Software upgrade adds technical support, scalability

The dominant company in ad management software, NetGravity Inc., Released its first big upgrade earlier this month.

The new product is aimed at help;ing NetGravity establish itself as the dominant standard in ad management software and is viewed as a must-have product for anyone interested in cashing in on the projected billion-dollar advertising market on the Web.

yet, just as it releases its most exciting product to date, NetGravity faces burgeoning competition, and criticism over its shortcomings.

NetGravity's AdServer 2.0 is billed as more flexible and scalable than earlier version of its server software, which is used to schedule the placement of advertising on its Web sites and generate remote-access reports for media planners buying sponsorship banners.

Version 2.0 comes to market in the face of myriad competitors like Accrue, which earlier this month said its Java tracking tool includes ad-management functions, and W3.com, which introduced in September a low-cost ad management tool that dovetails with its tracking tool. Also developers of real-time tracking systems such as Andromedia say they'll introduce ad management applications as just one of several tools made possible by knowing exactly where you Web site customer is at any given time.

Andromedia is bidding to sell sites on the idea of an integrated suite of applications made possible by real-time tracking, including traffic analysis and dynamic generation of unique HTML pages.

Faced with those and others, NetGravity will have to deftly parlay its status as first-to-market. It is true that more than 30 top-trafficked sites already AdServer. In addition, top media buyers swear by the software.

But release of version 2.0 also comes on the heels of reports that say some users don't think earlier delivered all the functions it promised.

In version 2.0, NetGravity has taken steps to allay the disgruntled. It says AdServer 2.0 will be backed by round-the-clock technical support. So when a client is angry about not being able to access results for a nabber placed over the weekend, the side administrator can get someone from NetGravity to get the problem fixed.

That's a big step up, since few Internet start-ups other than Internet Service Providers are able to guarantee products with full technical support.

The company says its solution remains among the most scalable on the market, capable of measuring the efficiency of ads on sites like Netscape, Individual, Inc., and Pathfinder. Its distributed architecture won't slow the performance of Web sites, and an open API allows Web sites to create their own custom reports.

Finally, AdServer's modular design enables customers to upgrade as they add Web servers and new hardware to their sites, NetGravity said. Whether the upgrade will be enough to prevent a fall to earth remains to be seen.