Fledgling Media Buyers Go Where the Auction Is.

THE INTERNET has changed how marketers advertise, but will it change the way they buy ads?

Goaded by Google, which has drawn attention to new ad model ideas, some firms are tinkering with the time-honored system for buying and selling ads. Take Peter Sideris, vp-Celebrity Vision, New York. He's auctioning space on his digital billboard at the Holland Tunnel entrance, 700 seconds per hour for six months, on eBay. Bidding starts at $25,000. "This would normally go for $265,000. I hope to bring in new customers," he said. "I'll give them a chance to buy the media cheaper."

Sideris isn't alone. Rocketboom, the popular video blog, or vlog, is going to sell its first-ever ads on eBay in 15-second to one-minute blocks during its daily three-minute snarkfest (which has 200,000 daily viewers) for the week of March 6. The buyer has to hand over control of the ad creative to Rocketboom. The winning bid? $40,000. (The company declined to name the winner.)

Then there's Spot Runner, Los Angeles, an Internet-based TV ad agency focused on serving small businesses. Spot Runner works like this: Enter information about your business, pay a $349 customization fee, enter the dates and cable channels on which you want your ad to run, and the engine generates a recommended media plan. You can choose among thousands of pre-produced ads, edit, purchase and be done in half an hour. "People think ads are super-expensive. But we are serving a market that agencies haven't focused on," said founder David Waxman.

Other companies looking to get in on the action include Experclick, Santa Barbara, Calif., which calls itself the "open market for online advertising" where "the market dictates pricing instead of a rate card." Right Media, New York, has a product for advertisers called Yield Manager, which is auction-based. And networks like Federated Media, AdBrite, and others are matching advertisers to blogs.

What's driving the experimentation? Google's moves toward an Internet-based system of buying and selling ads--in particular its agreement to buy dMarc Broadcasting, Newport Beach, Calif., for $1.24 billion last month--have been closely watched. DMarc connects advertisers directly to radio stations via its automated ad platform, which simplifies the sales process, scheduling, delivery and reporting of radio ads, letting advertisers more efficiently buy and track campaigns. So, those who buy time on Google will be buying more than just Internet ads.

Google is also testing a new auction-based print program. The program will let advertisers choose ad size, set a price, and decide how to use the space. Bidders pay only if they win the auction. Google is testing with a range of magazines, including Car and Driver, Road & Track, Dwell, Martha Stewart Living, and MacAddict, among other titles.

"The auction premise is interesting, one upon which our lifeblood depends," said Patrick Keane, head of ad sales and strategy at Google. "We'd like our advertisers to buy radio advertising through an AdWords interface," Keane said, referring to the Google system.

Keane said such a system will eliminate waste, since Google tries to match the ad content as closely as possible to the target consumer.

"If they know Vegas is rainy and cold, they'll serve a different radio ad then if it were hot," he said. Keane didn't discount the possibility of Google someday selling TV inventory, but said Google is "focused on print, radio and online right now."

PHOTO (COLOR): Whole 'vlog': Rocketboom sells out--to the highest bidder.

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By Diane Anderson