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Internet-based ad agency Spot Runner has secured a combined $51 million in funding from Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), Grupo Televisa, Legg Mason Capital Management and Groupe Arnault/LVMH. Spot Runner CEO Nick Grouf said of the funding, “These strategic investments serve as a strong validation of Spot Runner’s technology-driven advertising model, as well as the results we have generated for advertisers and media owners. This further accelerates our momentum as we expand into a broader spectrum of online and offline media, both domestically and abroad.”

DMGT is a large media company based in the U.K. with operations in Central Europe, the U.S. and Canada, Asia, the Middle East and Australia. The company has interests in a variety of media channels including national newspapers and related digital operations, local media, business and financial information, exhibitions and radio.

Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. is the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world. Operating four broadcast channels in Mexico, Televisa maintains interests in pay-television network production, international distribution of television programming, direct-to-home satellite services, cable television, magazine publishing and distribution, and radio broadcasting.

Luxury products group Groupe Arnault/LVMH boasts a portfolio of over 60 prestigious brands including Moët & Chandon, Hennessy, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Donna Karan, Sephora and TAG Heuer.

Louis Vuitton communications head Antoine Arnault said of Spot Runner’s funding, “The global media landscape is undergoing a sea change. For advertisers to be effective, they will need to completely shift their thinking about how media is targeted and distributed, and how creative can be versioned for multiple audiences. Spot Runner is the clear leader in this area. As one of the largest advertisers in the fashion category, we’re very enthusiastic about the prospect of working with them to capitalize on these transformations.”

Earlier this year, Spot Runner acquired local online advertising provider, Weblistic.

So far, in the poker game that is doing business on the internet, four cards have been dealt: Communications, Search, Commerce and Social Networking. But the fifth card is sliding out of the dealer’s hand and Marchex bets it’s going to be local search.

In a new study, “2008 Perspectives on Local Online Advertising and Content,” Marchex predicts local search will be the next big thing, and has identified five trends that are driving its growth:

1. The accelerating adoption of online advertising by small businesses
2. National advertisers expanding their presence in local markets online
3. Delivering phone calls to businesses across online and offline media
4. More effectively connecting consumers with local businesses
5. Greater efficiencies due to consolidation and innovation

What should you do to play your cards right in the local market? Marchex recommends:

1. Speak the local language
2. Understand the impact of online advertising on offline transactions
3. Recognize that most commercial searches have local intent
4. Set different goals and expectations for local campaigns
5. Understand your local strategy

One of the most significant concepts is the ability to provide answers on a local level. The report says:

Local content will provide answers to community related questions: “What’s the status of construction down the street, and how will it impact my commute?” or “Where’s the best place to park when I go to the away soccer game this Saturday?”

And the marriage of mobile with local search will be, unlike a quickie union at a Vegas wedding chapel, a solid one:

Mobile will extend the applicability of content originally developed “by locals for locals” to travelers who seek an insider’s edge on how to get the most enjoyment out of their visit to a given neighborhood.

Facilitating all of this will be local conversations, useful to permanent residents and visitors alike. Enter social media.

Ultimately, five of a kind is the best hand you can get. That’s why diversification and integration across all internet channels remains your best bet.

Google and the Nielsen Company announced the establishment of a multi-year relationship starting with gathering demographic data for the Google TV Ads.
Google will combine Nielsen demographic data with the aggregated set-top box data it is already using, giving advertisers more targeting capabilities. Data derived from Nielsen’s TV ratings panels will provide Google’s TV Ads advertisers [...]

After all these years, Nielsen has decided to compete (a little) with those it measures online. HeyNielsen.com invites everybody to share their opinions about entertainment directly. The operating premise is that YOU can influence online and offline media through this new social site.
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