Adify Offers Horizontal Buys Across Vertical Networks
- by Mark Walsh @markfwal, April 27, 2009
Adify, which powers
more than 160 vertical ad networks, is now allowing advertisers to buy media across those networks as well as sister Cox Media online properties. The new Adify Media business lets marketers target specific audiences across the 10,000 niche sites in its vertical networks based on criteria such as content and genre, demography, location and behavioral factors. Within its audience of 69 million U.S. monthly visitors, San Bruno, Calif.-based Adify says 80% are college-educated, 45% have incomes over $75,000 and 28%, over $100,000.
Publishers that have partnered with Adify to create ad networks include Politico, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Warner Bros., NBC Universal and Break Media.
Among the initial group of advertisers to use Adify Media are Best Western Hotels, Eukanuba, Febreze, HP, Microsoft and Can-Am Spyder roadster.
Joelle Kaufman, vice president of marketing at Adify, said the company handles ad-serving itself and gives advertisers the ability to review individual site information by ad space, line item, creative or ad size and to manage campaign data in a single dashboard. "We give advertisers complete transparency," she said.
She added that CPMs typically range from $2 to $20 depending on the type of ad format and how highly targeted the campaign is. In addition to standard IAB formats, Adify Media also offers video overlays, content sponsorships and roadblocks, widget advertising and pay-per-click units.
The new initiative extends to Cox properties as the media giant acquired Adify last year for $300 million. Specifically, it includes Cox Media Group, encompassing its broadcasting and newspaper digital services, and the cable systems and broadband services as well as AutoTrader.com, grouped within Cox Communications.
In a study released Monday, comScore found that the collective reach of vertical ad networks such as Adify and Federated Media has grown dramatically in the last year, to 57.1% of the U.S. Internet audience in March from 21.5% a year ago.
"As more vertical ad networks prove their ability to effectively reach specific target audiences by aggregating mid-tail publisher sites, the industry will likely give greater consideration to these emerging ad delivery channels," said Lesle Litton, vice president of media at comScore, in a statement.
I'd be interested in more details on how Adify worked this arrangement with the network owners. On one hand I understand that it makes sense to centralize ad sales for all the verticals and use data from all in order to create scale from many relatively small volume verticals but I have some reservations. It does contradict the rationale for verticals in the first place if all you need is scale and demos, not vertical targeting. Isn't that what happened to other networks? All scale and no substance?
Second, Adify is now providing back-office ad ops and ad sales. There is only one piece left - Network building - before they are in direct competition with their customers. Is that next? My guess is yes.
With a new parent the size of Cox Comm there is no way corporate hq will be content with a syndicate of small verticals. The next press release will tell us how Adify is now building their own networks.
The moral of the story is that there still seems to be no room in online for highly niched, small scale and therefore highly targeted. Ironic as highly targeted is the holy grail for advertisers. We're still caught in the dilemma: in order to get on the radar you must have a certain heft or mass and by definition the most highly targeted, ergo most desirable, inventory won't achieve that mass.