It seems the online auction model phenomenon is nowhere near being filed away under "things that didn't work" when it comes to online advertising space.
We all know the story of OneMediaPlace
(formerly AdAuction) - the people who pioneered the concept of auctioning off online ad inventory electronically. Having intrigued over a thousand buyers, AdAuction thought they were flying high,
but once media buyers got over the novelty of the concept, the company not only had to change their business model to stay alive, but also their name to eradicate any connection to auctions.
But there are plenty of daredevils who are still in the running. For example, yesterday a press release crossed my desk, announcing the launch of Askad.com - "the first site on the Net to exchange
unsold advertising space at auction."
Aside from the "first site" claim being a blatant mendacity, it seems the creators of Askad.com - http://www.askad.com - think there's money to be made by
offering sites with surplus ad space a way to unload unused, unsold ad space and cut losses, while at the same time opening the market to smaller companies and 'would-be' sponsors - the same exact
model AdAuction galloped away from.
Critics and skeptics, of course, are lining up. Media buyers don't appreciate uncertainty in their media plans, and rightly so. Additionally, there are
plenty of worthy ad networks out there who sell remnant inventory - AdFlight.com, for one, is a good example of offering smaller advertisers the opportunity to buy small and medium-sized sites.
It's clear the online industry hasn't yet devised a perfect method of selling remnant ad space, but the auction model is clearly not the way to go. Here's to learning from our mistakes...