AOL invest in self-service ad tools

AOL is developing self-serve campaign tools in a bid to scale its ad network business, CEO Tim Armstrong told ClickZ.

The automated tools are meant to help the company increase the number of advertisers and campaigns running on Advertising.com.

They'll be aimed at the same small and medium advertisers that have fuelled Google's growth.

Sony's US pictures and home entertainment arm has struck a multi-year deal to make available its titles to Redbox's rental kiosks across the US, riding the fledgling company's expanding network, reports Reuters.

The deal with Redbox, which rents DVDs from more than 17 000 bright-red kiosks for as low as $1 per night at locations from McDonald's outlets to Wal-Mart, will boost the presence of Sony titles in the market, both firms said.

"Redbox has become an important distribution option," Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president David Bishop said in a statement.

RingCentral, a self-described "cloud computing-based phone service provider," has announced RingCentral Office, states FierceVOIP.

The service, which the company claims is the first online, self-service offering for small businesses to buy and set up phone systems, comes with four hosted voice lines, hosted fax, call routing, unlimited long distance and pre-configured phones, according to the company's release.

"The fact that RingCentral offers a unique self-service capability with an all inclusive pricing model and no contracts is, frankly, quite revolutionary in the business phone systems market," IDC senior analyst David Lemelin said in the release.