Gannett's PointRoll Launches New Rich Media Ad Tool

By: E&P Staff PointRoll, the wholly owned subsidiary of Gannett Co. Inc., announced the launch Thursday of a product to tool to target, measure and change rich media online display ad in real time.

AdControl allows brands and their agencies to produce, target and delivery the ads dynamically with customized creative elements including video, content, images and offers. The tasks can be accomplished in real time by non-tech personnel using an online interface.

PointRoll said AdControl ?is unique in that any ad size and rich media format -- expandable, pre-expandable, polite, or floater -- can be instantly updated and micro-targeted based on Web site, placement, geography or publisher-generated behavioral, demographic, or contextual data.?

The intent, said PointRoll CEO Jason Tafler, is to ensure brands and agencies ?can easily control and deliver the right message at the right time to each individual user in the most scalable and efficient manner possible."

Among the rich media metrics AdControl measures are interaction rate, brand time, and click through. Results are aggregated by individual creative and delivery variables, which PointRoll says allows for robust testing and optimization.

?The technology will identify each ad version created and evaluate its performance as a single unit and against other versions, or as part of an entire campaign,? PointRoll?s announcement said.

Keith Morris, group director of digital communications at RetailFirst Team Detroit, said the product solves his agency?s specific challenge of working with a multitude of Ford dealer groups that are constantly changing offers and ad approaches. ?With AdControl, anyone on our team can simply change it in the interface and the ad is instantly updated and live,? Morris said.

"In our experience serving more than 200 billion rich media ads, we've come to understand the challenges creative and media agencies face in producing, trafficking and measuring the performance of multiple ad versions within a campaign," said Deann Harvey, senior vice president of sales for PointRoll.

A demonstration of AdControl is available here.