Straylight Forms Advertising R&D Partnership with Infohiway.

Seattle software development firm Straylight said it established an ongoing ad technology research and development partnership with the Rocky Mountain Internet’s search engine Infohiway.

As a part of the deal, Infohiway will run what it calls the Internet’s first AdActive ads on its site, to test the effectiveness of Straylight’s new online advertising software.

Infohiway sponsors Artuframe.com, Current Inc., emarketLive, FreeShop International, JustFlowers and NetObjects. It will run ads using the AdActive Response Bar, which is designed to allow users to interact with banner ads.

AdActive offers customers a number of standard options to tell advertisers what they think of their product or brand without being taken away from the content they are viewing. AdActive then records the user’s response so that it can be included in detailed brand/product perception reports and used to more effectively target future ads.

“AdActive allows our advertisers the ability to interact directly with consumers,” said Jeremy J. Black, vice president of Infohiway/RMI. “Advertisers will also be able to look at what people think about their brand and products while giving Web surfers the ability to actively shape their online ad experience without registering or giving up their online anonymity.”

Straylight said it also will work with Infohiway to develop a version of AdActive for Ad Cafi, a Rocky Mountain Internet ad delivery system for Web sites.

“Our partnership with Infohiway/RMI allows us to test the AdActive system in an engaged and growing site,” said Dan Arnall, marketing director for Straylight. “Infohiway/RMI’s commitment to innovation and diverse product development makes them a fantastic partner for our company’s commitment to a future where AdActive is a standard add-on component for ad delivery systems like Ad Cafi.”

The Infohiway AdActive ads will be the market’s first exposure to Straylight’s technology. AdActive’s Response Bar, a small footprint JavaScript applet, is made to allow an individual to pass along positive or negative responses to an ad, “clip” an ad for later use or even cancel an ad from being shown again.

Because of AdActive’s inherent ability to record and maintain their visitors’ disposition towards particular advertisements, Infohiway said it can recover opportunities that were previously wasted showing inappropriately targeted ads.

AdActive currently supports the NetGravity AdServer. To see Infohiway’s AdActive campaign in action, click here.