AdReady secures $10 million more in funding

It looks as if self-service advertising platform AdReady is here to stay. This week the company announced they had received an addition $10 million in funding. Since the company's launch in October, marketers have logged on to create their own accounts - and their own ads - in large numbers so that they would have more control over the ad product and their ad dollars.

by Kristina Knight

Rob Ransom, vice president of marketing and products for AdReady said the additional funding will help advertisers in two ways. First by helping AdReady to build their own employee base and then by building the service itself.

"We are beginning to roll out more opportunities and better functionality for advertisers," said Ransom. He noted that since the October launch businesses of all sizes, from local shops to national chains, have begun using the platform to create their own ads.

"Many [advertisers] are using geographical-targeting to ensure their ads are targeted to consumers in their specific geographical area." With the AdReady platform advertisers can not only create their own ads but can determine which viewers actually see the ad. They can exclude or include specific areas.

Display ads have been around the Internet since its inception, however, search ads have taken precedence in recent months. Ransom says that will change as we move into 2008. "In 2007, advertisers realized that display advertising is a great assistance. A picture is worth 1000 words," said Ransom. "It's a fast-growing category, some research says [display is] growing faster than search."

That is not to say advertisers should ignore text or search advertising. Ransom explains that while display will begin to see a resurgence, marketers should not look at display as the solution to falling revenue. Any good ad campaign will include different forms of advertisers so that marketers can attract a wide audience.