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Legal Fraud or AOL’s Platform A Third Party Ad Serving Inventory Solutions

by: Bena Roberts Monday, August 4th, 2008

AOL has launched its mobile third party ad-serving solution.

What is Platform-a.com?
Remember that AOL bought Third Screen Media – well, it is using this to offer a new way for publishers to manage and allocate inventory.

So what does this mean?
Basically, it sort of solves or helps the lack of inventory problem. Basically it offers mobile publishers the chance to access multiple ad networks for monetizing sites.

What is “inventory portioning?”

So, again the focus is on the way in which advertising inventory is allocated. At the moment, you have a mobile site and you are given options for publishers with CPM. This is managed within a common mobile advertising campaign management system.

The inventory portioning is what AOL has added. It is user interface that offers a single-view of stock – so publishers can manage % of inventory – like a stock controller. The percentages can be managed by inventory, ad network, location and area – giving the publisher more power for pushing relevant adverts.

From the press release
“Platform-A sees mobile as a key component of the digital advertising landscape, and is aggressively focused on building its mobile advertising business,” said Lynda Clarizio, President of Platform-A. “Today’s launch makes it easier than ever for publishers to monetize their ad inventory. By implementing inventory partitioning as a part of Third Screen Media’s third-party ad-serving solution, we’re offering publishers a powerful new way to manage, control and prioritize the distribution of inventory to their advertising partners.”

What we think?
I am trying, but finding it hard to get orgasmic over this service or solution. Basically, it seems that the tool for publishers takes the onus away from campaign management system and on the publisher for pushing, finding, allocating and securing mobile advertising inventory.

On top of that, the common man doesn’t get mobile advertising and some campaigns I have seen (and the first one I ever did) saw me lose tons of money instantly. This is because people don’t understand how to manage a mobile advertising campaign. So actually, this is quite worrying. Because it sounds like a great deal.

BUT…

If consumers don’t know what they are doing – then they might just click “pre-chosen alternatives”. These alternatives are for the advertising agencies benefit and not the publisher and I believe is equivalent to a form of legal fraud.