An online advertising force24/7 Media (also known as 24/7 Real Media) is a leading seller of online advertising targeted to specific demographics. Utilizing its proprietary database of user demographics, 24/7 Profilz, the company features ads on a large number of participating web sites, including The Sporting News Online, Reuters News Networks, AT&T WorldNet and the idealab! network of Internet businesses (which includes eToys, CarsDirect.com, and Cooking.com). 24/7 was created in December 1997, the result of a merger of three online marketing and sales powerhouses: Petry Interactive, Katz Millennium Marketing, and Interactive Imaginations. Since the merger, the company has grown rapidly, acquiring agencies throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia, until setbacks in October 2001 caused the company to cut its European office and shrink its U.S. base.
A wide array of services
24/7 Media separates its clients into 21 content channels, with topics including technology, news/information, and games. Advertisers can select specific demographic criteria for their ads and decide if they want to restrict the ads to a certain online service (AOL, Prodigy, etc.), domain (.edu, .org, etc.), browser type (Explorer, Navigator, etc.), or other category. They can choose how frequently their ad is shown, when consumers see it, and what kind - banner, sponsorship, or direct e-mail - they want shown. 24/7 also provides "preferred merchant" sponsorships on shopping sites, as well as a promotions service that generates ad leads.
It's the technology, stupid
In January 2000, 24/7 Media acquired new technology to display ads on web sites when it bought Imake Software and Services Inc. and Sabela Media Inc. One month later, it announced the purchase of AwardTrack Inc., giving it access to AwardTrack's customer relationship management (CRM) program that allows web sites to award redeemable, exchangeable points to loyal customers.
Perhaps most telling, in May 2000 24/7 filed a lawsuit against DoubleClick alleging infrigement of a 24/7 patent, as well as a suit alleging that Doubleclick failed to disclose some of its own patent information.
24/7 and the competition
Having undergone extensive consolidation, the Internet advertising industry is left with three major players - 24/7, CMGI, and DoubleClick. While all three companies have developed effective, if similar, technologies for targeting consumers online, industry observers point to 24/7's wide international presence - offices in 50 cities in 27 countries - and strength in e-mail direct marketing as significant edges over the competition. With over 15.5 million e-mail addresses in its network, 24/7 Media's e-mail marketing division, 24/7 Mail, is the largest global permission-based e-mail database in existence. The company manages over three times more addresses than its nearest competitor.
24/7 cross country
In December 2001, 24/7 Media signed an exclusive contract with the railroad company, Amtrak, giving students and travelers an easier website on which to make travel arrangements. 24/7 Real Media is now used on the Amtrak.com site and has helped create better service, including online reservations, Amtrak Guest Awards, special savings and the Amtrak Store. Traveling has really become as easy as the snap of a finger, or the click of a mouse.
Real Media comes aboard
At the start of the 21st century, the woes of 24/7 began. Its acquisitions did not increase profits as expected. 24/7 was forced to cut 400 jobs and close down its European office. Hoping to survive by growing larger, 24/7 invested in its rival Real Media in a reported $2 million stock deal. 24/7 CEO David J. Moore became CEO of the merged company, while Real Media CEO Walter Annasohn left his position, remaining on the board.
Just a few weeks before the year turned to 2002, 24/7 Media officially changed its name to 24/7 Real Media, Inc. It still uses the same logo of TFSM, so stockholders and investors need not worry.
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