PaperG, the “Flyerboard” provider of cheap self-serve ads on virtual bulletin boards, is moving up the value chain with the launch of “PlaceLocal.” The new insta-ad program builds ads around photos it finds on the Web or select from its collection of stock photos. The ads are combined with reviews, customer comments and other content. SMBs only need to enter their name and address to produce their ad.
PlaceLocal enables SMBs to revise ads based on new entries seen on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It also enables media companies to build ads on spec when they go on sales calls. It also enables still photos to have video-like “pan” capabilities, aka as the “Ken Burns effect.” Ads can also rotate testimonials that it finds on review sites.
PaperG CEO Victor Wong notes that PlaceLocal’s ad fees vary widely, based on publisher. But he notes that PaperG is aiming for about $1,000 a month, or more than double the $400 or so that Flyerboard typically yields. The new effort places PaperG more directly in competition with Seattle-based AdReady, which provides advertisers with hundreds of tested stock templates, and then places media for them. Wong also said that he expects some partners to use both products to appeal to different levels of SMB advertisers.
Hearst TV stations are among the first to try out the tech, deploying it on 29 websites. PlaceLocal has also been deployed on 32 additional local media Web sites (i.e. TimeOut New York). McClatchy newspapers are also set to launch it in some markets.
Wong also notes that the company, a Yale University entrepreneurial program, is moving from New Haven to San Francisco. It has 10-20 employees, and has raised over $1 million.