Another Search Firm Embraces Exchange-Traded Display Ads

Hearst-owned iCrossing has become the latest search agency to try and boost its display ad chops by partnering with a demand-side platform.

Scottsdale, AZ-based iCrossing will work with DataXu to support real-time ad optimization and bidding on ad exchanges such as Yahoo’s Right Media and Google’s DoubleClick Ad Exchange.

The move follows a slate of developments in which search agencies have made advances in the display arena. Recently, four search firms – Efficient Frontier, SearchIgnite, Kenshoo, and Marin Software – joined a Right Media pilot program involving real-time bid display ads. Back in April, SEM firm Efficient Frontier launched a DSP of its own, fusing real-time bidding functionality with search campaign management.

While not purely a search agency, iCrossing’s roots are in the search arena. Dax Hamman, the agency’s VP of display media, said in a statement that data integration is key to the company’s clients’ exchange ambitions.

“We wanted a partner…that could provide the technical framework in which we can test the effectiveness of multiple data sources for our clients,” he said.

iCrossing was not the only search firm to announce new moves into display this morning. Marin Software, a search management platform company that manages $1 billion in marketing spend annually, today released applications for managing Facebook Advertising. The new features allow clients to manage algorithmic bidding, segmentation, and ad rotation on Facebook, alongside their search campaigns on Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Read More: ClickZ

ShortTail, TidalTV Ink Video Ad Deal

ShortTail Media, a company that helps publishers deliver video ads to text-based portions of their Web sites, has signed a deal with Web video network and technology firm TidalTV.

As part of the pact, publishers in TidalTV’s network, including 30 newspaper sites owned by McClatchy, have begun selling advertisers ShortTail’s signature D30 ad unit — a video interstitial that appears as users click between Web pages.

ShortTail touts the D30 as a way for sites to better monetize text content, which still makes up the majority of publishers’ content outside of the YouTubes and Hulus of the world. The company already works with sites such as EW.com and The Huffington Post and has run campaigns for brands like A&E, Sonic, Jim Beam and General Mills. (See also: “Web Ads Get More Intrusive.”)

That monetization concept appealed to McClatchy, which is testing the D30 on the sites for newspapers such as The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and Kansas City Star. “We’ve traditionally had our own video and video from the Associated Press, but that requires users to say, ‘I’m going to watch video now,’” said Chris Hendricks, vp, interactive media at McClatchy. “We’ve had very limited [video] inventory because of that. This puts video front and center on our site, and it helps us compete from a volume perspective.” McClatchy’s sites reach about 35 million unique users, per Hendricks.

Read More: AdWeek