Google launches display ad exchange

The system, called ‘Ad Exchange’ will emulate Google’s exisiting AdWords scheme, and marks the culmination of the search giants $3.1bn takeover of display ad firm DoubleClick in 2008. 

In an announcement on its blog, Google said the system lets advertisers and publishers to trade space for display advertising across hundreds of thousands of sites all over the web.  

The new service will contend with similar ad exchanges offered by rivals AOL and Yahoo.  

Yahoo currently provides display advertising for around 120,000 companies, following its purchase of Right Media in 2007.  

Neal Mohan, Google's vice president of product management, said: "With a multitude of display ad formats, and thousands of websites, it often takes thousands of hours for advertisers to plan and manage their display ad campaigns," he said. "With this complexity, lots of advertisers today just don't bother, or don't invest as much as they would like." 

"On the other side of the equation, some publishers are left with up to 80% of their ad space unsold. It's like airlines flying with their planes mostly empty... We believe that a better system built on better technology can help grow the display advertising pie and benefit everyone," Mohan added.

********************************

Add Netimperative to Twitter