IAB and OpenX Join Forces to Expand IAB Long Tail Alliance

Partnership Provides IAB With Access to Vast OpenX Community of 50,000 Publishers

PASADENA, Calif., December 14, 2009 OpenX Technologies, Inc. (OpenX), the world’s leading independent ad server for web publishers, today announced that it is working with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to expand the IAB’s Long Tail Alliance of small online publishers. As part of the new initiative, OpenX will reach out to its community of more than 50,000 publishers to build awareness of the IAB’s efforts to support small publishers and encourage them to join. IAB Long Tail Alliance membership is open to any publisher that sells advertising directly, indirectly, or through a network and has annual revenues of less than $1 million. Many thousands of OpenX publishers fall into this category.

The many benefits to small publishers of IAB membership include:

• Representation by the IAB in Washington on industry-related public policy issues
  • Unique training and education training programs designed exclusively for small publishers

“We’re extremely pleased to be working closely with OpenX as part of our effort to support and grow our Long Tail Alliance,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “Gaining access to OpenX’s enormous publisher base is especially important for us so we can provide the tools and information to these small businesses–the men and women across the U.S. who have turned their passions into ad-supported content sites for audiences and have become such a vital part of the U.S. economy.”

In June 2009, the IAB expanded its outreach to small publishers and formally launched the Long Tail Alliance, an initiative to give voice through the IAB to small ad-supported, publishing and technology sites in the digital ecosystem. As part of its effort to showcase the importance of these online businesses, in June 2009 the IAB arranged for Long Tail web publishers from 25 Congressional districts and 13 U.S. states to meet with Congress and members of the press to tell their own stories of how they have turned their passions into real businesses that are essential to the U.S. economy.

As part of its outreach to its publisher community, OpenX is conducting a survey to gauge publisher interest in IAB membership and opinions on various public policy topics on which the IAB is currently focused. The company also plans to take additional steps to build awareness and promote the benefits of IAB Long Tail Alliance participation.

“Partnering with the IAB is an important step in our ongoing effort to help our community of publishers grow their businesses,” said Tim Cadogan, chief executive officer, OpenX. “By encouraging our publishers to consider becoming IAB members and joining the Long Tail Alliance, we’re providing them with services and access which they might not otherwise have. We’re looking forward to an ongoing relationship with the IAB and to enabling OpenX publishers to participate in broad industry-shaping dialogues.”

About OpenX

OpenX is the world’s leading independent ad server for web publishers. Building on the strength of our open source heritage, we offer our vast community of publishers comprehensive, customizable and free to use ad serving technology. The OpenX Ad Server empowers our community of more than 150,000 websites across the Internet with the ability to take control of their ads and maximize their ad revenue and relevance. The OpenX Ad Server products are translated into 25 languages, used in more than 100 countries around the world, and serve more than 300 billion ads each month. OpenX Market is the company’s unique monetization platform and is designed to help publishers maximize the price of their inventory and to help advertisers much more effectively target where their ads are served. The Market uses a real-time auction marketplace in which multiple classes of buyers bid for each impression provided by OpenX’s vast publisher base.

OpenX Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of OpenX Limited, is based in Pasadena, California, with offices in London and Poland. OpenX is backed by leading investors including Accel Partners, Index Ventures and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. For more information, please visit: www.openx.org

OpenX is a trademark of OpenX Limited.

About the IAB Long Tail Alliance

IAB Long Tail Alliance Membership is open to any publisher that sells indirectly, through a network, or directly, and has revenues under $1 million per year.

To find out how to qualify for membership in the IAB Long Tail Alliance and to register, please visit www.iab.net/longtailalliance.

To view “I Am the Long Tail” and nearly 30 videos from Long Tail publishers please go to www.iamthelongtail.com.

About the IAB:

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 375 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.

OpenX is a trademark of OpenX Limited.

OpenX Media Contact: Al Duncan 1.626.466.1142 media@openx.org 

IAB Media Contact: Marla Aaron 1.212.380.4714 marla@iab.net