Toward a $200B Online Ad Market
Frank Addante, CEO of Rubicon Project blogged last week about his pitch at the Digital Publishing Summit. His basic premise: The $30B online ad industry is too complex and inefficient for advertisers and publishers alike, and if it were more efficient, it might be more like a $200B market.
His prescription for achieving this?
What if we [the online advertising ecosystem]:
- create an open market
- make it easy for advertisers to buy (easier than broadcast and print)
- deliver value to the consumer (through advertising)
- unlock the benefits of data; safely
- embrace privacy and put it in the hands of the consumer (where it belongs!)
- provide a risk-free environment where publishers are safe to leverage the billions of dollars that they’v collectively invested into their brands
We at Azigo emphatically agree, especially points 3 through 6 above. But maybe not quite in the way Frank is thinking.
- Azigo will help publishers deliver value to the consumer, funded through advertising.
- Azigo will empower consumers to unlock the benefits of their own data, allowing them to control who has access to it, under what terms, and in exchange for what value.
- Azigo is building a system that actually does put privacy in the hands of consumers, in a powerful opt-in way. This is in sharp contrast to the mostly ignored opt-out approach that the industry is currently embracing in the name of self-regulation.
- Azigo will enable publishers to engage directly with their audience, freeing them from the privacy risk of allowing third-party data collectors onto their site.
Are you a publisher or data management platform (DMP) provider that wants direct access to consumer opt-in data? Give us a call, or stay tuned for more.
How many people delete or block third-party cookies?
This post is a place to keep track of the sources of this info. So far I’ve only found a few numbers. Must keep digging.
30% of users delete cookies according comments by Jules Polenetsky on a panel at the W3C Workshop on Web Tracking and Privacy
40% of users delete or block according to OpenTracker.net
36+% of Australian Internet users delete their third-party cookies in a month according to comScore report (2011)
76% of Safari users block third party cookies according to Gibson Research. Note: This is super-high because Safari is the only browser that blocks third-party cookies by default
Azigo, Inc. Expands Executive Team
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Azigo, Inc. Expands Executive Team to Give Individuals Control Over Their Online Advertising Profile
WELLESLEY, MA – March 25, 2011 – Azigo, Inc (www.azigo.com) announced today a new lineup of senior executives. This enhanced team is poised to deliver a free-to-consumer downloadable app that addresses the privacy crisis created by the excesses of 3rd-party behavioral tracking, and provides a solution to the do-not-track problem in the interactive advertising industry.
Shan Franklin was appointed Vice President of Business Development. Franklin is a nearly 20-year veteran of the digital advertising and publishing industry, having led sales and business development teams at companies such as Adify, ZEDO, Adflight, and Internet advertising pioneer, Flycast Communications.
Valeska O’Leary was appointed Director of User Experience. A user experience architect, O’Leary has an eclectic background covering information architecture, interactive design, and application development with companies such as IDG, Biogen, Wolters Kluwer/UpToDate, Fidelity, State Street, and Microsoft.
Paul Trevithick, Azigo CEO commented on these new appointments:
“We are excited to have Shan and Valeska join our team. Shan is an experienced leader at bringing revolutionary new products to the advertising industry. He will lead our initial sales effort to publishers, ad networks, and advertisers. Valeska brings a sensibility to what real people actually do online that will shape Azigo as a universal tool for privacy protection and identity management for online and mobile platforms.”
Laurent Ohana, managing partner of Parkview TMB (www.parkviewventures.com), an investor in Azigo, was elected Executive Chairman of Azigo. Commenting on Ohana’s new role, Trevithick stated:
“Azigo is positioned to take advantage of structural changes that will rewrite the rules of behavioral targeting and online advertising in general. I asked Laurent to assume a more active role with Azigo to help us navigate new strategic initiatives including fund raising and strategic partnerships.”
Azigo, Inc. – www.azigo.com – is a leading developer of user-centric, identity and personalization technology for the web and mobile devices. Azigo’s products provide individuals with visibility and control of the data collection activities of third parties. By partnering with Azigo web publishers, merchants, advertisers and service providers can establish a trusted, direct relationship with their users, gaining higher quality, opt-in data that can be used to improve personalization, service, conversion, and advertising.
Media Contacts:
Azigo, Inc.
Wellesley Hills, MA
Tom Carroll
781-416-5136
media@azgio.com
www.azigo.com
Parkview Investments TMB
New York, NY
Anil Jaladi
212-832-1262
info@parkviewventures.com
www.parkviewventures.com
Azigo Completes Additional Financing to Enter Interest-Based Online Advertising Data Market
BOSTON, Massachusetts (November 18, 2010) – Azigo, Inc. this month closed the second tranche of its Series B Financing. Together with an earlier tranche completed in March 2010, this brings the total raised for the year to $2.25 million. Azigo is using the financing to expand into the interest-based interactive advertising market by providing individuals the tools to visualize, manage and directly benefit from the behavioral and other personal data currently being collected about them on the web. This most recent financing was provided by Parkview Ventures – www.parkviewventures.com – and current shareholders of Azigo. In connection with this funding, Laurent Ohana, managing partner of Parkview, has joined the Azigo Board of Directors.
“The Web is ready for a paradigm shift that gives people a voice in determining how information about them can be collected, shared and used by the web sites they visit each and every day” stated Paul Trevithick, CEO and co-founder of Azigo. “We intend to give individuals the tools to reclaim control of their data at the source – their PC, phone or other device – and to enable users to make this valuable information available to publishers and other companies they trust in return for free content and personalized services” added Trevithick.
Azigo is leveraging a long history in the user-managed identity space, having done work for many customers including Google, Equifax, PayPal, the Better Business Bureau, and others. These new tools build on the open-source Higgins Personal Data Service (higgins-project.org), built by Azigo. Azigo technology is currently being rolled out by Mydex – mydex.org – in the UK.
About Azigo
Azigo, Inc. – www.azigo.com – is a leading developer of user-centric, identity and personalization technology for the web and mobile devices. Azigo’s products provide visibility into the data collection activities of the visited web sites, and give people full control over what personal data to trade in exchange for offered benefits. With Azigo, web publishers, merchants, advertisers and service providers can establish a trusted, direct relationship with their users, gaining higher quality, opt-in data that can be used to improve personalization, service, conversion, and advertising.
Azigo, Inc.
Wellesley Hills, MA
Tom Carroll
781-416-5136
media@azgio.com
www.azigo.com
