The Changing Nature of Online Inventory

The fastest growing supply of online advertising inventory is "long tail" inventory. Leading this supply growth are Web 2.0 models (social networks, forum sites, blogs, etc...) designed to continually generate deeper levels of content. These user-generated content web pages represent a tremendous opportunity for advertisers to reach their target audiences, and for publishers to monetize their traffic.

Every time a user creates a social network page, posts another video on a user-generated content site, or posts their response in a forum, they have created another "piece of real estate"...another targeted opportunity for advertisers to reach their desired audiences. While a magazine cannot add an infinite number of pages, and a television show cannot contain an infinite number of commercial spots, there are really no limits to how many "impressions deep" a website publisher can monetize...so long as there is a supply of advertisers ready to pay a reasonable price for the inventory and a market in which the two parties can interact.

While the industry has long called these deeper impressions "non-premium," or "remnant," inventory, the truth is that a better description of them really is the "long tail" of the Internet. Though they are considered less valuable than "first impression," or "premium," inventory (an assumption that is likely to be turned on its head in the coming years), they clearly have a real and discernable value.

So the role these user-generated content models are playing is clear... they are creating an unprecedented opportunity in the online advertising market for those interested (and willing) to build campaigns around the concept of "optimized reach at a reasonable price."

CPX has become the leading ad network for monetizing the "long tail" inventory of user-generated content across the Internet, and for delivering their most desired audiences of young, pop-culture oriented, forward leaning, Internet savvy early adapters.