Tom Phillips, Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) head of search and analytics who was director of the DoubleClick integration, is now CEO of venture-backed Media6Degrees. The small New York company says it has created the first advertising technology that delivers targeted, customized and scalable audiences based on online social connections. For more on its tech and how Media6 can tell who your real Facebook friends are, see this ClickZ
article.
"Media6Degrees is poised to dramatically alter the profile of online advertising. While search marketing has plateaued and standard display becomes increasingly commoditized, the use of social data is the new frontier," Phillips said in a statement.
According to his bio on Media6, during his three years at Google, Phillips established the search and analytics team to create new uses for Google data on behalf of major advertising clients. Earlier, he was CEO of Deja.com, which he sold to Google and eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) in 2001. Before that, among other sites, he led the teams that developed ESPN.com, NBA.com, NFL.com and Ticketmaster.com. Phillips was a founding member of the original management team at Starwave, which was acquired by Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) in 1998. Interestingly enough, he also co-founded Spy magazine in 1986.
Former CEO Joe Doran will remain an adviser to the board and continue to develop new business opportunities for the company. Doran was hired last year from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), where he spent nine years and was general manager of its advertising solutions. Like Phillips, Doran has some deal background -- he led Microsoft's acquisition and integration strategy for the many ad-based businesses, including Massive, ScreenTonic, DeepMetrix, AdECN and aQuantive Inc., which it bought for $6 billion in 2007.
Media6 is funded by Contour Venture Partners, U.S. Venture Partners and Venrock. Tim Connors, a board member and general partner of U.S. Venture Partners, said in a statement that the company has "consistently surpassed our expectations, with 30% quarter over quarter growth and a client renewal rate approaching 100%."
As a side note, Phillips' old company is making more use of DoubleClick, which it spent $3.1 billion to acquire. Google is forging into graphic ads with a
new ad exchange. -
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