard ads placed blindly across ad networks.

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an efficient, open and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers of online media for optimized ad yield and maximum return on investment. Participants on TRAFFIQ include leading publishers, advertisers and ad agencies. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in McLean, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com. TRAFFIQ is a member of the IAB Marketplace advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on the best practices that foster industry growth. Other board members include CondéNet, Colgate Palmolive, Carat and Forrester Research. Those interested in learning more about TRAFFIQ at ad:tech San Francisco can also stop by TRAFFIQ’s display booth, stand 5271.

TRAFFIQ to Present at IAB "Learn from the Experts" Event on Ad Networks and Exchanges

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, March 18, 2008 — Eighteen minutes may not seem like much time—but it’s long enough to turn you from an interested spectator to an expert-in-the-making on the radical speed, reach, and transparency made possible by an open online advertising exchange.

That’s because eighteen minutes will be the length of each of four educational sessions to be presented by TRAFFIQ – The Internet Traffic Exchange, for the benefit of online advertisers and web publishers on March 31, at the IAB Marketplace: Ad Networks & Xchanges special event.

The one-day educational event will provide participants with an objective and up-to-date overview of how exchanges and networks are changing the landscape of online advertising, and how these changes will likely affect the way advertisers and publishers buy and sell online media.

Dan Ballister, chief operating officer, and Dean Vegliante, vice president of seller development, will present TRAFFIQ’s unique transaction model. This model features a new automated media buying standard, allowing publishers to list blocks of inventory up for auction, or to respond directly to buyers’ requests for inventory with matching offers.

Advertisers can browse and bid on searchable blocks of inventory, or post a Request for Listings (RFL)—broadcasting their media buying requests to a universe of qualified, premium publishers with one single post.

TRAFFIQ’s open platform helps replace the mechanics of a blind ad networks with a transparent, highly efficient environment. The advantages for buyers and sellers include streamlined costs, fast and direct sales of premium and niche inventory, high predictability of sales and revenue, brand protection based on advance knowledge of ad placement details, and more. Sellers pay fixed, published commissions on ads sold, and buyers pay no exchange fees at all.

Such benefits are one reason TRAFFIQ has garnered praise from analysts at Jupiter Research and Forrester Research, among others.

“Learn From the Experts” Presentation details:

What: Four 18-minute educational sessions
Advertisers: 3:30pm and 4:16pm
Publishers: 3:53pm and 4:39pm
When: Monday, March 31, from 3:30pm–5:00pm
Where: Roosevelt Hotel, Madison Ave. at 45th St., New York, NY

About TRAFFIQ:

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an efficient, open and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers of online media for optimized ad yield and maximum return on investment. Participants on TRAFFIQ include leading publishers, advertisers and ad agencies. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in McLean, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com. TRAFFIQ is a member of the IAB Marketplace advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on the best practices that foster industry growth. Other board members include CondéNet, Colgate Palmolive, Carat and Forrester Research.

TRAFFIQ Advertising Exchange Nominated for Silicon Alley Insider's SAI 25

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, NY, March 12, 2008 — TRAFFIQ – The Internet Traffic Exchange, today announced it has been nominated for the prestigious 2008 SAI 25 list honoring the world’s most valuable digital startups. The SAI 25 is selected and published by Silicon Alley Insider.

SAI 25 identifies the 25 startups that have the potential to become the most valuable digital businesses by analyzing hundreds of nominations submitted by entrepreneurs, VC firms and the SAI 25 Advisory Board.

The TRAFFIQ advertising exchange directly connects publishers and advertisers in a transparent and value-driven marketplace. It reduces the dependency on blind ad networks and makes the process of media buying and selling fast, simple and efficient.

TRAFFIQ exchange members can securely buy, sell, serve and track highly converting ads across multiple destinations, using one integrated platform. Publishers can secure fair market value for their media inventory, while advertisers control ad placements and protect their brand.

TRAFFIQ’s suite of automated media buying and inventory management tools, private auctions and open marketplace provide its members with:

Direct access to leading publishers, agencies and brand advertisers
Full disclosure of ad placement details, including site demographics and traffic sources
Complete predictability of sales and revenue
Brand protection
Free ad serving
Seamless integration with all major ad servers and media management tools

“Since our launch in August 2007, over 700 advertisers and publishers have joined the TRAFFIQ exchange,” said Mark Kahn, TRAFFIQ’s CEO. “Our selection as a SAI 25 finalist marks the acceptance of our business model, and is further proof of our platform’s value to buyers and sellers of online media.”

TRAFFIQ customers include most of the major ad agencies, regional agencies, Fortune 1000 advertisers, mid-size advertisers and premium and niche publishers, including: Federated Media, Healthcentral.com, Sky Sports, PerezHilton and others.

SAI 25 companies are privately held digital-industry companies selected on an assessment of their future earning power and sustainable public-market value.

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) is an efficient, open and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers of online media for optimized ad yield and maximum return on investment. Participants on TRAFFIQ include leading publishers, advertisers and ad agencies. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in McLean, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com. TRAFFIQ is a member of the IAB Marketplace advisory board, helping educate interactive advertisers and publishers on the best practices that foster industry growth. Other board members include CondéNet, Colgate Palmolive, Carat and Forrester Research.

Microsoft and Yahoo: So who's winning now?

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:00:01 GMT

The hostile takeover bid by Microsoft to buy Yahoo! is a clear sign that Microsoft is now ready to take Google’s place in the internet advertising and search race. With this offer, Microsoft is clearly saying, “times have changed”. Microsoft has been the undisputed leader in the PC business and, like IBM before it, has found itself competing with a once unknown, but now a dominant player in Google. Although Microsoft’s operating principle was never to buy its way into a market, the 62 percent premium it is willing to pay for Yahoo's shares clearly signals it means business.

The question is of course—will a combined Yahoo/Microsoft make a difference? And, more importantly, who will it make a difference for? For Microsoft? For large advertisers? For small advertisers?

Imran Khan of J.P. Morgan Securities said in a research note that "Yahoo is better off inside a larger company with [a] strong balance sheet and technology", noting that a merger of Microsoft and Yahoo could give them the scale, in terms of search traffic, that they need to compete against Google and provide a boost on the ad side. "A combination of Yahoo's relationships and Microsoft's applications and devices could create a very well-positioned competitor" for Google, he added.

Right now there are three search giants, and very soon, there will be two. One less competitor.

Large advertisers tend to be bulletproof to these kinds of seismic shifts and consolidations. Paid search advertisers have always been reliant on Google, Yahoo and MSN (the second and third tier blind ad networks never had chance), and once this acquisition is complete, they still will be, but they can afford it.

The constituency I really wonder about is the small advertiser:

More consolidation means more bidding, which means more pressure on pricing, which might drive advertising costs to where they could become cost prohibitive for small and mid-size businesses. I expect smaller advertisers and publishers who rely on the Internet as a cost effective medium to promote and sustain their business, could be the first to feel the effect of a Microsoft-Yahoo deal, should costs increase as often happens when buyers suddenly have fewer choices in the market.

This move holds many clear benefits for Microsoft. The acquisition will most certainly extend Microsoft’s consumer audience. Yahoo offers great brand value and good paid search with Panama. And the combination with MSN’s algorithmic search can translate into a very strong total package.

One more area I see this acquisition affecting is the role display advertising will now play, in the online marketing mix.

Display advertising requires transparency, predictability, and no black boxes. At TRAFFIQ we expect that smart advertisers and publishers will seek to join an advertising exchange, selecting a partner that is transparent, supports desirable media, and offers a platform that is fair to both the advertisers and the publishers. Regardless of media consolidation and M&A activities, online businesses will always look for the most efficient ways to build their business online. I believe that ad exchanges like TRAFFIQ have what publishers and advertisers alike need to prosper.

Trust and Transparency - A view from ad:tech New York, 2007

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 05:00:01 GMT

At ad:tech New York this week, I had the distinct pleasure of co-leading a one-hour panel titled “Analyzing Online Ad Exchanges,” along with Imran Khan, Managing Director of JP Morgan Research.

Despite the obvious temptation on my part to talk about nothing but TRAFFIQ, I made every effort to avoid an enthusiastic sales pitch.

Although Imran and I opened the panel with brief presentations of the current happenings in the online ad exchange market, the most interesting part was, without a doubt, the Q&A session. Some takeaway thoughts:

Sellers really do understand their inventory, and they are growing weary of the blind ad feeds that depreciate the value of their sites by peppering it with poorly designed or inappropriate ads
Sellers are extremely wary of their future relationships with the three largest online publishers, as they continue to cannibalize the sellers’ audiences. These sellers are looking to independent ad sales channels to help them fully monetize their web properties.
There are too many examples in the market of the wrong ads featured in the wrong place. For some recent proof go to Romney Accidentally Advertises On Gay.com (CBS News) or to Your Ad Here: Web Surprise Hits ’08 Race (New York Times) buyers definitely need more control over where their ads appear.
There is an appropriate amount of skepticism in the marketplace, given the recent buzz about ad exchanges. It seems that many of us are skipping past marketing claims, and conducting solid research into which providers really do offer genuine transparency and control.
Much confusion still exists as a result of all these dissimilar business models that call themselves exchanges. The best first step is to learn the difference between ‘Continuous’ and ‘Discrete’ auction models, and everything else will fall into place.
JP Morgan sees an increasing migration of online ad dollars toward the exchange model. That’s good enough for me.

So what did I learn? Our marketplace is a lot smarter than it was 10 years ago, when we all blindly flocked to new advertising models. I also learned that online ad exchanges aren’t being pushed out into the marketplace. They are being pulled into the marketplace by buyers and sellers who want transparency, control and predictability in how online advertising programs are run.

It’s about time.

TRAFFIQ Announces General Availability of Online Ad Exchange, Boasting Enhanced Capabilities for Buyers and Sellers

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, NY, November 5, 2007 — TRAFFIQ – the Internet Traffic Exchange, today announced the general availability of its Web-based trading platform for buyers and sellers of online media, featuring numerous enhancements to performance, capabilities, and ease of use.

TRAFFIQ’s unique transaction model enables the buying and selling of discretionary blocks of segmented inventory with defined start and end dates—days, weeks, or months in advance. Sellers can segment, bundle, and list for sale value-attributed blocks of traffic, a powerful way to reduce unsold inventory and secure fair market value. Buyers can quickly and easily find premium and niche inventory, even as they protect their brand and maximize ROI via precision placement and context. TRAFFIQ mirrors and extends the benefits of existing direct sales processes by marrying them with the speed and reach of an online platform.

The general availability release, which launches November 12, is the most advanced version of the platform yet, and is based on user feedback from leading publishers and agencies during beta testing, said TRAFFIQ CEO Mark Kahn. “We’ve seen tremendous response to our business model,” Kahn said. “We give publishers the ability to control both total revenue and revenue share with confidence. And buyers get total control over placement and don’t have to pay a penny in exchange fees.”

New features in TRAFFIQ include:

Subscription-based alerts for sellers. Sellers receive automatic e-mail notification of new Requests for Listings posted by buyers seeking particular media characteristics, and which match the seller’s inventory descriptions.
Campaign alerts for buyers. Similarly, buyers receive automatic e-mail alerts when new inventory becomes available that matches their campaign criteria.
Refined and expanded search capabilities. In addition to existing searches by demographic, geographic and category-based criteria, buyers can now search for inventory by CPM or CPC range, availability for immediate purchase through TRAFFIQ’s 1-CLIQ option, or name of specific publisher or Web site.
One-step importing of third-party ad tags. Integration of the Traffiq workflow with third-party ad servers is made even easier by a simple, one-step importing and serving of ad tags.

Availability and pricing.

Registration is open to all buyers and sellers. TRAFFIQ is a self-service platform, with buyers and seller specialists available to help participants make the most of inventories and budgets. No minimum is necessary for inventory or budget, and there are no membership or listing fees. Sellers pay 30 percent on ads sold; buyers pay no exchange fees at all.

TRAFFIQ demo and panel hosting at ad:tech New York.During the ad:tech expo, November 5–6, TRAFFIQ will be offering a live walk-through of its platform at Booth 914. Visitors can discover why media and industry analysts are calling TRAFFIQ “an appealing place for high-quality inventory” and speculating that our vision of an open marketplace “could blow open the lid on this industry.” In addition, TRAFFIQ COO Dan Ballister, along with a prominent industry analyst, will be hosting a special ad:tech panel on, “Analyzing Online Ad Exchanges”. The panel takes place this Wednesday, November 7, from 2:45 pm–3:45pm at the Sutton Center, 2nd Level, Hilton New York City Hotel.

About TRAFFIQ
TRAFFIQ’s vision is of an efficient, open, and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers for optimized ad yield and maximum return on investment. Its web-based trading platform is open to all buyers and sellers of online media, with leading publishers, advertisers, and agencies already on board. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in McLean, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com or visit us at www.traffiq.com.

TRAFFIQ's Dan Ballister to Co-Host Panel on the Rise of Online Ad Exchanges at ad:tech New York

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, NY, October, 16, 2007 — Does the emergence of ad exchanges represent a new paradigm for online advertising? This will be the topic of a special panel at the November ad:tech conference in New York, to be co-hosted by Dan Ballister, chief operating officer of TRAFFIQ – The Internet Traffic Exchange.

As ad:tech notes in its description of the panel, exchanges represent a rapidly growing segment within the larger ecosystem of digital ad networks. Within the last two years, exchange platforms have begun selling everything from first-tier and distressed digital advertising inventory, to a range of traditional inventory from radio, print, and even TV. So much is obvious—but what are the factors that make these exchanges such a remarkable value proposition? What’s fueling their growth, and what can we expect in the near future?

Ballister, along with his co-host, a prominent industry analyst, will lead an open conversation on the emergence of ad exchanges, the nuances of the business models and technologies now becoming available, and the best way for buyers and sellers to take advantage of these changes.

The choice of Ballister as co-host is a logical one, given TRAFFIQ’s leadership in the exchange space; the TRAFFIQ exchange, while currently in advanced beta, has many leading publishers and advertisers already on board. TRAFFIQ’s unique transaction model features segmented, searchable blocks of inventory auctioned in advance, rather than on the fly, on an impression-by-impression basis. The result is better value for buyers, access to premium and long-tail inventory, more monetization and higher inventory yield for sellers, and superior predictability and control for both sides. Sellers pay fixed, published commissions on ads sold, and buyers pay no exchange fees at all.

Panel and conference details:

Panel name: “Analyzing Online Advertising Exchanges”
Date and time: Wednesday, November 7, from 2:45pm–3:45pm
Location: Sutton Center, 2nd Level, Hilton New York City Hotel

Note: Those interested in learning more about TRAFFIQ at ad:tech New York can also stop by TRAFFIQ’s display booth, stand 914.

The ad:tech conference will be held from Nov. 5–8 at the Hilton New York City Hotel.

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ’s vision is of an efficient, open, and value-driven marketplace, directly connecting buyers and sellers for optimized ad yield and maximum return on investment. Its web-based trading platform was recently opened to all buyers and sellers of online media, with leading publishers, advertisers, and agencies already on board. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in McLean, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com or visit us at www.traffiq.com.

TRAFFIQ Launches Open Registration to Online Advertising Exchange With Leading Publishers and Advertisers on Board

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, NY, September 26, 2007 — Marking a new step forward, TRAFFIQ – the Internet Traffic Exchange, has opened its web-based trading platform to all buyers and sellers of online media, company officials announced today.

Leading publishers, advertisers, and agencies have been joining TRAFFIQ since the first beta phase was launched in August. The new open registration moves the beta program into its second phase, adding and improving functionality for a wider audience.

“TRAFFIQ was designed to optimize ad yield and return on investment for sellers and buyers,” said TRAFFIQ CEO Mark Kahn. “Our growth through major publishers and advertisers joining the exchange is validation of this business model.”

The exchange connects buyers and sellers of online media directly in an auction-based bidding environment. A major feature of TRAFFIQ is its unique transaction model, enabling the buying and selling of discrete blocks of segmented inventory with defined start and end dates—days, weeks and even months in advance.

Sellers can segment, bundle, and list for sale value-attributed blocks of traffic, in turn attracting buyers in search of premium and niche inventory–a powerful way for sellers to reduce unsold inventory and secure fair market value.

“TRAFFIQ is different in that our publishers pay clear, fixed commissions, and advertisers pay no buying fees at all. Sellers can maximize ad yield and predict revenue, while buyers can optimize ROI, meet campaign objectives, and significantly lower the cost of servicing the media,” Kahn said.

Sellers can also review and reject creative materials in advance; select their own out-clauses; and dynamically adjust their listings based on buyer requests.

Other features for buyers include precise matching of traffic via searchable inventory and automated RFPs. Clear details of ad placements are provided with inventory listings, enabling brand protection for both the buyers and the sellers.

TRAFFIQ provides an end-to-end solution for buyers and sellers via free ad serving, simple integration with third party ad servers, inventory management tools, media planning tools, and more. The platform is self-serve, but is supported by buyer and seller specialists, helping new participants make the most of inventories and budgets.

TRAFFIQ supports all display, text, and rich media ad formats, as well as the major third party ad servers. Currently CPM and CPC-based transactions are offered, with plans to support CPL and CPA transactions in the first quarter of 2008.

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ provides technology and services to help advertisers and web publishers successfully grow their digital advertising business. TRAFFIQ’s Internet Traffic Exchange is an open trading platform that provides buyers and sellers of online media with economic and sales efficiencies previously unavailable to them. Participants on TRAFFIQ include leading publishers, advertisers, and ad agencies. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in McLean, VA. For more information, contact us at info@traffiq.com or visit us at www.TRAFFIQ.com. TRAFFIQ is a sponsor of the Marketing and Interactive Excellence (MIXX) Awards honoring those teams which have pushed interactive advertising to unprecedented levels. Other sponsors of MIXX include Forbes, Comcast, ESPN, Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, and CBS Interactive.

Rubbernecking Permitted

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 05:00:01 GMT

As TRAFFIQ continues to evolve and reach important development milestones, we will be regularly updating both our existing participants as well as those who are new to the exchange with our recent progress and our future plans. Because TRAFFIQ is a user-driven platform, our goal is always to respond in earnest to your questions, comments & complaints.

Since July 23rd, TRAFFIQ has been in a controlled beta mode. From a platform perspective, this time has been a period of adding functionality, making user interface changes and testing, testing, testing (and more testing). The good news is that over a year’s worth of development effort and the dedication of countless man-hours has paid off: the beta version of the platform is functioning and stable, delivers on its fundamental promise of providing a common marketplace for the buying and selling of Internet traffic, and can support a rapidly growing volume of transactions. As such, the trading can begin.

A large number of buyers and sellers have registered with TRAFFIQ during this four-week period, and we have been actively helping them to perform those tasks that will help users gain the most benefit from the platform—that is, to segment inventory into listings that will offer the highest potential return, to create buyer RFL’s (our version of the RFP process) and to generate optimal matches for buyers and inventory. Please know that the TRAFFIQ team is on-hand to assist you in any way we can with your buying and/or selling activity.

Today, August 20, 2007, we enter our open beta period. As this designation implies, the exchange is not yet open to the general public, yet we are allowing those sellers & buyers who have been pre-approved by us to list inventory for auction and to place bids to purchase traffic, respectively. When these auctions close with a winning bidder, the subsequent traffic orders will be fulfilled through TRAFFIQ. Between now and September 26th we will remain in this open beta mode, continually adding features and refinements to the platform, registering new buyers and sellers, fulfilling orders and responding to our participants.

On September 26th, we will open TRAFFIQ to General Availability and allow any buyer or seller to register on the exchange and buy and/or sell inventory. Also at that time we will begin to make market and performance data available through the exchange for buyers and sellers to use freely to facilitate better trading success.

Much, much more will be coming to the TRAFFIQ trading platform through the rest of 2007 and beyond, including the addition of onsite training services, automated media planning & buying tools, live media programming and market analysis from our trading floor, and more. You should always feel free to stop, take a close look what we are doing and let us know your thoughts. We are committed to keeping you up to date on all of our progress by posting periodic updates from myself or from other members of the TRAFFIQ executive team.

Once again, thank you for joining TRAFFIQ and trading on this next-generation media exchange platform. I look forward to seeing you on the exchange and, as always, if you should have any questions, comments or complaints, please call me directly at 646–254–6550 or email me at mkahn@TRAFFIQ.com.

Sincerely,

Mark Kahn
Chief Executive Officer
TRAFFIQ—The Internet Traffic Exchange

TRAFFIQ Launches Online Advertising Exchange

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 05:00:01 GMT

NEW YORK, NY, August 21, 2007 — TRAFFIQ, Inc., a provider of digital advertising solutions, today announced the launch of TRAFFIQ – The Internet Traffic Exchange, a web-based trading platform where media buyers and web publishers can engage with one another directly in a transparent auction-based bidding environment.

TRAFFIQ is the only fully open and completely transparent marketplace that not only connects buyers and sellers of online media, but provides them with key trading functionality and business advantages unavailable through other solutions in the market.

The key to TRAFFIQ is its unique transaction model: instead of the commoditized approach used by other exchanges or ad networks—real-time auctions of single impressions—TRAFFIQ’s model focuses on buying and selling discrete blocks of inventory, with defined start and end dates.
TRAFFIQ is the only exchange to offer clear details of ad placement before a bid is made, protecting and enhancing brand for buyers and sellers via precise selection of publication and context.
Open access to traffic listings, auction history and performance trends lets buyers and sellers monitor, analyze, and react to ad performance and market supply and demand.
TRAFFIQ offers automated matching of buyers and inventory, based on traffic segmentation provided by sellers, and campaign criteria provided by buyers. Buyers and sellers can also utilize an optional workflow that mirrors and simplifies the RFP and sales process relied on by most publishers, agencies, and advertisers.
Participating on TRAFFIQ is FREE for buyers. Sellers pay a fixed percentage only for inventory sold. Additionally, TRAFFIQ’s proprietary ad server is free to buyers and sellers who choose to use it, or it can easily interface with 3rd party ad servers currently in use.

"The open economy nature of TRAFFIQ, and the level of brand protection and budget control it provides, make real-world sense to both buyers and sellers", said Mark Kahn, CEO of TRAFFIQ. "Along with the platform’s unique ability to segment, bundle and display blocks of traffic, we are able to deliver maximum yield for web traffic, with greater efficiency, transparency and predictability."

Benefits for Sellers:

Selling premium inventory to buyers attracted to a value-driven exchange.
Displaying, bundling and selling premium and niche segmented inventory.
Predicting sales and reducing unsold inventory by securing advance bookings days, weeks, months ahead.
Securing market value for blocks of traffic, in an efficient open market.
Optimizing eCPM and managing ad yield, by avoiding low ad conversion rates.
Keeping costs low and getting fast payment through consolidated tracking, billing and serving.

Benefits for Buyers:

Access to premium inventory and wide publisher outreach.
Securing advance blocks of traffic at known rates, for future campaigns.
Finding precise matches via searchable inventory and automated RFPs.
Protecting brand through precision ad placement and context selection.
Maximizing ROI via detailed performance data on publishers and inventory.
Paying no commissions or upfront fees.
Syncing with existing media management and ad serving tools.

TRAFFIQ supports all display and text ad formats, and all major 3rd party ad servers. The platform currently offers CPM and CPC-based transactions, with plans to support CPL and CPA transactions in the first quarter of 2008.

TRAFFIQ has launched a controlled rollout of its trading platform with a select group of publishers, advertisers and ad agencies on board to provide feedback on functionality and workflow. The exchange will be open to all buyers and sellers later this year.

About TRAFFIQ

TRAFFIQ (www.traffiq.com) provides technology and services that help advertisers and web publishers successfully grow their digital advertising business. TRAFFIQ’s Internet Traffic Exchange is an open trading platform that provides the buyers and sellers of online media with economic and sales efficiencies that were previously unavailable. Participating buyers and sellers on TRAFFIQ include leading publishers, advertisers and ad agencies. TRAFFIQ is headquartered in New York City, with offices in McLean, VA. For more information, or to request an invitation to our controlled beta program, please contact us at info@traffiq.com.

Change

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:00:01 GMT

Somewhere in the world, I don't know where and I don't know when, there was a mayor or city planner out there who pounded the first parking meter into the ground on Main Street and declared, "From now on, you have to pay to park here". Imagine the outrage—you can almost hear the people in the village complaining: “Nobody has ever done that before, or It was fine the way it was.” Chances are, these complaints went on for months, and the mayor was labeled as greedy or out of touch.

But then something happened—all those deep pot holes on Main Street got fixed. Then they actually paved Main Street. With more traffic on Main Street, more businesses opened up shop on the main drag, and the town center became the cultural and social soul of the city. The excess revenues from the parking meters helped build the finest school in the state, which attracted the best teachers from the region, and began to produce top 1% students who went off to major universities and then on to glowing careers as captains of industry or world leaders. Maybe some of them cured fatal diseases or championed causes which made the world a safer and better place.

At TRAFFIQ, we're thinking a lot about CHANGE. Maybe there actually is a better way to do business. Maybe the current system of buying media really can be simpler. Maybe publishers can do more than just unload their unsold inventory as low priced remnant avails. And maybe buyers can find perfect matches of inventory for their media plans.

We see a world where TRAFFIQ can significantly reduce the cost and time associated with buying online media at the right price, at the right time, from the right seller, all the while maintaining total control of that buy. We see a world where sellers can segment their inventory into its most valuable units of discrete inventory, and then list it for sale in a place where the right buyer finds those avails at exactly the right time, all the while allowing that seller to maintain total control over how they sell that inventory.

I don't know who that mayor was that had the courage to set up that first parking meter, and I'll always wonder if he or she ever really realized all the good things that came from that act. TRAFFIQ may not bring total calm to what at times is a troubled world, but in our little media corner, we think TRAFFIQ is exactly what online media buyers and sellers are looking for. This is what they told us they wanted, and it is why we built it.

Best,

Dan Ballister
Chief Operating Officer
TRAFFIQ—The Internet Traffic Exchange

The Ad Exchange for the Next Hundred Years

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:00:01 GMT

The buzzword of the year in the online advertising industry is transparency, which has been promoted to a great degree by both ad network incumbents and new ad exchanges alike. Google/DoubleClick, Yahoo!/Right Media and some newcomers, claim their platforms provide buyers with degrees of transparency previously unknown in the search and display markets, allowing them to know where their ads appear after these ads have been served. As anyone who has purchased online media knows, visibility into a campaign's constituent publisher-base is a significant milestone. In every case, the networks laud the promise of their respective operational and economic efficiencies, and what's more, audaciously declare a kinship with Wall Street.

Apparently Wall Street agrees. The recent acquisitions of Right Media and DoubleClick by Yahoo! and Google respectively, demonstrate the great value financial markets place upon the principle of a transparent exchange. The securities markets do indeed demonstrate the beneficial influence of transparency on a market and Wall Street bankers are correct to esteem it.

Unfortunately, the companies making headlines with their boasts of transparency, actually offer a version of transparency at odds with the traditionally understood concept of the word, which broadly holds that the more information available to buyers and sellers in a marketplace, the better.

What passes for transparency at the incumbent ad networks is, in fact, a hollow imitation of the economic ideal of the free flow and equitable dissemination of information, which forms one of the pillars of a healthy free market system.

What is wrong with the incumbent networks’ claims, is that their versions of “transparency” i.e., updating their interfaces, refitting their reporting services and otherwise generally repurposing their existing blind buying platforms offer no benefit to the sellers in the market who are forced, again, to assume the role of mere commodity (traffic) provider. Putting a spotlight on sellers, allowing them to post their inventory with as much descriptive detail and segmentation information possible, and have this data accessible to all buyers (and sellers) in the market, will enable them to promote their inventory to buyers who can appreciate its value, and to receive the best market prices for their properties.

Recent claims for transparency likely exasperate anyone who respects the need of sellers to participate fairly, efficiently and on common ground in the online media marketplace. I am not aware of any publisher-side environment at any ad network, where sellers can so much as see what the bids are for their own traffic. They are usually kept very much in the dark.

Just as venture capitalist and blogger Fred Wilson called for in his seminal post: When Is a Market Really a Market?, a true open exchange such as TRAFFIQ delivers this benefit and more to publishers, giving them full visibility into what advertisers are willing to bid for their inventory, as well as into the ongoing bidding and historical sale prices of similar traffic, including the CPM and CPC such traffic has commanded in the past.

When TRAFFIQ is launched this July, it will offer the equal dissemination of this information to all market participants, empowering them to make the right choices for their respective needs. It will be the only platform that truly resembles a genuine financial exchange, with its free market economy, providing all of its constituents with the ability to reap the greatest reward with the least amount of risk.

I look forward to seeing you all there.

Regards,

Jay Hirschson
Chief Financial Officer
TRAFFIQ—The Internet Traffic Exchange

Road to Predictability

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:00:01 GMT

An old and very dear friend and mentor of mine was often quoted as saying “you learn a lot more out there than you do in here.” His meaning, as I took it, was that getting in front of your potential customers to determine their wants and needs was always better than holing up in a conference room and making a good guess at it. I have never forgotten that bit of wisdom. So although all of us at TRAFFIQ bring our own real world experience to the world of buying and selling media, when we set about the business of building the TRAFFIQ exchange platform, we decided first to go “out there” to listen and learn more.

So what did we learn?

We learned that to offer real world value to our customers, what we are building is going to have to be far more than an ad network cloaking itself in hot industry buzzwords like “open,” “transparent,” and “exchange” (for an example of what I mean, see Jarod Caporino’s article on Transparency or Dan Ballister’s article: Is it an Exchange or a Network?)

No, using buzzwords was not going to be nearly enough. What we learned was that our TRAFFIQ exchange platform was going to have to deliver on the promise created by such buzzwords. More importantly, by being “out there” with the buyers and sellers of digital media, we learned what this community of experts had to tell us about what delivering on this promise really means.

An example of how this knowledge has translated into the development of the features of the TRAFFIQ exchange platform is this: we heard time and again there is an overwhelming need for greater predictability in the business of buying and selling digital media. For media sellers, there is a need to predict inventory sales days, weeks or months in advance, to avoid the last minute fire sales or worse yet, unsold ads. For media buyers, there is a need to secure inventory availability and to predict the cost of that inventory and its ROI. This resonated well with our own understanding of the issues facing the industry, as the entire TRAFFIQ team has, at one time or another, been a buyer or seller of digital media. But what we also heard was (and this is why my mentor’s saying still rings true), that this type of predictability was not enough. We learned there was a need to predict where an ad was going to appear, and that for our customers to be able to best plan their media sales and media buys, there was a need for clear, detailed listings of historical conversion rates and historical pricing, and complete detailed transactional data that would be available to all buyers and sellers on the TRAFFIQ Exchange.

We asked, we listened, we learned, and I am proud to say that when our first version of the TRAFFIQ Exchange platform is released in July, these needs for predictability will have been fully addressed.

Imagine a world in which your job, whether as a digital media buyer or a digital media seller, is not changed, but made easier, clearer and where results are far more predictable. This is what we are striving to build with the TRAFFIQ Exchange platform we are striving to build a predictable future.

Of course, TRAFFIQ will never be complete and we will never be satisfied. We are refining our product in real time with your help and you should come to expect that your comments and recommendations will always be heard because we will always be “out there,” listening.

As always, if you care to and have the time, please let us know your thoughts.

Best Regards

Mark Kahn
Chief Executive Officer
TRAFFIQ—The Internet Traffic Exchange

Transparency

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 05:00:01 GMT

There’s been a good amount of talk in the market about the need for Transparency. Advertisers are begging for it. Ad Networks claim they have it. Yet, has anybody actually defined Transparency, to determine what it truly means?

Is Transparency merely stating a handful of web properties that on occasion list inventory within an Ad Network? And isn’t it funny how all Ad Networks seem to list the exact same publishers? I can’t help but ask how much inventory (if any at all) will actually run on these web properties.

“Transparent” networks claim that because they reveal sources of traffic after the fact in their post-campaign reports, or provide a sample list of their publishing partners before the buy, that this constitutes Transparency. This is only half of the picture. Buyers today expect to be furnished with not only a precise list of sites across which their ads will run, but additionally be provided with the context in which their ads will appear. Ask any buyer whether knowing after the fact that their premier financial services client's ad ran on YouTube next to a video of a “sex doll for dogs,” helps them sleep better at night.

Today’s advertisers are smarter and savvier. We know that the blind ad money is long gone. What we must realize is that the really smart money is just beginning to arrive. Whether it’s a brand advertiser or a direct marketer, visibility is the key to success. To protect their brand, advertisers need control over ad placement, and want to know exactly where their ads will appear at all times. Direct Marketers want to make sure their ads don’t appear on offensive sites.

The savvy buyer mantra is as such: Can you tell me exactly where my ads will appear? Where do I go to get a screen shot of my ad appearing on a web page? Can you give me a URL that I can send to my client so they get the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes with seeing their ad live on a site?

In my recent searching, it took me all of 5 minutes to find two major CPG advertisers—an automotive marketer and a prominent financial news site, appearing alongside content that most would find very offensive. Obviously, neither these marketers nor their agencies realize their ads are appearing on these sites. For the sake of the agency, I hope they find out first, or they will have to quickly turn to pitch mode for new clients.

Transparency is the future of online advertising. So going back to the question: What is Transparency? I believe Transparency extends far beyond listing a site. It's the complete honest view that ad networks should share with their buyers and agencies, ahead of the buy:

the sites an ad will be featured on;
where the placements are located on the respective pages;
what content will surround the ads themselves; and
the make-up of the audience viewing the ad.

I am happy to declare that when we launch TRAFFIQ this July, we will be able to stand behind the true meaning of Transparency, and offer it to our advertisers and sellers alike.

Regards,

Jarod Caporino
Vice President, Buyer Development
TRAFFIQ—The Internet Traffic Exchange

Online Ad Exchanges: Focusing on Improving the Game, Not Changing the Game

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 05:00:01 GMT

All of us read the same articles in our industry, and for the most part, we all do a pretty good job of staying current with hot industry trends and recent announcements. It's actually very impressive. In my early days in the CPG world (before this fad called the Internet came around), our only real propaganda came from the voicemails we received from our District Sales Manager each night, telling us all the day's news from our company, with an occasional newsflash from our industry.

Today, it's a different story we all visit our eight “go to” sites each day to see what's happening, and as a result, our industry is very susceptible to trends and fads. In this industry, everyone seems to know what's happening. There's almost a pop-culture like affect that happens too something gets hot for a year or two, fades away, comes back, etc. Many ideas or companies make it to happy hour conversation for a few months and burn out; some even hang around for a couple of years until the money runs out and the party quietly ends. I won't name names, but you probably can think of a few. However, some trends break through the clutter and are so valuable that they become a permanent part of the digital media landscape no better example than paid search, which now gets a whopping 40% of online media spend. In 2000, it wasn't even a category now, it's a must-buy.

Media exchanges are all the rage these days. Our company, TRAFFIQ, has been building an exchange since the Fall of 2006, which will launch in July. As you might imagine, we've been studying the exchange landscape for the last two years, and doing everything possible to build a platform that genuinely makes sense for its end users. In much the same way that we're trying to build the kind of company we always wanted to work for, our biggest goal at TRAFFIQ is to build the kind of media exchange we always wanted to use. Insert cliché here about built by sellers and buyers, for sellers and buyers. And flashbulbs went off last year when our Director of Product Management, Sung Shin, told us in no uncertain terms, that any new B2B platform is either built into the existing workflow, or it gets run over by that workflow.

So what did we do? Before a single line of code was written, we got ourselves into different rooms with buyers and sellers, and we listened. Hard. We believe that exchanges can impact the digital media business the same way that paid search did. Search grew quickly not because it changed the game, but because it improved the game. More control and precision campaign management tools for buyers, and better monetization for sellers; we all know the story. Paid search found a way to fit into our media world by taking advantage of existing processes that made sense, and by adding new elements to that process that radically improved the metric that matters most. In the end they put more P into practically every P&L out there.

Media exchanges can further extend this vision of improving the game. If it's really an exchange (and not a closed ad network trying to change its spots—be careful here in your review), challenge the owners of that platform. How are they adapting their product to existing workflow? If they are deviating from existing workflow (let's face it, the current system isn't perfect), is it legitimately an improvement? Is it really an open, transparent platform, or is it only transparent on one side? The real question here is balance is there a balance of commitment to both buyers AND sellers. We all know the quest a platform that simultaneously provides greater buying efficiency and better sales yield. And to get there, a truly balanced exchange requires that for every market force, there will be an equal and opposite force.

These are some of the things we're thinking about at TRAFFIQ, and our team is excited about delivering our media exchange into the marketplace this summer. To those buyers and sellers that helped us fully understand the marketplace, we are forever indebted to you. Our invitation-only beta starts in late July, please reach out to us at info@traffiq.com. We'll see you on the trading floor.

Regards,

Dan Ballister
Chief Operating Officer
TRAFFIQ—The Internet Traffic Exchange

Is It an Exchange or a Network?

Fri, 11 May 2007 05:00:01 GMT

Caveat emptor. Caveat venditor. If you're one of the few people on the planet who still understands Latin, you probably know that caveat emptor means “buyer beware.” But I'll bet most Latin majors have forgotten the other side of this coin, caveat venditor, which means “seller beware.” In this increasingly confusing media world of online networks who are masquerading as exchanges (yep, exchange is the “it” word of 2007 for online marketers), emptors and venditors better use lots of caveat in the coming months as the largely misunderstood exchange category explodes in the digital media space. There has been quite a bit of chatter over the last six months about exchanges, but there still seems to be a general level of confusion or lack of understanding about what actually constitutes an exchange, and how they're different from the dozens of ad networks that currently exist. So consider this to be our first attempt at actual transparency “an honest-to-goodness best effort to explain what's actually going on, with a limited amount of hype for our own platform,” TRAFFIQ, the Internet Traffic Exchange, which launches on July 23, 2007. This is, after all, our website.

In any kind of market that has an open, truly transparent exchange, there is NO data advantage. We've all read stories in the last few years that detail the malicious efforts of finance or corporate types trying to create a data advantage by front-running big trades, illegally sharing insider information, or withholding information. We all saw the perp walks on CNN, and regrettably, many honest people lost lots of money at the expense of gold shower curtains, insider trading, and other forms of illicit data manipulation. On the other hand, we all know people (maybe you are one of them) who actually study available data and publicly disseminated, free information, then draw meaningful conclusions, act against them, and realize a legitimate competitive advantage based upon those efforts.

One could make the conclusion that in the end, none of the self-proclaimed “exchanges” in our industry are fully compliant with the official definition of the word. Most are ad networks trying to ride the wave of popularity associated with this buzz about exchanges. Some are aggregators of ad feeds who offer auctions only on one side or the other of the buyer-seller relationship. Some offer “seats” on these alleged exchanges, others preach about “unloading remnant inventory.” In reality, when compared to how financial markets operate, the most accurate definition for what most of us in the digital world think of as an exchange is actually a bulletin board, a place for sellers to list inventory that's for sale, and allow interested buyers to bid for it. But exchange is a cool word, it sounds better than “bulletin board”, and in the end, if a platform is truly open and transparent about who's participating and what the terms are, and there's genuine democracy in access to data, we think it's ok to use the word “exchange.”

So what is TRAFFIQ.com? TRAFFIQ.com is an auction-based, genuinely transparent, data-rich, open digital media buying-and-selling exchange that allows buyers and sellers of all forms of digital media to efficiently find each other, arrive at satisfactory terms, close a deal, and execute online ad campaigns across a feature-rich, user-friendly advertising exchange. Buyers want time-saving tools and honest transparency in pricing and placement; sellers want higher sell-thru and better yield from their ad inventory. They both want better process, easier “findability,” and lots of data. Billions of dollars currently move around every year in closed, blind network many publishers have no idea what ads might show up on their site, how much they're actually earning from these ads, or if those terms are fair. Many buyers have no idea where their ads are appearing, whether or not they paid too much, or what their true return against that ad spend actually is. TRAFFIQ.com has not been designed to be an interface that bolts onto an existing ad network, but instead to offer buyers the advantages of a platform that markedly reduces their cost of servicing the media they buy, while offering sellers the natural forces of market efficiency that organically reconcile and balance price against value. In addition, the sophisticated-but-simple tools we've developed will offer decided financial advantages to buyers who maximize their conversion efficiency, and to sellers who fully exploit tools that will aid in segmenting ad inventory in its most desirable, discrete units.

In the end, an exchange allows a market to achieve its maximum efficiency, and we're committed to delivering exactly that kind of product into the marketplace in July. As you know, an exchange also requires liquidity to be a useful tool, and fortunately, many buyers and sellers we've met over the years have already agreed to participate. So come take a look for yourself, or let us know if you'd like to participate in our invitation-only beta program. TRAFFIQ will quickly become the place where the smart media money trades, and where emptors and venditors will think a lot less about caveat, and a lot more about “lucrum” (that's Latin for profit).

Regards,

Dan Ballister
Chief Operating Officer
TRAFFIQ—The Internet Traffic Exchange