• by Tameka Kee , September 8, 2008

Q Interactive has launched a post-registration, lead generation-focused ad network. The network, which typically serves consumers ads after they have registered for a service, customizes the offers they receive based on a combination of transactional, geo- and demographic data.

According to the Chicago-based company's top brass, this data-rich approach makes predicting which consumers will respond favorably to an ad more accurate than traditional behavioral targeting.

"Most behavioral targeting networks really just offer contextual re-targeting, or serving a women's lifestyle ad to a consumer because they visited a site like Better Homes and Gardens," said Matt Wise, Q Interactive's president and CEO. "But we find context to be a relatively low predictor of consumer action and value in the long term--particularly for advertisers interested in knowing things like whether their target is going to pay their bills over time."

The ad units show up after consumers register for a publishers' product or service, asking them if they would be interested in special offers or communications from selected brands (i.e., a JCPenney or TJ Maxx newsletter). One advantage to serving post-registration ads is that consumers supply most of their own geo- and demographic info, which Q Interactive combines with data from its own e-mail and lead-generation lists, as well as stats from third parties like Alliant on their transaction and payment histories. According to Wise, the company aggregates the info and then slices consumers into roughly 750 continually evolving segments.

"If a group of consumers start behaving differently and we can figure out why, we can launch a new segment," Wise said. "The engine in the background is constantly appending the models for accuracy." Media buyers can target a specific consumer group (i.e., "young moms") for CPM (cost per thousand)-based buys, aim for a specific number of leads with CPA (cost per action) or CPC (cost per click) buys, or a combination of the three.

Wise said that Q Interactive's predictive model has resulted in an average CTR (click-through rate) of 25% on the post-registration banners, dwarfing the 0.1-0.40% CTR on standard display or rich media ads (as reported by a number of industry sources). And although the ads are typically pre-populated with the consumers' data, Wise said that the company is aggressive about thwarting privacy concerns before they arise.

"We try to be explicit," Wise said. "None of the consumers' personally identifiable info (PII) goes anywhere unless they approve it. Once they say yes, we ask them again. Privacy and permission are key here for us, because everyone has to trust us to gather, encrypt and use the data appropriately--the consumer, the advertiser and the publisher."