IAB Elects New Board

The online advertising industry’s largest trade group elected its new board of directors Tuesday, inducting a host of notables from the Web publishing and ad representation world.

Not surprisingly, the roster includes executives from ad networks DoubleClick, 24/7 Media, L90, as well as major portals like Yahoo, AOL Time Warner and TerraLycos, and vertical publishers SportsLine.com, CBS MarketWatch.com and Snowball.com.

But in keeping with the IAB’s recent focus-shift — from “Internet Advertising Bureau” to “Interactive Advertising Bureau” — the group also includes figures like Jason Devitt, co-founder of wireless content play Vindigo. Jeffrey Mahl, president of the media sales group at Gemstar-TV Guide International, also joins the board, representing the interactive television crowd.

Also in keeping with other changes this year, the newly elected board — like the revamped IAB membership — includes only firms actively selling media. The new roster is also more than twice as large as last year’s 13-person board, and features more CEO-level executives than previously.

The full list: (asterisks indicate a returning member)

John Barbera, president, sales and sales marketing, iVillage, Inc.

John Bohan, president and CEO, L90

Shelby Bonnie, chairman and CEO, CNET Networks, Inc.

Rick Boyce, president, Snowball.com

Susan Bratton, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Excite@Home

Greg Coleman, executive vice president of North American operations, Yahoo, Inc.

Paul De Benedictis, chief operating officer, AOL Interactive Marketing

Jason Devitt, CEO and co-founder, Vindigo, Inc

Bill Furlong, president, CEO and co-founder, B2Bworks

Richy Glassberg, chairman and CEO, founder, Phase2Media*

Mark Goldston, CEO, NetZero, Inc.

Rich Gotham, vice president of U.S. sales, TerraLycos

Wenda Harris Millard, president, Ziff Davis Internet

Randy Kilgore, executive director of marketing and sales, The Wall Street Journal Online

Scott Kurnit, chairman and CEO, About, Inc.

Rich LeFurgy, general partner, WaldenVC*

Jeffrey Mahl, president, media sales group, Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc.

Mark Mariani, president of sales and marketing, SportsLine.com

Scot McLernon, executive vice president of sales, CBS MarketWatch.com

Ted Meisel, president and CEO, GoTo

David Moore, CEO, 24/7 Media, Inc.

Shelly Morrison, vice president of media and distribution sales, RealNetworks, Inc.

Martin Nisenholtz, president and CEO, New York Times Digital

Thomas Rothfels, executive vice president, worldwide media sales and service operations, Engage*

Barry Salzman, president of global media, DoubleClick, Inc.

Jed Savage, national director of sales, MSN*

James Spanfeller, president and CEO, Forbes.com

Evan Sternschein, executive vice president of sales, iWon Inc.

Greg Stuart, CEO and president, DeltaClick, Inc.*

Steve Wadsworth, president, Walt Disney Internet Group

Robin Webster, president and chief executive of the IAB, will also serve on the board.

Later this summer, the IAB’s board will elect its officers for the coming year. LeFurgy, who co-founded the group in 1996 and since held the post of chairman, will retain the title of chairman emeritus.

While it’s an impressive group, the IAB’s new board faces a daunting task. In recent months, outgoing vice chairman Richy Glassberg and Webster, following her appointment as CEO, laid out a gutsy plan to revitalize the Web ad industry with initiatives to share knowledge among members, to espouse the medium’s efficacy to advertisers and agencies, and to fix some of the nagging technical problems plaguing the industry — like reporting discrepancies between publishers and third-party ad servers. On tap in the next few months for the IAB: the release of an online advertising effectiveness study, the establishment of rich media guidelines to accompany recently-released new ad standards, and the expansion of standard terms and conditions for sales of online media.

With a new roster of industry leaders at the helm, and with support from smaller, affiliated groups like the Online Publishers Association and the Wireless Advertising Association, the IAB is banking that it has the talent and insider clout necessary to effect a turnaround in Web advertising.

“The composition of the new board truly reflects the breadth of the entire interactive marketing and advertising world, and can therefore lead the IAB in the years ahead, expanding the scope and practical utility of interactive media, for all platforms,” Webster said. “I am personally grateful for the commitment that this stellar group of industry leaders has made to the IAB and its mission.”