MediaForge Ads Charge Only When People Interact And Buy

Salt Lake City-based MediaForge, a five-year-old widget company that has moved into dynamic banner advertising, is going public with a system that bills advertisers only after customers verifiably interact with online ads and later return to make a purchase.

The "post-engagement-based platform" differs from many traditional retargeting systems that are based on the simple view-through model, said MediaForge President Tony Zito, who listed Dotomi and FetchBack as two competitors in the retargeting world. In the standard view-through arrangement, impressions are credited when people who are merely served an online ad subsequently go to a retailer's Web site to make purchases. Advertisers using MediaForge's platform are not charged unless the purchasers mouse-over or click on the ads at some point prior to buying a product or service.

A pre-launch adopter of MediaForge's platform, girls' clothing retailer Charlotte Russe, is so far "absolutely pleased" with the results, said Paul Hollowell, the company's interactive marketing manager. "We use other targeting methods right now, " Hollowell said. "MediaForge is an additional layer we added in."