NetGravity First to Integrate Online Marketing Solutions with
Microsoft Windows Media Technologies, Enabling Advertisers/Publishers
to Dynamically Insert Multimedia Ads Into Videos Online
High-Impact, Bandwidth Adjustable, Video-in-Video Ad Banners Optimize
Online Campaigns; CNN Interactive Advertisers Gain Significantly
Improved Click-Through Rates
SAN MATEO, Calif., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/NEWSdesk -- NetGravity
(Nasdaq: NETG), the market leader in online advertising and direct
marketing management solutions, today announced it has integrated the
company's proven AdServer software and AdCenter service solutions
with the Microsoft Windows Media Technologies platform, providing
online advertisers with more rich media options. The integrated
solutions will now enable advertisers and publishers to insert banner
and multimedia advertising directly into video clips online, which
automatically adjust to accommodate the bandwidth of Web users,
offering advertisers one of the most comprehensive interactive ad
serving capabilities on the market. CNN Interactive is one of the
first publishers to take advantage of the new AdServer integration to
dynamically serve rich media marketing messages directly within news
clips online.
CNN Interactive utilizes NetGravity's AdServer solution to insert
highly compelling multimedia advertising and website promotions into
news video online. The ten-second rich media marketing messages are
served to visitors as CNN news clips download.
"All advertisers taking advantage of the NetGravity and Microsoft
integration are at the very least quadrupling their usual
click-through rates," said Mike Stoeckel, director, business
development, interactive advertising systems for CNN Internet
Technologies. "By integrating Windows Media Technologies with
AdServer, NetGravity now provides CNN Interactive with a full-service
solution that not only manages, targets and analyzes ad inventory,
but effectively supports the rich media advertising that best
complements our site's highly interactive format."
The integrated AdServer solution leverages Microsoft's ability to
adjust online media to fit the bandwidth requirements of individual
users, enabling publishers to serve marketing messages that best
complement visitors' network capacity. The Windows Media Technologies
integration enables AdServer to serve compressed rich media
advertising according to user's network capacity as quickly and
efficiently as possible.
"Our Internet customers are looking for a profitable business model
for their streaming media activities," said Gary Schare, lead product
manager for Windows Media Technologies at Microsoft Corp. "The
combination of our Windows Media Technologies platform and
NetGravity's online marketing solutions provides these sites with an
easy and comprehensive solution for streaming media ad insertion."
According to Jupiter Communications' October 1998 report, "Ad Models:
Navigating the Journey Beyond the Banner," Internet advertisers are
eager for new, attention-getting ad models. "Several factors --
gradually improving technologies, widening bandwidth, growing
consumer awareness of ads -- are driving the evolution of
increasingly interactive and diverse ad forms," reads the Jupiter
report. "Advertisers will continue pushing to rise above the growing
clutter and publishers will be pressured to satisfy their demands."
About NetGravity
NetGravity is a leading provider of mission-critical online
advertising and direct marketing solutions. NetGravity delivers a
range of comprehensive software and service solutions to reliably
manage, target and analyze online campaigns for advertising agencies,
Web publishers, merchants and networks of sites. The company's
worldwide customer base numbers more than 325, including many of the
leading advertising agencies and most frequently visited websites.
NetGravity was founded in 1995 and has headquarters in San Mateo,
Calif. NetGravity's common stock trades on The Nasdaq Stock
Market(SM) under the symbol NETG. For more information, please call
+1 650-425-6000 or visit http://www.netgravity.com.
