24/7 Adds Rich Media Tools
Rich Media Foundry removes compatibility issues between vendors in the supply chain to simplify campaign management for publishers.
24/7 Real Media has launched Rich Media Foundry, a set of tools for creating and trafficking rich media advertising from multiple vendors.
The technology, which integrates with 24/7’s Open AdStream (OAS) ad management platform, removes compatibility issues between rich media vendors, ad servers, and other vendors in the supply chain, according to Tom Swenson, product manager for the Rich Media Foundry.
“We designed Rich Media Foundry to reduce the friction in the supply chain, and make it easier for publishers to manage campaigns,” Swenson told ClickZ. “There’s a perception that this is hard, but it doesn’t need to be. The tool really simplifies things so they can focus on their own revenue-generating activities.”
The rich media marketplace continues to grow in complexity, Swenson said, with new vendors and new formats frequently entering the market. At its core, Rich Media Foundry is a code-generation and modification tool that takes the code-generation aspect of ad serving and trafficking out of the equation by moving it behind the scenes, he said.
A trafficker gets a rich media format from the advertiser or agency, and can upload the code for that format directly into the system and import it directly into Open AdStream. Rich Media Foundry integrates with OAS and populates the campaign directly, without further modifications.
The technology is designed to support any rich media format, including video, audio, mobile, DTV, and other emerging formats, Swenson said.
The company built Rich Media Foundry as a separate tool from OAS to ensure it would be nimble, and able to keep up with the rapid changes of the market, Swenson said. “Because of the volatile nature of the industr, and how quickly things are changing, we want to be able to support any format from any vendor, and any new innovation that comes along,” he said. “We felt if it was built directly into OAS, we’d have to worry about fitting into its release cycles, but as a separate tool, it allows us to react more quickly.
To further keep apace with the marketplace, 24/7 gives rich media vendors individual accounts to maintain code templates for their ad products. When they introduce a new format, they can add it into the Rich Media Foundry system for 24/7’s publisher clients to use. It also sets in motion 24/7’s workflow for its certification program for administrators to review and ensure its compatibility with OAS.
Rich media vendors currently in 24/7’s certification program include Eyeblaster, Eyewonder, Pointroll, Viewpoint, United Virtualities, Klipmart and Tango Zebra.
