ESPN Pulls the Plug on Ad Network

From paidContent.org,
With nearly every media company getting in the ad network game -- the latest entrant being Forbes -- one major player is bucking the trend. ESPN (NYSE: DIS) has ended its arrangement with Specific Media and several other unidentified ad nets, Mediaweek reports. The Disney sports franchise says that it wants to head down "a different path." While the direction of its new path isn't clear, the reasoning behind ESPN's change of heart toward ad nets is: the use of ad nets diminishes the value of their brand and content by spreading it so widely, ultimately threatening existing relationships with advertisers. All the while, the networks gain from media companies' brand investments and their user data, providing little else in return.
But in order to reduce the competitive power of ad networks as it chooses its new path without them, ESPN will have to convince other major web publishers to do the same, Adam Kasper, SVP-director of digital media, for MPG's Media Contacts, tells Mediaweek. Turner, for one, is said to be ready to turn away from the ad network model, though the company says that no action is imminent and it constantly reviews its media practices.