NineMSN unveils ‘stock exchange for ads’
From Mumbrella
NineMSN has today kicked off the local launch of ad platform Microsoft Advertising Exchange which will allow media agencies to bid for ad impressions in real time.
The launch also coincides with the creation of new umbrella brand Mi9 for the Nine Entertainment Company’s digital portfolio.
The ad exchange recognises the increasing sophistication of media agencies in utilising users’ behavioural data to target appropriate ads at them.
The media agencies which signed up for the launch include STW (Ikon), OMD, PHD, Group M (Xaxis), Cadreon (MediaBrands), Vivaki, Aegis (Carat/Emitch) and Criteo.
The platform will see the impressions go to the highest bidder. Google offers a similar service through its DoubleClick Ad Exchange which it launched in Australia a year ago.
NineMSN’s group CEO Mark Britt launched the exchange at NineMSN’s annual Digital Marketing Summit at Sydney’s Luna Park. He said: “This is not a product, it’s an entirely new way of media buying and an entirely new way of selling. We’ll be trading targeted impressions in real-time, based on real insights and data about the individual browser.”
He added: “The capabilities of real-time buying are yet to be fully realised in this part of the world. Exchanges are changing the ad game globally, and we’re predicting a major shift in the way the Australian market operates as a result of this technology being introduced.”
NineMSN also claimed that “major third party publishers” may also use the exchange to sell their ads.
A key issue for any publisher that uses ad exchanges is whether their use will tend to drive down the average price of inventory. But NineMSN claimed in its launch announcement: “From the publisher side, Windows Live – in pre-launch tests in the US – saw inventory sold through the Exchange monetised at rates 192% higher than the rates achieved through traditional non-guaranteed channels.”
Meanwhile, the launch of Mi9 will cover 80 digital brands in Australia owned by Nine Entertainment Co and Microsoft including Hotmail, Messenger, Bing, Cudo, iSelect, RateCity, the Microsoft Media Network, Xbox and the Microsoft Advertising Exchange.
According to the announcement: “The bold new logo represents the new broader partnership of Microsoft and Nine Entertainment Co. and includes an ‘i’, representing the new guiding principles for the business.”
Britt, who is also Mi9′s CEO said: “We believe the next phase of digital advertising will be defined by the marriage of two things – imagination and intelligence.”
