Chris Dessi - Vice President zanox, Inc

Be a Part of the News: VOTE IN THE 'AD AGE' WEEKLY ONLINE POLLBACKGROUND: In Mark Zuckerberg's high-minded conception, one's collection of Facebook friends should reflect one's real-life social network by providing accurate data about users and by being a close-to-comprehensive map of all the important nodes in one's life. Yet there is evidence that people -- especially younger folks -- like to lie or at least fudge the truth on their social networks. But even more vexing is the question of whether Facebook can hit -- and maintain -- critical mass among adults. And for many adults, their online networks aren't representative of their real-life networks. THIS WEEK'S POLL QUESTION: Do you think MySpace and Facebook users' profiles are an honest reflection of who they are? VOTE & COMMENT for possible publication in next week's 'Advertising Age' at http://adage.com/poll?poll_id=93

It's that time of year again, when EVERYONE in the interactive space converges on NYC and hits Ad:Tech. This show has grown so rapidly in the past 3 years, that I think I'm not alone when I say that it's outgrown the current venue (Hilton Hotel). I'm hoping the organizers come around, and take a look at the Javits Center for next years. Let's face it folks, the Internet is here to stay, and things keep on growing....and growing!

I'll admit that although the venue is becoming less conducive to conduct business since we're such a rapidly growing industry, it's still the most productive show of the year for me. Everyone is there, and everyone wants to do business. You get some characters, but that's fine with me, I mean this is the online space right?

I noticed a few things this year, that I'm really looking forward to checking out (other than the parties)...although I think Crobar is still recovering from the tour de force of Internet folks that converges on the venue last year.

Last year I really didn't have any time to slip away to see any of the conference panel discussions etc. I'm really looking forward to hearing anything and everything I can about Performance Marketing and Consumer Behavior.

I'm particularly interested in hearing Global Perspectives on the Digital Revolution. I think that everyone in attending should view this panel. As the world gets smaller and smaller, we all need to be attentive to the true global village that the Internet presents us.

Of course what I'm truly interested in hearing is: Digital Advertising Networks: Making Sense of an Evolving and Expanding Landscape. This is right in my wheelhouse, and I think this is what everyone will be buzzing about this Ad:Tech. In the past year, we've seen unprecedented consolidation. Mergers and Acquisitions are at an all time high, and eyeballs are on us. Now is the time to execute, and take performance based networks to the next level.

Looking forward to seeing you all at Ad:Tech this year. Look for me at booth #333.

Take Care!

NEW YORK – Azoogle.com, Inc. (www.AzoogleAds.com), the New York-based online marketing solutions provider, officially announced that Blockbuster, Inc. named AzoogleAds as its Search Engine Marketing “Agency of Record.” The account is managed under Bazaar Advertising, a division of AzoogleAds.

This announcement comes on the heels of the successful integration between AzoogleAds and recently acquired Bazaar Advertising, a San Francisco-based search engine management and advertising technology company. This move calls further attention to the company’s expanded suite of search marketing services and ability to work with leading, top tier clients.

“Our strategy is to continue to grow our client’s customer acquisitions by coupling science and technology with real direct marketing savvy, not through incentive offers or gimmicks. The results we are seeing so far from the Blockbuster partnership shows that we are doing just that,” says Randy Nicolau, CEO of AzoogleAds.

About AzoogleAds:

AzoogleAds (www.AzoogleAds.com), founded in 2000, is an end-to-end online marketing solutions provider for advertisers, publishers and online affiliates. Initially a pioneer in performance-based marketing, AzoogleAds generates the highest volumes of quality traffic through its affiliate network, its proprietary search technologies and optimization, its in-house CPM/CPA/CPC Media Buying and the company’s unparalleled industry expertise. The AzoogleAds team delivers the most comprehensive and cost-effective strategic online marketing campaigns for advertisers and publishers of all sizes and across all industries through innovative technology and unrivaled knowledge in search and performance based marketing and media buying.

AzoogleAds is headquartered in New York, with offices in Toronto and San Francisco. They are members of the IAB, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), Shop.Org, the DMA and the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee. The company is privately held and backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Stripes Group.

AzoogleAds Branches Into SEM with Bazaar Acquisition
By Fred Aun, The ClickZ Network, Oct 2, 2007

In an effort to morph AzoogleAds into more than just a performance-based affiliate advertising specialist, the company has acquired Bazaar Advertising, a San Francisco search engine management and advertising player whose technology impressed AzoogleAds’ executives.
The decision to go beyond its niche in CPA-based affiliate networking has already proved fruitful for the New York-based company, said chief marketing officer Michael Sprouse. He said AzoogleAds, which handles affiliate advertising for Blockbuster Video, recently convinced the movie-rental giant to also use it for SEM.
“That’s really the one that we are most excited about so far,” said Sprouse. “We work with them in our affiliate business in big way. After a period of a few weeks, we really proved to them that we could manage their search as well and we are already in the process of running these campaigns with them.”
AzoogleAds also now offers media services, said Sprouse. “We built out a media buying team internally and we are doing media buys for a handful of pretty big clients. A lot of this stuff is in the early stages and we’re really excited about it.”
But when it came to search engine management, AzoogleAds decided acquisition, rather than internal expansion, was the better route. Sprouse noted Bazaar, a company that had about 20 employees, had “mostly small players” as customers, so the acquisition wasn’t about buying a client list.
“It was really a technology and optimization play for us,” he said.
Terms of the acquisition were not revealed, nor would Sprouse talk about new clients, other than Blockbuster, of the firm's fledgling SEM practice. AzoogleAds now has about 120 employees and offices in New York, Toronto “and now San Francisco,” said Sprouse.