Third Screen Media Expands With Inventory Partitioning

Platform-A is AOL's advertising network created in September 2007 to combine ad sales for all the company's Web sites and network properties, that had previously consisted of separate sales groups from audience insight and behavioral targeting service Tacoda and AOL Network sales, before a December 2007 consolidation move.

The newly-formed mobile division of Third Screen Media, a start-up AOL acquired last spring, made it possible for Web publishers to place ads on a myriad of mobile advertising networks while managing them under one system it called "inventory partitioning." Using the new system, publishers in Platform-A's Third Screen Media division were able to specify how big a portion of their ad inventory should be placed on each available mobile ad network, for eventual display on mobile devices.

The new ad inventory partitioning system was launched to help publishers distribute ads more efficiently, according to Platform-A president Lynda Clarizio. "Today’s launch makes it easier than ever for publishers to monetize their ad inventory," Clarizio said in a statement released Monday.

Tool Makes Managing Mobile Ads On Multiple Networks Simpler

"Platform-A sees mobile as a key component of the digital advertising landscape, and is aggressively focused on building its mobile advertising business. By implementing inventory partitioning as a part of Third Screen Media’s third-party ad-serving solution, we’re offering publishers a powerful new way to manage, control and prioritize the distribution of inventory to their advertising partners," Clarizio added in the Monday statement.

While Third Screen Media had its own mobile advertising network, the changes announced Monday were expected to help mobile publishers and advertisers "manage, partition and allocate their advertising inventory across multiple networks," according to AOL.

A new Web-based control panel has made it possible for mobile publishers to view all their ad inventory at once, and to "assign specific percentages of their inventory to be allocated based on any combination of ad network, subject area, [and] location," the company said Monday.

More than 800 million impressions are recorded monthly by Third Screen Media and its Advertising.com arm, AOL said. Platform-A's global business, which is based in nine countries throughout Europe, has more than 300 employees operating in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the U.K., AOL said.

AOL Platform-A Expands Mobile Ad Network While Migrating Tacoda Clients

Publishing clients of Tacoda, the advertising network company specializing in behavioral targeting that AOL acquired in July 2007 for $275 million, were to have their contracts terminated after one month during a move to integrate them into the Platform-A network, according to a letter AOL sent to Tacoda customers last week, first reported on the VentureBeat Web site.

The migration from Tacoda to Platform-A was made to correct overlapping online ad inventory purchases, according to Clarizio in a recent Washington Post report. The Platform-A network had a greater reach than Tacoda and the decision was made to streamline a system that had seen dual contracts in some cases, according to Clarizio, who noted that rates would remain the same under the new system.

Platform-A consists of most of AOL's top Web properties such as AOL.com, instant messaging service AIM, MapQuest, Advertising.com's third-party networks, content-targeting firm Quigo, online ad-serving firm Adtech, as well as Third Screen Media.

In June AOL expanded Platform-A in Europe, aiming to gather a larger share of the European display ad business.

Related Links:

• AOL announcement of Platform-A mobile expansion
• Washington Post / Paid Content article
• CNET / News.com article
• VentureBeat article
• Center Networks article
• Silicon Valley Insider article
• WebProNews article
• WebmasterWorld's Alternative Search Engines discussion forum