Four ad startups are banding together to challenge the dominance of Google and Microsoft in search and online advertising, Erick Schonfield at TechCrunch reports.
The two megacompanies operate massive networks across millions of sites and can serve up comprehensive data on how users are interacting with ads, so why would an advertiser go with anyone else?
The Consortium for Accountable Advertising includes three New York startups and one from Virginia so far. The companies agreed to share data and adopt some standards to make their collective network as valuable as Google (GOOGL)’s one-stop shop.
The founding members are:
- Cross Commerce Media, which monitors offline and online campaign performance together.
- Clickable, which already billed itself as making things “easy for marketers to manage performance across all major ad networks, including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft (MSFT).”
- MediaMath, a demand-side platform specializing in cross-exchange advertising management services.
- TARGUSinfo, a 15-year old company based in Vienna, Virginia that specializes in real-time analytic.
They’re looking for more companies to join.
The Consortium for Accountable Advertising comes two weeks after New York-based Yext launched a similar initiative that Schonfield called an anti-Google coalition. Yext makes it possible for business owners to update their listings across several sites.
New York will probably see more efforts like this thanks to the wealth of advertising startups and Google’s eroding credibility.
ajeffries [at] observer.com | @adrjeffries
