DoubleClick Inc. is expected to announce more details today on its pursuit of an e-mail strategy, following the closing last week of its acquisition of co-op database company Abacus Direct Corp.
The Internet ad network plans to debut a line of e-mail marketing products called Dartmail, all of which DoubleClick expects to make available by the second quarter of 2000. The technology will let the New York company manage advertising on e-mails similarly to how it currently places and serves banner ads on the Web.
“We like this area a lot. It’s an area of strategic interest for us,” said Eli Chalfin, vice president and general manager of direct response at DoubleClick.
The first of the four products, Dartmail for Publishers, goes into beta testing with an undisclosed DoubleClick client in late December, Chalfin said. A broad launch of Dartmail for Publishers is slated for the first quarter. The product is designed to serve targeted ads into newsletters and e-mail, deliver content and track results.
In addition to marketing its new technology to its existing 3,600 advertising and 650 publishing customers, No. 1 ad network DoubleClick plans to reach out to the 1,400 members of the Abacus Alliance. The members — all catalog players — contribute household purchasing data to Abacus that the Broomfield, CO, firm filters and models into a giant database.
