Engage Unveils a Multitude of Initiatives

Timing its release of information to coincide with the Jupiter Online Advertising Conference, Engage Inc. on Wednesday unleashed a flurry of new programs, including a new unique visitor auditing service and partnerships in the incentive space.

The I/PRO division of the many-tentacled CMGI advertising company said it will now be offering an audit service that measures a number of unique visitors to a site, as well as measuring reach, frequency and duration of visit. The company says its is the only service that actually counts the number of unique visitors to a site, rather than relying on a panel, such as those used by Media Metrix and Nielsen//NetRatings.

“Sites have been demanding unique visitor counts in their audits because it gives them the most reliable and accurate picture of their audience,” said Bill Matthews, general manager of Engage I/PRO.

Another new area of business for Engage will be incentive programs. The company is teaming with Yclip, an online incentives marketing infrastructure company, and iQ.COM, which offers infrastructure for loyalty and incentive programs. Engage’s competitors — DoubleClick, 24/7 Media and L90 — have all either built or bought capabilities in the space, and this signals Engage’s agreement that incentives are a necessary component of a one-stop-shop strategy.

The incentive programs will include sweepstakes, digital coupons, and surveys, and will enable Engage to further grab offline retail clients. The online coupons, which consumers can get by clicking on banner ads, can be redeemed at traditional retail outlets, with consumers receiving a rebate on their pre-registered credit card. That capability, developed by Yclip, allows Engage to prove to advertisers the effectiveness of such campaigns.

Additionally, Engage partnered with YellowBrix, a Web site personalization company, to incorporate Engage ProfileServer, the company’s profiling application, into its product offering. YellowBrix will provide its customers with the application on an outsourced basis.