• by July 25, 2000

Yesterday's Engage announcement about being "the first company to extend advertising technology across multiple media platforms" certainly ruffled some feathers. But that's almost expected anytime someone publicly calls themselves "the first" or "the leader" in anything.

The announcement claimed Engage's new technology would allow advertisers to target and serve ads to wireless devices, streaming media, enhanced TV and other web-enabled vehicles. Intriguing? Absolutely. But are they really the first?

For example, Advertising.com said Engage's claim was "totally inaccurate." And rightly so, because Advertising.com has been offering their ad-serving technology (AdServe) that delivers ads across Internet-enabled devices for almost a year now.

As the "first mover" war rages on, the bigger question is "are advertisers even interested?"

Engage says the momentum is building, but advertisers are still in no rush to partner with wireless and other new ad servers, partially because there is no research to prove that any of these hot new platforms are effective ad vehicles.

Maybe these firms should reconsider bickering about who was first on the technology scene, and focus on giving advertisers a better reason to try something new.