Openads: An Alternative to Google Ad Hegemony?

Posted by: Rob Hof on June 13

Openads, an open-source ad server, just got $5 million in funding. Since the company’s been around for years, one might wonder if this is simply an opportunistic play on the recent consolidation in online ad serving and ad networks—Google-DoubleClick, Microsoft-aQuantive, Yahoo!-Right Media.

But some folks who know more than I think it can be much more than that. Scott Karp at Publishing 2.0 thinks Openads could help publishers take back some control of their online ads. I’m especially intrigued with Jeff Jarvis’ musings:

And if I’m not projecting too much onto Openads, then I think we see more building blocks in the new infrastructure of the web. Google is the infrastructure of search and information — and, for now, advertising. YouTube wants to be the platform for video and video ads. Facebook wants to be the social infrastructure. Openads could be the ad infrastructure. It’s all still loose — the Jell-O is yet warm — but we can start to see a structure forming.

Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets.

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Reader Comments

Tech Untangled

June 18, 2007 01:04 PM

Openads has since clarified why it didn't have many of the features needed by the open-source community. The $5 million funding is geared primarily towards just that - build the features necessary to integrate the rest of the Internet infrastructure, including paypal integration.

See more at http://techuntangled.com/openads-to-focus-on-much-needed-features-with-5-million-investment


and at http://blog.openads.org/06/where-are-my-features/

will

June 18, 2007 11:27 PM

couldnt agree more . . . openads has the potential to give google a run for its money. . .

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BusinessWeek writers Peter Burrows, Cliff Edwards, Steve Hamm, Rob Hof, Olga Kharif, Steve Wildstrom, Aaron Ricadela, and Spencer Ante dig behind the headlines to analyze what’s really happening throughout the world of technology. One of the first mainstream media tech blogs, Tech Beat covers everything from tech bellwethers like Apple, Google, and Intel and emerging new leaders such as Facebook to new technologies, trends, and controversies.

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