• by kyleen , Ryan Mackle , June 27, 2005

With DoubleClick Inc. having launched its Motif rich-media offering in 2004, upward of a dozen people were likely surprised when Atlas Solutions - DoubleClick's primary rival - recently launched its own, Atlas Rich Media. It is not an understatement to say both companies were late to the dance. That Gannett Company Inc. recently paid $100 million to acquire PointRoll, the dominant U.S. rich-media vendor (RMV), suggests not so subtly that rich media is a valuable business.

Harkening back to 2000 and 2001, no entities were better suited than DoubleClick or Atlas to provide these services. But with DoubleClick and Atlas focused elsewhere, companies such as Eyeblaster Inc., PointRoll, and Unicast were glad to fill the void. With Atlas Rich Media's recent launch, however, it would seem that DoubleClick and Atlas are now well arrayed to service their clients' rich-media needs.

DoubleClick was first on the field with its Motif offering. Being first has many benefits; it also has drawbacks. DoubleClick clearly saw and seized the opportunity to add value to its flagship DART for Advertisers product by adding rich-media trafficking and reporting features. But DoubleClick miscalculated badly on the importance of lining up publisher acceptance either before or, at a minimum, in parallel with the launch to agencies.

To its credit, Motif initially was not a solution in search of a problem, but it was a solution in search of a broad base of willing publishers, which is the bedrock to agency acceptance. (Incidentally, and unfairly, broad agency acceptance is the bedrock to publisher acceptance. This is a Catch-22 with which all rich-media providers must contend.) DoubleClick has essentially corrected the issues that dogged it at launch, and Motif now has a broad set of certified publishers.

Atlas, of course, had the example of Motif in the marketplace, which is the primary benefit of being second. The potential pitfalls of an unwilling publisher base were somewhat offset when Atlas acquired Ad4ever, a rich-media vendor with both a long-standing and broad-publisher base. Not all publishers viewed the acquisition and retooling of existing rich-media technology as worthy of a fast track to certification, but a critical mass did.

A small amount of industry acquaintance suggests, with both DoubleClick and Atlas possessing rich-media toolsets and a broad base of certified publishers, that the traditional RMVs would be feeling the heat. But this is doubtful, or at least unknown. The key competency that neither DoubleClick nor Atlas has yet fully displayed is whether they are willing to make the investment required to enable them to compete with traditional RMVs on service. As has been written before in this column, rich-media vendors are primary in the service business. Doubtless, DoubleClick and Atlas now have the rich-media technology. If they can indeed execute on the service front, as well, those of us who watch this space will likely see some major new players in the near future.