• by Tameka Kee , September 18, 2008

BuzzLogic has officially launched the Conversation Ad Network, a service powered by its proprietary blog mining technology.

The network aims to reward bloggers that have cultivated a high level of influence in a particular area, and assuage publisher and advertiser concerns about undervalued, remnant ads and inventory. More than 500 blogs are currently bundled into the network, including urban travel guide Gridskipper and Cool Mom Picks (geared toward moms on the hunt for unique products).

San Francisco-based BuzzLogic has been using its targeting tech to pair advertisers with influential bloggers and groups of blogs across third-party networks like Adify, Google AdSense and BlogAds since November 2007, but the company decided that it was time to launch its own network as an extension. Available units include standard display, rich media, video and even poll-based ads, which are served on a CPM basis.

Comparisons to Technorati--the blog search service which recently launched a network--and blog powerhouse Federated Media are inevitable, but according to Rob Crumpler, BuzzLogic's CEO, two things separate the Conversation Ad Network from its peers: the targeting algorithm and the focus on premium inventory.

"Our targeting technology is focused on identifying influence," Crumpler said. "The algorithms measure the credibility of a blogger on a subject over time, as well as how the content or ideas are spreading through the social graph, or neighborhoods around it." Advertisers can get detailed reports illustrating a blogger's level of influence (as determined by BuzzLogic's Conversation Ad Targeting platform), as well as standard campaign performance metrics.

Technology also powers the network's "no remnant inventory" solution, a smart tag that decides whether to display available inventory based on the quality of a potential ad campaign. "The tag collapses or expands the unit based on whether a premium campaign is available," Crumpler said. "It frees up ad space when appropriate, and helps eradicate the risk that low-quality or inappropriate ads will show up on a site." Meanwhile, advertisers can be assured that the sites within the Conversation Ad Network have been vetted by the company's editorial process.