21st November 2007 3:36 pm Alibaba.com

Chinese eccomerce company Alibaba Group today announced the official launch of Alimama, an online advertising exchange which allows web publishers and advertisers to trade online advertising inventory.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group, Alimama has emerged from its 100-day beta period as China’s largest
online advertising exchange platform and well positioned to help small- and medium- sized web publishers monetize the estimated 80% of web site traffic which goes unmonetized in China.

Since launching the beta version of the marketplace on August 10, Alimama has already signed up more than 150,000 small- and medium- sized web publishers and 135,000 personal blogs, covering more than 1 billion page views per day.

The exchange has over one million registered users with an inventory of more than 380,000 advertisement positions available for purchase, with transactions for more than 20,000 advertisement positions occurring each day. Alimama continues to grow at a rapid rate, adding 4,000 small and medium sized websites and 10,000 personal blogs each day.

Alimama is the newest innovation to come to market from the Alibaba Group, applying the Group’s expertise in operating online marketplaces to the trading of internet advertising inventory.

Building on Alibaba Group’s strong track record in pioneering e-commerce communities among China’s highly fragmented small- and medium- sized businesses, Alimama’s growth is expected to encourage the growth of the Alibaba Group’s member companies which operate in distinct, but complementary areas of e-commerce.

Alimama’s unique business model is designed to meet the needs of China’s fragmented market for online advertising, providing a system that is transparent to both web publishers and advertisers.

To use the service, publishers register on Alimama.com to provide a description of the advertising inventory for sale, as well as the pricing models based on which the inventory can be sold, such as pricing based on impressions served, clicks or other actions by Internet users. Advertisers review the information posted by publishers, along with independent website traffic data.

Once they’ve decided to buy the inventory, they simply click “Purchase” and follow the steps to upload their ad. Current advertisers include large companies such as Bank of China and small advertisers, such as restaurants and shops.
“No longer will 80% of China’s website traffic go unmonetized,” said Jin Jianhang, an Alibaba Group spokesperson.

“The launch of Alimama makes web publishing commercially viable for China’s more than one million small-and medium-sized web sites. At the same time, advertisers now have anaffordable way to reach targeted audience groups on the growing number of specialized websites and blogs in China.”

Little bit more about the Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group is a global e-commerce leader and the largest e-commerce company in China. Since it was founded in 1999, the Alibaba Group has grown to include six core member companies:
** Alibaba.com - Alibaba.com is the Alibaba Group’s flagship company and the leading B2B e-commerce company in China, serving small and medium
sized enterprises in China and around the world
** Taobao - A leading online shopping marketplace for consumers in China
** Alipay - China’s leading online payment service
** Yahoo! China -  A search engine and lifestyle portal, acquired from Yahoo! Inc. in October 2005
** Alisoft - An Internet-based business management software company targeting SMEs in China
** Alimama - an online advertising exchange for web publishers and advertisers to trade online advertising inventory in China

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