• by Tameka Kee , September 2, 2008

Connexus' Traffic Marketplace has picked up Livemarkets, an online advertising technology firm that specializes in click-to-chat ad banner ads. The Los Angeles-based ad network will add Livemarkets' chat-enabled banners to the roster of ad units it currently offers, including behaviorally-targeted ads, lead generation microsites and email.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Livemarkets CEO Baden Gilmore and CTO Justin Kirby will take on leadership roles within Traffic Marketplace's rich media strategy and technology divisions, respectively. According to Jim Waltz, president of Traffic Marketplace, the deal had been in the works for about six months, and the network has been testing the click-to-chat banners over the past three.

Livemarkets' chat-based banners allow site visitors to ask questions about products or services featured in the ad, and Waltz said that publishers like them because users don't have to click away to another site. Meanwhile, brands shilling big-ticket items like automobiles or intricate products like mobile phones get to pull consumers further down the purchase pathway by answering their questions almost immediately.

The technology also ensures that "no chat will go unchatted," Waltz said, as the chat-enabled units will not be served unless there's a customer service or sales rep ready to join the conversation. "The system can sense dynamically whether there's a person on the other end or not," Waltz said. "It can be someone in the brand's call center, in the local office, or even a third party." He added that the average CPMs for such units were comparable to the going rates for rich media ads.

The click-to-chat also complements Traffic Marketplace's lead generation and affiliate business. "Someone could be reluctant to fill out all the info in a lead form," Waltz said. "But if there's someone right there able to chat with them and get the information, then you have a much more qualified lead. It opens up a lot of possibilities."

When asked why Traffic Marketplace chose to acquire Livemarkets as opposed to a more temporary partnership, Waltz said that the deal was driven by synergy between the two companies' teams and their technologies. "We saw it as a much better long term fit, and now we have the potential to take the technology beyond our own display network," he said. Traffic Marketplace boasts access to more than 250,000 sites (and their aggregated user data) through sister company Firstlook, and Waltz said that network had plans to expand its reach in the coming months.