ScratchBack.com And The Future Of Online Advertising

A smart, entrepreneurial fella by the name of Jim Kukral launched a new online (blog) ad network that goes by the name of ScratchBack.

THIS IS THE FUTURE OF ONLINE ADVERTISING!!!

Let me elaborate. I don't mean that ScratchBack, as good idea it actually is (and it is a great idea), is the future of online advertising. Rather, it's the way it is set up that is the future of online advertising.

Traditionally, an online ad network works like this: The ad network signs up thousands of advertisers that want their ads shown across a network of websites. Website publishers post the ad code on their site and the ad network automatically populates the ad space with ads paid for by the advertisers. This works well and makes a lot of money.

But a new startup cannot compete with these networks because they're huge and already ingrained into the fabric of the web. Any new entrants to this competitive market are apt to fail because they would need a huge critical mass to be a success. New advertisers won't sign up because their network of websites won't be big enough to advertise on. New publishers won't sign up because there aren't enough advertisers so they won't make any money. Even with a cool new way to distribute the ads (Turn.com) will be difficult to launch because of the absolute giants in online advertising that you'd have to compete with (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.). Just see Turn.com; it's received $26 million in funding and seems to be forever stuck in beta.

Now, take ScratchBack. It doesn't need a critical mass of advertisers and publishers to launch because it works differently than the standard ad networks. Check it out: www.ScratchBack.com and try it on your blog (if you do, indeed, have a blog).

I've added the SratchBack widget on the side panel, the one that says "Are you in my topspots?" I'm testing it out but I probably won't keep it up long as the audience of this website is probably not the type of audience it would be applicable for.

I'm interested in ScratchBack for another reason. I'll be launching a new ad network some time in the coming weeks as well. Like ScratchBack, it's success doesn't hinge on achieving a big critical mass of advertisers and publishers, although it will need some to kick it off. So, I'm interested in seeing some of Jim's marketing strategies, how well they work, and perhaps borrow a few of his marketing strategies myself (I do have some unique marketing strategies which I'll use that haven't really been done in an organized way yet).