PowerInbox launches premium email ad network

Since 2013, PowerInbox has provided an ad network for media publisher emails called RevenueStripe.

Now, the New York City-based company is launching another ad network that is focused on premium email inventory, called InboxChoice.

At launch, selected publishers include ABC, Hearst, The Enthusiast Network and Bonnier, with such advertisers as DermStore, Casper, Home Advisor, PCH, ForRent.com and eBay. Here’s what the ads look like in a newsletter from Enthusiast Network’s Hot Rod magazine:

Like RevenueStripe, InboxChoice inserts ads into emails as they are opened, employing the platform’s ability to determine related content. Both RevenueStripe and InboxChoice employ CPC (cost-per-click) rates set by the publishers, who insert PowerInbox code into their emails.

CEO Jeff Kupietzky told me that his company is trying to target a 10 percent higher rate for InboxChoice ads, compared to RevenueStripe.

He added that RevenueStripe currently provides ads for about 10 billion emails monthly, working with about 350 publishers and about 6,000 newsletters. Some publishers also insert ads into email confirmations or notifications.

InboxChoice came about, Kupietzky said, because some publishers wanted ads for products that were closer to their content and audience, and some advertisers wanted more premium inventory.

The inventory for InboxChoice’s native and display ads consists of both premium inventory that had been RevenueStripe’s and new inventory. Selected publishers are invited by PowerInbox to join the premium network, based on name recognition and the quality of their email newsletters.

There are no stats yet on whether InboxChoice offers better returns for advertisers. Compared to email ad network LiveIntent, Kupietzky said his company is performance-based with a CPC model, while his competitor is more oriented to impression-based CPM.

In addition to RevenueStripe and the new InboxChoice, PowerInbox also offers DynamicMail, which inserts dynamic media content — such as tickers, forms, video, scrolling images or animation — into emails, primarily for retailers. And it provides an ad server for display ads in emails, mostly for publisher’s direct-sold ads.

[Article on MarTech Today.]

About The Author

Barry Levine

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.