Microsoft Invites Online Advertising Players to Test Its Ad Playing Field

The ad:tech New York conference was the perfect moment for Microsoft to send out invitations to online advertising industry players to come and test its playing field. The Redmond company is planning to debut the test-driving of a new federated system for online advertising built by AdECN, a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. The software giant revealed that the AdECN exchange model would bring a functionality which is not shared by any other online ad exchange system.

“Our goal is to provide a fair and level playing field for all the online advertising industry players to play on,” revealed Jeff Green, co-founder of AdECN. “The federated system simplifies online buying and selling. It will allow ad networks to use their own tools in which they have invested large amounts of time and money, to connect advertisers and publishers across the industry.”

Essentially, the new federated system developed as an extension of the AsECN platform is a replica of the New York Stock Exchange model. The Redmond company is working to deliver what is has defined as a “neutral auction house that automates the buying and selling of online display advertising”.

Via the new exchange model, Microsoft is delivering advanced flexibility in the hands of ad networks. In this regard, the company informed that players in its ad exchange model would be able to use their own proprietary technology, including optimization tools and solutions designed to perform behavioral and demographic targeting.

“Since being acquired by Microsoft, we now have the fuel we needed to build and test our new model,” Green added. “Pricing every ad impression in a neutral auction environment levels the playing field and will help us start to address the pricing issues we’ve seen in display marketing.”