Dotomi's personalized advertising technology is coming to the US. Start-up Dotomi has offices in New York and Boston, with research and development facilities in Israel.
From next week, North Americans will see personalized ads as they surf certain major Internet sites, including the ''The New York Times'', Lycos and About.com.
Dotomi CEO John Federman, as quoted in ''The New York Times'', said that "four marketers have signed up for the service in the two months since Dotomi began offering it in the United States: Orbitz, Audio Book Club and two other advertisers whose names will not be disclosed until ads begin running. Another five are about to sign agreements."
Until now, direct marketing companies mainly used e-mail to bring in customers, but spam filters are now blocking even legitimate ad messages. Additionally, many people simply erase any commercial mail that comes to their electronic mailbox.
Dotomi's messaging technology, by contrast, is essentially a personalized banner that addresses potential customers by name, as they surf through certain sites. The ads have been personalized by tracking surfing habits and previous purchases over the web.
The visionary behind Dotomi's technology is Yair Goldfinger, who is also co-founder and CTO of the company. Goldfinger developed the instant messaging technology that formed the basis of ICQ, which was acquired by America Online (AOL).
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on Tuesday, June 29, 2004