Online ad network DoubleClick is working to boost its profile in the world of streaming media ad insertion, striking a deal Monday with streaming media enabler iBEAM to use ads served by DoubleClick.
The arrangement, financial terms of which were not disclosed, integrates Alley-based DoubleClick’s DART ad serving platform into iBEAM’s Advertising Agent insertion product.
Designed through an earlier technology partnership between iBEAM and DoubleClick competitor Engage, Advertising Agent detects a stream’s ad requests — before, after or during a streaming content presentation. Through the relationship with DoubleClick, DART would then serve a targeted advertisement into the stream, and report user interaction.
“Integrating DoubleClick’s DART platform … allows our customers to deliver video and audio advertisements using a world-class advertising solution they already know and trust,” said Drew Henry, senior vice president of marketing for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based iBEAM’s broadcasting division.
Streaming media is seeing an upswing in interest, spearheaded by players like RealNetworks — which is using a multi-city road show and online ads to promote its ad insertion business — and by advertisers like Kraft and others, who are attracted to the medium’s creative capabilities, which can combine TV production and Web-style interactivity.
The voice talents, writers and designers who make the ads, too, are getting into the picture, with increased pressure being put on advertisers to cough up additional royalties for terrestrial radio spots re-purposed for Internet streams.
DoubleClick, meanwhile, said it’s seeing increased interest in its streaming media products. The company recently signed Launch.com, WWF.com and iNEXTV to use the company’s in-house technology, AdServer, to handle streaming media ads.
“Bringing our online targeting and reporting expertise to streaming media allows … content providers to instantly monetize their existing programming,” said DoubleClick’s Ebrahim Keshavarz, who is vice president of product development at the firm’s TechSolutions unit. “With iBEAM we are offering media and entertainment customers the most powerful and sophisticated streaming advertising solution available today.”
The companies haven’t disclosed which of iBEAM’s clients will use the combined offering, but the two-year old firm said it delivers about 100 million streams monthly for clients including Sportsline.com, Sony and MTVi.
