Search comes into focus for GroupM with 24/7 moves

by Andrew McCormick Media Week 20-May-08, 07:30

LONDON - GroupM is moving to become a leading search player by taking ownership of 24/7 Real Media's search functions and appointing the search outfit's chief, Ed Stevenson, as GroupM search operations director.

WPP has split 24/7 Real Media - the company it acquired for £329m in May 2007 - in two. It is incorporating search technology in GroupM, leaving 24/7 Real Media to run its ad network and ad targeting technology.

As part of the move, WPP intends to revive the Outrider brand in the UK to house the centralised search service in GroupM.

Outrider was previously incorporated into Mediaedge:cia in the UK, but has lived on as a digital specialist agency in overseas markets.

Stevenson, managing director of 24/7 Real Media, has been appointed search operations director at GroupM to lead the initiative. He has started employing a team including ex-24/7 Real Media employees and is seeking to expand throughout 2008.

"We have very successful search teams at our UK operations, so it's not a case of ripping that apart," Stevenson said.

He added: "My remit is to build central services for the group and build a central team. For me, this is a unique thing, definitely game-changing from a business point of view and something that's unique in the market."

Stevenson said that the main reasons for developing a search function were to deploy technology and best practice throughout the group.

Decide DNA, 24/7 Real Media's search platform that generates key word lists and manages bids across multiple search engines, will also be rolled out to GroupM's constituent agencies.

Currently, GroupM agencies employ different technologies, but WPP intends to make Decide DNA the main search marketing vehicle throughout the group.

GroupM handles more than $60bn (£31bn) in billings every year and claims a total market share of 17.5%.

Having already incorporated TV, radio, press, outdoor and some aspects of online advertising, the trading giant is now seeking to dominate the search market, worth £1.6bn in the UK last year, according to figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.