Quigo founder launches new ad network with Doclix
The bumper crop of ad networks divvying up the digital landscape just got a new addition: Doclix, provide of a pay-per-click network called AdSide that says its technology will drive more traffic and ensure better ad quality and placement. While this isn’t a terribly original claim, the New York-based company may get a boost from the fact that its founder, Oded Itzhak, also started ad-targeting platform Quigo and is therefore a known quantity in the space.
Quigo did pretty well for itself, raising $30 million from the likes of Highland Capital Partners, Steamboat Ventures and Institutional Venture Partners before being acquired by AOL for $340 million at the end of 2007. Now Itzhak hopes to work his magic again. So far, Doclix has received an undisclosed amount of angel funds from past Quigo backers, including one of its former board members, John Frankel.
While Doclix will deal mostly in text ads, it says it will distinguish itself by folding only sizable (more than 1 million unique monthly viewers) and respected publishers into its network, an attribute that should attract major advertisers concerned with the integrity of their brands. At the same time, Doclix will only charge these advertisers based on the number of actual clicks they receive, a rare option for top brands, which work mostly with agencies that don’t bill based on ad performance.
This sounds like a pretty solid business model on one hand. On the other, Doclix’s text ads are the variety that produce a small window preview of the link before you click — a tactic that tends to annoy web site viewers. The ad network says the strategy ensures that people who click on a linked ad meant to do so, allowing advertises to better measure engagement. But there’s probably a reason pop-up text ads are seldom for reputable brands.
Itzhak told VentureWire that Doclix will look to raise a venture round in the near future.
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About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
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