FAST Search & Transfer is betting theres a lot of folks tired of Googles chokehold on the internet advertising market. The search provider is pitching to put you in control of your own Ad network. Translation: Quit paying third parties like Google and Yahoo.
The Norway-based company released news yesterday morning of AdMomentum, billed as an alternative to internet advertisings big three - Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. IDCs Sue Feldman commented on contextual advertising and described FASTs Ad platform:
Online ad revenue drives the digital economy, and no one has a lock on that revenue stream today," said Feldman, IDCs Vice President for Search and Digital Marketplace Technologies. "Online advertising - particularly contextual advertising - continues to soar. IDC believes that large publishers and ad networks can seize a significant share of this revenue. FAST AdMomentum provides the infrastructure for publishers to manage and monetize their online content. Its a digital marketplace in a box.
Youre probably thinking, big deal right? Nobodys catching Google. Even if youre right, think about how wide open the internet ad market is right now. The scramble for number two or even number five or six in market share is worth billions. Im sure FAST has done the math.
But Im thinking theres more to this battle than just fighting for the big brand websites. What about FASTs position with enterprise customers?
Some of the worlds largest companies use their technology (much of it behind the firewall) to enhance their information management strategies the company clearly has a strong brand in that respect. The question is, who can expand the footprint of the enterprise customer first? Will it be Google with its search and bevy of web 2.0 apps or a company like FAST whose genealogy already has a decidedly enterprisey slant.
It seems like theres plenty of customers who could help FAST chip away at Googles AdSense. If ACME already has FAST infrastructure, why wouldnt they pilot FAST? Wouldnt it be an easy ROI to use an existing backend from FAST while ramping up your Ad resources?
I also think its a bit naive to think large organizations will be tied to one Ad platform. Someone mentioned how Google customers might threaten to employ FAST to get a better deal. Not sure it really matters. The smart companies will tailor their advertising strategies so precisely, theyll quickly figure out Google and FAST can each serve their own purpose. One size fits all is dead.
And what about all the channel and OEM communities that companies like FAST have? To me, those are armies entering the enterprise through all sorts of other Trojan horses back doors like this.
Speaking of back door entrances into the enterprise, it made me think of a comment I ran across (on Rubicon exec Michael Maces blog) from Robert Scoble a while back describing Google vs. Microsoft. Although the parallels may not be the same in scale, I think Scoble paints a scenario that can be played out for all sorts of David and Goliath matchups.
Google hasnt made an impact on the enterprise yet. And I dont see them challenging Microsoft or taking money off the Office teams plate in the enterprise for the next two years. Further out, however, they are positioned to come in and take some business from Microsoft. The first thing Google will do is stop the growth of Microsoft Office. Small startups arent going to buy Office anymore, theyre going to use the free apps on the Internet. Is Google going to get Chevron to switch from Exchange? No. Not soon. What they are going to do is add new value that Microsoft cant, like the Google calendar team showing me how to put my calendar on my blog. Its really nice. Those kinds of things are what youll see enterprise companies start to use in little projects here and there. Google will sneak in the back door, just as Microsoft did 25 years ago with DOS and PCs.
So with the above in mind, whats it gonna take for FAST to take real market share? Running your own Ad network will take some muscle.
Maybe Ill have the chance to ask the FAST product managers this week in San Diego about the platforms complexity, but its not even that. It has more to do with an enterprises propensity to outsource all the functions related to web advertising. Thats a big reason so many companies look to AdSense, Panama, and Microsofts AdCenter. Outside of producing content, all the stuff related to development, payment, stats, etc., is handled effortlessly, maybe too effortlessly. Weve gotten lazy and the big advertisers are profiting.
So, are we to the point where corporations are finally ready to act like real media companies? You have to think its just a matter of time before internal marketing and PR teams get tired of everyone reaching into the coffer.