• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 10, 2008

Ad network aCerno is stepping out from behind the curtains today with some behaviorally predictive ad-targeting technology to distinguish itself in a crowded market.

A wholly owned subsidiary of database marketing company i-behavior, aCerno has been in operation for more than two years, building a network that now reaches nearly 100% of U.S. online shoppers, according to eMarketer.

The aCerno network, according to its CEO Tom Sperry, "creates brand consideration, drives transactions and anticipates what consumers will buy next, based on actual shopping and purchase data."

Using cookies, aCerno's network collects anonymous information from over 375 major online multichannel retail Web sites. Yet, to protect against privacy concerns, the information it collects is tagged with an ID that cannot be cross-referenced to an individual's personal information.

While "cookie" remains a dirty word among some privacy advocates, using them to collect consumer behavior online has evolved into a mainstream business practice.

Ad networks are now benefiting from the increased use of such behavioral targeting, along with evidence of positive lifts in performance when combining display and search advertising.

Behavioral targeting is expected to reach $3.8 billion by 2011, according to eMarketer. A study by JP Morgan and comScore in 2007 predicted that global spending on ad networks would exceed $3 billion this year.

aCerno clients' best prospects are identified with modeling and profiling techniques, finding users that appear to be most similar to their best customers. Once these high-value prospects are recognized, aCerno uses its ad network to deliver targeted ad messages directly to them, creating brand consideration or incremental transactions.

aCerno's network of Web sites, Web publishers and portals is targeted exclusively at the cookie level with banner ads and rich media to achieve the best reach against the target audience.

The company boasts an impressive executive roster, beginning with Sperry, who previously served as general manager of aQuantive's Avenue A digital agency and president of its technology and service unit, Atlas.

COO David Hinton comes from Microsoft, where he was most recently responsible for global oversight of revenue strategy and yield management at MSN.