"What's very interesting is that there hasn't been much innovation in online advertising over the past few years," said Frank Addante, who is the CEO and founder of the Rubicon Project. Keep in mind that he is one of the pioneers of online advertising. After all, he took L90 public and eventually sold it to DoubleClick.
Well, this week, the Rubicon Project raised $6 million from lead investor Clearstone. In other words, Addante now has a chance to see if he will be the one to bring innovation back to the space.
Yesterday he gave me a demo of the new platform, and so far it looks pretty slick.
"We believe there are about 300 advertising networks in the US," said Addante. "Of course, there are those from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). But there are also many niche networks."
So, with all the choices, how can a web publisher manage things? With Rubicon, there are detailed ratings on each ad network -- it's kind of like what Nielson does for television shows. What's more, Rubicon helps to build campaigns that maximize returns for publishers. "In building our service, we realized that there are lots of inefficiencies in online advertising," sad Addante. "But with our system, it's as if things are on auto pilot."
Interestingly enough, Rubicon is Addante's sixth startup. And it certainly looks like he's learned a lot along the way.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
Comfort Zone Investing: The unmighty dollar
Five winners of a weak dollar
For a quick-read on the U.S. economy, check the price of gasoline
