• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 1, 2009

WeddingMapper.com has launched an auction-based ad platform to monetize local Web traffic for businesses serving the wedding industry.

Businesses will compete for relatively low-cost ad space on local Web pages to reach couples in one of 10,000 cities worldwide. Companies can set campaign budgets anywhere from 50 cents to thousands of dollars, and place bids on local ad space against vendors in equivalent markets. Then the top three bids in each market are given premium ad space.

In the highly competitive area of wedding information resources, some publishers pre-price advertising by region versus cities, which can increase costs and dilute relevant prospects, according to Wedding Mapper founder and President Jared Cosulich.

"Auction-based systems have already proven to be a highly efficient way to buy and sell advertising online," said Cosulich.

Also, rather than employing large sales teams, Wedding Mapper's automated ad platform is a more cost-efficient way to serve markets and businesses in hyper-local markets, Cosulich said.

"We're not claiming to eliminate the need for sales forces for every publisher, but certain segments of the industry couldn't care less if they're dealing with a person or not," he said.

In early 2009, a group of brand partners including Bella Pictures, Dessy and Starwood Hotels & Resorts sampled WeddingMapper's auction-based ad solution in beta, which supported 250,000 bids in 7,000 markets.

Founded in January 2007, Wedding Mapper is an online destination for engaged couples featuring interactive planning tools and user-generated content, community boards, and vendor reviews.

Last year, Brides.com tapped Wedding Mapper.com to give its users the ability to add wedding maps to their "My Wedding Website" tool, along with ceremony and reception details, lodging, travel logistics, and popular tourist sites, along with a customized map showing important locations to the engaged couple.