YOU AIN'T GONNA LEARN WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW

The Value of Data (Social)

Data is King. If you don’t believe me, consider this:

• Rental car companies and insurers are refusing service to people with poor credit scores because data mining tells them that credit scores correlate with a higher likelihood of having an accident.
• Nowadays when a flight is canceled, airlines will skip over their frequent fliers and give the next open seat to the mine-identified customer whose continued business is most at risk. Instead of following a first-come, first-serve rule, companies will condition their behavior on literally dozens of consumer-specific factors.
• The “No Child Left Behind” Act, which requires schools to adopt teaching methods supported by rigorous data analysis, is causing teachers to spend up to 45 percent of class time training kids to pass standardized tests. Super Crunching is even shifting some teachers toward class lessons where every word is scripted and statistically vetted.

(An excerpt from Super Crunchers, by Ian Ayers. Great video of him below - bottom of post. Worth a watch.)

The data validates the fact that data is King.

In the world of Online Advertising, marketers, web publishers and technologists alike are beginning to realize that data is hugely valuable. In the past, advertisements were served to websites based on the content of the website. Today, advertisements are served to websites based on data that is informing the ad server to show that advertisement. As a result of this paradigm shift, the digital media community is beginning to realize that media and data are separate commodities. Where you see your advertisement is very different than how or why that advertisement is there in the first place.

Being able to leverage the power of this online data is great -- but what does it really mean? Let’s take a look at the type of data that is available for digital marketers.

There are two types of data we should look at.

1. Singular Data Points
2. Multi-Variable Data Points

A “Singular Data Point” is a piece of data that is very cut and dry. It is a binary 1 or 0, “yes” or “no.” For example, if I recently went to an e-commerce travel site, configured a flight for 2 people from NYC to LA, and clicked “view price”, then you could make the argument that I am very interested in flying in the near future. The instant I click the “view price” button, a single data point can be obtained classifying me as “someone interested in domestic travel.” This may hold a ton of value for marketers at the bottom of the advertising funnel (see diagram below) who are looking to convert on a very specific type of user for a very specific product, and has been, still is, and will remain extremely valuable. Some examples of “Singular Data Points” include: Purchase Intent or In-Market Data, Age & Gender and Household Income.

These are data points that explicitly and intuitively describe certain consumer attributes. They are more or less declared characteristics or definitions of a consumer.

“Multi-Variable Data Points” however, tell a very different story. Imagine for example that someone, who happens to be female, 24 years old, and makes $40k/year, went to a social network, checked her inbox, wrote on a friends profile page about last night’s TV show, left that site to read and comment on an article about the New York Giants, uploaded a video about comedy, checked the price of a flight from NYC to LA, and finally, viewed another friend’s photo album who happened to have just returned from a trip to LA. What does this social data say about that user? Nothing? Is it completely arbitrary and meaningless? In fact, it’s exactly quite the opposite. Being able to leverage “dozens of consumer-specific factors” in real time gives a marketer the capability of executing and deploying various tactics such as:

• Influencer outreach strategies
• Creative optimization for advertising units
• Deeper visibility into brand engagement opportunities
• Custom optimization for various and wide ranging back end performance metrics
• Statistical data analysis and research
• Comprehensive search strategies
• Informative and cost effective media buys

Moreover, this social data presents huge opportunities for marketers looking to reach consumers at the top of the advertising funnel, but still has applications toward the bottom of the funnel as well.

Today, there is much debate around the value of social data vs. purchase intent data. How and when it should be used? How much should each cost? How should it be sold?

If we look at social data and purchase intent data as it might be applied in the advertising funnel, it would probably look something like this:

Now let’s consider social data and purchase intent data in terms of value vs. time. If we consider our previous example, we can make the argument that purchase intent data is hugely valuable for a short period of time. If I am looking to book a flight within 2 weeks, that does not necessarily mean I would like to travel a year from now. For a travel related company, that 2 week data point is again, hugely valuable.

Now if we consider our social data example, by demonstrating undeclared and implicit behavior over an extended period of time, we can make the argument that this data has tremendous value indefinitely. If we were to graph social data vs. purchase intent data on a value vs. time graph in today’s environment, the graph might look something like this.

But as companies become even more sophisticated, develop better applications of technologies and data mining, then someone’s day to day behavior might prove even more valuable in the future. This is certainly true when it comes to "creative optimization." It is the idea that a creative ad unit showed to a consumer will be directly linked to their “social data” and that the consumer GENERATES OR INFLUENCES some form of content, message, conversation, or engagement. “Consumer Creative” – or “Social Creative” is the next leap of value to marketers, and as we evolve in the creative evolution of social media/data, the value vs. time graph will probably look something like this.

At the end of the day, having the ability to make educated decisions using comprehensive data sets is what will differentiate businesses from their competitors. It will give the forward looking organizations a way to stay relevant, efficient, and strong, while other companies continue to use outdated and inefficient methodologies.

And as these technologies evolve, become more sophisticated, and create incremental value for marketers, web publishers and consumers, the “data” companies will have a responsibility to uphold the privacy rights of all parties involved. These safety and privacy measures will become, and are already, inherent features of the technologies, because with the power of data comes the responsibility to collect and use the data in ways that provide appropriate protections for user privacy. Responsible industry members will continue to develop practices and policies that can work for marketers, publishers and consumers in this arena (we are one of those companies).

Nevertheless, if companies and marketers want to make the best decisions possible for their clients, they should consult the data for the answers and throw the guess work away. In our world of digital media, find your exact target audience and save money on wasted impressions or eyeballs. It’s all about the data, as well as harnessing the power of consumer driven information.

Co-Authors: Andy Monfried - CEO/Founder of Lotame

Dan Reich - Business Development of Lotame

How Technology Changes Behavior

Almost every one I know is using Facebook.  (85% of the people in my ecosystem)

2 years ago, the common response when I asked, "Are you on Facebook?"

Common reply - "No, way I would NEVER do that..."

"Why would anyone do that?"  Another is -- "I have no time, and I think it is dumb."

Years later, to VARYING DEGREES of both time spent on the Facebook site, as well as frequency of pages consumed -- nearly all of those people are utilizing the Facebook tool, to connect, self publish, share, and learn about PEOPLE in their "ecosystem."

I find this FASCINATING.  

Right turn to another medium. 

Think about how we have all grown up with the RADIO.  A radio in your car, a radio next to your bed, a radio at work, a walkman radio, the home stereo radio ... (and my personal favorite, my grandfather's big black box that got every single station east of the Mississippi, it weighed like 50 pounds, and was a relic from the 1950's....you could listen to Jack Buck announce a St. Louis Cardinals Game from NJ -- which was unheard of, and a real treat)

Today Mediapost released some very interesting information regarding how people are consuming what was once delivered over the radio, namely AM/FM radio content --

"The latest study by Arbitron and Edison Research shows continued growth in usage and ownership of various forms of digital audio platforms, including online radio, iPod/MP3 players, and podcasting. The weekly online radio audience increased significantly in the past year to 17% of the U.S. population age 12 and older; up from 13% in 2008. On a weekly basis, online radio reaches 20% of 25-to-54 year-olds; up from 15% in 2008."

PEOPLE ARE NOT LISTENING TO RADIO'S ONLY IN THEIR CAR OR HOME -- they want to listen to it -- anywhere they are....(I certainly stream radio content while at home and work)

Some key findings from Mediapost article:

Online radio listeners are more likely to be upscale, well-educated and employed full time;

• 54% of weekly online radio listeners are employed full-time (compared to 43% among persons 12 and older);
• 16% of weekly online radio listeners live in homes with an annual income greater than $100,000 (vs. 10% among persons 12 and older);
• 37% of weekly online radio listeners have a college degree or higher education level (vs. 29% among persons 12 and older).

34% of persons age 12 and older report having a profile on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, or any other social networking Web site, up from 24% in 2008

63%  of teens age 12-to-17 report having a profile on these social networking sites

64% 18-to-24 year-olds have a profile on these social networking sites.

"Tom Webster, vice president of strategy and marketing, Edison Research, concludes that "... consumer use of new digital platforms... is becoming nearly ubiquitous... a window of opportunity for radio to... spread its content across the expanding choices consumers use to control their media experience."

A few nuggets on this from my point of view:

1) Radio is really hurting bad.  Listenership is down, and overall the medium is in trouble.

2) Satellite Radio is taking market share.  (maybe not as quickly as the Sirius/XM folks would like, but the "time spent and frequency" (time and multiple channels) on satellite -- have taken a huge bite out of the terrestrial radio business.

3) Radio Executives (Clear Channel & Cox primarily) need to put out key findings for their clients (ex. advertisers) so they seem "relevant in a rapidly changing lifestyle of Americans." (that is what this data seems to be)

4) American consumers are expecting to consume content WHERE THEY WANT AND HOW THEY WANT....a huge difference between even a few years ago, when you had to be glued to the car radio to finish listening to a funny clip before you went into work.....no more)

5) Radio is in serious danger of becoming the media casualty -- similar to what newspapers are dealing with today. 

6) Serious Entrepreneur style thinking is needed by the radio industry -- and EVERYTHING is on the table for Radio companies when they think about their future.  Alot is BROKEN....and that is how strategy meetings should start by the teams responsible for execution. 

7) Howard Stern's departure had a DEVASTATING ripple effect throughout the entire radio business.  Radio executive's (and friends of mine who work in radio sales) will never ever admit this -- but, plain and simple it is a fact --- NOT ONE MARKET THAT HOWARD WAS ON, (before his departure to satellite) IS DOING BETTER WITH THEIR FORMAT, OR THEIR REVENUE--- IN THE ALL IMPORTANT MORNING DRIVE TIME.  NOT ONE. 

8) Clear Channel will eventually be forced to BUY SiruisXM.  May not happen in the next 6-12 months, but it will happen.....you can bank on it.

All of this leads me to one conclusion:

STATUS QUO -- is not enough.  All companies need to be thinking about TODAY, and planning their strategy in a "new world" where THEIR CONSUMERS are behaving differently than they did in the past.

Where advertisers can leverage "new technologies to reach their audiences."

Where content owners (radio owners, website owners, newspaper companies) think beyond their current issues -- TO BREAK THEIR SYSTEMS IN ORDER TO REBUILD IT.

"The future's here we are it, we are on our own..." (Weir/Barlow - Throwing Stones)

I love the evolutionary process of the "new media" world.  Oddly enough, the pace of change, the speed of behaviors changing is all relevant to the world we are living in -- where speed and consumption patterns of content are changing so rapidly -- how do companies keep up?

How do consumers keep pace?

Technology is changing behavior -- and behavior is changing technology.....let's hope that all these media formats we grew up with (newspapers, radio) do not go the way of the "horse and buggy" when auto's came out in the early 20th century....

Or, should they?

A New Beginning (Maybe)

Over the past many months, I have chosen not to update this blog. 

Why?

Many reasons, mostly excuses -- but the primary reason is that, IT IS HARD WORK.  (and that is an excuse in itself)

Another lame excuse is that I find myself questioning, "if I am sharing too much, too much of a new idea, too much of my opinions....and can this in turn be misconstrued, or worse yet -- negatively affect me, or worse yet --a company I am trying to build?"

I have been accused of being many things over my lifetime.  One of them (accusations) has never included, being shy. 

My commitment is to begin blogging again -- sharing news, ideas, stories, happenings, pictures, and learnings -- at this location, as I have done for a few years in the past.

It may not be about work.  But, it may be.  It may be about news...and things that are on my mind.....

What's on my mind right now?   It is seeing Steve Kimock with Crazy Engine for two nights this weekend.   Background music. while you do your thing today -- no need to watch, just listen......truly incredible. 

2 Notes of Interest.....

My friend, Howard Lindzon shares his insight, his commentary, and his life via social media.

When I first met Howard, I was doing a terrible job trying to explain my vision for Lotame.  He looked at me (as many still do) as if I had 3 heads.  He was right, I could not effectively, or clearly articulate what I was trying to build or execute.

Much has changed since that day in 2006.

The best way I know how to explain it now (Lotame) - is to watch Howard use SOCIAL MEDIA AS HIS PRIMARY TOOL OF COMMUNICATION.  He may be an early adopter, and evangilzer of self expression -- but he is also a case study for "monetization needs...." 

Howard uses many of the following tool for communication on a daily basis.  His blogs, Twitter, Friendfeed,Facebook, Disqus, his video,  and last but not least -- his financial advice is dispensed via all channels above and many more......

But, his recent post on the internet being 5000 days old, was noteworthy, insightful and introspective....and with a healthy dose of foreboding....

"The internet continues to add exponential value to my life. I talk often about ‘Social Leverage’ so I won’t rehash, but if you are not part of this trend, Obama nor McCain can’t save your sorry asses. It’s a Tsunmai aimed at your cush VP job."

Classic Lindzon.....

I encourage you to read it the post. 

On a seperate note....

Greg Haase, our Database Administrator at Lotame, recently posted an entry to the MySQL 5.1 use case competition, check it out a the MySQL Developer Zone and wish Greg luck in winning the big prize.  

2 Notes of Interest...Howard & Greg Style.

Facebook Needs to Lead, not Follow.....

So, word is out (although officially unannounced) that Facebook has quietly launched a new set of new social ad formats aimed at boosting click-throughs and further tapping into the social graph on behalf of marketers.

The "Engagement Ad" formats are based on three common features of social networking – commenting, becoming a fan and gifting virtual objects. Here’s how they work -

-          Comment-style ads allow Facebook members to leave comments on ads, similar to what they may write on someone’s wall or comment on a photo – comment updates get spread amongst a person’s network for ads the same way they do with personal updates

-          Virtual gifts that users can share with the gifts-style ad

-          Members will be able to become a fan of a brand and, again, their network will see

This concept, is again taking the direction of turning a social network's users into marketing drones rather than using the immense amount of activity occurring on its site to make ads more relevant.  This is exactly the kind of format that rewards clicks over influence, and will further alienate a user base already bruised by Beacon.

One of the biggest challenges is that the industry is trying to apply standard behavioral targeting techniques to the robust arena of user-generated content and social media. Emphasis is still placed on contextual relevance when, in reality, that metric doesn't take into account true behavior and consumer interests. People are commenting, uploading, posting, viewing videos, and using widgets. The key is to leverage this data in a way that will drive performance. Contextual relevancy doesn't capture those verbs or actions.

Facebook's history with advertising has been flawed, and its revenues continue to suffer for it publicly. The problem is that social sites don't attract the click-through rates of search advertising and the revenue numbers never catch up. One of the most critical things moving forward is understanding that within social media, click-through rates aren't the most accurate measurement of success. A truly engaged user is more valuable than a click.

Welcome to our New Partners at Lotame

Today we announced the closing of our Series B Round, led by Emergence Capital.  I'm am so honored, thrilled, and excited at the opportunity to work with Jason Green and his team of amazing professionals.  As an entreprenuer, when you take on a board member, and investor -- AND (as a founder) YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT THE BUSINESS......well, that board member becomes part of your family.  Like it or not, the communication, the issues, the challenges and the wins in life are shared by those who choose to participate.  I am so excited to welcome Jason Green to my family....

Jason joins the Lotame board of directors at an important time in our company history.  Social Media is evolving (both adaptation & new technologies) -- and his strategic insight will be critical to our success.  I am confident with his previous investments in Doubleclick, AVEA and Ask.com -- that his expertise will be put to good use.   Welcome Jason to our crazy, loving, and passionate family of social media pioneers!  

Lotame Closes $13 Million in Series B Funding Led by Emergence Capital Partners

Proceeds to Fuel Expansion of Leading Social Media Advertising Platform

NEW YORK, August 19, 2008 – Lotame, a platform enabling targeted advertising to customizable audiences through social media, today announced it has closed $13 million in series B financing. Emergence Capital Partners, a leading venture capital firm focused on early and growth-stage technology-enabled services (TES) companies, led the round with continuing participation from previous investors including Battery Ventures and Hillcrest Management. The new funding will be used to support product enhancements, marketing and business development efforts to address the growing demand for Lotame’s targeted social media advertising technology solutions.

“Lotame has demonstrated leadership and a track record of success in monetizing the biggest opportunity in online media since the advent of search advertising,” said

Jason Green

, general partner at Emergence Capital.  “Lotame is producing unparalleled results and insight for publishers and advertisers by leveraging a unique targeting platform that translates social media inventory into valuable real estate that brand advertisers love.  With dozens of blue chip advertising clients and a growing publisher network reaching tens of millions users today, Lotame is clearly the company to beat in the space.  We are looking forward to working with this tremendously talented team and applying our expertise to help build the digital marketing leader in this new category.”

 “This new investment from Emergence amplifies the immediate opportunity for Lotame given the firm’s investment leadership and acumen in the digital advertising marketplace,” said Andrew Monfried, CEO and founder, Lotame.   “Another important piece of this event is the addition of Emergence’s Jason Green as a respected and pivotal team member to our board.  His deep expertise and understanding of how to achieve our goals, having helped companies such as Ask.com, DoubleClick and Avenue A grow from early stage companies to prominent icons of digital advertising, is extremely valuable to Lotame at this time.”

Lotame’s proprietary Crowd Control™ technology enables brands and advertising agencies to direct campaigns to audiences that have demonstrated recent interest in topics relevant to the campaign.  In addition to general information offered by users of social media during registration and interests implied by the sites the users visit, Lotame anonymously collects data points on users’ social media participation – such as posting pictures, commenting on blogs or watching a video.  The result is increased confidence in the audience’s deep and current interest in specific subjects at the time of the campaign.

“Forty percent of Internet use is on social networks.  This is no longer a wild frontier, and will soon be the primary use of the Internet,” added Monfried. “Until Lotame, the basics of Internet advertising had not changed to address the unique challenges and opportunities presented by social media.  Now advertisers can take full advantage of the basic premises of social networks – the user sets the content agenda and connects other users to ideas.”

Using Lotame’s Crowd Control, advertisers can target the most influential members of social networks and measure a campaign’s success as indicated by user generated content related to the brand.  Lotame also measures which behavioral and demographic factors indicate audiences that are particularly receptive to the campaign, helping advertisers maximize results for current or future campaigns.

“Lotame is reinforcing its leadership position by consistently improving its offering to publishers and advertisers,” said

Roger Lee

, general partner, Battery Ventures.  “This executive team has the operational experience, industry respect and entrepreneurial spirit to drive its vision into the market for the benefit of every stake holder – publisher, advertiser, investor and employee.” 

About Lotame

Lotame provides a platform for easily building and addressing customizable consumer audiences based on social media activity in addition to implied or stated interests. Lotame has specifically designed its patented Crowd Control platform to take full advantage of the unique attributes of social media, using participation and user generated content as a foundation for improved campaign performance. Lotame is a member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).  Please visit www.lotame.com for more information.

 

About Emergence Capital Partners

Emergence Capital Partners, based in San Mateo, Calif., is the leading venture capital firm focused on early and growth-stage technology-enabled services (TES) companies. Its mission is to help build market leaders in partnership with great entrepreneurs. Emergence partners have funded and helped build more than 35 leading TES companies including Salesforce.com (CRM), Success Factors (SFSF), aQuantive (now MSFT), among many others, more than any other early-stage venture firm. Emergence Capital has assets of more than $325 million under management. For more information, visit www.emcap.com.

 

About Battery Ventures
Since 1983, Battery has been investing in technology and innovation worldwide. The firm partners with entrepreneurs and management teams across technology sectors, geographies and stages of a company’s life, from start-up and expansion financing, to growth equity and buyouts.   Battery has supported many breakthrough companies around the world, including: Airespace (acquired by Cisco), Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM), BladeLogic (acquired by BMC Software), Cbeyond (NASDAQ: CBEY), LIFFE (acquired by Euronext), Neoteris (acquired by Netscreen), and Omniture (NASDAQ: OMTR). Its current portfolio includes emerging firms such as Angie’s List, Bazaarvoice, Spot Runner, Tejas Networks, and TradeKing  as well as more established companies such as Consona Software, ITA Software, and MetroPCS (NYSE: PCS).  From offices in Boston, Silicon Valley and Israel, Battery manages nearly $3B in committed capital. For more information, visit www.battery.com.

 

About Hillcrest Management, LLC

Hillcrest Management, LLC, is a New Hampshire-based private investment firm that is committed to excellence in both private investment and inspiring the best in citizenship and community service through its workforce and public campaigns. Hillcrest invests its own money and resources into emerging local, national and international businesses and works closely with each portfolio company, assigning management professionals to develop and execute a strategic business model. For more information, visit www.hillcm.com.

Shea Stadium Behind the Plate

This is the final season at Shea Stadium, a place I really like.  I took this image yesterday.....a great day at my favorite field, with the family.

A few comments on this picture.

1) notice the new stadium in (Citi Field) behind center field

2 notice the two guys at the bottom of the pic clicking their bottles of Budweiser.

3) This is the last Sunday Game in July ever to be played at Shea.....

In the Strangest of Places.....

A wise man once penned, 

"Once in a while you can get shown the light - in the strangest of places, if you look at it right...."

I believe wholeheartedly in this premise, concept, and way of life.....it has helped guide me, and look at people, situations, and opinions all with a different "lense" on this journey

I think it has helped me find my way a bit, and dance up the aisle of life...on my way to wherever I'm going.

Along the way we get to meet people who make an impression in a myriad of ways.

One such person is Roger Ehrenberg.  I met Roger while working with the team from Wallstrip.

Roger was the leader of a company called Monitor110 - and over on his blog he wrote a post that blew me away.....he starts off:

"Writing a post mortem is hard, particularly when the result is failure: a failed deal; a failed investment; a failed concept. That said, without a post mortem, without deep reflection, honesty and introspection, how can we get better and do better the next time?"

Monitor110 no longer exists, and Roger has blogged about some of the high level reason (7 to be exact) that he believes a company that he led, did not succeed.

His insight is like a playbook, or a roadmap of "what to avoid, and be aware of as you seek to create value...."

He certainly made me aware of what he termed, his 7 Deadly Sins:

"The Seven Deadly Sins

While we certainly made more than seven mistakes during the nearly four-year life of Monitor110, I think these top the list.

1. The lack of a single, "the buck stops here" leader until too late in the game
2. No separation between the technology organization and the product organization
3. Too much PR, too early
4. Too much money
5. Not close enough to the customer
6. Slow to adapt to market reality
7. Disagreement on strategy both within the Company and with the Board"

In this era of self publishing, all too often we read things that dont have an impact on us.  They are good reads, informative and filled with data....but,

WHAT ROGER EHRENBERG HAS WRITTEN ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE HAS HAD A TREMENDOUSLY POSITIVE IMPACT ON ME SINCE I READ IT......AND FOR THAT, I THANK HIM.

Here is Roger's piece titled: "Turning Failure Into Learning."

Well done Mr. Ehrenberg, and thanks giving many of us a real life Business School lesson on life......and success.

Thanks for shining the light on the strangest of places.....to look at it just right.

Lotame is Hiring

Go here for open positions in case you might be interested....or if you know anyone.....we are on the fast track, and need highly motivated people.

A Bit of Good News on Lotame

A bit of good news from our team........Andy

Lotame Reaches 52 Million U.S. Users Within Social Media; U.S. Reach Now Larger Than Facebook

June 23, 2008, 8:00 AM

NEW YORK, June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Lotame Solutions, Inc., a leader in online advertising within social media, announced today that it now reaches over 52 million U.S. users across dozens of social networks. The company has also been accepted as a member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), an organization comprised of leading interactive companies in the online arena.

"Lotame is proud that our partners have both increased performance and maximized returns from social media," said Andrew Monfried, Founder & CEO. "Giving brands the opportunity to develop and target their own customizable audiences differentiates us, and the fact that we are now a member of the IAB demonstrates our value."

"We've recently partnered with Lotame because they look at social media in a whole new way," said Steve Polsky, President and COO of Flixster, the leading social community focused on movies. "Their ability to target interest groups across social media has the potential to deliver increased engagement for brand advertisers, better advertising for users, and increased monetization for sites such as Flixster. We're excited about their offering."

"Innovators like Lotame are making social media inventory even more valuable," said Andrew Cohen, General Manager of Fotolog, the global photo blogging community. "And working with Lotame has increased our exposure with major brand advertisers in the United States."

In just over 18 months, the company has managed to outpace Facebook in the U.S., according to the independent web measurement company Quantcast. The company's rapid growth is based on its approach to social networking sites. Its business model is to aggregate the mid-tail of social media independent of MySpace and Facebook. "There are hundreds of social sites that have a tremendous user-base," said Scott Hoffman, Lotame's Chief Revenue Officer. "We give brands a new and compelling way to reach users inside of social media and community platforms."

"Lotame's monetization techniques work so well because of their targeting capabilities," said Joel Smernoff, President and COO of Paltalk, the premiere online video-based chat community. "A brand can build and target their own audience, which gives Paltalk's four million active users only the most relevant ads, all of which translates into higher CPMs."

Lotame's Crowd Control Technology examines user-actions such as uploading, blogging, and commenting, and then layers this data with interests such as finance, sports, and entertainment. The formula then factors in multiple data points including age, gender, recency and frequency, all of which are completely anonymous. The end result is the most robust user profiles available which allows brands to directly target their message to engaged consumers, and not simply web pages.

"Lotame has been able to provide us with intelligence about our users that we have not seen from other sources," said Derek Van Stratten, VP at the Huffington Post, one of the largest and most prominent online political forums.

"Lotame puts data at our fingertips that would normally require expensive analytics software," said Michael Lehman, VP Marketing at Meez, a leading online entertainment social network. "It's great added value."

In order to accommodate its rapid growth, the Maryland-based company has opened sales offices in New York, and added over 20 new employees to its team, including 10 new sales representatives. Last month, Lotame also built a state of the art data center to expand its technology division.

"The Lotame team is hands down the most efficient in monetizing social media. They have created an extremely innovative media company with quality people and amazing analytical tools," said Hart Cunningham, Founder & CEO of Perfspot.

"Lotame gives us access to specific custom audiences for our clients," said Darren Herman, Head of Digital Media at The Media Kitchen. "This level of targeting will become the standard in the near future as our clients demand the best."

Lotame Solutions, Inc. Founder & CEO, Andrew Monfried, will speak on a panel entitled, "Behavioral Targeting: How to Connect with the Right People in Social Media," at the OMMA Social Conference being held at The Yale Club in New York on Monday, June 23.

About Lotame:

Lotame is a company dedicated to providing solutions within social media. Our patented Crowd Control Technology offers social networks the most advanced monetization techniques, and allows brands to build and target customizable consumer audiences. We aim to increase revenue for our publisher partners and give advertisers the opportunity to target over 52 million users across multiple social networking sites. Please visit www.lotame.com for more information.

About the IAB:

Founded in 1996, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (www.iab.net) represents over 375 leading interactive companies that actively engage in and support the sale of interactive advertising. IAB members are responsible for selling over 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the continuing growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive's share of total marketing spend, and of its members' share of total marketing spend. The IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices, fields interactive effectiveness research, and educates marketers, agencies, and media companies, as well as the wider business community, about the value of interactive advertising.

About Flixster

Flixster (www.flixster.com) is a community for movie fans of all shapes and sizes. Whether you are a die-hard horror fan or lover of romantic comedies (or both), Flixster is a place where you can find others who share your taste and through them discover new movies that you will love. A little less than two years old, Flixster is already one of the largest movie sites on the web with over 15 million unique visitors and over 1 billion movie ratings.

About PalTalk:

Paltalk is the premier real-time, video-based chat community. With more than 4 million members and thousands of chat rooms to choose from on virtually every subject. Members interact with each other through real-time voice, text and video chat. For more information please visit www.paltalk.com.

About Meez:

www.meez.com is a leading online social entertainment network that fuses avatars, gaming and a robust virtual economy to create more interactive online communities. Our platform supports the building of animated 3D avatars, live interactions in virtual spaces and competitive online gaming, creating an immersive environment where users can personalize their experience and connect with friends

About PerfSpot:

PerfSpot (www.perfspot.com) was created to provide the perfect web portal for people of any age, gender, or background to share their interests and favorite things on the web.

About Fotolog

Fotolog (www.fotolog.com) is the world's leading photo-blogging site, one of the world's largest social networking sites and a global cultural phenomenon. More than 13 million members in over 200 countries use Fotolog as a simple and fun way to express themselves through online photo diaries or photo blogs.

About Huffington Post:

The Huffington Post is a news and opinion website which in three years has become an influential media brand -- "The Internet Newspaper." The site offers coverage of politics, media, business, entertainment, living and green, and is a top destination for news, blogs and original content. The Huffington Post ("HuffPost") has over 10 million unique users each month and is the most- linked-to blog on the Internet, per Technorati. The Huffington Post has 1,500+ influential bloggers -- from celebrities and politicians to academics and policy experts -- who contribute in real-time on a wide-range of topics making news today, including: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Wesley Clark, Nora Ephron, Ari Emanuel, Mia Farrow, Russ Feingold, Al Franken, Gary Hart, Edward Kennedy, John Kerry, Bill Maher, Nancy Pelosi, Margaret Cho and Alec Baldwin. A comprehensive list of the contributors to The Huffington Post can be found in its bloggers index: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/index/.

About The Media Kitchen

The Media Kitchen (www.themediakitchen.tv) is a new kind of media strategy, planning, buying and management company designed to address the gamut of communications challenges clients face today. The Media Kitchen defines media as "anything that can carry a branded message and impact the consumer" and believes that media strategy should be an essential component to any brand's message, not merely a means of distributing it. Clients include Panasonic, Limited Brands, PBS, Delta Airlines, MoheganSun, Windstream Communications, Starz and Bank of NY Mellon.

  CONTACT:
  Anthony Rapacciuolo
  PRcision LLC
  Phone: (212) 404-1451
  Email: ajr@prcision.com