• August 14, 2008

Spot Runner has confirmed that it laid off 50 employees, or about 10% of staff, according to a post on the NewTeeVee blog. The layoffs came in various departments, but resulted mainly from a strategic shift by the startup to focus on national rather than local advertisers.

Los Angeles-based Spot Runner in March brought on Joanne Bradford, former chief media officer at MSN, to lead its business unit focused on national advertisers. The company was formally launched in 2006 with the aim of opening up TV advertising to smaller marketers through an online platform for creating low-cost spots.

It subsequently expanded its self-service, media-buying systems to encompass other outlets including the Internet, magazines, and newspapers. With $111 million in funding to date from investors including WPP Group and CBS, Spot Runner has grown rapidly in the last three years.--Mark Walsh