Bid.Com Launches Advertising on its Canadian Site

Toronto-based Bid.Com International Inc. said it will introduce advertising on its Canadian site, using a new interface designed to accommodate banner ad space.

Bid.Com, which also operates an American auction site, will begin serving ads on the Canadian site on April 15 through a strategic alliance with Rogers Media Inc., an integrated media company in Canada.

The company said the addition of advertising to the revenue mix is a key element of the Its strategy to diversify its revenue sources and continue to increase its gross margins. Advertisers that have already signed on include cdplus.com Inc., a Canadian online music retailer, yellow.ca, a Canadian online business directory, and Indigo Books Music and Cafe.

Rogers New Media, a division of Rogers Media Inc., is handling sales as part of a Cdn$6.0 million marketing services agreement between the two companies. Advertising opportunities on the site include banners, merchant buttons and category sponsorships.

“Advertising on Bid.com will help companies break into Canada’s burgeoning e-commerce industry, which is projected to reach Cdn$10.5 billion at retail by the end of 1999,” said Jeff Lymburner, president of Bid.Com. “Bid.com users are typically male, between the ages of 26 and 45, with an average income of over Cdn$50,000.”

“Launched less than six months ago, our Canadian auction site continues to grow, reaching over 1.0 million page views in February and averaging 35,000 unique visits each week,” Lymburner said. “Although not yet near our U.S. volume. We look forward to replicating our experience in the U.S. where, since advertising was introduced in January 1999, click-through rates have averaged 3 percent, approximately three times the industry average.”