IAR Bits and Bytes

Stuart Gets Official Nod at IAB

Greg Stuart will drop the “interim” from his official title as president and chief executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, following the New York-based trade group’s decision to make him its permanent chief.

The group said its Executive Committee voted unanimously for the permanent appointment of Stuart, who will relocate to New York as a result.

Hints about the appointment had been dropped regularly by for some time by the group, which for months had disregarded the “interim” from Stuart’s title in official statements, and indeed, on his business card.

Stuart joined the IAB in October, following the departure of former CEO and president Robin Webster, for personal reasons. Webster had been the organization’s first executive, a position in which she had served since last January.

In the seven months since, Stuart oversaw the release of a series of studies (many of which were begun under Webster’s term) promoting the online medium to media buyers. He also presented the IAB’s first guidelines for online audience measurement and auditing.

In a statement, IAB Chairman Shelby Bonnie praised Stuart’s dedication and “coalition-building success.”

Added Stuart, “The past seven months have demonstrated to me that with the dedication and involvement of the IAB Board, the Executive Committee and our members, many of the hurdles that were in front of us when I started, are now in the rear-view mirror. That’s not to say that there isn’t a great deal of work still to do, but that with the engaged people of the IAB and our colleagues in all areas of the business, we can define our goals and achieve them.”

DoubleClick, Poindexter Systems Team Up

Ad serving giant DoubleClick will refer clients to Poindexter Systems’ automated campaign optimization service, as part of a new agreement between the two New York-based firms.

The deal also stipulates interoperability between DoubleClick’s DART ad server and Poindexter’s POE ASP, in accordance with DoubleClick’s Rich Media Vendor Certification program.

“We’ve been working together for about four to six months,” said Andy Ellenthal, vice president of sales at DoubleClick TechSolutions. “The technology makes a lot of sense, there’s definitely some demand out there, and I’ve heard good feedback from clients.”

In addition to DoubleClick, Poindexter also has deals with Avenue A and Commission Junction.

ActiveBuddy Inks Development Deals

New York-based Instant Messenger “bot” firm ActiveBuddy has signed an agreement with online and direct marketer OgilvyOne, giving the agency early access to the firm’s developer tools.

As a result, OgilvyOne, a WPP Group agency , will be able to create and deploy IM agents that can chat with consumers. In the past, ActiveBuddy has developed IM bots for Lagardere Active’s ELLEGirl.com and several AOL Time Warner properties.

The startup plans to formally release the tools — the BuddyScript Software Development Kit and BuddyScript Server — later this quarter.

In addition to Ogilvy, Digital Enterprise Systems also signed on as a developer. The Studio City, Calif.-based firm said it plans to develop customer service applications using the technology.

ActiveBuddy said not-for-profit public sector developer MITRE and Reuters Group PLC , an ActiveBuddy investor, also received approval for early use of the tools.