Turn helps publishers increase the number of advertisers compete for ad inventory.  Turn helps advertisers increase brand awareness using contextual and behavioral advertisement targetting.

This is Turn’s third round of funding.  Turn plans on using the funding to further product development and to hire additional talent for sales and client services.  Turn Inc. is based in Redwood City, Calif.

Related Links:
1. DigitalMediaWire
2. Turn.com

Redwood City, Calif.-based ad network company, Turn Inc. recently raised $15 million in second round funding. The investors include Norwest Venture Partners, Trident Capital, and Shasta Ventures. About 3 years ago, Turn raised $8.5 million. This news complements the launch of Turn.com’s Smart Market feature, an automated online advertising service for publishers and advertisers.

“Today’s announcement of the Turn Smart Market demonstrates that the underlying technologies driving Turn—automatic targeting, machine learning, and goal-driven auction pricing—are rock solid,” stated Jim Barnett, the CEO of Turn. “Turn has achieved the critical mass that our unique technology needs in order to ensure market leading performance. We’re now ready to scale our market with an even broader group of advertisers and publishers.”

Barnett is a former CEO of search engine, AltaVista.  Advertiser clients of Turn include CapitalOne, Classmates, Comcast, DeVry, eHarmony, FTD, Geico, Motorola, Netflix, Quicken, Staples, and T-Mobile. Turn was founded in 2005 by Jim Barnett and John Ellis.

[Information Source: Turn Inc. press release via Yahoo!]