Ad Industry Roundup: Facebook; EBay; NBC/DoubleClick; Omnicom; JupiterResearch

Facebook Institutes Blocking Feature For Marketers: Advertisers will be able to opt out of parts of the social net’s website following the discovery that some ads were appearing alongside promotions for the far-right British National Party in UK. Companies such as Vodafone and Virgin Media, pulled Facebook campaigns last week after finding themselves next to a page for the BNP. The marketers said they would no longer advertise on Facebook unless they were given assurances that they could control who they appear next to. In response, Facebook updated its system to enable advertisers to do just that. The blocking feature, which is likely to be offered to advertisers internationally at a later date, is one step among others that Facebook says will provide more control over which pages they are seen on.

Ebay And Oxygen Execute Online Ad Deal: Female-focused cable net Oxygen Media has conducted its first ad deal, with chipmaker Intel, using the eBay Online Media Exchange. While Oxygen first signed on with the eBay online media selling system in May, breaking ranks with the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, which warned its members against using the eBay exchange. Oxygen chose to try out the system in a bid to attract different kinds of advertisers, such as Intel, which has never used the network before.

NBC, DoubleClick Partner On Fall TV Promotion: In addition to extending their three-year contract, NBC is working with digital ad network DoubleClick on an online ad campaign to support NBC’s upcoming fall programming line-up. The campaign has started with a video microsite promotion for the new Bionic Woman action series. One of the facets DoubleClick has fashioned for the microsite include Video Sweetspotting, which purports to allow users to alter the actual video content through various “trigger points,” which also delivers more detailed information about the show when clicked.

Omnicom Subsidiary Launches Automated Feature: Omnicom’s Zimmerman advertising continues to build out its “virtual advertising agency” concept with a new media buying and planning product, dubbed the “Z-Media Exchange,” which helps make it easier for small businesses to buy radio and TV spots online. In January, Zimmerman started Pick-n-Click, an automated web-based system for creating customized local retail ads for TV, radio, print, outdoor, online, direct mail and collateral based media.

Google and Yahoo Rated Favorite Online Brands: JupiterResearch asked internet users to rank their favorite brands and found Google and Yahoo were the the top two, followed by Amazon, eBay, MySpace, Microsoft/MSN, AOL and Apple. Broken down by age, MySpace ranked closer to the top with Google and Yahoo among younger adults, while those 55 and older preferred Google to Yahoo. By gender, men preferred Google, while women preferred Yahoo. Least surprising was that Apple fans registered the greatest amount of brand loyalty. Overall, 51 percent of those surveyed said they view themselves as “brand advocates.”

Comments have been disabled for this post