Advertising.com announced a deal yesterday that it will collaborate with Japanese company Mitsui and Co. Ltd. to serve the Japanese online advertising market.

Under the moniker Advertising.com Japan, the duo will operate the leading online advertising site in Japan, which is the world's second largest market. Advertising.com, a subsidiary of AOL LLC, announced the partnership with Mitsui yesterday at an AOL press conference.

"By combining Advertising.com's exceptional technology and our deep experience and established presence in this market, we are able to provide the Japanese market with a more accountable, more impactful approach to online advertising," says Katsuhiko Oizumi, General Manager of Media Business Division at Mitsui.

Advertising.com representatives say the site "conducts strategic direct-response and brand marketing campaigns that guarantee bottom-line results for our clients". They offer tactical tools, web ads, search engines, and as a subsidiary of AOL they have the most expansive reach in the industry.

Partner Mitsui is one of the largest general trading companies in all of Japan and "trades in a diverse range of goods with business partners in every region of the world, and also engages in major international infrastructure and other projects", according to representatives. Mitsui also deals in importing and exporting, sales and marketing, as well as international trading and manufacturing.

Together the partnership will create a centralized network to connect advertisers and Internet publishers on which ads are automatically served in real-time based upon performance metrics.

The venture hopes to conquer the $3.4 billion online advertising market in Japan, which according to data from Mizuho Corporation Bank Research, is expected to reach $4.9 billion by 2009.

Advertising.com expects that the partnership with Mitsui, which already has an established industry reputation with online advertisers, will gain the venture a following.

President of Advertising.com Linda Clarizio says, "Partnering with a leader like Mitsui is the key to successfully entering this vibrant market. Mitsui gives this venture the advantages of an established market foothold, a globally respected reputation, and a successful track record of launching Internet/media joint ventures with US companies."

While the Advertising.com headquarters are in the United States, the site also has operations in England, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Spain, France, Sweden, and Germany.

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