| If you haven't noticed, with Google buying Double | | | | away some money from the big ad networks, and |
| Click, AOL buying many different companies, and | | | | encouraging even smaller publishers and advertisers |
| now with Microsoft with a new announced billion | | | | to get in the game. Its like eliminating a hidden |
| dollar acquisition, the big boys are very serious about | | | | "advertising tax" on the internet that you have to |
| having control of the internet advertising market. | | | | pay by participating with Google, Double Click, or |
| There is a lot of money at stake for each of these | | | | whoever the big ad network is. There have been |
| companies, and now there is a new thing for them to | | | | several attempts at a good open source ad server, |
| fear: Open Source. Open source is nothing new, but | | | | and for small publishers, Php Ads New has been |
| the impact of open source technologies impinges | | | | around for a long time, with many people contributing |
| itself on every sphere of influence, especially on the | | | | to the project. Just recently has opened as Open |
| internet. And now the big advertising boys are | | | | Ads, with over 5 million dollars invested in its further |
| looking a little worried. What is an open source ad | | | | development. It is potentially troubling to see open |
| server? And why should you care? Basically, if you | | | | source projects like PHP ads new and MYSQL |
| have a blog, or own a website you can sign up for | | | | morphing into something different than people toiling |
| Google Adsense and make a few pennies. But if you | | | | and generating code for a pet project in relative |
| own any kind of a website, its important at some | | | | obscurity, but if you believe in free markets, you also |
| point to get a little better control over your | | | | believe that something valuable will be turned by |
| advertising, so that you can monetize it more | | | | somebody into something that is worthwhile, and in |
| effectively, or at least test out different ad | | | | the free market economy, worthwhile means |
| networks. All those ad networks comprise millions of | | | | profitable. Open Source projects however, generally |
| websites, with billions of impressions per day, most | | | | have something more in mind than just profit, and |
| of them with fortune 500 companies using them to | | | | the stated intention of many of them, is to provide a |
| advertise. If you have a tool which will allow you to | | | | free alternative to a patented software that anyone |
| test different ad networks against each other, you | | | | can use. Obviously, this is not greeted warmly by the |
| can see which network is going to pay you more. | | | | likes of Microsoft, and even Google tends to step |
| There is also a benefit to the consumer as well. All | | | | very carefully over this issue, because truly open |
| the big ad networks like Doubleclick tie advertisers to | | | | source is not in the best interest of the profits of |
| a specific ad platform, and as an advertiser you don't | | | | any publicly traded company. I for one am thankful |
| just pay for the advertising, you pay a fee to use | | | | to see some alternatives for both web publishers and |
| the platform. An Open Source ad server eliminates | | | | advertisers and am hopeful that in the future, viable |
| that fee. In theory, all advertisers and publishers | | | | options will emerge that allow web publishers to keep |
| connecting via an open source ad serving network | | | | "The terrible trio" at arms length! |
| will give internet advertising a big boost, by taking | | | | |