WebProNews

Google and subsidiary DoubleClick believe the ad-buying process is too complicated and slow. As such, DoubleClick announced this morning a new electronic proposal exchange platform for its publisher and agency customers.

DoubleClick says the exchange platform automates the media request for proposal (RFP) process using data exchange between DART Sales Manager (DSM) and DART for Advertisers' media planning tool. In conjunction with the automated platform, DoubleClick has released an adapter for data exchange between DSM and Salesforce CRM. The company built the platform on application agnostic standards and worked with the IAB to establish a standard for electronic order exchange.

A majority of ad agency clients still handle media requests for proposals and the contract process manually via email, spreadsheets and faxes. The chief concern among clients was seeming lack of internal coordination at publishers and inaccurate proposal responses. Google and DoubleClick think their automated process will help solve that, answering over 70 percent of survey respondents' desire for an automated way of handling these transactions.

Twenty publishers are testing the new platform, which eliminates the need to manually enter proposals into MediaVisor in addition to their own system. DoubleClick says this will reduce errors and save time. Once publishers receive a request via MediaVisor, they can check inventory, build a proposal and respond electronically.