Monday, February 22, 2010

Google Is On A Shopping Spree...

When Google goes on an acquisition spree, people notice. Google recently announced that it is purchasing Teracent, which is a startup company that specializes in a method to create display ads that are optimized in real-time. Essentially, "Teracent’s targeting platform can takes thousands of elements from a display ad and then regroup them instantly based on various factors, like the geographic location of a website visitor or the past behavior of ad viewers." I find this technology intriguing and can only imagine that advertising technology will continue to grow in sophistication. Teracent's website claims that the company is trying to blend "the art of advertising with the science of measurability." I believe this is an important statement because it emphasizes that online advertising is useless without the science of measurability. It is on this scientific level that I believe we will see groundbreaking innovations over the next couple years.

As Teracent claims, it is no longer necessary to rotate the same five flash ads. Instead, online advertising technology will continue to evolve so that the impact of each impression is maximized. Who would have thought five years ago that we would have companies like Teracent using machine learning technology to select the optimal creative elements for each ad impression based on a real-time analysis of which items will convert from impressions into sales! I am excited to see what the industry comes up with next.

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