SQAD Inc. to launch online ad campaign cost-forecasting tool

National and local television media buyers have long had media cost planning and estimation tools via various research companies, but now media research company SQAD Inc. is about to extend its capabilities in to the realm of internet display advertising.

While online campaigns have long been paraded as one of the most measurable of marketing activities, the ability to forecast media-plan costs has been limited. SQAD’s new internet display advertising database of actual web media buys is set to become a valuable tool.

Maximizing available budgets is key in a period when online budgets aren’t always increasing at the rate at which Internet trends dictate.

SQAD’s tool is unique in that it can report the average cost of what advertisers negotiate for a unit of display advertising. How? Because the data supplied is from the agencies that actually make the buys.

“The Internet is uniquely positioned for a product like this,” said Neil Klar, SQAD president and CEO, via Brandweek. “People are already measuring Internet navigation with click-through rates, time spent per page, and numerous other measures, but until now, there has been no correlation between that data and how much is really being spent at the transaction level. Our Internet Display Advertising database will provide media and industry professionals with that intelligence.”

Tags: advertising forecast, advertising spending, budgets, display advertising, media planning