FAST, the Comeback Kid?
Monday, February 5th, 2007;
-- Andy Beal |
Remember the days when you actually checked your web site’s rankings on AllTheWeb.com? [cue flashback]
Well, the company that originally brought us AllTheWeb, FAST Search & Transfer, is back, and this time they want to help site owners offer their own paid search platform without the need to involve those pesky Google or Yahoo kids.
FAST will today unveil their new AdMomentum platform, designed to be a one-stop solution for publishers and networks looking to cut out the middle-men of search.
“It’s like a digital marketplace in a box,” said Sue Feldman, an IDC Research vice president who reviewed early versions of AdMomentum. “This gives Web sites an opportunity to become more independent and take more control over their revenue stream.”
And what motivation does FAST hope will drive web site owners to use AdMomentum?
“Publishers are not going to want another hand in their pockets every time they are selling ads,” said Perry Solomon, Fast’s vice president of strategic market development. Solomon declined to discuss AdMomentum’s pricing model.
I’m not so sure. Agreed, there are enough “big brand” sites out there to tease FAST into thinking they’d do business with them, but will they really switch? Running your own ad network is a lot of hassle, especially when Google and Yahoo are there, ready to hold your hand. FAST could possibly pick up a few big wins, but I suspect that all that will really happen is AdMomentum will be used as a bargaining chip with existing partners, to negotiate for a better share of the ad spend. If you own a huge network, and currently use Google for the back-end, you can bluff your intention to switch, and force Google to offer a better percentage share.
Will AdMomentum make any significant impact? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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February 5th, 2007 at 11:16 am
[…] According to an article at Marketing Pilgrim, a new product being announced today is designed to remove the granddaddies of middlemen in search advertising: the search engines. […]
February 5th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
[…] Andy Beal at Marketing Pilgrim is skeptical about AdMomentum. Rob Hof believes publishers will welcome the change. Fast Sphere It […]
February 6th, 2007 at 12:34 am
[…] Some are pretty excited about the idea, others like Andy Beal are don’t buy it. First, they really aren’t the first to do this as Quigo’s AdSonar and ContextWeb have been around for a few years now. Second, while the time is probably more ripe today for publishers to be ready to roll their own contextual solution for advertisers, I still don’t think the majority of the publisher world is ready to do such a thing. […]
February 6th, 2007 at 12:52 am
[…] Andy Beal at Marketing Pilgrim is skeptical about AdMomentum. Rob Hof believes publishers will welcome the change. […]
February 6th, 2007 at 6:42 am
What about companies which already have a host of advertisers and have built up relations with them for years (newspapers, yellow pages etc)? How are they meant to monetize that relationship without loosing control?
To say, what’s the point - Google and Overture are the biggest - is naive. If you actually look at the percentage share of global advertising revenue which Google has acquired in a few short years you’ll see that it’s a minute fraction and a very targeted niche area of the market. Where is tv, radio, print, film, banner advertising, etc etc?
Propriety services can’t scale because they require business infrastructure, propriety applications can scale as they leverage the market expertise of businesses which have been operating in their domain and excelling at providing those specialist services to customers for years. To assume that a new Kid on the block, no matter how lyrical his rapping might be, could take on industry heavyweights at their own game is short sighted at best.
February 6th, 2007 at 9:47 am
[…] However, some commentators are already cynical about the success of such a program, suggesting that although Fast may bring in a few big partnerships, the problems involved with running a custom-built adnetwork platform will be beyond most webmasters. >> Discuss this story in the Platinax Business Forum […]
February 6th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
If this system can optimize between, Y!, G!, in house ads, display networks, etc. then it’s perfect.
February 7th, 2007 at 12:57 am
[…] Andy Beal at Marketing Pilgrim is skeptical about AdMomentum. Rob Hof believes publishers will welcome the change. […]
February 7th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Andy.. I can say that ContextWeb agrees with your assessment. We’ve been down that road (Fast’s) and it doesn’t make sense. Unless you’re an enormous site… it might work BUT, you’ll still have remnant AND you’ll still be working with ad networks to help pay the bills.
February 7th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
[…] Some are pretty excited about the idea, others like Andy Beal are don’t buy it. First, they really aren’t the first to do this as Quigo’s AdSonar and ContextWeb have been around for a few years now. Second, while the time is probably more ripe today for publishers to be ready to roll their own contextual solution for advertisers, I still don’t think the majority of the publisher world is ready to do such a thing. […]
March 1st, 2007 at 7:37 am
[…] Andy Beal at Marketing Pilgrim is skeptical about AdMomentum. Rob Hof believes publishers will welcome the change. […]