Last week, the IAB published data on Q308 online ad spending, and found that spending was up 11% ($5.9 BILLION) over the same quarter last year. Big advertisers get this medium – they know online advertising is the most effective way to manage budgets, reach precise audiences, and track real delivery, quality and response. As Joanne Bradford, Yahoo!’s senior vice president of U.S. revenue and market development told Adweek last week, the “Web is miles ahead of print and TV when it comes to proving its worth, which should help it win during a recession. ‘Just ‘impressions delivered’ is far better than what any other media has.’”

Advertisers are recognizing the benefits of online advertising even beyond efficiency and reach, however. As Collective Media’s recent survey of more than 200 online media planners shows, advertisers understand that campaigns fulfilled by ad networks aren’t just direct response “filler” – networks have become a recognized, effective channel for high-value campaign delivery. As Joe Apprendi, CEO of Collective Media notes in his blog, “…the market now values audience targeting…and inventory quality…far more than gross reach and efficiency as benefits of working with ad networks. I think this is largely due to the fact that brand advertisers are now selectively buying ad networks where they were never a material component of the average media buy in the past.”

Collective’s survey reveals that more than 90% of brand advertisers feel that networks are “safe” for brand advertisers. Measures like our Rubicon Certified Inventory™ program are helping networks connect with brand advertisers they couldn’t reach before. In fact, not only do 75% of survey respondents say they plan to spend more with networks in 2008 than 2007, but 40% said they “plan to increase spend on ad networks by 10% or more this year.”

In sum – ad networks (and we) are doing a better job of educating advertisers about the benefits of monetizing unsold ad space through ad networks; advertisers generally get, and are more focused than ever, on the deliverability and measurement offered by online advertising, and growth remains strong. There’s no doubt that the marketplace is amidst real change, but the change in our industry is more positive than not.

   Tags: Ad networks, Industry Commentary      > Add Comment

Late last month, we sent an email to our publisher and network partners, letting them know about our plans to “take Manhattan.” We presented, sponsored and/or participated at IAB’s Ad Ops, ad:tech, and OMMA’s AdNets events.

Well, we connected with so many new customers, met so many other companies working as we are to automate the fragmented online advertising industry, and generally had so much fun we decided to stick around, so I am proud to share this news:

the Rubicon Project has opened its New York office!

It’s no surprise, really - after all, New York is the nation’s headquarters for many of the world’s largest premium publishers, many already Rubicon Project customers. And after establishing our headquarters here in LA, and a presence in San Francisco earlier this year, it was natural that we continue to expand our presence to be closer to current and potential customers. Expect to see us continue to grow in 2009, better servicing our customers and partners in the U.S. and beyond.

Josh Wexler, our esteemed Director of Strategic Publisher Acquisition, will run the New York office. A seasoned entrepreneur and business leader with considerable experience in the advertising industry, Josh is responsible for activating major web publishers and media companies at the Rubicon Project. Josh is a media/technology entrepreneur, joining us from SWMX  (SoftWave Media Exchange) where he was the CEO and co-founder. He’s spoken at industry events like the UBS Media Conference, Local Ad World, Ad 2.0, and OMMA Expo.

Located in Chelsea, the Rubicon Project’s New York office is growing quickly. Positions in several areas, including publisher acquisition, account management and ad network partnerships, are listed on the company’s website at http://rubiconproject.com/about-us/hiring. (Please indicate when you apply whether you’re interested in a position in LA, San Francisco or New York).

   Tags: Company news, Entrepreneurship, Hiring      > 1 Comment

Our CEO and Co-Founder, Frank Addante, is an internet advertising veteran and is often called upon for commentary about pressing industry issues.  The Google-Yahoo-Microsoft hullbaloo the past several months has been no exception.  Much discussion has been had around the larger implications of partnerships and mergers.  This past week at Adtech NY, Frank sat down with David Kaplan from paidContent.org and shared his two cents about the potential Yahoo-Google arrangement and what it could mean for Microsoft.

“…If you look at Yahoo and Google as web publishers and not just ad servers, why shouldn’t they be able to access ad dollars on each others’ respective sites and channels, argues Frank Addante, CEO of the Rubicon Project. “Yahoo has an enormous amount of inventory that’s trying to reach advertisers from its portal. Google’s AdSense has an great number of advertisers who are trying to extend their reach.” The downside of that increased reach from an advertiser perspective is different, as it would mean that Google has more control over pricing and could drive advertisers to other ad servers, such as Microsoft. But Addante thinks that Microsoft should do a similar test with Google, allowing all three mutual benefits. Addante: “Stock brokers at different companies purchase securities from each other all the time, why shouldn’t different ad networks do the same? Microsoft has space it needs to monetize. They could do better by working together in their various publisher/ad net roles and yet still compete at the same time.”

   Tags: Ad networks, Company news, Industry Commentary      > Add Comment

Partners, Partners, Partners:
Ad Tech is a great chance for our network team to get out and meet with some of our partners. Our booth was jam packed both days with networks like:
-         Revenue Science, who has increased their reach with access to our more than 250 million monthly uniques across Rubicon’s content verticals.
-         Oridian, who has targeted international Rubicon Certified Inventory across Europe coming from premium US websites.
-         Lucid Media, who used Rubicon’s audience extension to maximize delivery of their campaigns.

And the good news, we want more. With over 17 billion impressions optimized monthly by the Rubicon Project, we welcome new partners to join us and see how Rubicon Certified Inventory can enhance the delivery and performance of your campaigns. Interested in getting started?  Shoot our ad network team an email at networks@rubiconproject.com.

World Meet Helix:
After a solid night out on the town for the first night of AdTech the team was back in action for day two. Among top highlights was being selected as one of the most noteworthy newsmakers at the show and participating in the official AdTech press conference.  Although we also introduced our Q3 Market Report which we’ve received incredible feedback and attention from, we decided to focus on introducing Helix, the Rubicon Project’s machine intelligent solution to ad quality.

Helix is the product of some late nights and creative thinking from our engineering team. Working 24-7 scouring the internet in search of the bad ads that plague some of the web’s premier properties, Helix digests those ads and learns who they are and where they came from. Bottom line, it is the first line of defense for our publishers ensuring that ONLY quality campaigns appear on their websites.   Bad ads beware because Helix is on the loose.

Publishers interested in learning more about Helix should contact our stellar publisher team at: publishers@rubiconproject.com.  Look for more wrap-up posts from AdTech in coming days.

   Tags: Ad networks, Company news, Fun      > Add Comment

While prepping for Ad Tech New York I took time to reflect on where we are now as a company in relation to AdTech San Francisco. It’s been six months since we loaded our entire company of 40 people in SUVs and headed north to launch our new product and give the industry it’s first up-close-and-personal Rubicon Project team experience. Since then we have:

Optimized more than 67 billion impressions across the US, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Integrated with 307 Ad Networks specializing in behavioral, contextual, international, and vertical targeting.

Built relationships with 1,300 publisher accounts and are currently optimizing 4 out of the 5 top news properties in the US.

Expanded our motivated team of industry experts to 65 stellar athletes with experience from places like Yahoo, eHarmony and Experian Interactive.

… and we’re just getting started. The team is headed to New York to meet with partners, customers and announce some big developments for our large and premium publisher customers (like Gannett, Salon.com, Break.com, to name a few.) We’ll also be sharing our Q3 Market Report, available for download tomorrow.

Come say hello to the team at booth #1109 and stay tuned. All aboard.

   Tags: Company news, Product updates      > Add Comment