IAR Bits and Bytes

Tacoda Rolls Out Registration System

Online ad targeting firm Tacoda Systems announced on Monday the release of a site registration system that allows publishers to gather registration data on visitors for use in targeting ads.

The new product, TacodaAudience Registration System, will be sold as an add-on to the company’s flagship offering, Audience Management System. The registration product will look to tap into the growing number of publishers requiring site registration in order to get a better handle on user demographics for ad-targeting purposes.

Tacoda’s registration tool allows publishers to implement a single registration requirement that can cover all the sites in their network, allowing users to submit their demographic information a single time. A cookie is then transferred to the user’s computer, recognizing the user across all sites. Publishers can tweak the registration requirements to fit their needs and set up the system to allow users to see the information the site has about them.

Newspaper publishers, which account for most of Tacoda’s clientele, have led the way in registration. In addition to New York Times Digital, a longtime proponent of gathering user information in exchange for access, a number of online publishers have turned to registration, including washingtonpost.com, LATimes.com and USAToday.com.

ValueClick Refreshes MOJO Ad Server

Mediaplex, the ad server subsidiary of ValueClick , announced on Monday the release of a buffed-up version of its MOJO ad server with a new user interface and enhanced targeting capabilities.

With the upgrade, MOJO Publisher clients have a new user interface that eases navigation and management by cataloging frequently used functions and displaying them on a toolbar. The ad server also has new customizing capabilities for ad-serving reports, including an impact analysis tool that estimates the return from campaigns. Finally, the server has new targeting tools that give publishers more options for parsing their audiences.

ValueClick unveiled MOJO last June, as a re-branded version of its Dynamo server. Mediaplex also sells a third-party ad server (MOJO AdServer) and email management products (MOJO Mail).

ValueClick acquired Mediaplex back in October 2001. The company has built a portfolio of ad technology products over the past couple years, most recently scooping up paid search company Search123.com in a $ 5 million deal.

AOL Helps Christen Boeing 7E7 “Dreamliner”

Wrapping up a month-long cross-marketing campaign with AOL Time Warner in which votes were sought, Boeing announced on Monday its new airplane, the Boeing 7E7, would be christened “Dreamliner.”

The name was chosen from four options, including eLiner, Global Crusier and Stratoclimber, promoted by AOL Time Warner’s online and offline properties. More than half a million people voted online.

The promotion to name the airplane was backed up by a variety of marketing initiatives with AOL Time Warner properties, including a special Time for Kids issue and the 7E7 Web site featuring 3D tours of the plane by Viewpoint.

Boeing said the Web site signed up 120,000 people to take part in its Global Design Team, an Internet community that will give ideas for the design of the plane, which is slated to go into operation in 2008.

The integrated marketing deal is one of a number AOL Time Warner has inked designed to finally tap into the much-touted synergies between the various media arms of the company.