• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, June 13, 2012

RadiumOne has released a URL shortener that creates data pulled through an analytics platform to target online display ads. The tool, re.Po.st, collects data from shared content and pictures in social sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.

The data from re.Po.st serves up in a dashboard as consumers share information about a specific product, which expresses interest. RadiumOne uses the signal to target display ads by building audience segments on the fly. Companies focused in automotive, entertainment, retail and consumer product goods have been testing the tool for the past three months.

Gurbaksh Chahal, CEO of RadiumOne, said "within seconds, we can run and target the ads, creating 12 billion ad impressions per day," re.Po.st puts shortened URLs to work for brands vs. just serving as a utility. The challenge becomes getting consumers to use the shortener, rather than Bit.ly or goo.gl.

Other utilities like Bit.ly will shorten a URL. Chahal said unlike RadiumOne, Bit.ly's data doesn't plug into a dashboard to collect and monetize the data through advertising inventory. The utility turns links into a return on investment.

Sharing might prove more lucrative than Likes for RadiumOne, but Likes will become the target tool for ads in a Facebook stream integrated into Apple's next operating system iOS 6, Mountain Lion. Earlier this week, Apple launched Tap to Post -- Facebook and Twitter buttons that will appear in Mac OS.

Similar to RadiumOne's re.Po.st, Apple's Open Graph objects will come complete with Like buttons. Apple can target ads to people who Like them. The Facebook stream will have ads.