• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, October 31, 2005

A small company named Inoventiv debuted a rich media ad unit at MediaPost's OMMA East Conference and Expo that's receiving good reviews. Fusing search with the standard banner ad, the resulting units let marketers engage with, as well as gather data from consumers without having to drag them kicking and screaming to another page.

John Marshall, Inoventiv's chief executive, demonstrated the Search&Display tool with a mock banner ad for Ford Motor. (Ford is not yet a client, but Warner Music Group and Thrifty Car Rental are.) The ad seemed typical, but it invited me to enter my Ford model of choice and zip code. Submitting the data, I then received a specific price for that particular model from the nearest Ford dealership  still on the ad, mind you. And even if I, the targeted surfer, didn't end up buying a Ford, the company would still know that one consumer with a Manhattan zip code had interacted with, and exhibited interest in a specific model. Apparently others like the idea, too: Inoventiv is about to be acquired by Golden Sunset.