New York - Digital advertising agency DoubleClick announced on Wednesday the launch of an online marketplace that will connect buyers and sellers of online advertising.

New York-based DoubleClick, which counts more than 1,500 publisher, advertiser, agency and advertising network clients, helps prospective advertisers place ads online and measure their effectiveness, and also serves ads, to Web publishers including AOL and MySpace.

"Some sellers end up with as much as 80 percent of their online inventory unsold, yet there are buyers out there that can't get inventory to meet their advertising needs. It's like an airline that flies planes with four out of every five seats empty while potential passengers are being turned away at the ticket counter," said Michael Rubenstein, vice president and general manager of DoubleClick's new exchange.

"For sellers, DoubleClick Advertising Exchange means more seats get filled, while buyers get to choose the exact flight and seat they want."

The New York Times reported that the new exchange will make the company a more attractive acquisition target.

Recently, both Microsoft and Google have been rumored to be considering buying the company, for sums as high as $2.6 billion.

DoubleClick's exchange is currently in limited testing with around 35 participants. It is expected to go live in the third quarter and be available globally by the end of 2007.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2wqlt6

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/business/media/04adco.html

http://www.doubleclick.com