• by September 22, 2000

By David Cotriss

It appears that more technologies that allow streaming ads to be automatically inserted into radio broadcasts on the Internet are surfacing all over the web. This week, webcasting technology firm Activate announced deals with offline radio technology company RCS and CMGI, an ad network, and Engage for a system that inserts ads into streaming content from offline radio stations.

The ability to automatically insert targeted ads into Internet broadcasts is an important one for advertisers, who are always looking for ways to better reach their audiences in a fast and efficient manner. It gives media buyers and planners increased accountability and removes the need to do much groundwork themselves.

Engage's AdManager uses profiling to determine which ad to send, and RCS's technology finds a break to insert the ad. A similar announcement has just been made by Central Media Inc. (CMI), owner and operator of SpotTaxi.com, an Internet radio ad trafficking system, and Lightningcast, a company that inserts ads into streaming media. Ads can now be placed automatically in the Lightningcast affiliate network, which includes 2000Radio.com, ChoiceRadio.com, CyberRadio2000.com, DiscJockey.com, Kundi.com, and TradeMentor.

"As the Internet radio industry emerges, so does the necessity for improved ad trafficking. Fed Ex and old, legacy spot distribution systems are simply too slow and cumbersome for the new medium," said Vince Werner, VP of Product Strategy at CMI. "The alliance of SpotTaxi.com and Lightningcast enables ads to air on the Lightningcast network within minutes of the time they're trafficked, rather than days."

SpotTaxi.com will begin trafficking spots to Lightningcast in October 2000. Since its national launch at NAB2000 in April 2000, SpotTaxi.com has converted over 1000 U.S. radio stations and hundreds of advertising agencies and production studios to its online spot distribution and management system. Developments like these enable media professionals to be more accountable and increases speed while lowering costs. Hence, it is likely that this trend toward full ad automation will continue.

- David Cotriss may be reached at DCotriss@mediapost.com