Bits and Bytes for February 18, 2004

Microsoft Names Ad Firm to Rep Partner Sites

Microsoft tapped 24/7 Real Media to sell and manage ads for its Windows Media Ad Partner Program, a network of approximately 45 music, movie, entertainment and radio Web sites that stream in Windows Media format.

24/7 Real Media will sell a range of formats on behalf of the sites, including streaming banner and video ads. More conventional banner and leaderboard units are also on the block. All ads are delivered via 24/7’s Open AdStream platform using Windows Media 9 Series player technology.

“We chose 24/7 because it offers an end-to-end solution for sales, management and reporting of streaming ads, offering us easy administration of our ad partner program,” said Jason Reindorp, group manager in the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft.

---

Godin Issues Call-to-Action for New E-Book

Seth Godin, author of last year’s New York Times bestseller “Purple Cow,” is soliciting the aid of marketers to produce a free e-book companion to his upcoming volume, “Free Prize Inside.”

Called “Bull Market 2004” and scheduled for May release, the e-book will take the form of a source guide for organizations seeking to make “truly great stuff.” To complete the work, Godin has issued an open call for superstar copywriters, brainstormers, designers and other creative types to get involved — and be written up — in the effort.

---

A New Search Tool for Marketers

Marketers now have an online search engine of their own. “Larry Chase’s Search Engine For Marketers” launched today as a free service allowing marketers to quickly find relevant sites in 40 marketing categories.

The tool’s value proposition is that it delivers between 10 and 35 handpicked recommendations per category, rather than the thousands or hundreds of thousands a Web-wide search is likely to turn up. All results pages feature brief editorial reviews and corresponding links culled from Chase’s “Web Digest For Marketers” email newsletter.

Categories include “Search Engine Optimization,” “Increasing Web site Traffic,” “Direct Marketing,” “E-mail Marketing,” “Web Analytics,” and numerous others. The site will sell ad space in each of these categories.