• by Gavin O'Malley , September 10, 2009

Supporting its focus on social media, online ad network Federated Media Publishing has launched a new display advertising platform designed to work "organically" within such networks.

Exclusive to one brand per day and available 5 weekdays per month, Ad STAMP consists of three units that run concurrently on a site, and can be customized based on the goals, priorities and social assets of an advertiser.

John Battelle, founder, president and CEO of Federated Media, said the platform is long overdue. "The state of display advertising on the Web leaves plenty to be desired," he said. "We hope that Ad STAMP helps solve a challenge that brands and publishers have faced since the days of the first banner ads: how to increase the value of an impression."

Ad STAMP dedicates an expanded amount of Web page real estate to the marketer without, it claims, diminishing the user experience. "It provides a cleaner, clutter-free environment for the reader," according to James Gross, vice president of Federated Media. "The available features and functionality fill a need that we've consistently heard from our marketing partners."

At the beginning of the year, Battelle outlined the company's plan to increase its focus on social media-centered campaigns.

"Over the past year, it became increasingly clear that the majority of our business was in the execution of these more complex media programs," he wrote in a post on the company blog. "We are realigning much of our staff to support the marketers and content creators who make these programs sing by expanding our Strategic Programs and Major Accounts teams."

Battelle added that Federated Media would be hiring more developers and publishing talent in line with its new direction.

Among the high-profile campaigns developed by Federated Media have been a Web-based graffiti contest via Facebook to promote the BMW Series 1 and blogger podcasts sponsored by HP's iPaq 510 smartphone.

Ad STAMP includes persistent placement of three ad units that are executed on a "takeover" basis, meaning that, while STAMP ads are running, the advertiser owns 100% of the ad space on the site.

This is designed to reduce the "noise" common to many digital media environments, while focusing all of the attention on the marketer's message.

A Pushdown unit expands to 970x418, then collapses to a mere 970x66; a Tower is a 300x600 ad unit that lives in the side-bar; while a Conversationalist unit is a 600x250 social ad that allows brand advertisers to engage their readers in conversation directly within the ad unit via social media tools like corporate and product blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages, RSS feeds, and syndicated content.