“We’re very proud of the numbers comScore reported for SpotXchange,” said SpotXchange CEO Michael Shehan. “Joining comScore was an important first step in raising our profile in the media buying community. While we don’t believe our network is fully represented in the comScore numbers since we are just at the very beginning stages of working with them, this is still an especially proud moment for SpotXchange, as the Company has proven that superior technology, unwavering focus on our mission and a strong value proposition trump heavily financed competitors any day of the week.”

SpotXchange is a performance-based video ad network that operates an exchange-based marketplace where buyers and sellers of video ad inventory come together in a real-time environment. SpotXchange has never raised institutional funding, having supported itself through significant investment from its sister company, Booyah Networks, and a small round of angel funding from notable industry titans like Alex Bogusky co-Chairman of Crispin, Porter & Bogusky. SpotXchange enables advertisers to target video ad inventory using a variety of enhanced targeting technologies, and is the only video ad network to offer both retargeting and behavioral targeting technologies.

“I’m not surprised by SpotXchange’s success and growth,” says Alex Bogusky, co-Chairman of CP+B. “When you combine the best qualities of TV advertising with the most advanced interactive targeting methods and an efficient and accountable platform, you’ve suddenly made every marketer’s dream come true.”

About SpotXchange

SpotXchange is a performance-based video ad network that guarantees our advertisers generate a return on their video advertising investment. Combining the power of video with advanced targeting technologies and an efficient exchange-based marketplace, SpotXchange enables advertisers to achieve their campaign goals regardless of the metric – more sales, registrations, phone calls, web site visitors, interactions, brand lift, purchase intent, brand awareness, in-store visits, etc. The SpotXchange patent-pending online video advertising platform received the 2007 & 2008 Streaming Media Readers’ Choice Award for Best Video Ad Platform. The company was spun off from Colorado-based digital marketing and technology company, Booyah Networks in March 2007. Booyah Networks ranked 23rd on the 2006 Inc. 500. SpotXchange clients and partners include Reckitt, TVU, Mochi, RealGames, and Razorfish to name a few.

###

Contact:

Erica Harte

303-345-6609

eharte@spotxchange.com

You might be asking, what is performance-based video advertising?  To us, it means several things.  First and foremost, it means our advertisers should always see a measurable return on their advertising investment.  While that means generating sales and leads for many customers; for many others, it means measuring and optimizing spend against other metrics such as clicks, % of how much of their video ad is viewed, brand awareness, purchase intent, coupon downloads, interactions and the list goes on.

To achieve measurable returns, SpotXchange has always had a focus on empowering advertisers to eliminate as much waste from campaigns as possible, while enabling them to optimize campaigns in real-time as performance data is revealed and analyzed.  SpotXchange offers a number of unique capabilities that enable us and our customers to focus on performance:

• Exchange-based Marketplace – Exchanges are one of the most efficient ways to buy and sell anything.  SpotXchange’s exchange-based marketplace allows publishers to set their asking price, and allows advertisers to easily purchase ultra-targeted inventory at the price that works for them.
• 25/7 Rule – SpotXchange only charges advertisers when 25% of the video or 7 seconds is viewed by the consumer.
• Real-time Optimization – Like sponsored search platforms, SpotXchange tools enable real-time changes to campaigns based on performance metrics.
• Full Client Services Free of Charge & 24/7 Self-Service Tools – SpotXchange will provide a dedicated client services team to manage advertisers’ campaigns at no charge.  Additionally, clients can access their campaigns any time to manage campaigns and check real-time reports through SpotXchange’s self-service advertiser tools.
• Fully Transparent Marketplace – SpotXchange is the only video ad network that allows you to target specific publishers within the marketplace.  Advertisers know exactly where their ads play and how many times their ads played on those publishers when targeting specific publishers.
• Advanced Targeting – Advertisers can also target across the SpotXchange network using a variety of highly advanced targeting technologies including behavioral, retargeting, de-targeting, geo-targeting, contextual, frequency capping, and day parting.
• Frequency Cap Management – Advertisers can set how many times they would like to show their ad to a specific consumer in any given period of time.
• No Ad Serving Fees - SpotXchange will serve advertisers’ video ads and banners for absolutely nothing.
• Third Party Ad Server Compatibility – SpotXchange can also serve video ads from any third party ad platforms such as DoubleClick and Atlas.
• Flexible Terms – CPM, CPC & CPA – A dynamic exchange-based marketplace gives SpotXchange the flexibility to accommodate any business model for advertisers.  Those that perform best will get the most traffic, and those that do not will receive less traffic.
• No Spending Limits – Purchase as much as or as little inventory as you want.  There are no spending minimums on SpotXchange.  Try it out and expand campaigns as they perform.
• No 24 Hour Out Clauses – We actually call it our 24 Second out clause.  Log into the tools, select the campaign, and deactivate the target that is not working for you.
• Direct Integration with All Publishers – SpotXchange is directly integrated with all of our publishers.  We rarely ‘rep’ a campaign.  This means we have control over every aspect of your campaign, which allows us to provide services like real-time optimization.
• Free Video Ad Creation Services - Securing appropriate video ad creative can be challenging for even TV advertisers. As such, SpotXchange will provide free video ad creation services to advertisers. Just send us all of your other creative like logos, banners, scripts, and other creative assets. SpotXchange will create a video ad complete with professional voiceover at no additional cost.
• Proprietary & Patent-Pending Ad Technology – Unlike many display and video ad networks, SpotXchange operates on own proprietary and patent-pending technology. Many ad networks use Atlas, DoubleClick or have a seat on the Right Media Exchange. Not SpotXchange. We own and control all of the technology. This allows us to drive our own product planning based on our customers’ needs. We aren’t dependent upon others to dictate what we can and cannot offer to our advertisers.

Click here to learn more about what it means to advertise on SpotXchange.

SpotXchange publishers benefit from a competitive marketplace as well.  By combining a competitive auction-based marketplace with powerful video ads, advanced targeting and real-time ad calls, publishers can maximize the value of their unsold inventory.  Click here to learn more about the benefits of becoming a SpotXchange publisher.

Over the past two years, we’ve run hundreds of campaigns for large multinational brands, to small local businesses.  In so many instances, our customers told us that SpotXchange performed the best for them.  We’ve sold tens of thousands of pizzas, subscribed thousands of people to satellite TV services, engaged tens of millions of housewives to interact with CPG ads, sent hundreds of thousands of young males to DVD release web sites, and the list goes on.  If you are planning a video ad campaign, no matter how big or small, you should contact a SpotXchange sales rep (sales@spotxchange.com) to see for yourself how your video ad campaigns can really perform.

Mike Shehan, CEO

SpotXchange

Find out more here:  http://seattle.casualconnect.org/content.html#marketing

Follow the link below to view full article:
http://xboxpc.com/955538-Online-Games-Find-Success-in-a-Recession.html

I am interested to know if acceptance would change if survey respondents were asked specifically about retail sites who produce informational videos (WineLibraryTV comes to mind–note: I’m just using the show as an example as I’ve never seen an ad on any episode I’ve watched). For me, I would still watch Gary Vaynerchuck’s wild tastings. He’s so entertaining, I’d take an ad–even two! But, a host that wasn’t so engaging…I’d probably go another direction.

Here’s the article,

Most Say Ads a ‘Reasonable’ Cost of Free Online Video

Survey: Viewers Most Amenable to Ads in TV Shows, Movies but Not Amateur Video
By Megan McIlroy

Published: July 17, 2008

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Good news for the growing number of ad-supported video services popping up online: The majority of digital video consumers will find the inclusion of advertising a “reasonable” expectation for accessing free online video content.

That’s according to a new survey of U.S. internet users aged 12 and older conducted by market-research company Ipsos MediaCT in February 2008.

Give and take
“Nobody is going to tell you they love advertising,” said Adam Wright, director of Ipsos Media CT. “But the [survey] confirmed the notion that people get the give and take. That can be reassuring for many of the people who are trying to crack the code [of ad-subsidized video models].”

The percentage of internet users who found advertising to be a reasonable price of admission for free video content varies by content but, in general, respondents were more likely to embrace advertising in long-form professional programming. At least three in four digital video consumers said they would find it “reasonable” for advertising to appear in the free digital distribution of full-length TV shows and movies, while about two out of three said the inclusion of advertising would be reasonable with free access to music videos, short news or sports clips.

“If it’s premium content, people are willing to sit through ads. It’s something that consumers already expect,” said Mr. Wright.

Bad news for amateur content
But it’s a different story when it comes to amateur digital content, where viewers are much less likely to accept advertising as a price of admission. Just over half of the respondents in the survey who have downloaded or streamed a video online say they would find it “not reasonable” to have advertising embedded within free amateur or homemade video offerings.

That finding could raise an important question for video-sharing websites like You Tube that are diversifying content to include longer, professionally produced material. According to Mr. Wright, these providers will have to “carefully consider” ad-subsidized models since their current audience has grown accustomed to free streams without any advertising.

One way to approach advertising for different types of content is to use different kinds of advertising, Mr. Wright said. For instance, an amateur video might use a 15 second pre-roll or a pop-up ad, depending on consumer reaction.

Said Mr. Wright, “You have to get into what are consumers are OK with and what they aren’t, and [ask] when do you start to reach a negative impact?”

_________________________________________

Here’s a selection of responses from the Ipsos MediaCT survey:

How reasonable is it to have advertising in the following free video content?

Full-length TV show:
82% Very reasonable/somewhat reasonable
18% Not very reasonable/not at all reasonable

Full-length movies:
75% Very reasonable/somewhat reasonable
25% Not very reasonable/not at all reasonable

Music videos:
68% Very reasonable/somewhat reasonable
32% Not very reasonable/not at all reasonable

Short news or sports clips:
63% Very reasonable/somewhat reasonable
37% Not very reasonable/not at all reasonable

Movie/TV trailers or previews:
62% Very reasonable/somewhat reasonable
38% Not very reasonable/not at all reasonable

Amateur or homemade video clips:
48% Very reasonable/somewhat reasonable
52% Not very reasonable/not at all reasonable

12-day program
Start: 9/27/07
End: 10/8/07
Street Date: 10/3/07
Creative: Pre-Street, “Available Tuesday on DVD,” 9/27-10/2; Street, “Now Available,” 10/3-10/8

Total Video Impressions Delivered: 714,682
Total Companion Banner Impressions: 555,739
Click Through Rate: 1.51%

How did we do it? 
Matches were narrowed by publishers who accepted 15 second ads and 300×250 banners.
Data collected in the campaign’s early stages enabled optimization that powered the campaign’s success.

Campaign inventory
Casual gaming sites, pre-game ads
Video sites, in-stream ads

“Under a short timeline, SpotXchange delivered quality video and banner impressions for our DVD release campaign. Their targeting and optimization capabilities helped us drill down and reach an engaged and relevant audience.”   Michael Radiloff, EVP Marketing, Genius Products

You will notice these enhancements when you create a new channel or edit your existing channels.

• Media Kit - You can now upload a media kit—advertisers will have direct access to this document to help them make more informed decisions about your offering.
• Channel Image – You may likewise upload a thumbnail logo that will be used to graphically represent your properties in the SpotXchange marketplace.
• Enhanced Demographics – We have made the demographic profiles more comprehensive for advertisers. Publishers can now provide detailed demographic information about their audience, and designate which 3rd party measurement service (e.g. – comScore, Quantcast, etc.) provided the information. While this field remains optional, you are encouraged to complete it to the extent that you have user demographic data available—we have found that advertisers frequently turn to this type of information to guide their purchasing decisions.
• Ad Filters – There are several new content filters that you can apply to your channels to exclude additional unwanted ad categories: sweepstakes, religion, land based casinos and dietary supplements.
• InStream Ad Slot Position - To further help advertisers target their campaigns, you may now specify if you are showing instream ads in “pre”, “mid”, “post”, or multiple positions.
• InGame Ads – We have separated “casual gaming” advertising opportunities out into a distinct ad type, to better call attention to this growing niche in our marketplace. If you are a casual game publisher or network, you will want to update your profile to reflect that your channels represent casual gaming opportunities.
• InnerStream Ads – Publishers can now apply to serve our new overlay ad, called InnerStream, that we plan to launch later this year. Stay tuned.
• Network Bids – Finally, you are now able to set minimum CPM limits to ads targeted across network, separately from the minimum CPM you set for ads targeted specifically to your channels. By way of example, while you might want a $10 CPM minimum for ads specifically targeting your SpotXchange channels, you may be willing to accept an ad targeted to Wisconsin that runs across our network, at a CPM of only $5. This lower value ad would only be shown to your users from Wisconsin.

I encourage you to login and update all these new fields in your channel profiles at your earliest opportunity. Feel free to ping me if you have any questions. Doug@booyahnetworks.com

We likewise made some improvements to the UI to make the tools easier to navigate and browse, and to allow the advertiser to display their online campaign data the way they want to see it.

The publisher tools have likewise been improved. There is a new 7 day rolling report that provides a performance snapshot of the most recent 7 day calendar. The addition of sortable columns makes it easier for publishers to see relevant statistics about their channels, and should be particularly welcomed by some of our larger publishers who may have dozens of individual channels in our marketplace.

On the backside, we have completed the work that will allow us to provide white label advertiser and publisher platforms, and hope to launch our first white label network next month.