In the world of digital, I believe that ultimately the future of measurement will center on ways of harvesting digital trails that are available as an exhaust of the process.

So, I’m always on the lookout for really cool stuff that moves us in that direction.  Especially if it’s free!

Here is a great new search engine that is freely available from a company called MOAT.  It scrapes all digital display advertising and associates it with the brand advertised, and where the ad was last seen.

If you go to www.moat.com and search for Starbucks, you’ll see this page:

If you mouse over any ad (from their website, not here as this is just a static image), you will see its rich media animation (Moat actually scrapes the code) and you will see where it last ran.

Some possible uses:

1.       Understand the types of creative your competitors are running (ideas, ad unit type, etc.)

2.       Expand your thinking about creative approaches you could be using for your display

3.       See where your competitors are running their ads

4.       Assess other brands’ call to action

5.       Assess the degree to which you or competitors are integrating your messaging from traditional media and digital display

6.       As a media company, discover advertising that isn’t running on your website but should be and contact those advertisers

7.       Culture transformation; help to communicate this new world of digital data that are available as an exhaust of the ad serving process.

Again this tool is freely available so start searching for brands of interest.  Enjoy!

Disclaimer:  I work with this company but in general, I am happy to share the cool stuff I find whether come from clients or not