Zedo
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet marketing |
| Founded | September 1999 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, USA |
Key people | Roy de Souza, Co-Founder/CEO; Paul Prior, President; Joseph Jacob, CTO; Summer Koide, VP Products and Services; |
| Products | Zedo Ad Server (Publishers, Marketers, Networks) Network Optimization (Publishers) Behavioral Targeting (Networks) |
| Website | www |
Zedo (trademark styled as ZEDO) is a privately held company founded in 1999 by Roy de Souza, which provides several online advertising products and services to websites, ad networks and direct publishers.[1] The company works with publishers who sell space on their web pages to online advertisers. Zedo's servers send advertisements to users' browsers.[2] Zedo uses an HTTP cookie to track users' browsing history resulting in targeted pop-up ad and pop-under ads. The cookie is often flagged by spyware and adware removal programs.[3]
History
Zedo began in 1999. The company headquarters is located in the North Beach district of San Francisco, California.[citation needed] Reducing costs, Zedo's development center is in India.[4] In 2001, it expanded by offering the ad-serving technology to large websites.
By 2004, the use of filters to limit pop-ups and pop-unders increased. Zedo began using intromercials—advertisements served before the requested content—as an alternate method.[5]
Zedo has also experimented with creating its own social networking sites. In 2006, it launched a social networking site where users get shopping advice from friends who own products called Zebo.com.[6]
Zedo works with newspapers.[7]
Criticism
Zedo uses HTTP cookies to track users' browsing and advertisement viewing history.[8] A writer for The Independent called pop-unders from Zedo and other providers "annoying" while also describing the advertisements' windows as a "seemingly endless barrage".[1] Technologist Danny Sullivan has stated that Zedo carries misleading "junk" ads linking to fake news sites.[9]
Zedo offers an opt-out option[10] and says that it has an anti-spyware policy.[11] CA Technologies has categorized Zedo's over risk of spyware as "very low" and privacy risk as "very low".[12]
References
- ^ a b "Internet advertising: Top of the pops". The Independent. 2002-10-07. Archived from the original on 2008-04-3. Retrieved 2012-07-16.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|archivedate=(help); Unknown parameter|authpr=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|dead link=ignored (help) - ^ Heim, Sarah J. (2001-07-21). "Zedo Ad Serving Technology puts consumers in control". AllBusiness.com. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
- ^ Kaye, Kate (September 13, 2006). "Anti-Spyware Programs Snare Ad Cookies, Google Cookies Evade All". ClickZ.com. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
- ^ Kaiser, Nathan. "Interview with Roy de Souza, CEO of Zedo". Npost. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
- ^ Olsen, Stefanie (June 4, 2004). "Revenge of the pop-ups". Cnet. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
- ^ Tedeschi, Bob (April 30, 2007). "Got Roomfuls of Stuff? Now Sites Will Help Keep Track of It". The New York Times.
- ^ "Zedo refocusing on newspapers". News&Tech. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- ^ Danny Sullivan. "Of Misleading Acai Berry Ads & Fake Editorial Sites". daggle.com. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- ^ "Opt Out". Zedo. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
- ^ "Anti-Spyware". Zedo. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ "Spyware Detail : Zedo". Computer Associates. 2004-08-16. Archived from the original on 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
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