AdKeeper, a US-based online service to allow web users to control the advertising they see, has launched with seed funding from publisher New York Times Company (NYT) and venture and angel investors.
AdKeeper was founded by Scott Kurnit (pictured), who previously worked with the NYT as founder of information provider About.com.
Janet Robinson, executive president of NYT, said: "We are so pleased with the platform that Scott and his team pioneered at About.com that there was little question about supporting him in his next major effort. I’m excited to see the inventive advertising that is being created for the AdKeeper system."
AdKeeper’s other investors include True Ventures, DCM, Spark Capital, First Round Capital, Betaworks, Lerer Ventures, David Cowan and Stan Shuman.
For its launch, AdKeeper has charter advertisers: Allstate, Ally Bank, AT&T, Best Buy, CBS, Ford, Gap, General Mills, InterContinental Hotels Group, JetBlue, Kmart, Kraft Foods, Macy’s, McDonald’s, Pepsi, Sara Lee, Sears, Showtime, The Advertising Council, Unilever and Warner Bros.
The company’s advisory board includes Bob Greenberg (R/GA), Janet Robinson (The New York Times Company), John Battelle (Federated Media), Jeremy Allaire (Brightcove), Ken Lerer (Huffington Post), Bijan Sabet (Spark Capital), John Borthwick (Betaworks), Wenda Harris Millard (MediaLink), David Rosenblatt (Former DoubleClick), Peggy Conlon (The Advertising Council), David Cowan (Bessemer Ventures) and George Schweitzer (CBS).