IQ News: Cool Tool: Solbright's New Software Simplifies Ad Configuring

Although interactive advertising agencies and Web publishers are moving beyond traditional static banners, they continue to manually process and configure rich media advertisements for individual Web sites. Depending on the complexity of the ad and the site, processing can take anywhere from 20 minutes to two days. With the goal of reducing the time, cost and labor involved in processing rich media ads, Solbright, an applications service provider in New York, has created AdTraffic Manager. This software automates the process of collecting, naming, checking, editing and approving incoming ads from agencies and quickly processes HTML, Java-Script, Enliven and other rich media ads. After AdTraffic Manager has been built into a Web site, an advertisement can appear on the screen and begin operating on that site instantly, eliminating hours of labor. And the chance that an error might occur during the ad processing is drastically diminished. The simplified processing also promotes standardization. Because an individual no longer has to take a series of steps to process one ad, AdTraffic Manager is able to standardize the naming and treatment of all ads. When a code is submitted into a system, specialized filters built into the site recognize who sent the ad and then follow a set of rules that apply to that particular ad server. Then the ad is immediately processed. MARKET COULD HEAT UP AdTraffic Manager might not have the market to itself for long. "Solbright really does not have a competitor," said Marissa Gluck, analyst with New York-based Jupiter Communications. "But once the agencies and publishers catch on to what the software does, a significant market will be created." Agencies and publishers trying to develop in-house solutions to configure ads more efficiently will likely be attracted to a tool that does so and establishes a standard by which the sites are able to adopt the rich media ads. Solbright believes its product will remove barriers to growth. "You can't grow and have a profitable business if in order to double your business you need to double your staff," said Steven Orova, director of business development for Solbright. "If you put the appropriate automation systems in place you're going to be able to scale your business and reduce errors, which is critical." The interactive applications service provider has been forming partnerships with such ad-serving companies as RichMedia and Engage. Last month, Solbright formed a partnership with BlueStreak, Newport, R.I., an Internet advertising technology provider. BlueStreak aims to make rich media advertising more accessible to Web sites. "The Solbright software provides a standardized approach for all of us who work with rich media advertising," said Annette Tonti, president of BlueStreak. "Solbright steps in at the site of the Web site and basically makes sure the ad is propagated properly into the Web site. It does the testing before the ad goes live and makes sure the campaigns are running cleanly." Since the software was launched in August, about 20 sites have purchased it. Solbright wouldn't name its clients, but said it is in the process of signing on additional clients and working with several rich media providers, to create some order and unification as the industry advances. n

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IQ News: Cool Tool: Solbright's New Software Simplifies Ad Configuring

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