Ex-AOL bosses launch new media content company

Vibrant Media, a new media company which provides content from publishers and sells advertising space on articles to companies targeting specific audiences, has been launched by two of AOL’s e-commerce chiefs.

Chief executive Douglas Stevenson, and co-founder and chief operating officer Craig Gooding, were both formerly heads of e-commerce at AOL (Europe).

Content providers for websites, such as IDG, vnunet and Computerwire, receive a share of advertising revenue for each article that Vibrant Media syndicates.

The company is initially targeting the IT sector, but plans to extend its content service to cover the financial and general business sectors before the end of the year. A number of advertisers, including BT and Gateway, have already signed up to advertise on the service.

The company employs ten people and supplies more than 25 UK sites with content, including Evesham.com and Jobs-at.com.

Stevenson says: “The service addresses a key question posed by online marketers: how do I get the right advertising message to the right customer on the Web?

“Working with key publishers our content will drive traffic and increase stickiness so that visitors to a website will stay for longer.”