Ando Media's Targeted Ad Injector(TM) Changes the Online Audio Game for Advertisers

Ando Media's Targeted Ad Injector(TM) Changes the Online Audio Game for Advertisers

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Ando Media, LLC ("Ando") announced today that it has released its cutting edge targeted ad delivery platform, Targeted Ad Injector, to provide a tailored listening experience and an expanded consumer targeting capability for advertisers and brands.

Ando Targeted Injector performs server-side algorithms which provide real-time, player agnostic and seamless ad insertion so that each listener can receive targeted advertising content during an audio broadcast. Delivering value beyond all existing "targeted" ad systems, which use the limited player side stream switching technology, Ando's platform provides a true, flash based streaming architecture with full synced banner and metadata functionality.

Ads and content-alike can be targeted to different listeners based on unique characteristics including location, age, gender or other discrete qualitative data no matter what media player the listener is using. "It is truly a one to one audio experience for consumers, which also enables advertisers to hyper-target and optimize relevance" highlights Bob Maccini, COO of Ando Media. "We can deliver a marketing message for a restaurant franchise to a mobile user listening outside the franchise. In addition, we can deliver traffic driving messages by store location for a multi-location retailer within the same market, the possibilities are nearly unlimited."

The server was architected by Ando's Chief Software Architect and former maintainer of the Icecast project and creator of the Oddsock.org family of open source streaming systems, Ed Zaleski. "We have had this product on the drawing board for some time and are very pleased with the result. We are hopeful that in true open source fashion, clients and distribution networks will help us refine and innovate this product," Zaleski adds. The server will be released to a handful of content delivery networks (CDNs) this week. It is intended to replace existing streaming servers such as SHOUTcast(TM) server, Windows Media server, Adobe(R) Flash(R) Media Server, and legacy versions of icecast.

Ando Targeted Ad Injector runs on Linux and Windows platforms and will be free to content distribution networks.

Ando Media is the leading provider of real-time audience measurement and ads management solutions for the internet audio market. Founded in 2004, Ando Media is committed to enabling its clients to monetize their digital assets: audio, online, video and mobile. Ando provides a number of products which it licenses to the radio industry that assist stations in monetizing their audience. These products include Webcast Metrics(TM) (audience measurement), Ad Injector(TM) (ad insertion prior to or into a stream including impression measurement), and PodFuse(TM) (inserts ads and measures Podcast listener trends). Ando currently numbers its clients at over 5,500 internet radio stations (as of 12/31/2008) and includes many of the largest terrestrial broadcasting companies and Internet-only brands as well.

For additional information please visit www.andomedia.com

Quick Facts: Ando Targeted Ad Injector(TM)

Differentiated Features:
1. Streaming server & Ad server in a single, simple solution
2. FLV encapsulation for mp3 streams (this means native flash streaming
from a client perspective)
3. Full support for metadata as cuepoints in FLV (this allows you to do
synced banners as well as now playing at the player level - assuming
the player is flash)
4. iPhone streaming support (built-in Quicktime player on an iPhone can
tune to the streams that the server creates)
5. W3C logging support and completely integrated, real-time stats and
campaign/inventory management inside the Ando console
6. Provides a method of server-side targeting of individual listeners with
specific ads in the stream

How are individual listeners targeted?

Various discrete and qualitative data is used as targeting criteria such as DMA, player, latitude/longitude, station, day, time, external triggers such as but not limited to: pollen count, current and future weather forecast in listener's city, breaking news and more.

Is this targeting technique independent of the media player?

The Targeting mechanism is completely independent of the media player. All that is required is a media player which can play MP3 format streams. Because the injection of ads is server-side, the client has no knowledge that it's happening. It works on streaming devices such as Roku and Squeezebox, set-top boxes, iPhones, desktop computers PC and Mac and any other player which supports a standard MP3 or FLV stream. Meta data is included if the player supports it (not all do), the stream and targeting of ads functions without any specific client-level support for it.

Source: Ando Media, LLC

CONTACT: Paul Krasinski of Ando Media, LLC, +1-401-454-5717,
pkrasinski@andomedia.com

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