San Francisco-based Adauction.com
launched a new service
called Opportunity Exchange, which offers ad inventory 24 hours a day, seven
days per week, and allows advertisers to instantly purchase ad lots on a cash-
and-carry basis.
Opportunity Exchange complements the company’s existing MarketPlace and Tune-
In auction services, where Web ad inventory is sold to the highest bidder.
Featured companies on the new service include Yahoo! and Lovingyou.com.
The company also introduced ProxyMan, a feature that enables media buyers to
automatically bid on ad inventory without having to monitor the auction.
“We’re responding to our advertisers’ and publishers’ need for more
flexibility because both parties’ schedules to buy and sell don’t always fit
with the monthly auction calendar, especially for international buyers and
those located in different time zones,” said Adauction.com President and CEO
David Wamsley. Adauction.com now claims a base of 2,200 media buyers.
Once media buyers have logged into Opportunity Exchange, they can view the
available ad inventory, pricing and ad lot size at any time, as well as the
publisher’s demographics and unique-user information. Inventory can vary from
run-of-site banners to buttons and sponsorships. While ad flights purchased in
Adauction.com’s MarketPlace and Tune-In auctions usually run during the
following month, Opportunity Exchange offers more flexible parameters, the
company said.
ProxyMan allows buyers to define a maximum price for specific inventory
without divulging what that amount is to other bidders. ProxyMan will then
automatically bid on the advertiser’s behalf at the minimum price necessary to
compete against other buyers. If another bid exceeds the maximum amount
specified, buyers using ProxyMan are no longer committed to purchasing the ad
inventory and will be notified via e-mail that they have been outbid.
Adauction.com has inventory from more than 160 premium sites in 18 content
categories, including Netscape, LookSmart, Biztravel.com, XOOM.com and HotBot.
