Execs and Accounts for December 6, 2002

Opera Software, developer of the Opera Web browser, plans to use Advertising.com’s ACE Serve technology as its primary ad serving and management platform. Opera will employ ACE Serve to forecast, schedule and serve banner ads to users of the free, ad-supported versions of its desktop browser. In addition, Opera has partnered with Advertising.com to help sell Opera’s banner inventory.

“Combining Opera’s browser banners with the ACE Serve technology platform makes advertising more relevant and cost-efficient for advertisers,” said Mary Lambert, desktop product line manager for Opera Software. “ACE Serve technology provides the security and reliability we need to manage ad delivery. Plus, Advertising.com’s ability to sell our inventory provides us with access to a more diverse audience of international advertising clients.”

Carat Interactive has brokered the launch of an interactive campaign for the DVD release of NewLine Cinema’s “Austin Powers in Goldmember.” Up since November 27th for a soft launch, the campaign kicked into high gear this week with premium placements on the homepages of several media sites, including MTV.com, IGN, Maxim Online, and Playboy.com. All traffic is driven to the Goldmember DVD product page of the NewLine online store.

ECNext, a provider of Web commerce services for business publishers, has hired Chris Skudder as chief executive officer. Since 1992, Skudder has held executive posts at U.K. broadband provider NTL; CoreComm, an integrated PR firm; and Cellular One of Ohio and Michigan.

“Chris brings to ECNext a proven ability to grow revenue, deliver value to customers, and increase market share,” said Francois Helou, a member of ECNext’s board of directors.

Skudder will be responsible for overall company strategy and operations, with an initial focus on scaling the company’s sales and marketing activity to take advantage of growing market opportunities.

For more breaking news on account action and executive moves, visit ChannelSeven.com.