Updated
iBloks
The San Francisco-based company launched in August 2005 as a site for mixing music, images and games (you can read our coverage of some earlier funding here and here), but its focus has since shifted to advertising.
When it launched, iBloks had a lot of news sites scratching their heads -- we described the concept as "hard to grasp", while Mashable wondered, "Why the heck would anyone want to create these things in the first place?" The company seems to have found more traction by focusing on ads, with customers including Playphone, Sak's Fifth Avenue and Warner Brothers. Most promisingly, Microsoft used iBloks to create video ads for the 50 companies in its startup accelerator program, then asked iBloks itself to join the program in January.
You can watch the startup ads here. The content and presentation aren't blowing me away, but the selling point appears to be the speed and low cost. In describing why it chose iBloks, Microsoft notes that there was a 30-day timeline and a limited budget. (Still, the ads were meant in part to be a showcase for Microsoft's Silverlight app developer, which is trying to take on the market-dominating Adobe Flash. So the underwhelming quality seems like a bad sign for Silverlight.)
[Update: iBloks' Julia Miller tells me that the ads actually play in Flash, so disregard my parenthetical remarks about Silverlight. Sorry. In the comments, Miller also points to another example of iBloks' software at work -- ads and a game tie-in with the new Alien vs. Predator film.]
iBloks publicly launched its InstantAd tool earlier this month, and ad creation seems to be easy indeed. You start with a sample ad or template, type in your own URLs and messages, then upload and drag in videos and other media content. InstantAds can be embedded in your website or distributed through online advertising networks.
Now, there's certainly no shortage of web advertising companies -- for example, DoubleClick (read our coverage of its acquisition by Google) offers rich media ad services. But iBloks may become a hit with startups on limited budgets, and Microsoft's support won't hurt.
Maveron Equity Partners and MEP Associates are leading iBloks' new round.