AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft Sales Get Good Grades in U.K.

AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo now provide U.K. agencies with some of the best overall digital ad sales services, according to a new survey. The report, which placed behavioral ad network Specific Media at the top of its ranking, suggests the recent restructuring of sales teams at the portals has had “a positive effect” on the way they are received by advertisers.

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising’s Online Media Owners’ Survey, which questioned agency media buyers on their attitudes towards the U.K.’s biggest online media owners, also found that major newspaper sites experienced substantial declines in service levels since the study was last conducted in March.

Behavioral ad network Specific Media topped the rankings, with 84 percent of respondents reporting their “overall experience of dealing with [the firm] is a good one.” By comparison, Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo scored 64 percent, 62 percent, and 59 percent, respectively.

However, AOL’s reputation improved the most since March; the firm’s “overall experience” score rose by 15 percent in that period. The Telegraph.co.uk also managed strong growth with a rise of 13 percent, compared with noticeable declines for its news publisher rivals — News International and Guardian.co.uk — which experienced declines of around 14 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

According to the IPA, the purpose of the survey is to “highlight the levels of service media owners provide and outline where improvements can be made, with the aim of helping the growth of digital advertising.” Although there were “no real surprises” in the results, according to Pete Robins, deputy chairman of the IPAs Digital Media Group and managing partner of Agenda 21, he was encouraged by “overall improvement.”

Despite AOL’s overall strength, its social networking property Bebo saw the greatest declines in service, falling by 20 percentage points and lagging further behind Facebook, which racked up an overall experience score of 61 percent compared with Bebo’s 44 percent.

MoneySupermarket recorded the lowest overall experience score with 27 percent, closely followed by struggling broadcaster ITV.com with 28 percent.