Hostworks wins ad serving deal with News

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 27 September 2005 10:00

IT Industry - Listed Tech

Web hoster, Hostworks (ASX:HWG), has won a contract with News Interactive to deliver advertisements from the websites of the online division of News Limited.

News  has signed a three year deal for Hostworks to provide a managed service to deliver online ads for more than 100 websites including its news, metropolitan masthead and regional sites.

News Interactive director - online services, Alistair Carwardine, said the Hostworks ad-serving managed service offered availability, scalability and affordability. 'It was the best match for the company's requirements,' he said.

'It is easy to use, it can handle our scale much better and it is keenly priced. Hostworks has a proven record of handling high-volume publishing sites, so its ad-serving solution has the ability to scale as we grow. It is also the most intuitive solution in our assessment.

'Hostworks delivers all their products well, so we have every confidence they can deliver this service over the web. Their success in serving ads for ninemsn is clear evidence of this.'

Revenue figures recorded by the Audit Bureau of Verification Services report that Australian advertisers spent 64% more online in 2004 than in the previous year, making it the nation's fastest-growing medium. The online advertising market grew more than six times faster than the overall ad market last year to hit $388 million.

Carwardine said News Interactive had experienced 'explosive growth' during the past 12 months. 'We are growing at a very high rate as the number of ads we serve matches the growth of our network,' he said. 'There is significant growth in the ad market, it's a buoyant sector at the moment, so we want to make sure we are well positioned for ad delivery. We chose Hostworks' managed service because it gives us the benefits of the solution without the need for extra staff, having to build boxes or run the application."

Hostworks managing director Marty Gauvin said the new revenue stream created by its adserving managed service continued to leverage Hostworks' leading infrastructure and expertise. 'Our success with News is just the start of a powerful new revenue stream for Hostworks in a rapidly growing global market,' he said.