The June 20th cocktail party for Exchange Place could have doubled as a movie set. I was an invited guest representing ICMediaDirect.com and among some advertising professionals thoroughly enjoying views of the Manhattan skyline and park from the Hayden Planetarium's spacious patio. I was beginning, in fact, to feel as sophisticated as my surroundings when a dutiful bartender firmly rebuffed my offer of a cash tip at the bar. He kindly held back from wincing at the crumpled dollar bill I dangled over the linen, yet I still felt like that rube who just fell off the turnip truck. It took a generous helping of tuna tartare, shrimp cocktail, and some exquisite sushi before I was back to feeling like a pampered guest again.



So I'm a common man with common sensibilities, that's okay. And, like most people, I have eagle-eyed hindsight but no crystal ball to see the Next Big Thing ahead of universal acclaim. Nonetheless, as a constant, if not astute, observer of the interactive marketplace I've learned that real innovation occurs when companies apply existing technologies and methods for the first time in a novel way; as opposed to perfecting existing business models for maximum profit. As it happens, I see some well thought out convergence in the structure of Exchange Place, this new platform launched by Accoona, the artificial intelligence-based search engine. Exchange Place stands apart by providing a central real-time marketplace for the buying and selling of qualified leads.

After cocktail hour the General Manager of Exchange Place, Jane Lindner, led an informative presentation that included a funny kung-fu video bit about fed up advertisers. If you are fed up from the unpredictable expenses of advertising in generic pay-per-click advertising ? you're not alone. The presentation was a good segue to present the innovative approach of Exchange Place: a real-time online advertising platform that matches buyers and sellers.

Exchange Place, as its name suggests, evokes a marketplace, like Nasdaq. And it is a marketplace. I don't know if Exchange Place will be the final destination, but there are industry needs arising as the Internet continues to grow (and grow, and grow).

Our businesses are supported by advertising and, like other conventional media space is bought and sold in great quantities. Certainly at ICMediaDirect.com we have a giant ad network that needs constant maintenance, and like others, we're constantly buying and selling inventory.

The commoditizing of media, to some extent, shouldn't be something to be afraid of. Up until this Exchange Place, I haven't been aware of any centered market-like locale where leads or ads are bought and sold. There are reasons for this, like personal relationships, but I'd like to mention that the Nasdaq marketplace didn't take off until it left the semi-secretive world of phone calls and insiders and went online where liquidity (inventory) was snapped up or sold. Volume in issues went up and the market was stronger.

Like a market Exchange Place seems to take a step or two in order to secure product integrity; in other words, they don't want jokers messing around their system trying to sell non-existent leads or things like that. To wit, if anyone wants to see market integrity at its earthiest just try and walk onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to buy yourself some shares of Motorola.

I believe that over the course of the last few years interactive advertising is lagging behind advertiser ?rights?, if you will. Maybe Exchange Place, with its cost-per-action model, hasn't forgotten who paying the bills. This may generate serious interest from big advertising.

Stuart Kauder, CEO of Accoona said, ?While the pay-per-click advertising model has served the online ad industry well, Exchange Place will offer the ultimate cost-per-action solution.?

And it's precisely because I don't have a crystal ball that I don't know how Exchange Place will fare. Maybe it fizzles because buyers and sellers of leads are reluctant to abandon whatever channels are working for them now. Maybe it's the first of a wave of ROI increasing platforms that will encourage even more advertising confidence in the Internet.

I think Accoona has chosen the right arena and product in which to innovate. According to their press release, there has been a 200 percent increase in online lead generation from 2004 to 2005, making it the fastest growing online ad segment. This is the kind of promising milieu in which creative and smart ventures thrive and I applaud Accoona's Exchange Place.