Q – What are the major components of BluefinCMP?

A –  We call it a complete publisher’s community marketplace platform because it contains all the major pieces for true advertiser self service advertising for print and the Web

Bluefin Place Ad – Self Service Ad Order Entry

Bluefin Marketplace – Web Publishing of Online Ads

Bluefin Command Center – Set Up and Configuration, Reporting, Data Feed

Q - Do you support bundling of print and online? 

A - Absolutely!  Bluefin Place Ad gives the advertiser a seamless user experience.  You can create both the print ad and the online ad each with its own look and feel. The platform was designed from the ground up with the requirement of seamlessly integrating both print ad and online ad orders, each with its own unique set of capabilities and upsells. 

Q - Does the product enable the newspaper to review online ads before publication? 

A - Yes, online ads can be put on “hold” status until released by appropriate personnel. The default implementation is that newly entered online ads remain in a hold status until they are approved.  The site can also be configured to auto-release new ads.  The platform also includes a 'report abuse' link to alert the appropriate personnel to possible problems where ads can be quickly edited or removed if necessary.

Q - How is the print ordering interfaced to the newspaper front end? 

A - Just like with other suppliers, we will use the front-end API to send the ads to the advertising systems. We been involved with more than 20 classified Front-end integration projects, many of them with modern systems like Mactive and CCI and many others with older legacy systems like Atex, CText, SII, etc as well as a few home grown systems.

    Front-end integration requires a case-by-case analysis including of front end system types and what their particular import capabilities are. For example, many more up-to-date systems such as Mactive provide a two-way XML interface where the focus is on mapping the correct classifications, markup (unless pdf we use pdf delivery), etc.  Other more legacy systems often do not have contemporary mechanisms and require more diverse forms of integration like terminal emulation or one-way batch imports. 

     For newspapers whose  front-end systems have no support for integration, we deliver ads via email whereby our customers can either use the PDF attachment or copy/paste the text from the email.

Q - How do you handle the pricing of the ads? 

A - We maintain the pricing on our side rates, packages, etc.  Within Bluefin Command Center, you as publisher have the set up and configuration tools to adjust and maintain the pricing as needed. 

    Our platform includes a powerful and flexible pricing engine that allows customers to receive fast and dynamic pricing as create their ads.  The pricing configuration is managed via a web-based administrative tool that allows newspapers to quickly respond to changes in packages or special offers.

    Architecturally, the pricing engine is called via a web service so it is possible to integrate an alternate pricing engine (for example a  front-end system if it has that kind of capability). 

Q - Is there a limit to the number of ad rates that can be supported? 

A - No limit.  They can be by publication, groups of publications, and refined down to the sub-category or classification level.  For example, ad rates can take into account whether it is a print only buy or a combo buy of print and online. 

     The platform supports a variety of packaging, zoning, and rating combinations. The pricing engine was designed for the complex requirements that we have experienced in our many years in the newspaper industry and  with former front-end suppliers.

Q - Is there a limit to the number or type of classifications supported? 

A - No limit; again through our Bluefin Command Center your staff with have the necessary control to maintain all the parameters of the Bluefin PlaceAd application. The platform is designed to support whatever categories and classifications our customers need to expose on the web site. A web-based administrative tool is provided to allow the creation, modification or removal of categories as needed by the customer.

Q - To what degree can the newspaper control the appearance of the product? 

A - We have a standard  "look and feel"  that you can use with your branding (banners, side bars etc.)  We use PHP and Ajax on the pages so you can add your own widgets and applets as well.  Alternatively, BluefinCMP is designed so you can create and maintain your own presentation layer and we would exposes our database and application layers to you. 

    The platform starts with a standardized presentation layer that can be skinned for a particular publications branding for rapid deployment.  For a more advanced  presentation  layer, we  can expose the php-based presentation layer for our customers to use as desired.   For customers with special needs or have their own presentation layer, we provide our web service API to allow them to tap into the HnJ, Pricing and Search Engine capabilities.

Q - Does the ad ordering support the use of credit cards? 

A - Yes, we can incorporate any available credit card payments gateways via web service call such as PayPal Payflow Pro (formerly Verisign) or interface to other payment systems using their published API such as EdgCapture electronic payment system from Edgil Associates.

Q - If so, is it PCI compliant? 

A - BTP – Yes, our interface would be compliant as we would either use web service calls to “move the user” to the payment site, or capture the credit card data – pass it securely to the payment application – without storing the credit card info in our database. 

Q - How long does it take to launch a site from signing to taking live orders? 

A - Once we receive all the configuration data we can have you up and running 2 to 3 weeks, excluding the time needed for optional front-end system integration.

Q - Can you integrate with third parties such as CareerBuilder and Cars.com? 

A - Yes, we have import and export capabilities within our Data Feed Manager that is part of Bluefin Command Center, allowing publishers to send and receive ads in the required formats to other web sites or publishing systems, or receive ads from other sources to publish on our Bluefin Marketplace Web publishing online platform.

Q - Do you integrate with the newspaper’s user registration system? 

A - We have our own user registration, but we certainly can integrate with an existing registration system with necessary support from the publisher to do so.  The platform's user management and registration can be easily integrated with an existing registration system through calling our web service API to login existing or registering new users as they enter the Bluefin-powered site. 

Q - What is the business model for the newspapers? I.e., how do they pay and at what rate?

A - Standard pricing model is an up front installation fee to build the privately branded site, monthly service fee based on circulation size, and a flat transaction fee per ad order that is dependant on circulation size. That said, we would be happy to work with you on the business pricing and terms that could possibly lead to a group-wide implementation.