Digital Marketing 24 February

24-02-2006

by Ciara O'Brien

DoubleClick sells e-mail unit to Epsilon | How much would you pay for a web ad?

DoubleClick sells e-mail unit to Epsilon: DoubleClick has sold its e-mail solutions unit to Epsilon Interactive in a deal worth about USD90 million. According to reports, the deal was a bid by Epsilon, which is part of Alliance Data Systems Corporation and formerly known as Bigfoot Interactive, to strengthen its offerings in the e-mail market.

The move will create an organisation with about 300 employees and a global presence.

"As a recognised leader in the industry, DoubleClick E-mail Solutions' client-centric marketing services will undoubtedly enhance Epsilon Interactive's ability to deliver effective, flexible solutions that meet and exceed any marketers needs and expectations," claimed Mike Iaccarino, president of Epsilon.

The news has not generated much surprise; industry watchers have been expecting some sort of break-up of the business since the acquisition of DoubleClick by Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity last year.

How much would you pay for a web ad?: Most companies try to get as much value for money as possible when it comes to digital advertising; however, one site is out to test marketers' limits. MostExpensiveInternetAd is hoping to see just how much people will pay for advertising on the website, and in the process aims to become one of the world's most popular websites.

Whether or not it will achieve this goal has yet to be seen. The site was created by a UK orthopaedic surgeon, Ugo Okonkwo, who came up with the idea after trying to find out the highest amount anyone had paid for an online ad. It seems to echo the efforts of 21 year old British student Alex Tew, who set up The Million Dollar Homepage (MDHP) selling individual pixels at a dollar a time. Unfortunately for Alex, his efforts also drew the attention of hackers who attempted to blackmail him with the threat of a denial-of-service attack on his site.

The idea behind this new site is that advertisers can pay to feature their logo on the website, which is then included on the front page. The first ad costs only a dollar, but the next person to buy an ad on the site pays twice as much for the top spot, and so on. However, there are only 22 spaces available on the site.

"Early advertisers with small budgets can buy the less expensive spaces whilst the larger advertisers will eventually be attracted to the more expensive," claims Okonkwo. "Whoever currently has the most expensive ad will always be at the top position. Even more exciting is that the ads will always remain on the front page."

At present, only two advertisers have taken up the challenge, but the site is in its infancy - it was only launched on 11 February. Many industry watchers will be waiting to see if this simple idea can achieve the same levels of success as MDHP and what that implies for developing commercial success on the back of a very simple idea.

Okonkwo is posting regular updates on his blog.