Haegele expects to create tailored packages, perhaps including print ads, for advertisers who want to investigate on-line advertising at newspaper sites. Real Media Inc. takes a different approach. Pa. AdStream software systematically inserts them, in rotation, into selected on-line newspapers. Which ad appears depends on several factors. About 70 percent of the time, the software detects what state the viewer calls from.
Advertisers also can select particular content pages, or choose the time of day.
If the computer cannot ascertain the caller's origin and no other factors come into play, it assigns an ad according to set algorithms. Publishers pay nothing to participate and earn 70 percent of revenue from ads inserted on their sites. Real Media collects 30 percent to cover sales and maintenance. The software also tracks the callers who click to an advertiser's Web site, but for now the firm does not factor those links into charges. Real Media plans to develop software that will elicit information on callers' interests or demographics when they link to an advertiser's Web site.