An Ad Network With a Widget Twist

CBS television has launched a local advertising network that will connect local television affiliates with local bloggers. That itself is a first, and in this struggling “old media” world the local stations are likely to be happy for the support. The current participants are listed on a page from Syndigo, a company that supports vertical advertising networks.

The way it works is that a local blogger signs up and downloads the headline widget. The widget includes a banner ad for the station. It displays real time headlines and images and has links to the station’s website. The station shares ad revenue with the participating bloggers (or community sites, networks, whatever; the requirement just seems to be that it’s local). Presumably the participating sites are paid on an impression basis. It looks as if the ads are served by DoubleClick.

WBZ in Boston is one of the original participants and the widget is supposed to have been deployed to the Red Sox Nation.net site. That’s down at the moment, so no impressions there. I also looked on their advertising page and see no mention of this program. Wonder how they are going to attract local bloggers. Some local sites already link to local blogs, so they’ll have a ready-made market.

I checked a San Francisco blog, SF Bay Style, and sure enough, there’s the widget. The links take you right through to the site for KPIX, the San Francisco CBS television affiliate.
Ad week says that advertisers including At&T, North Texas Honda Dealers and Liberty Mutual Insurance have signed up for the ad network. It seems to be a great way of achieving local reach and the context of popular local sites couldn’t hurt.

All in all, it seems to be another win-win for social media!
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