• by December 22, 2000

By Debbi Swanson

As the ad exchange industry evolves, companies are continuously adjusting their products in hopes of finding the way to success and profitability. Example: just a few days ago, AdOutlet announced a brand new business unit with that very goal in mind.

The new business unit focuses on two key products: a private-branded exchange and an internal sales solution aimed particularly at cable, TV and radio station groups.

The new products will allow media companies to license a private application to create their own exchange, using AdOutlet's Advertising Distribution System (ADS). The benefit of this is individual media companies can create a proprietary online sales, marketing and transaction storefront for their customers.

"The benefit is that a private exchange is run by single company, such as Disney, NBC, with properties across multiple media, and TV groups with multiple stations," says Scott Kluge, vice president of Business Strategy at AdOutlet. "They have tight integration with their trading partners and can use the exchange to share information for better collaboration. The they control who they invite to the site by sending out invitations and signing on people with private access."

The second benefit, says Kluge, is that "the media company can control their own branding, messages, and how they position inventory on the site, instead of relying on a third party to do so."

AdOutlet feels this is the best way to remove the fear expressed by so many companies about transacting media online. "The media companies will become comfortable in controlling all the aspects of an online relationship this way. They'll learn what the benefits are while addressing current needs and transacting online with their buyers at less cost."

"I believe private exchange infrastructure development is the precursor to robust public exchange growth," says Alan Masarek, chairman and CEO of AdOutlet. "As a result, we have shifted company resources to offer private exchange solutions, in direct response to what media companies are looking for, and future license agreements in the next year will demonstrate this."

This new division, says AdOutlet, makes it the only private exchange that provides integrated electronic commerce and inventory management solutions for media.

Debbi Swanson may be reached at WriterDeb@aol.com