• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 2, 2006

SoftWave is the latest automated ad trading and placement system to move into TV sales. It piggybacks on the interest generated by the Adsdaq initiative spearheaded by eBay at the behest of big advertisers, like Wal-Mart. SoftWave, which went public Monday, joins a field of competitors, including search giant Google, Spot Buy Spot, Spot Runner, and Bid4Spots.

Describing the company's capabilities, SoftWave CEO Josh Wexler says they include campaign planning by region and demo target, establishing pricing, negotiations, cancellations, and campaign acceptance. SoftWave can deliver spots, and executes all back-office functionality through an extensive digital infrastructure. The company initially dealt mostly in remnant radio inventory, but transitioned to a mix of remnant and scatter.

Although the proportion of remnant to scatter inventory in SoftWave's traffic is unclear, it contrasts with dMarc, a Los Angeles-based company acquired by Google in January. dMarc operates an automated system for radio ad buying and insertion through an online interface. Before its acquisition by Google, dMarc trafficked mostly in remnant ad space. Wexler says SoftWave is deliberately configured to attract premium inventory by being "agnostic between marketers and broadcasters" with its negotiable bid model.

"In an auction system, there's got to be a winner and a loser," Wexler says, adding that such systems will inevitably alienate one of the two parties. For its part, SoftWave recognizes that "both want to be in control of their campaign objectives and their advertising inventory." Our platform, he says, provides that control to the marketer and broadcaster.

Wexler also compared SoftWave to another online broker for radio spot sales--Bid4Spots, which seized on the eBay announcement to promote its reverse auctions system. Beginning in September 2005, Bid4Spots has held reverse auctions of remnant inventory, with many stations competing to sell leftover ad space by bidding each other down. According to Wexler, broadcasters are naturally leery of systems like Bid4Spots that seek to drive the overall price of inventory down.

Meanwhile, SoftWave is just one player in an increasingly aggressive online media-trading marketplace, which goes beyond eBay's initiative and Google's ventures. For example, Strata Marketing has publicized its recent partnership with Spot Buy Spot, which allows online media transactions for broadcast and cable TV and radio, including buying, revisions, makegoods, rejections and cancellations. About 800 media-buying agencies nationwide have adopted Strata's software.

Wexler says he views SoftWave as a tool for media agencies, not a possible route to its obsolescence.