AdForce to Handle Ad Serving, Optimization for uBid.com

Online B2C and B2B auction site uBid.comThursday announced its choice of fellow CMGI company AdForce to serve and target its on-site advertising.

Ad serving player AdForce will become the exclusive provider of online advertising management and delivery for excess inventory auction site uBid.com, the companies announced.

Through the deal, AdForce will serve more than 150 million text and banner ad impressions per month for uBid.com, which receives more than 3 million unique monthly visitors.

AdForce will also enable uBid.com’s advertisers to target their ads in specific product categories on the site.

Both AdForce and uBid.com are majority-owned by CMGI, Inc. , although company officials said this did not factor into the final decision.

“AdForce is capable of moving at the necessary pace to enable our advertisers to take advantage of the active, e-commerce-savvy consumer base visiting our site each day,” said uBid.com advertising sales director Brian Williams.

uBid.com is thus banking that AdForce’s scalable ad management and delivery services can keep pace with its rapidly growing advertising needs. uBid.com’s U.S. product sales rose from $48 million in 1998 to $205 million in 1999, with 70 percent of sales coming from business-to-consumer transactions.

The auction site had used DoubleClick‘s ad-serving system DART as part of its agreement with ad sales representatives, until officials decided an ad server of their own was in order.

“We felt that in order for us to maximize revenue, we needed more control over our advertising solutions,” Williams said. “We looked at various ways to do this and selected AdForce.”

“AdForce’s leadership position in Internet advertising delivery and management is based on our commitment to meet the needs of our customers with proven, reliable technology and dedicated service,” said AdForce chief executive officer Chuck Berger.

“Earning the trust of uBid.com “sends a clear message that our central, server-based ad management and delivery solution delivers consistent, positive results.”