New ad marketplace launched
A new ad marketplace, AdJug, which enables advertisers and publishers to buy and sell ads directly has been launched with aspirations to be the leading ad marketplace in the UK. The platform will allow for sales of both text and display advertising on CPC and CPM basis. More details about how the network works.
Based on a quick review, i get the impression that it is a combination of a service like AdBrite and Google’s Site Targeting for Adwords, wherein advertisers can choose what sites their ads can appear and define the amounts they are willing to pay.
As I see it, the key challenges for any new network/market place of this kind are: differentiation and the value addition to the online advertising process; a critical mass of advertisers and publishers to ensure that there is sufficient ‘trading’ for everyone to benefit. On a disappointing note, the site did not offer a lot on both of these counts. For example, when I searched the marketplace to check the kind of publishers participating, I did not find any publisher for most categories. It doesn’t look like the marketplace has been able to build a good mass of publishers for the launch phase.
However, the site is founded by people with strong background in online advertising and marketing- so hopefully they willl get it right.
