Unicast by Viewpoint launches FUSE 2.0, plus other interactive industry hires, partnerships, launches and announcements.

Editor's note: We list the companies and people alphabetically according to what company hires what person or another company. Our weekly column is always looking for announcements, so please email them to mediamotions@imediaconnection.com.

ABCSearch, a subsidiary of Internext Media Corp., and Idearc Media Corp announced a distribution agreement that allows Idearc to place its Superpages.comR advertisers across the premium tier of ABCSearch's pay-per-click network.

adMarketplace's pay-per-click management service AmpKeywords.com has ended its exclusivity with eBay. It will now offer all online advertisers the ability to gain customers from its conversion-optimized inventory.

AdOn Network, a provider of keyword-targeted advertising solutions for advertisers and publishers, announced the addition of banner ads and transition ads to its selection of ad formats. The banner ads are available in nine IAB-standard sizes.

Alloy Media + Marketing, a provider of nontraditional media and marketing programs, announced several exclusive partnership agreements with Meez, RockYou, BlockSavvy and Habbo Hotel. "We have carefully selected these exceptional partners, all of whom are introducing innovative tools to empower consumer expression, along with intuitive advertising integration enabling deep brand engagement," said Samantha Skey, executive vice president of strategic marketing for Alloy Media + Marketing. "In the increasingly crowded online space, our goal is to provide our clients with the best tools to drive meaningful brand engagement."  

AnswersMedia, a multiplatform HD video resource, launched HealthAnswersTV, the first in a series of AnswersTV channels dedicated to providing lifestyle programming on a variety of subjects. HealthAnswersTV will initially consist of two core programs, "The Answered Patient" and "The Health Reporters."

Anystream, a provider of new media management and production solutions, announced an advanced advertising management application to serve ads to video-on-demand, web and mobile outlets. The application will be offered as a component to the recently launched Velocity business suite to schedule, traffic and package video ads for on-demand consumption.

Claria has released Axon, the company's personalization platform that automatically identifies relevant content and information for consumers and delivers it to any device. Content providers can use Axon to power their websites, software and hardware applications. Claria has been awarded two significant patents around this market-proven technology.

Corbis announced industry-leading Rights Managed (RM) licensing enhancements and a new RM and Royalty-Free (RF) Backgrounds & Objects collection to better serve the needs of marketing and editorial professionals creating online and mobile campaigns and editorial content. Agencies such as Digitas said the new innovations make it faster, easier and more cost-effective for creative professionals at leading interactive advertising agencies and media companies to obtain the visual content they need to bring their ideas to life.

GoodMail Systems has launched its 300 percent ROI guarantee. As part of the 45-day offer, GoodMail has pledged that qualifying ecommerce senders will achieve a minimum 300 percent ROI as a result of increased email marketing metrics such as clickthrough rate, conversions and revenue per email.

Hitwise has launched Hitwise University, a new program that provides clients with best practice education and training on the application of online competitive intelligence data. The Hitwise-led effort offers clients multiple online and offline opportunities to learn how to use data and insights to optimize their online marketing campaigns.

Internap Network Services Corporation announced that Richard P. Dobb has been appointed vice president and general counsel. Dobb, a seasoned expert in corporate governance and securities law, will be responsible for all legal matters and will guide the development of policies and procedures to ensure the integrity of Internap's business practices. He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property law, public securities and commercial law.

Isobar, a global digital marketing services network, named Fredrick Marckini as its chief global search officer. Marckini comes to Isobar from iProspect, a company he founded in 1996. Rob Murray, who serves as president of iProspect, will replace Marckini as CEO.

Jumpstart Automotive Media, an automotive ad network, launched WhatisBT.com, a website designed to help auto advertisers across the nation maintain a better grasp on behavioral targeting.

kajeet, a pay-as-you-go cell phone and wireless service aimed at the tween demographic, and Nickelodeon announced a strategic partnership to serve kid audiences through wireless content. Nickelodeon is the first kid content provider for kajeet cell phones.

Lycos, Inc., a community destination for high-quality broadband entertainment content, announced the rebirth of Gamesville, the entertaining interactive games destination in the Lycos Network. In celebration of its 11th year, Gamesville will return to its roots as an entertainment gaming destination where the emphasis is on fun and community.

MediaTrust has announced that it has joined forces with Advaliant, a next-generation online performance network and creator of affiliate marketing programs. MediaTrust also unveiled its "Company Beliefs," which spells out its commitment to advertisers, agencies and publishers. It also announced the addition of the MediaTrust Integrated Solutions Group.

ON24, Inc., a webcasting and rich media marketing solutions company, announced the introduction of Insight24, a business-to-business rich media network of webcasts, podcasts, corporate videos and online demos.

Performics, the performance marketing division of DoubleClick, has unveiled its NSO Direct solution at Search Engine Strategies New York. The solution is designed to improve search engine crawlability, increase relevancy and deliver a higher natural ranking by creating a crawler-friendly version of a marketer's site with a simplified URL structure.

Range Online Media, an interactive agency specializing in search engine marketing, search engine optimization and online media strategy, announced the opening of a new office on Madison Avenue in New York City. The larger location was secured to account for the current expansion and hiring of up to 15 additional account executives and online marketing experts in the New York area.

Real Magnet, an email marketing and deliverability solutions provider, has hired Jason Gindele to serve as vice president of marketing and business development. He will oversee the company's national marketing initiatives and strategic partnerships.

SilverCarrot, an online publisher connecting advertisers and marketers with targeted consumers, has named Dorothy Young chief operating officer. Young will oversee day-to-day company activities, including operations, finance and personnel.

SourceForge.net, part of the OSTG, Inc. technology network, and Krugle, Inc. announced that SourceForge.net has embedded Krugle's search engine into its repository of open source software.

tbd advertising, a full-service advertising agency, announced that it has recently received several awards and honors for its work. Last month, the company was honored with multiple wins from two major awards programs, The Drake Awards and the Northwest ADDYs. These recent wins join recent international recognition that tbd's campaigns have garnered over the last several months.

Travel Ad Network (TAN), a vertical ad network, announced that it will begin to integrate video advertising with site content on its 50-site network starting with Lonely Planet. The award-winning guidebook publisher and top-tier travel website launched LonelyPlanet.tv in March filled with content from its extensive video library, sorted by topic and area, in a familiar, user-friendly format. TAN will serve pre-roll video ads to monetize the content.

Unicast by Viewpoint, an internet marketing technology company, announced the release of FUSE 2.0, the latest version of its content delivery technology which powers the Unicast ad platform. FUSE 2.0 allows publishers and agencies to actively manage their campaigns, access real-time reporting and maintain efficiencies through self-service control on a secure, flexible platform, capable of supporting standard and custom rich media ad formats.

Union-Tribune Publishing Co. and VMIX Media announced a partnership whereby VMIX Media will provide new business technology solutions for video uploads, media management and community tools for SignOnSanDiego.com's new South San Diego County-focused website.

XOS Technologies, Inc., a technology provider specializing in maximizing the value of content, commerce and services for sports organizations and fans, announced the development of XOS Studio, a searchable online archive of exclusive analytical coaching content, on-the-field video content and data resources for sports fans.

Michael Estrin is the associate editor at iMediaConnection. Read full bio.