Adify Rolls Out Centralized Ad Network

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For a little over a year, vertical ad network platform Adify has operated a centralized sales team to broker inventory for those of its network customers who want the service. Now the company is formalizing its ad network offering with the creation of a unit, called Adify Media, that will offer a menu of individual site placements bundled with online properties owned by its parent company, Cox Enterprises.

The combined reach of the ad network will approach 90 million uniques, approximately 17 million of which will be attributable to Cox's own sites, according to ComScore.

Adify Media prides itself on its dedication to transparency for both buyer and seller. None of its inventory is offered on a blind basis, and its network partners -- whom it calls network builders -- are free to opt out of individual campaigns or the network as a whole. When its six regional ad sellers are dealing with a client, Adify does not mention the names of individual networks using its platform, so as to avoid channel conflict, focusing instead on the properties themselves.

For advertisers, Adify emphasizes highly customized ad packages and site-by-site deliverability reporting. Its reporting data can be viewed by ad space, line item, creative execution or ad size.

"I don't think there's another aggregator that offers anywhere near that level of pipeline visibility, handholding consulting, and the ability to opt in or out at granular levels," said Joelle Gropper Kauffman, Adify's SVP of marketing and corporate partnerships. "For us it's all about people staying in control of their assets and their inventory."

Adify Media is offering a degree of creative variation in its menu of ad formats. According to Gropper Kauffman, Adify is the primary ad server for many sites offered by its media team. Therefore, she noted, "we can do things you just don't do with a network." For instance, she said available formats could include expandable ads, sponsorships, roadblocks, and interstitial video. Standard targeting options will include geographic, behavioral, and browser-based delivery.

Key to Adify Media's pitch is the supposition that mid-tail publishers of the sort that define its network have more engaged audiences than do major portals and ad networks. Its 160 network partners cover topic areas such as politics (Politico Network), lifestyle (Martha's Circle), and food (GourmetAds).

Adify employs sales reps in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Its team, led by general manager Rodney Mayers, has already sold campaigns to Best Western Hotels, Febreze, HP, and Microsoft, among others.