“The AdsML e-commerce standards for advertising have moved beyond vision and development to actual implementation,” says AdsML Consortium Chair John Iobst. “The AdsML speakers at IfraExpo this year are implementers who have gone toe-to-toe with these standards. They know a great deal about what it takes to make the specifications work in the real world. Their challenges and methodologies have much to teach all of us, and their successes show that the specifications do work and are adaptable to varying corporate and regional needs.” Iobst is vice president, Technology Group, of the Newspaper Association of America in Vienna, Virginia USA.

Multiple projects Indicative of AdsML’s flexibility.
Pilots highlighted at the recent IfraExpo 2006 demonstrated some of the different ways the specifications can be used. Specifications employed included Ad Bookings, Materials Delivery, AdsML Envelope and Controlled Vocabulary specifications, with plans already laid to use the e-invoice and e-tearsheet specifications in AdsML Framework 3.0. The latter specification is now open for public review.

– Ad Bookings
News International Newspapers Ad Bookings pilot, completed in May 2006, which tested bookings of travel-specific classified and display ads during a three-month trial. Report presented by Director of Operations Patricia Kill of Unified Publishing/Times Media, London, U.K.

Independent Newspapers (Ireland) and Papermule Ltd created a centralised ad production facility with Papermule’s Workflow and used the AdsML Ad Bookings specification as the standard for transferring bookings. Report presented by Joe Kirk, principal, K Media Consulting, Chichester, U.K.

The Los Angeles Times (USA) newspaper Ad Bookings project discussed successes and also reported extensive use of the AdsML Controlled vocabularies to bring disparate internal systems into alignment. Report presented by Jay Cousins, Senior Consultant, RivCom Ltd (CSW Group), Oxford, U.K.

– AdsML Envelope
At Kärkimedia Oy (Finland) an 11-month old ad ordering project now boasts 400 registered users, moves 12,000 ads a month. The organization is now planning for e-invoicing using AdsML Framework 3.0. Report presented by AdsML Vice Chair Harald Löffler, research manager for Ifra, Darmstadt, Germany

– Materials Delivery
An upcoming AdFast project of the UK Newspaper Society that will use the Materials Delivery specification (plans are laid to incorporate the Ad Bookings specification in 2007) — presented by Gary Cullum, Editor and Publisher, Cullum Publishing Ltd. , Hemel Hempstead, U.K., representing the U.K. Newspaper Society.

– North American Ad Agencies Put AdsML to Work
The “AAAA ebiz for media” project of the American Association of Advertising Agencies – the only effort driven by the agency sector of the industry – plans a proof of concept project by December 2006. Report presented by Tony Stewart, director of consulting, RivCom Inc., New York, N.Y. USA

“The AAAA ebiz for media initiative is extremely important in North America as it deals with the digitization of orders across ALL media,” said Alan Darling, executive vice president of Vio Worldwide. “We are particularly pleased that AdsML has been selected as the basis of the print media order schema for newspapers and magazines. The schema is scheduled for final approval in November and we expect that pilots to prove the schema between different sending and receiving parties will be developed late this year and begin testing in the early part of 2007.” Darling is a Steering Committee member of AdsML and represents Vio as a Founding Gateway member for AAAA ebiz for media.

AdsML-Compliant Projects, Products Coming of Age
“The growing list of AdsML implementations and pilot projects illustrates that the exchange standard is aiding in the advertising process for both advertisers and workflow production operations,” commented James Olney, publishing product manager for Agfa. “The implementation experience [that speakers] shared was valuable for the large group that attended the ’AdsML is Live’ session. Outlining individual project scope, successful steps, and challenges can be used by those that are planning implementations. We definitely will be using the information shared as we prepare for installations for our recently introduced AdsML advertising system – Arkitex AdCenter and AdControl.” Agfa is a long time supporter of the AdsML Consortium and a strategic partner.

About the AdsML Framework
The AdsML Framework for E-Commerce Business Standards for Advertising (AdsML Framework) is the first international data-exchange standard for managing the electronic transfer of information throughout the advertising industry. For additional information, visit http://www.adsml.org.

About the AdsML Consortium and Its Partners
The mission of the AdsML Consortium is to develop an open standard that will unify and extend existing advertising standards and automate advertising business processes — across all types of media, for all stages of the lifecycle of an advertisement, across all segments of the advertising industry, worldwide. It is supported by Ifra, a leading international association for newspaper and media publishing, IDEAlliance, a leader in information-technology solutions for the graphic arts print industry, and the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), which represents more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada.

The Consortium’s strategic partners are Agfa, Associated Newspapers, Ltd. and Time Inc. The Consortium’s members include a growing list of companies and organizations united to create a set of media-neutral, internationally-adopted specifications and business processes for the exchange of advertising information and content.

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The GWG Job Ticket Subcommittee investigates and defines best practices regarding different forms of job tickets. In addition to the implementation of the first Ad Ticket, the group will focus on future implementations of XMP and JDF.

The GWG Ad Ticket is an Adobe Acrobat custom XMP panel that attaches to a PDF file, and is designed to provide comprehensive meta data about the ad represented by the PDF. Using the GWG Ad Ticket, detailed and useful information such as media agency (buyer name); creative agency; prepress name and contact information including phone/email; advertiser name; first publication date as well as production information (publication; color description, size, width, bleed, and correction remarks), all follow a PDF ad from creation through production.

Each GWG Ad Ticket includes 13 required and 9 optional fields that are compatible with AdsML, the initiative supported by Ifra, an international association for media publishing, the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) and IDEAlliance, a leader in XML-based standards development for the graphic communications industry. GWG Ad Tickets share the same “tags” as AdsML. Similarly, the group will continue to maintain close contact regarding developments within standards organizations and develop compatible solutions.

Stéphane Georges, Dalim Software, and Chairperson for the GWG Job Ticket Subcommittee says, “There is a strong need for stakeholders to get more information about the files they exchange, especially in the advertising segment. By promoting the standard that is already compatible with AdsML, we expect a quick adoption of our best practice specifications.”

The GWG Ad Ticket was successfully developed with active collaboration and technical support from GWG member Medibel+, the organization that unites the Belgian advertising sector. The GWG Ad Ticket is an extension of the existing Medibel+ Ad ticket, conforming 100% with Medibel+ ad content.

“We’ve taken the concepts for Medibel+ job tickets and we matched to AdsML job tickets, creating a truly open format that can be shared and used by as many users globally as possible,” explains Georges.

About the Ghent PDF Workgroup

The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG), formed in June 2002, is an international assembly of industry associations and suppliers from across Europe and the United States. The GWG’s objective is to establish and disseminate process specifications for best practices in graphic arts workflows.

Members are comprised of graphic arts associations including: Cebuco (The Netherlands); CITAGM (Spain); DDPFF (Denmark); ERA (Germany); Febelgra (Belgium); FESPA (UK); FICG (France); FTA (USA); IDP Group (The Netherlands); IPA (USA); Medibel+ (Belgium); Nederlands Uitgeversverbond (The Netherlands); PDFX-ready (Switzerland); PPA (UK); SICOGIF (France); TAGA Italia (Italy); VFG (Austria); VIGC (Belgium); VISKOM (Norway); and VSD (Switzerland).

Vendor members are to date: Adobe, Adstream, Agfa, Apago, Artwork Systems, Callas, CGS, Dalim Software, Enfocus, Esko, Global Graphics, Gradual Software, Heidelberg, Kodak, OneVision, pub-specs, Quark, and Screen Europe.

For more information about the GWG, including a full list of its members and objectives, visit http://www.gwg.org

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Click to Download article Article from Druckspiegel 15.2005

In the live demonstration at the conference, an insertion order, generated from Mediaplex’ Print media management system, was passed to Vio Worldwide’s Insertion Manager, where an actual Dailey PDF ad file was attached to the insertion order. This package was then digitally delivered to Quad/Systems’ AdSync where the insertion order was matched to the booking. The operation was easy to use, and the whole process took less than two minutes from end to end – with no re-keying of any of the insertion information utilizing the AdsML Specification.

According to Cullins, “This demonstration shows that the use of AdsML to deliver digital insertion orders is a reality now. Time Inc. intends to use this technology to respond to our advertisers’ requests to make advertising in magazines more timely and easy to use. We plan to pilot this concept with Mediaplex and Dailey, and, once proven, we will take this to our other advertisers. Vio is already our vendor of choice for the Ad Portal into Time Inc, and we are using AdSync in this demonstration to successfully show the proof of concept. We will, however, be developing our own EIO (Electronic Insertion Order) system in the future.”

Emily Weiss, EVP, Media Director at Dailey said, “Dailey is committed to innovation in every aspect of our business and we are continuously seeking better solutions for our clients. It is a must to move toward the total digital delivery of advertising. Streamlining the print insertion process is a critical piece to this goal.”

“IDEAlliance is proud to have been the host to such an important announcement and demonstration of the use of the underlying XML-based specifications and best practices that our organization has been instrumental in developing.” said David Steinhardt, CEO of IDEAlliance. “None of this would have been possible without the support of Time Inc. as a Strategic Partner in the AdsML Consortium, the cooperation of companies like Mediaplex, Vio Worldwide and Quad/Systems in the implementation of AdsML, and the vision of advertising agencies such as Dailey.”

About Time, Inc.
Time Inc. is the world’s leading magazine publisher, publishing 140 titles that are read more than 300 million times worldwide on a monthly basis and account for nearly a quarter of the total advertising revenues of U.S. consumer magazines. Time Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., a leading media and entertainment company, whose businesses include interactive services, cable systems, filmed entertainment, television networks and publishing.

About Dailey and Associates
Dailey is the largest full-service Interpublic advertising agency based on the West Coast and one of the 25 largest agencies in the U.S. Known for successfully growing leading national brands, Dailey clients include Safeway, Princess Cruises, Dole, Cunard, Honda Motorcycles, StarKist, Best Western, 76 gasoline, Circle K stores, and Counrtrywide, among others.

About Mediaplex
Mediaplex, a ValueClick Company (NASDAQ:VCLK) provides technology and services that help advertisers, agencies and Web site publishers manage their online advertising and permission-based email campaigns. Additionally, Mediaplex provides the AdVault suite of software and services that help advertising agencies and other companies operate their businesses more efficiently, through effective agency management, media management, and content management solutions.

About Vio Worldwide
Vio Worldwide provides solutions to streamline and brand digital supply chains. The tools to achieve this include: customer-facing service portals; automated page composition; digital asset management; automated, remote preflighting solutions; remote color-managed soft proofing; standards-based integration of business and production systems, including insertion management and booking reconciliation; securely managed, tracked and automated online delivery; and innovative network design and outsourced 24/7 network management. Vio is a member of the Steering Committee for AdsML. Vio chairs the Asset Transfer Committee of CIP4 and is a member of the organization’s Preflighting and Advertising Committees.

About Quad/Systems
Quad/Systems is a new business unit of Quad/Graphics, the world’s largest privately-held printer of magazines, catalogs, direct mail and other commercial products. Quad/Systems represents client-facing planning and workflow systems including Impoze, AdSync, RAPS and PlanSystem3 for ongoing development, support and marketing. Learn more at www.quadsystems.com.

About IDEAlliance
IDEAlliance (International Digital Enterprise Alliance) is a not-for-profit membership organization that has been a leader in information technology and publishing since 1966. IDEAlliance advances core information technology to develop standards and best practices to enhance efficiency and speed information all facets of publishing – creation, production, management, and delivery of knowledge-based content – digitally and in print. IDEAlliance members represent a unique convergence of the leading publishers, printers, and solution providers. IDEAlliance provides a user-driven, cross-industry, and open environment in which its members can strategize, innovate, standardize, and implement solutions to real business challenges in publishing. For more information see http://www.idealliance.org.

About the AdsML Consortium
The mission of the AdsML Consortium is to develop an open standard that will unify and extend existing advertising standards and automate advertising business processes — across all types of media, for all stages of the lifecycle of an advertisement, across all segments of the advertising industry, worldwide. The Consortium’s efforts are supported by three associations: Ifra, a leading international association for newspaper and media publishing, IDEAlliance, a leader in information-technology solutions for the publishing supply chain, and the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), which represents more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. Agfa, Associated Newspapers, Ltd. and Time Inc are strategic partners of the Consortium. Learn more at http://www.adsml.org.

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