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ESPN has a couple of pages called the Bills Clubhouse. Note how Microsoft's MSN has the top of the page. Note also the eBay section on the middle right, screen shot on the right.

On November 14, 2001, I viewed the source code for the page. If you do the same, you'll see this script where the eBay content appears. Note the third parties: starwave.com and mediaplex.com.

<!-- Generated on 11/13/2001 at 07:05:55 PM - by NFLClubhouse3.tea -->
<p></p><script>
<!---
function getPartnerAd(partner, srvc, template, xfer)
{
var browser = navigator.appName;
var ie = "Microsoft Internet Explorer";
var idx = document.URL.indexOf("/", 9);
var thisloc = document.URL.substring(idx, document.URL.length);
var adurl = null;

if (partner == "ebay") {
adurl = "http://adtpsorigin.starwave.com/Partner/" + template + "?srvc=" + srvc + "&transfer=" + xfer + "&partner=" + partner + "&url=" + thisloc;
}
if (adurl != null && browser == ie) {
document.write('<SCR');
document.write('IPT language="JavaScript"');
document.write('SRC='+adurl+' >\n </SCR');
document.writeln('IPT>');
}
}

getPartnerAd("ebay", "sz", "sz/ESPNClubhouseJS", "http://x.go.com/cgi/transfer.dll%3Fsrvc=
sz%26name=99600%26context=54025%26guid=
1%26goto=http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/
711-4576-1570-20%3Floc=")

//-->
</script>

Now do a partial source (with Microsoft's Web Developer Accessories), and you'll see this code delivered from Starwave and Mediaplex for eBay. It's part of a table, so I'm including the table row <TR> and table cell <TD> tags, too.

<TR>
<TD colSpan=2>
<A href="http://x.go.com/cgi/transfer.dll?srvc=sz&amp;name=
99600&amp;context=54025&amp;guid=1&amp;goto=
http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/711-4576-1570-20?loc=
http%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.com">
<IMG 
src="http://espn-i.starwave.com/i/dist/ebay_clubrt.gif"
height=38 width=256 border=0>
</A>
</TD>
</TR>

The heart of this code is the hot image, ebay_clubrt.gif:

It is delivered from Starwave's server. Clicking on the hot code above will display it in your browser. Clicking on it on ESPN's page takes you to www.ebay.com. Your click is counted/tracked by adfarm.mediaplex.com and x.go.com. Who are they?

Next in the code comes a row with the gray (#e5e5e5) rectangle followed by the first item for sale, the TB mini helmet. Again, x.go.com, adfarm.mediaplex.com and espn-i.starwave.com are involved. The little green camera image comes from Starwave but note that it's not hot here.

<TR vAlign=top bgColor=#e5e5e5>
<TD class=ebay width=200><STRONG>Item</STRONG></TD>
<TD class=ebay width=54><STRONG>Bid Price</STRONG></TD>
</TR>

<TR vAlign=top>
<TD class=ebay height=32>
<A href="http://x.go.com/cgi/transfer.dll?srvc=sz&amp;name=
99600&amp;context=54025&amp;guid=1&amp;goto=
http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/711-4576-1570-20?loc=
http%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.com%252Faw-cgi%252F
eBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D1029814164">
BUFFALO BILLS STANDING BUFFALO TB MINI HELMET
</A> 
<IMG src="http://espn-i.starwave.com/dist/ebaypic.gif">
</TD>
<TD class=ebay>$29.99</TD>
</TR>

Following this, you'll see similar code for the other items for sale. As I was preparing this page, I refreshed the ESPN page several times. Every time, new items appeared for sale. The rest of the ESPN page stayed the same, but Mediaplex is delivering new information taken directly from eBay's servers.

Note how eBay and ESPN disclaim responsibility:

eBay and the eBay logo are trademarks of eBay Inc. The content above is provided by eBay users, not ESPN.com or eBay.

So the ESPN server delivers a page with the script in it. The script pulls in information originally typed in by eBay's customer from eBay via Mediaplex and Go.com as well as images from Starwave. At VeriSign's WhoIs database, you'll find info about these companies.

Disney and Cap Cities / ABC merged in 1995, guess who got richer?

Now He's Even Richer
by John Greenwald
Time Magazine, August 21, 1995

When Disney landed ABC, Warren Buffett scored the biggest hit.

The FCC is paying attention, too: The Negotiations Between Disney/ABC and Time Warner.

Going to http://x.go.com/ or to http://starwave.com in your browser will get you redirected to a user-friendly "page not found" at http://disney.go.com/investors/wdig/, which after a couple of moments will redirect again to the Disney home page. From the WhoIs database, you'll learn that Starwave is connected to Disney. 

Starwave Corporation
13810 SE Eastgate Way Bellevue, WA 98005

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
DNS Operations
506 Second Ave. Suite 2100
Seattle, WA 98104 USA

Billing Contact:
DNS Billing
Walt Disney Internet Group
506 Second Avenue Suite 2100
Seattle, WA 98104 USA

This record was created on August 6, 1992, so they've been around as long as the Web. And finally, we come to Mediaplex. Here's their entry in the WhoIs database:

Mediaplex Communications
131 Steaurt St 4th floor
San Francisco, CA 94105

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Mediaplex Operations
Mediaplex, Inc.
992 S. De Anza Blvd
San Jose, CA 95129-2706 US

Billing Contact:
Brett, Roger
Mediaplex, Inc.
992 S. De Anza Blvd
San Jose , CA 95129-2706

and from Mediaplex's home page:

Mediaplex, Inc. is a leading technology company specializing in digital advertising, customer relationship management (CRM), and agency management.

Mediaplex's core offerings are in ad serving and CRM email. With MOJO Adserver, marketers can create digital advertising campaigns that include dynamic creative content generated based on real-time conditions, near real-time results reporting, and highly targeted ROI (Return on Investment) performance measurements. This technology is further deployed into MOJO Mail, allowing CRM email campaigns that provide the same benefits advertisers have come to expect from digital ad serving.

Note the phrase that describes what they're doing for their partners eBay and ESPN: dynamic creative content generated based on real-time conditions, near real-time results reporting, and highly targeted ROI (Return on Investment) performance measurements.

This article at ClickZ will give you more insight and background into the relative merits of third-party ad servers like Mediaplex versus do-it-yourself site-side servers.

Advanced Ad-Serving Features, Part 1: Site-Side Servers
by Eric Picard
ClickZ, November 14, 2001

A site-side server is to a third-party server as a freight train is to a passenger train. Both must be able to travel on the same tracks. Both must travel at the same speed. Both must deliver their content accurately and on time. But the passenger train needs to be a bit more refined in its amenities. The freight train needs to be able to handle a heavier load and deal with different delivery protocols (after all, passengers walk off their trains while cargo needs to be unloaded).