New Octagon Digital Ad Network Tries To Monetize Twitter

By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

FanWaves Inserts Banner Ad On Top Of  Web Pages Linked From Participating Twitter Feeds

Octagon Digital has launched FanWaves.com, a Twitter-based advertising network aimed at monetizing the popular microblogging service. Developed with the aid of Twitter monetization network Assetize Inc., FanWaves inserts a banner ad on top of Web pages linked from Twitter feeds of participating publishers, properties, teams or athletes. The opt-in nature of the program also allows publishers to monitor which brands are seeking out their Twitter-linked pages, allowing them to avoid category conflicts with existing sponsors. "What we're after is a large-scale, Twitter-based ad network, specifically for sports," said Octagon Digital VP Jim DeLorenzo. "Since these are only on the linked pages of people and brands being followed on Twitter, we believe there is both really strong reach, and higher-than normal engagement and click-throughs." The banner ad focus of FanWave eschews other Twitter monetization efforts that have focused more on inserting ad messages within a Twitter stream. "We felt that disrupted the relationship fans have with the entities they're following," DeLorenzo said. The advertising revenue will be shared between Octagon Digital and the participating publishers, with CPM rates varying based on the number of Twitter followers each one has. Entities already opting into FanWaves include the Knicks and Suns, and NBAers like Grizzlies G Rudy Gay, Hornets G Chris Paul and Warriors G Stephen Curry. Octagon Digital is currently soliciting brands to purchase ads on the platform, but ultimately, the agency sees FanWaves as more of an automated program in which both publishers and brands are opting into the program on their own and having placements made automatically through the system, not unlike many other online, self-serve-oriented ad networks. "That's one of the great things here. We can scale this up significantly without having to add a lot of extra human resources," DeLorenzo said.