Big Bang Media Unveils Reward-Oriented Targeted Ad Network

Start-up ad network Big Bang
Media on Wednesday took the wraps off its new ad model, which combines
the features of an ad network with that of a loyalty program.

Under Big Bang’s model, for which it hasn’t yet announced any advertisers
or network members, users would register and fill out a questionnaire with
more than 200 fields of demographic information. When they visit a member
Web site, they rack up points that can be added to frequent flier mile
programs or donated to charity.

In beta tests on sites like Parent
Time, Juno, and Amazon.com, the company says it got a 24
percent click-through rate.

“Web sites that rely on ad revenues are facing increasingly lower
click-through rates, and their advertisers are facing increasingly higher
conversion costs,” says Paul Angles, chief executive officer of Big Bang.

“Big Bang provides a solution for dramatically increasing click-through
rates at a fraction of the cost.”

Big Bang hasn’t yet announced what kind of CPM it would charge, but the
targeted audience it hopes to deliver would probably justify
higher-than-usual prices. The company says its technology lets advertisers
customize ads to be delivered to particular targets, and, because of the
information collected, Big Bang says it can deliver detailed reports on the
audiences for particular Web sites.