New online ad-buying service, AdSemble, unveiled

July 9, 2008 by Dave Haynes

I bumped into a Google Alert-ed blog entry about a new Sunnyvale, California start-up that is taking a different spin on servicing the digital signage sector.

AdSemble has built a Web-based platform that enables network operators to make time available on their systems for third parties to come in and buy or even bid on ad avails, with AdSemble as the enabler sitting in the middle of the transaction.

Advertise now on AdSemble, a single online source that consolidates various Digital Signage Advertising Based Networks (TV screens outside the home) under one roof top; making it simple and easy for you to place your ads on screens located where people eat, drive, travel and live their lives! …

With AdSemble you can:

The pitch is that it can cost as little as $150 to buy time.

The product is still in beta but has so far signed up six networks, including ECast, MySeniorCenter, Target Cast Networks, Promo Only Networks, KnewTV and eMebaVet.

I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the ad-buying process, and when I do need to know, Adcentricity’s Rob Gorrie or one of the guys at SeeSaw will give me a rundown. My limited understanding, however, is that while this may work for local and regional advertisers, it is not really the way planners at the big agencies do business … or want to do business.

I have only watched the promo video on site so I don’t really know how it works, but my guess is the integration of AdSemble with member networks works a lot better when those networks are already working off something akin to a Web browser platform.

I suspect it would be much harder to integrate with my software guys and with many others that are doing a lot more than running a browser app in kiosk (full screen) mode.

That said, anything that helps put more ad dollars into the pockets of network operators is a welcome addition.

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