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MicroClick, DoubleSoft… Microsoft/ DoubleClick Merger? March 29, 2007

Posted by Bill in Ad Serving, Auction-based media, exchanges, Microsoft, online marketing, Search Marketing.
4 comments

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that DoubleClick is for sale, Microsoft is the most likely buyer, and the two companies are already in talks.  The rumored hypothetical purchase price is $2 billion, which I feel is the “ask” not the “bid”.  People who cover the industry, but don’t work IN the industry, are speculating that the acquisition would make Microsoft much more credible in the minds of advertisers than it has been to date, would give a boost to AdCenter by association, and this marriage would somehow shift dollars away from Google.  The ‘insiders’ of the industry agree this hypothetical positioning will be great to speak of to analysts and press.  However, it is simply not true.  Microsoft is already credible to online advertisers and agencies through their MSN portal and properties.  However, Google owns the search market and will continue to own a vast majority of query share and a DoubleClick/ Microsoft merger will not change that at all.  The reason this makes sense is for Microsoft to be defensible to Google becoming the marketplace for online advertising as it has for search marketing. 

Yahoo! owns a piece of Right Media. AOL owns Advertising.com. Google has been cutting syndication deals for contextual marketing for years, and has recently focused on graphical ads and CPA pricing.  A Microsoft/ DoubleClick merger would make this a much more interesting battle, one that I would have to give the edge to those who already own content and are in this game… my force rankings at this point for the online marketing marketplace (OMM) would be:

1.  Yahoo– top portal on the Web, minority ownership of the best exchange technology in RMX
2.  AOL– best performing online ad inventory in the industry coupled with know-how of Advertising.com
3.  Microsoft with DoubleClick– MSFT still needs to fully embrace the ad-supported model and have an inventory syndication strategy.  If they do, they move to #2 on the Wise List with the DoubleClick assets
4.  Google– graphical ads are very different from text links; fear of Google becoming too powerful will keep them grounded here

The sleepers I would watch out for would include Quigo, Fox Interactive Media, and to a lesser extent, eBay.  It is a shame that IAC Advertising Solutions is not on this list… they once had the assets to make this happen.

 More to come on this…

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The Eagle Has Landed… on a Mission… March 12, 2007

Posted by Bill in Auction-based media, exchanges, Online Auction Tips, online marketing, Search Marketing.
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 http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=56890

Ex Did-It Chief Bill Wise Lands At Remix Media Ad Network

FORMER DID-IT CEO BILL WISE, who left the search engine marketing firm last month citing a disagreement about the direction of the company, starts today as president of Remix Media, a division of auction-based ad network Right Media, OnlineMediaDaily has learned.

Right Media made headlines in October when Yahoo bought a 20% stake in the firm for $45 million. In December, the company created the new brand Remix Media for its ad network, which allows advertisers to bid on display ad impressions from specific sites.

Wise will oversee the growth of Remix, having experience with both auction-based media from his role at Did-It, as well as ad network management from his experience as general manager of DoubleClick Media.

“It’s really kind of bridging the ad network business and the concept of an exchange with search marketing and everything else,” he said.

Currently, Remix represents mostly lower-cost inventory, but part of Wise’s job will entail attracting both big-spending advertisers and more premium inventory, he said.

“They’re now serving two billion impressions a day. They’ve gotten large very quickly. Right now, they’re representing a lot of remnant space,” he said. “But clearly, the strategy is how to go upstream, and that’s going to be a large part of my role.”

Wise said the company aims to help marketers manage entire campaigns on an auction-based level.

“More and more marketers and agencies need to embrace the concept of auction-based media, and Right Media has the online advertising piece figured out,” he said. “Remix Media, and we’re really establishing that as another brand, can really help marketers manage their inventory holistically.”