IAR Bits and Bytes for Friday

Study: Ford Firestone Ads are Top Internet Banners

In an effort to counter bad news about the Bridgestone/Firestone tire recall, Ford Motor Company’s $3.5 million online media buy made it the top online advertiser, in terms of impressions, for September, according to a recent study.

The campaign really consists of a single ad, a static, standard-sized banner with the message, “For official Ford News on the Firestone recall, click here.” The ad directs surfers to a company news page.

J. Walter Thompson, Detroit, designed the ad.

Ford’s hefty media buy put it in the top 20 online advertisers, and with more than 50 impressions, made it the most-viewed banner on the Web, according to Jupiter Media Metrix division AdRelevance

The Ford buys include, high-traffic portals like iWon.com (with more than 19 million impressions) and Yahoo (16.7 million); news sites such as CNN.com (5.3 million) and automotive sites like Microsoft Carpoint (4.6 million).

Avenue A, Spark Online Introduce Media Planning Suites

Online media buyer and server Avenue A and ad transactional technology firm Spark Online this week rolled out products that integrate and automate online media planning, negotiation and buying.

Both Seattle-based Avenue A’s Atlas platform, and San Francisco-headquartered Spark said their products automate media outlet research, buy negotiation, result analysis and optimization.

Atlas also serves, optimizes and handles reporting.

MediaMpact uses a publisher database for planning that it calls a “Smart Media Kit,” comprised of publishers who volunteer to be audited.

Promotions.com launches Universal Home Video promotion

Online promotional marketer Promotions.com this week announced a new Internet promotion for Universal Studios Home Video to promote recently released horror and thriller titles.

The “Universal Thrillers” game, in which entrants must unscramble a message for a chance to win prizes, using a decoder code they receive with a purchase of a Universal Studios Home Video or DVD.

Prizes include trips to Universal Studios theme parks, and Universal Studios merchandise, including clothing and posters. The contest runs through December 31.

At press time, the online promotion, which requests users’ opt-in information, was malfunctioning and did not let entrants beyond the registration screen.