OpenX

Open source as an antitrust strategy

The day open source became big business is the day that open-source development exploded. Yes, open source predates the moneyed interests hankering to use it to competitive advantage, but it really wasn't until IBM dropped $1 billion on Linux that companies began paying employees to write free software that the movement saw broad adoption.

That's when open source became more than an efficient way to develop software, and also became a great way to build a business.

However, adding open source to one's business is not magical pixie dust that guarantees its viability. As IBM's Bob Sutor explains:… Read more

Mix and match: The perfect open-source Web commerce company

Occasionally I get brilliant ideas about whom should merge with whom in open source. OK, so it's very occasionally, but I think I'll start sharing them under a "Mix and match" headline.

Forget Fantasy Football. It's time for "Fantasy Open Source."

Over the past few weeks I've spent a fair amount of time with the Acquia team, the company that offers a commercial distribution of the ubiquitous Drupal open-source Web content management system. Drupal is very strong in Web publishing and has an amazing community following, which makes it a nice pairing … Read more

Open-source ad company OpenX launches platform

OpenX, a software company that makes an open-source ad serving product for online publishers, has launched a platform called OpenX Market to directly connect buyers and sellers.

The model is more or less a standard ad auction format: publishers set a minimum, potential advertisers bid, and the highest bid wins. Plenty of platform-oriented start-ups are turning to the exchange or auction format to simplify and speed up the online ad buying process, but OpenX is worth a second look because of its roots in open-source software.

The OpenX software itself is free, but the platform is a way for the … Read more

OpenX's strategy to 'leapfrog' the competition

I've written before about one of my favorite open-source companies, ad-server company OpenX. However, since I first covered the company, a lot has happened, all seemingly positive.

For one thing, OpenX now tops 300 billion ad impressions per month, 150,000 publishers, and 2,500 paid customers using its hosted offering. This impressive growth, however, belies a big challenge for OpenX:

Next comes the more difficult process of converting the free products and services into revenue-generating operations. The vast majority of the ads served by the installed software were from freely downloaded versions, and few of those using the … Read more

Start-up OpenX touts burgeoning ad traffic

Recession? What recession?

It may be that the technology and advertising industries are curtailing spending in the current painful economic environment, but one start-up, OpenX, is happy to report progress in establishing its new business.

OpenX sells support and consulting services around an open-source software package geared toward publishers that need to serve ads on their online properties. The Pasadena, Calif.-based company also has been expanding online, first by hosting the software on its own site, free to lower-traffic customers, and second through a pilot test of a marketplace that lets advertisers buy ads across a larger group of … Read more

Open X doesn't mark the It spot

A few days ago I blogged about the Open It, a package opener. I thought it was a pretty good product, partially because it was designed by a group of women.

Soon after I posted the blog, I was solicited to review the OpenX opener. On Tuesday, I received a few samples.

The OpenX comes in a box that you can open without any tools, which is a good start. It has an ergonomic shape with a good grip and two cutting blades. The first blade stays retracted, and you need to push it out with your right thumb to … Read more

OpenX gets a Yahoo as CEO; Yahoo demonstrates it 'gets' open source

OpenX announced Wednesday that it has hired Tim Cadogan, Yahoo's former global ad marketplaces senior vice president. The company also announced that it's making the long move from London to Los Angeles to set up headquarters.

As D: All Things Digital's Kara Swisher reports:

Cadogan, who was with Yahoo for five years, in its search unit and later as SVP for ad products, including playing an important role in the launch of its Panama ad search product. Previously, he was an early member of the GoTo.com team and went to Yahoo just before it acquired Overture.… Read more

Rejecting a looming online advertising monopoly

Sometimes disruption can be taken too far. Unfortunately, it often is as a company grows and looks to adjacent markets to grow further. Such is the case with Google and its recent entry into the ad-management market. TechCrunch rightly opines:

It's yet another example of Google knowing no bounds in its quest to know everything about every person and site.

This is good and provides customer value...to a point. But it's starting to sound an awful lot like Microsoft's voracious appetite on the desktop.

Why should publishers care? Because it makes Google their biggest competitor and stifles competition, as open-source ad-serving company OpenX notes:… Read more

Former CEO of AOL joins OpenX as chairman

OpenX, one the industry's largest ad networks and the dominant open-source ad server company, just got a little bigger. OpenX announced that Jonathan Miller, former CEO of AOL, has joined the company as its chairman. Writes Scott Switzer of the announcement:

Jon has much experience working with major advertisers, as well as large and small publishers. He understands how difficult it is to provide software, service, and media to medium to small publishers, which is the core user base of OpenX. He can help us grow from a small company to a larger one. He understands our need to … Read more