Advertising agency launches online ad division

Taylor Communications on Tuesday launched OzarksAdNet, a division focused on online banner advertising.

The program boasts a list of 25 participating local media Web sites, including sbj.net, ky3.com and news-leader.com. President David Taylor said the system works in much the same way that advertising agencies have worked in traditional media for decades.

Advertisers interested in the program contact OzarksAdNet, ozarksadnet.com, which places the company’s ads on the participating Web sites. The cost for the advertiser is the same as if they had directly approached the site, and the site owners pay a commission to OzarksAdNet in exchange for the service.

“It’s the same way I’d be operating with traditional media,” Taylor said. “I’m just bringing those buying tools and expertise to the very specific world of the Internet.”

Advertisers buy space per thousand ad impressions, which can be spread across all 25 member sites or sent to specific members that better reach the advertiser’s target audiences, Taylor said, adding that he expects up to 15 million ad impressions per month.

Taylor said he hopes to capitalize on a rapidly growing advertising outlet; a study released in August by national media research and private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson predicts that spending on Internet advertising, including digital extensions of traditional media, will surpass newspaper advertising in 2011.

See SBJ’s Sept. 10 issue for more about OzarksAdNet.