Phase2Media Sees Sizable Restructuring (internet.com, June 29th)
Word on the street is that elite online ad representation firm Phase2Media is presently negotiating a severe restructuring process that could, at best, see the company dramatically scale back its sales efforts and, at worst, see the shuttering of the agency.

"Moving" Ads (NewMedia, June 29th)
As proponents of the innovative banner designs associated with campaigns such as Club Regal Casino are aware, designs that operate within the traditional banner space, but which blur the distinction associated with the 'box' shape, can be a huge success in terms of gaining attention and high response rates. This brief commentary notes how a campaign from Capital One is utilizing this tactic effectively, by creating borderless and/or 'jittering' ads in an attempt to draw eyeballs without the expenses associated with beyond-the-banner technologies.

Study: Web Ads, Product Information Can Sell Offline Goods (internet.com, June 29th)
In a coup for those of us who have long been aware that the measuring of all-too-simplistic metrics such as CTRs and impulse conversion rates doesn't accurately account for the value gained through running an online advertising/branding campaign, New York-based research firm Cyber Dialogue has found that a vast majority of the web's US-based adult audience has drawn from online advertising and information sources (such as mini sites) to influence their offline buying decisions. This may be common sense to many, who have been casually aware of this trend existing within their own behaviour and that of their associates, but the results of this study bring formality and tangibility to the suggestion, which proves that online marketing is successful in driving sales.

Mediaplex Snaps Up Ailing Interadnet's Clients (internet.com, June 28th)
Suffering in the face of an enduring downturn in online media spending, Interadnet has made the decision to pull the plug on the US arm of its ad sales and technology business, selling out to rival Mediaplex. The company will continue attempting to carve out a market for itself in Europe.

Staying Alive in Online Advertising (CNET, June 28th)
The online advertising slowdown has been brutal for those working within the publishing, technology and media sales camps. This CNET feature highlights how the market has been forced to rapidly adapt in order to stay afloat in a barren environment.

Study: Popular Sites Don't Necessarily Attract Valuable Buyers (internet.com, June 28th)
comScore has found that while the most heavily-trafficked sites on the web are some of the most popular targets of online marketers, in many cases, the audiences of smaller niche sites have demonstrated behaviour that suggests that they are more likely to buy online. The conclusion, then, is that it would pay for media buyers to look beyond placing ads on the traffic leaders, and instead focus on each site's audience demographic profile.

The All-Encompassing Marketing Experience (TurboAds.com, June 27th)
In a phase wherein even pundits of online advertising have been revealing disillusionment in the medium, innovation on behalf of BMW, the film studios and Microsoft have led the way into taking advantage of the viral qualities of online communication to develop marketing that doesn't need to be pushed at users, since users actively seek it out. Incorporating subtle marketing messages within immersive online films, games and similar catchy experiences is heralding a new interest in this medium.

WAA Releases Ad Standards for WAP, SMS and PDAs (internet.com, June 27th)
After much anticipation, the Wireless Advertising Association has finally taken the wraps off a set of standards that established a platform from which the mobile advertising industry will be guided. Read more about how the standards are shaping up in this ZDNet article.

Yahoo! Uses Akamai to Target Ads (internet.com, June 27th)
Expanding on a relationship that they've shared since 1999, Yahoo has agreed to utilize Akamai's EdgeScape service to accurately deliver geographically-targeted ads to the portal's users.

Online Advertising Poised For Uptick (Forbes.com, June 27th)
Despite a strong train of thought that considers a recovery unlikely this year, this article points to a few trends, such as the launch of Microsoft's XP and Xbox, as well as comments made by traditional media giants that the ad market had stabilized, which suggests that there exists opportunity for a recovery in Q4 2001.

Real Media Teams with Offline Rep to Enable Cross-Selling Opportunities (NET-ADS, June 26th)
Media powerhouse AOL Time Warner has proven to the world that cross-media synergy can dramatically increase sales and advertisers' ROI. Following from this, online ad rep Real Media has formalized its relationship with print media rep Publicitas North America to present their clients with cross-media buying opportunities.

Yahoo! Calls on Designers to Make Ad Push (NET-ADS, June 26th)
In an attempt to increase advertiser and consumer interest in its new ad units, internet portal Yahoo! has launched a campaign that takes advantage of the skills of several artists familiar with the marketing as storytelling commercial art form. The ads that they are to create will use Flash technology and showcase the artists' work in Large Rectangle Ad units (L-Recs), one of the new spaces available on the Yahoo! network. Since adopted as standard by the IAB, Yahoo! has been the biggest user of skyscraper and rectangular box (rec) ads, according to AdRelevance.

Online Ad-Buying Alternatives (NewMedia, June 26th)
This feature provides a nice round-up of the various beyond-the-banner advertising placement opportunities presently available to ad buyers and publishers alike.

Marketing (Not Maddening) Research (CNET Builder.com, June 26th)
Market research is a necessary evil in an advertising-supported environment. As publishers, we must constantly walk the fine line between appeasing marketers' desire for additional information regarding our visitors' psychographics and demographics, and keeping our audience satisfied and willing to return. This feature stands as a guide for publishers and marketers alike as to how best to acquire data from visitors.

Optimizing Your Branding Touch Points (ClickZ, June 26th)
The face of media has changed dramatically during the past decade, with dozens of new media (most of which are two-way communication channels) at a marketer's disposal. As a result, optimizing one's channel strategy has become a huge challenge. This article offers a few tips to start you on the right track.

Online Publishers Launch Trade Group (internet.com, June 26th)
As reported earlier, New York Times Digital and several other major web publishers were in the process of forming a policy and advocacy group to serve the interests of publishers in those areas where IAB has failed. This article notes the launch of the Online Publishers Association (OPA).

Technology Enables Advertisers to Piggyback Ads on Email (List-News, June 26th)
In an audacious move, an Australian firm has started touting a technology that enables ISPs to 'hijack' email, and insert their own demographic-specific advertising before delivering the email to its recipient. Obviously, this innovation has several legal and/or ethical issues holding it back, and isn't likely to be accepted by those ISPs that generate their revenue through subscriptions, since their users are likely to be turned off by such an invasion. read more.

First Australian Online Advertising Effectiveness Study (NET-ADS, June 25th)
ACNielsen.consult's recent pioneering study into the branding effectiveness of online ads within Australia has produced figures that confirm that the much-criticized banner is, in fact, an effective medium through which branding messages and associations may be conveyed.

Burst! Media Reports Stellar Growth (NET-ADS, June 25th)
Burst! Media, a leading online advertising network representing specialty-content web publishers, today announced it has achieved 6,795% revenue growth over its first five years of business.

Advertising ROI Lies in Branding, Not in Clicks and Traffic (CyberAtlas, June 25th)
Jupiter Media Metrix, after having conducted a study of the branding benefits associated with online advertising, has concluded that the actual ROI from an online ad campaign is likely 25-35% higher than most marketers believe simply by looking at measurable metrics such as CTRs. The research firm found that only 15% of marketers who employ interactive online campaigns introduce branding as a factor within their calculations, despite the proven strength of the medium to deliver on such a promise.

Yahoo Rises on Upbeat Views of Advertising (CNET News.com, June 25th)
With analysts and industry heads claiming that the ad spending slide has bottomed out, formerly beaten down advertising-supported properties such as the strong Yahoo!, are seeing a resurgence of interest in their stock.

Web Ads Breaking Out of Banners (SiliconValley.com, June 25th)
While banner CTRs continue to decline as the novelty factor of the spots wears off, marketers are keen to investigate larger, more intrusive options in an attempt to increase response rates and brand awareness.

AOL, Hewlett-Packard Trade Ads, Servers (internet.com, June 25th)
In selling (or buying, for that matter), remnant inventory, one should never look sight of the power of barter. This article demonstates hoe AOL TW is overcoming the cost barriers assosiated with upgrading their server infrastructure by offering HP significant online exposure in exchange for the company's hardware.

New Online Ads Can't Be Missed (Excite News, June 24th)
This article looks at intrusive advertising experiments from a consumer's point of view, revealing that there is growing resistance to aggressive advertising online, such as the popunders so famously incorporated into X10's marketing plan, or the takeover ads being used by traditional players such as Ford, Universal and Jiffy. Despite this, the article makes it clear that online advertising is in its infancy, and that experimentation and innovation are healthy in finding the balance between so as to keep consumers appeased, while providing advertisers with effective ROI.

Your Body, Your Profile: Biometrics Hits Online Advertising (ChannelSeven, June 22nd)
A technology devised by biometrics firm Predictive Networks is said to give marketers the ability to overcome one of the biggest hurdles facing effective targeting of ads towards individual users by determining demographic and phychographic features of a computer or iTV user based on how they behave when using the device. The firm suggests that, given time to determine trends, the system will eventually know which member of the family is using the device at a given time, what their interests are and how skilled they are at using the medium - all without accessing personally-identifying data such as the databases guarded so protectively by direct marketers.

Report: Online Marketing Gaining Steam (internet.com, June 22nd)
Research firm IDC has just released a report looking at the present state of online marketing, and many of its findings are encouraging. For one, the study revealed that the majority of American firms are already actively planning or using some form of online marketing.

Tool Feeds Ads to Your E-Mails (ZDNet, June 22nd)
Being an Aussie, I'm embarrassed to have to report on that a Australian-based company has developed a technology that would allow ISPs and other service providers to insert ads into emails before they are downloaded to their users' local PCs. The opt-out system that effectively interferes with the intellectual property of every email's source, has obviously been met with a barrage of criticisms. Some of these appear within the "Feedback" section at the end of the article. Others may be found here.

Ten Tips on Hiring a Media Buyer (ClickZ, June 22nd)
In almost all forms of marketing, effective media buying is crucial to the success of a campaign. As such, ensuring that you have the right buyers on the payroll is critical. This article offers a few tips to assist in guiding the process of attracting and evaluating candidates for this position.

Commission Junction Revamping Policies to Cut Costs (internet.com, June 21st)
Though old news to most in the online advertising biz, this article does an effective job of summing up the recent changes made to CJ's policies, while speculating as to what the effect of this will be.

Stream Me Up (eMarketer, June 21st)
Streaming media, whether inserted into an existing content stream, or requested info-mercial style from e-commerce destinations, is set to see strong growth during the next few years, boosting the hopes for online advertising where publishers think outside the banner.

Stream Ad Market to Take Off with Broadband Adoption (TurboAds, June 21st)
Though video and audio compression technologies are improving, the true potential of streaming media will not be fully realized until broadband access has become pervasive. This article notes a few of the promising developments in the market, and how these will best take advantage of the growing broadband user base in the delivery of rich marketing messages.

Radio Networks Start Streaming Again (AdWeek, June 21st)
Ad insertion technology has provided traditional radio networks with an efficient vehicle through which to quickly edit their broadcasts so as to ensure that only nationally-approved ads are broadcast through their online streams, while allowing local-oriented ads to remain within their offline broadcasts.

DoubleClick Doubles Down (CNET News.com, June 21st)
DoubleClick may be the stand-along leader in online advertising representation and technology, but with lawsuits aplenty and waning advertiser interest dogging the company this year, it's future leadership has come under question.

Can eMarketing Pay Off? The Answer is YesMail (eMarketer, June 21st)
This interview probes the minds of two representatives from email customer acquisition and direct marketing firm YesMail about the future of their medium of preference.

Interview with John Young (MD, Agency Interactive Australia) (australia.internet.com, June 21st)
Miguel D'Souza approaches the Managing Director of the company formed by elite interactive advertising firm Agency.com in order to take stock of its plans for the Australian market.

Juno, NetZero to Cancel Patent Suits (atNewYork, June 21st)
Once the $70 million merger between the two internet service providers, both of whom came to prominence as free, advertising-supported ISPs, gains regulatory approval, the bitter petent suit within the two have been embroiled will be dumped. The suit involved a battle over the ownership of the intellectual property behind floating ad banner platforms.

YesMail, BrightStreet To Offer Email Couponing System (NET-ADS, June 20th)
CMGI star performer, Yesmail, will begin offering advertisers the chance to present digital incentives to broad audiences via opt-in email in an attempt to increase customer acquisition, branding and sales inexpensively.

The Bad News About Pop-Under Spam (CNET News.com, June 20th)
Much has been said about X10's rise to fame and fortune as a result of the company's effective employment of popunder advertising within their marketing mix. As this article reveals, though, the company has also gained notoriety from an audience that is becoming increasingly aggravated by the excessive use of popups/unders online.

Loudeye to Enter Ad Insertion Business (internet.com, June 20th)
Content delivery firm Loudeye has entered the streaming media ad serving biz after acquiring technology-provider Addition Systems. The company will be able to provide audio and video streamers with ad insertion and targeting capabilities, with support for both RealNetworks and Microsoft Media Player formats.

Can We Ensure a Future for Wireless Advertising? (ClickZ, June 20th)
Jeffrey Graham here outlines the biggest barriers facing the pioneers of wireless advertising, while suggesting how they may be overcome.

7 From Seven with Dick Hopple (ChannelSeven, June 20th)
Founder, Chairman and CEO of rich-media firm Unicast - best known for its popup-based Superstitial format - faces seven questions from the ChannelSeven interviewing team here. This interview outlines Dick's vision for his firm and the future of rich-media advertising.

24/7 Media Launches Superstitial Network (NET-ADS, June 19th)
Following from Engage's announcement regarding their upcoming support for EyeBlaster interstitials, competing ad network 24/7 Media has teamed up with Unicast to offer its leading publishers the chance to serve rich-media Superstitials, which are said to receive far higher response rates than banners.

Out, Damned Click. Out, I Say. (ClickZ, June 19th)
This article attempts to reinforce the knowledge that click-through ratios are not now, and have never been, a be-all and end-all of measuring an online ad's efectiveness - except when a campaign's sole goal in direct marketing-style visitor acquisition. The article also poses more suitable models for tracking an online campaign's effectiveness.

24/7 Media Debuts Trade Advertising Campaign (internet.com, June 19th)
In a desperate, last-ditched effort to regain market share and boost its lagging revenues, online advertising technology and sales company 24/7 Media is launching a marketing campaign aimed specifically at touting the company's vast experience and diverse product range to media buyers and other trade industry figures.

Email Ad Distributors Dance with Dollars (Chicago Tribune, June 18th)
This article outlines the fascinating rise of email marketing firm PennMedia from a threesome of ad-supported email newsletters to one of the largest email distribution and ad representation firms online, in but a few short years.

A Handful of Marketing Opportunities (WirelessAdWatch, June 18th)
With early adopters of new technology often skewed toward the wealthier end of the financial spectrum, the small market of PDA owners holds much attraction for marketers. The incredibly personal nature fo the form, and the absence of ads from the medium presently, though, proposes risks for those who wish to pioneer a move into the potentially-lucrative market.

NYTD Spearheading Plans for Web Publishers Association (internet.com, June 18th)
New York Times Digital, unhappy with the state of the IAB following its recent restructuring, is leading an effort to establish a more suitable representative of online publishers. The result seems to be the Online Publishers Association (OPA), to be announced within two weeks.

Study: Streaming Media Marketing to Rake in $3.1 Billion in 2005 (internet.com, June 18th)
A survey conducted by the Yankee Group suggests that streaming media advertising will be the next hot sector in online advertising. The company expects stand-alone streams and ads inserted into content much in the same fashion as traditional television and radio advertising to bring in some $3.1 billion in revenue by 2005.

Makegood, Shmakegood (ClickZ, June 15th)
Makegoods have long been a staple of offline advertising; protecting advertisers while providing inventive for publishers to match or exceed the distribution figures presented on their insertion orders. Here, Tig Tillinghast notes how the precision provided by online tracking has devalued makegoods, while proposing a set of guidelines that will see makegoods delivered so fairly as to alleviate the increased administrative costs placed on the advertiser when a campaign runs short.

IE 6 Beta Pushes Ad Networks on Privacy (CNET News.com, June 15th)
The newest release of Microsoft's dominant web browser is making efforts to protect user privacy by ensuring that only those sites and ad networks whose privacy policies adhere to Microsoft's guidelines will be able to utilize cookie technology to track visitor data and web usage patterns.

eUniverse Buys Web Loyalty Marketer (internet.com, June 15th)
In a match that could be seen as a do-or-die play for the embattled web publisher, eUniverse has acquired the assets of online loyalty firm funBug, whose own business folded earlier this year due to poor market reception.

The X10 Question: Traffic Without Dollars? (E-Commerce Times, June 15th)
The buzz surrounding X10's meteoric rise to the elite ranks of the Media Metrix Top 5 has been varied in tone, but the underlying message has always been that X10 has taken full advantage of a depressed ad market to push its product inexpensively and widely. Its success in generating recognition from the media, in addition to its speedy creation of a recognizable consumer brand, ensures that more marketers will explore the popunder ad form.

Email You Can't Ignore (E-Commerce Guide, June 15th)
Though the virtues of rich-media email are still much-debated within the online publishing and marketing communities, one obvious convert to the rich-media team, Alexis Gutzman, presents here a round-up of some of the technologies leading the charge for inbox glory.

Ad Spending Expected to Grow at Its Slowest Rate in a Decade (NY Times, June 15th)
Advertising industry guru Robert J. Coen has sharply reduced his outlook for advertising spending in 2001, confirming his suspicions that this year will see the slowest growth in ad spending for a decade. On the brighter side, though, he sees a comparably optimistic trend for 2002, with ad spending expected to gro 5% across all media.

Engage to Offer EyeWonder Streaming Video Ads (NET-ADS, June 14th)
Teaming with one of the leaders in rich-media, Engage has made a commitment to offer its advertisers the ability to book streaming video interstitial spaces throughout the ranks of the Engage Media Network. Read more about Engage's attempt to attract traditional advertisers through an enhanced rich-media product line in this Internet.com article.

Study: iTV Ad Revenues to Remain Sluggish for Years (internet.com, June 14th)
While the rollout of iTV technology is expected to lead to a boom in t-commerce transactions, interactive televisual advertising is expected to be adopted slowly, while standards and systems are refined.

Pop-Under Ads Are Catching On, As More Advertisers Take the Bait (internet.com, June 14th)
Although controversial, there's no denying that the popup ad form is rapidly gaining in both popularity and respectability, with brand advertisers such as Vivendi Universal's iWin and eBay's Half.com planning large buys across properties as respectable as the New York Times Digital, MSNBC and AltaVista.

Microsoft Aiming for Enhanced Revenue "Stream" (internet.com, June 14th)
Creator of the world's most popular digital media player, Microsoft is planning to augment the MSNBC version of the player with the ability to display streaming video ads before the requeswted content is delivered, with banner ads further reinforcing the advertiser's message as the stream continues.

Study Looks at Eagerly Sought but Hard-to-Reach Group (NY Times, June 14th)
Somewhere between the X and Y? generations lies a particular group of people (aged 21-25) who have had greater exposure to media during their lives than any generation before them. Now that they are starting to spend large sums of money, marketers who have been following them for years are now, more than ever, trying to tap into exactly what it is that makes this group tick.

Classmates.com Says Fees are Fine (The Seattle Times, June 14th)
Bucking the trend that dominated during the boom years of dotcom investment, Classmates.com has always based in revenue model on subscriptions, and it has joined an elite group of companies who have made a success of the user-pays system.

Driving Digital Marketing (eMarketer, June 14th)
The BMW Film's project, which leveraged the marquee value of name directors in attracting visitors to a series of short films featuring the carmaker's new vehicle as a 'star', has proven successful where many traditional online advertising campaigns have failed. This has stimulated further thought in developing 'out-of-the-box' hooks that bring consumers to ads, rather than vice versa.

Online Ads Get in Your Face (CNET, June 13th)
This article presents an effective round-up of many of the new techniques that have been employed by online marketers during this transitional period, including takeover ads, interstitials, popunders, advergaming and the like.

The Web Sea Scrolls (MediaPost, June 13th)
An hilarious parody that comes close to home for many of us, and likely with the disillusioned crowd of media buyers, regarding the extolment of online advertising in its early days.

Trial Date Set in DoubleClick Case (internet.com, June 13th)
Although managing to have one case against the company dismissed earlier this year, another private lawsuit has been successful in gaining a hearing regarding DoubleClick's usage of cookie tracking on users who have not opted-in to the practice. The case is to be heard in January, 2002, and could instigate sweeping changes in the manner by which online ads are tracked and targeted.

CMGI Q3 Loss Widens, AdForce Unit to Close (CNET, June 13th)
Posting a net loss of almost $1 billion for the quarter, CMGI has shown little in the way of hard evidence to suggest that profit is near. On a promising note, the company's cash burn has slowed, and the company claims to have enough cash on hand to last another 12 quarters. As part of their plans to break even, CMGI expects to cut many of its most unprofitable businesses from its suite of offerings, making the decision to shelve online ad company AdForce today as a symbol of its determination to focus only on core assets.

Vipcast Alters the Interstitial Environment (NET-ADS, June 12th)
Although tremendously similar to the product offered by Unicast, a new entrant into the rich-media field has announced the commercial launch of three rich-media interstitial products aimed at increasing advertiser ROIs and publisher CPMs due to improved response rates.

CMGI Closes AdForce (internet.com, June 12th)
CMGI's announced closure of AdForce, effective within a week, has left many partners in the lurch - but none more so than ad network 24/7 Media, whose international divisions still use the closed company's software to power their network. This comes at a time at which 24/7 is looking to sell its European division.

Fox Launches 'Takover' Ads on Portals (internet.com, June 12th)
Similar to the revolutionary campaign launches by Ford on the Yahoo! homepage last month, Fox is promoting the video and DVD release of its hit Cast Away through the deployment of Flash-based 'takeover' ads on the Ask Jeeves and iWon portals.

Coca-Cola Continues Dasani Web Push (internet.com, June 12th)
Following from a large scale cross-promotional deal formed between the firm and iVillage, Coca-Cola has continued its online push aimed at marketing the Dasani water products to its core female audience, this time employing Unicast's rich-media superstitials in a large branding campaign.

Engage Announces Fiscal 2001 Third Quarter Results (NET-ADS, June 11th)
Banner advertising technology and media firm, Engage, Inc. have revealed their financial results for fiscal third quarter. These demonstrate improving losses, and an effective management of the company's restructuring efforts, while still revealing that the company has a long way to go before reaching sustained profitability.

Cybereps Acquires Perfect Circle Media (NET-ADS, June 11th)
Further enhancing its position in the market, interactive ad rep Cyberep have announced that they will be assuming ownership of financial-centric online ad sales firm Perfect Circle Media. The acquired company will continue to operate under its own name, but will provide Cyberep with access to a greater client list and technology line.

DoubleClick Unveils New DART (internet.com, June 11th)
For some five years, DoubleClick's dominant DART ad management system has remained fundamentally unchanged. This week, though, DoubleClick announced a major rebuild of the system in a bid to reduce bugs, increase speed, offer tailored solutions to publishers and advertisers, and a flexible 'plug-in' interface designed to manage specialist expansions.

Online Ads Go Behind the Scenes (Upside.com, June 8th)
The strength of popunders as a marketing tool has been much debated lately. This article notes one company who has effectively built its brand, and revenues, substantially through a clever employment of the technology.

Rich-Media Experiment Proves Successful (NET-ADS, June 7th)
An informal test conducted by software company Informix has seen the performance of a streaming media creative dramatically outweigh that seen from a standard GIF animation that carried the same branding message. Although severely limited in its scope, the dramatic results evident through this trial add credence to the argument for rich-media creatives.

Pop Goes the Interstitial (eMarketer, June 7th)
A recent study conducted by Statistical Research, Inc. has revealed some interesting figures regarding how the web public views banners and popups both in terms of effectiveness and intrusion/irritation. On a positive note, a large proportion of the survey respondents stated that both banners and popups are very noticeable, though almost two thirds of respondents felt that popups interfere with their usage of a site. Read publisher opinions about this here.

Privacy Group Pushes Web Bug Finder (ZDNet, June 7th)
Adding to the 'big brother'-inspired hype pushed by the producers of ad-blocking software, The Privacy Foundation has released a piece of software aimed at highlighting the use of transparent GIF images by marketers and web publishers. Despite the scare-tactics, though, most of us in the biz use these only for anonymous tracking purposes, in order to identify how visitors interact with our sites.

Net Advertising Stabilizes, Doubts Linger (CNET News.com, June 7th)
Another update from analysts suggests that the overall health of online advertising will not see significant advances until mid-2002, since an increasing dependence on brick-and-mortar firms will only be realized after these companies have already increased their exposure to the traditional media with which they are so familiar (and with newspaper and TV ad revenues still down from a year ago, this appears to be many months away).

Wireless Is Its Own Animal (ClickZ, June 7th)
A great deal of confusion exists within the ranks of agencies, media buyers and carriers alike about how best to employ present wireless technologies and usage patterns into a successful campaign. Here, Tom Hespos attempts to explain the apprehension.

Advertising.com™ Enhances AdLearn™ Optimization Technology (NET-ADS, June 6th)
In an attempt to maximise value and ROI for both its advertisers and publishers, while reducing the amount of manual labor involved in the targeting and optimization process, Advertising.com has revised the technology that makes up its AdLearn system to better optimize, manage and deliver advertising according to performance criteria as diverse as time of day and banner size, on-the-fly.

PennMedia Grows Reach Through Acquisitions (NET-ADS, June 6th)
After a series of strategical buys that have taken advantage of the bargain-basement list acquisition costs during the downturn, PennMedia has increased the reach of its email distribution company to 62 million opt-in subscribers.

Real Media to Represent Playboy.com (NET-ADS, June 6th)
In a coup for the company whose image has been tarnished somewhat since the surprise departure of their founder and co-Chairman last month, Real Media has been brought on to represent Playboy.com. The company will provide both the technology to drive Playboy.com's advertising, as well as serve as the exclusive international ad sales agent for the giant men's brand.

PWC Predicts Rosy Future for Internet Content (internet.com, June 6th)
PriceWaterhouseCoopers latest "Entertainment and Media Outlook" study has painted a comfortably rosy image of the state of online advertising and access revenue growth. While reinforcing that this year will see zero to negative growth, it predicted that the online sector will lead all media in growth, seeing compounded annual growth of some 14 percent during the next five years - almost double the rate predicted to accommodate generic media growth.

comScore, NetValue in Alliance (internet.com, June 6th)
Further consolidation in the online audience tracking market, which recently saw PC Data Online shut up shop, has seen comScore and NetValue unite in an attempt to gain market share from competitors Jupiter Media Metrix and Neilsen//NetRatings.

New Ads Target Floating Readers (The Register, June 6th)
Online ad network Advertising.com has responded to conclusions drawn from its Intellisource brand research tool by releasing a new ad creative that it asserts increases brand awareness. The creative, which consists of a logo that 'floats' across the screen, is indeed hard to ignore, but whether or not the benefit outweighs the irritation that many users will feel has yet to be quantified.

Online Content: Gotta Pay to Play? (eMarketer, June 6th)
eMarketer brings a collection of stats related to the feasibility of providing content on a subscription basis. The willingness of users to pay, and the reasons for avoiding doing so are both presented in general terms.

A Radical Look at the Rich-Media Email Space (TurboAds, June 6th)
The demise of rich-media pioneer Radical Communication has made others in the space sit up and listen. ChannelSeven's Pamela Parker speaks to three other rich-media players in order to determine the reasons for Radical's failure, and where the market will go from here.

Streaming Ad Market to Explode (internet.com, June 6th)
A recent study has suggested that while streaming ads supporting audio and video programming is already returning positive results, the form is being underutilized - despite the familiarity that the medium shares with the established radio and TV markets - and is set to boom in coming years.

Be Free Boosts Client List (NET-ADS, June 5th)
Be Free, Inc., a leading provider of online marketing services, has today announced that it has recently snared several high-profile customer relationships. Business.com and Nicorette® are just a few of the industry-leading brands recently choosing Be Free to manage and track online marketing partnerships - ranging from strategic partnerships and affiliates to hybrid marketing and sponsorship deals.

Company Tries Tailoring Ads to TV Audience (CNET News.com, June 5th)
Of increasing importance to players in the online space is the rising iTV market. This article explains how OpenTV is attempting to use the technology to improve the delivery and targeting of ads over the famous passive medium.

Engage Reaches Second Largest Web Audience (NET-ADS, June 4th)
Based on results presented by audience analysis and tracking firn comScore, the Engage Media Network has been found to cover a greater reach of the US web population than any other ad network or web property, with the exception of Microsoft's network of sites.

New Juno Tool Goes Beyond the Click-Through (internet.com, June 4th)
In an innovative tracking move aimed at more accurately reflecting the branding and recall effects of its clients' advertising campaigns, Juno Online Services has gone beyond the traditional tracking of banner clicks, instead offering advertisers the ability to analyze the levels of traffic from Juno subscribers to their sites before, during and following a campaign's run date. This service, dubbed Juno Brandmeter, is unlikely to be widely adopted by publishers and ad networks, since Juno is in the unique position of having its users identified by a select range of IP addresses, since the company is an ISP. It has yet to be seen whether or not MSN and AOL will experiment with this type of tracking system, though.

The Week's Agenda: Look Around (ClickZ, June 4th)
This article presents a fascinating insight into the bounds that Europe has taken forward in determining standard metrics, customer databases and other systems pertaining to the foundation of a solid base for online media transactions and tracking.

United Airlines to Buy MyPoints (internet.com, June 4th)
In a deal valued at over $100 million, the UAL online unit, United NewVentures has made a proposal to acquire MyPoints.com at a premium well above its present trading range. The deal will give United access to MyPoints' technology, brand and 15 million registered users, to whom the airline will promote its frequent flier program, as well as seasonal discounted flight plans.

DoubleClick Revisits Privacy Policy, Invites Feedback (NET-ADS, June 1st)
Following from the high-profile voluntary appointment of a Chief Privacy Officer to oversee DoubleClick's profiling methods, contract formulation and data collection, the company today presented a revised privacy policy in an attempt to qwell the fears surrounding their technology. Written with minimal legalese, the new policy is aied at both consumers and clients, and notably offers web users with the ability to opt-out of cookie tracking.

DoubleClick to Acquire MessageMedia (NET-ADS, June 1st)
Further taking advantage of the weak market to expand its email and foreign offerings through acquisitions, DoubleClick has proposed the acquisition of email marketing firm MessageMedia. The deal, to be paid for in stock, will add a large European client list to DoubleClick's email base, in addition to providing the market leader with yet another technological platform.

Wireless by Night (australia.internet.com, June 1st)
This article notes how Australian nightclubs are employing inexpensive SMS messaging services to promote special events and fill clubs within hours.

The Bright Future of Web Advertising (eCompany, June 1st)
While doomsayers have all but dismissed the online advertising medium as a passing fad, a closer look at the industry's growth in the context of the entire advertising industry reveals that digital advertising remains relatively strong, and is poised to see strong growth during the next 4-5 years as bricks-and-mortar marketers invest a greater proportion of their advertising dollars online. This article also suggests that the maximum value of rich-media and quality creatives has yet to be seen, as much of the banner ad's story thus far has been one of experimentation.