That was a short relationship ... In a blow for the nascent eBay Online Media Exchange, the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau announced today that its members will not participate in further trials or usage of the exchange effective immediately. From the statement by Sean Cunningham, president and CEO of the CAB: “We appreciated the opportunity to test the system – throughout our review it became apparent that the Media Exchange was too narrow an application, had clear connectivity issues related to cable’s emerging end-to-end e-business platforms and lacked the provisions necessary for capturing critical strategic and idea-driven intelligence during a buy.” Equally daunting for proponents, Cunningham pointed to the lack of interest in the exchange by “major members of the agency community.” In other words, no critical mass without critical mass. (via WSJ)
The move comes less than a month after CAB members complained about being mentioned in publicity when its members hadn’t yet seen a trial and were then included.
Update: NYT: Cunningham told the Times: “We don’t believe that eBay is going to get this right.” he said seven national cable nets tested the exchange over the last month and decided it went too far in removing humans from the ad sales process.
Related:
-- Cable Nets And Ebay Media Marketplace Committee Work To Patch Things Up
-- Ebay Readies Online Ad Marketplace For March Launch