HomeDepot.com to end third-party ad sales in April

The Home Depot Inc.’s experiment with selling advertising space on its e-commerce site to third parties will end next month, the victim of a shift in focus for the hardware and home supplies retailer. Under a recent re-organization, Home Depot moved Home Depot Direct, which managed the web site, into its merchandising group.

“The Home Depot reviewed its online advertising program and determined that our resources would be better utilized by focusing HomeDepot.com on its core mission of supporting our online and store customers as they research and shop,” a spokeswoman says.

Home Depot would not disclose how much the program cost or what portion of revenue the ad sales represented.

Home Depot, No. 41 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, began selling online advertising in July, using SendTec Inc., a direct marketing firm, which managed the sales force and the creation and deployment of the ads on the site. The retailer said it sold ads to product manufacturers as a way of providing more of the information to customers. (See Internet Retailer, October 2006.)

Web shoppers who clicked on an ad were sent to branded microsites within the Home Depot site that displayed the advertiser’s products. Advertisers also had the option of buying space on the home page, category pages, product pages and numerous “how to” guide pages. The ads included interactive demonstrations, streaming videos and more in-depth product content designed to keep them on the Home Depot’s e-commerce site.

SendTec is disappointed that Home Depot has terminated the agreement, but will continue to pursue major clients for the interactive media services, says Eric Obeck, CEO.