Greg Coleman, a longtime Yahoo executive, has been named the new president of AOL's advertising division, Platform-A.
Greg Coleman
(Credit: AOL)"Greg Coleman is the perfect person to build on the foundation we created at Platform-A and drive branded display sales across our fast-growing MediaGlow programming network," AOL chairman and CEO Randy Falco said in a release, referring to the network of blogs and media properties that the online conglomerate formally packaged and announced last month. "Greg's a seasoned sales pro who understands that online brand building is the next frontier in digital advertising, and that whoever can deliver marketers measurably improved branding online will be positioned for long-term success."
Coleman, who will report to AOL chief operating officer Ron Grant, left Yahoo early last year amid a management shuffle and became president and CEO of ad targeting start-up NetSeer. Around the time of his departure, AOL itself went through a shakeup in which Platform-A president Curt Viebranz left the company. Viebranz was replaced by Lynda Clazirio, who was president of AOL acquisition Advertising.com.
CNET News asked a representative from AOL, which relocated its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Va., to New York in 2007 to position itself close to the advertising and media industries, whether Clazirio would remain at the company. The e-mailed response was, "Lynda hasn't yet announced what she's planning to do next."
HTC's Dream, aka the T-Mobile G1, next to an Apple iPhone
Updated 4:28 p.m. PST to reflect that it's T-mobile's ad campaign, with no Google involvement.
T-Mobile plans to flood the market with a billion ads in two days for its G1 Android phone, with AOL's Platform-A network delivering the advertisements, according to Advertising Age.
Platform-A President Lynda Clarizio estimated the campaign will reach 81 million people when it runs next week, according to the article, which quoted an unnamed source as saying the ad campaign will cost about $1.5 million.
"The goal for T-Mobile was to reach as many people as possible in a short period of time," AdAge quoted Clazario as saying.
Google said the campaign is T-Mobile's and it's uninvolved in the marketing effort.
The T-Mobile G1, a version of an HTC phone called the Dream, is the first phone to use Google's Android operating system. The phone went on sale October 22, but future Android phones are expected in 2009 from other companies including Motorola, Kyocera, Samsun, and LG Electronics.
AOL's advertising product, Platform-A, is continuing its overseas expansion with Tuesday's launch of a French edition. In the past few weeks, AOL has launched Platform-A in the U.K. and Germany as well.
Platform-A already reaches 24 million people in France, AOL said in a release Tuesday. The technology serves ads on all AOL-owned sites as well as third-party participants in the Advertising.com network.
"Global advertisers are demanding online performance, and that's why Platform-A is aggressively extending its reach in both the United States and Europe so that marketers can generate results more quickly and measurably than ever before," said Platform-A president Lynda Clarizio, who replaced the outgoing Curt Viebranz in March. "No other online advertising business can offer the reach, relevance, and richness of Platform-A, and we're focused on rapidly extending our global reach as we near the end of 2008."
With digital ad dollars hanging in uncertainty in the U.S., many would-be leaders are looking overseas for growth: upstart Silicon Valley media company Glam has made several international moves by acquiring existing ad networks.
AOL plans more European launches for Platform-A before the end of 2008.
Update 12:35 p.m. PDT: I corrected a reference to AOL's parent company.
AOL said Wednesday it's integrating interactive "widget" ads with Platform-A, the Time Warner subsidiary's advertising network.
An example of a widget ad from Advertising.com.
(Credit: Advertising.com)Widgets are small Web-based applications, and widget ads offer more interactive possibilities than conventional ads. AOL acquired Goowy in February to advance its widget push, and the Goowy technology for creating and managing widgets is now integrated with Platform-A.
Widgets already could be distributed on AOL's Bebo and on Facebook through Advertising.com service, which is part of Platform-A, but Platform-A has a much broader reach. According to June statistics from ComScore, Platform-A is the top-ranked ad network, reaching 90 percent of the nearly 190 million Americans who are online. (The Yahoo Network was second, at 83 percent, followed by the Google Ad Network at 81 percent, and Specific Media at 78 percent.)
AOL said distributing widget ads through Platform-A won't cost extra.
"Widget-based advertising is gaining momentum in the industry, and Platform-A's network approach allows our customers to build brands, encourage interaction, and drive site traffic--all at scale," said Lynda Clarizio, president of Platform-A, in a statement.
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