There was an interesting story in the business section of Monday's "> New York Times about a new online advertising firm that has been winning some customers from Google AdSense, the 800-pound gorilla of the business (and Yahoo, to a lesser extent).

The company, Quigo Technologies, runs contextual texts ads (those ubiquitous short "Ads by Google" that appear around articles and blog entries) but unlike Google, provides a much more transparent experience for advertisers.

The Times article notes that some big advertisers such as ESPN.com and FoxNews.com have moved to Quigo because the service gives them more control over where their ads run. Yahoo and Google's model, on the other hand, gives advertisers little say on what sites they would like their ads run on, and according to the article, doesn't even give advertisers a list of the sites where their ads do run.

"Quigo, by contrast, gives advertisers not only the list of specific sites where their ads have appeared but also the opportunity to buy only on specific Web sites or particular pages on those sites," says the Times. "It also allows media company sites like ESPN.com and FoxNews.com a chance to manage their own relationships with advertisers."

Quigo has less than 10 percent of the contextual ad business, the article notes, but it may have pushed Google to make changes in how it sells sponsored link ads in the future. "In the next few months, Google’s advertiser reports will begin listing the sites where each ad runs," according to a Google spokeswoman. "She added that advertisers on the Google networks would soon be able to bid on contextual ads on particular Web sites rather than simply buying keywords that appeared across Google’s entire network."

Google downplays the influence of Quigo, as you'd expect.

Should be interesting to see how this all shakes out. I've seen a number of odd and inappropriate ad placements on Web sites, and I think the options Quigo brings to the table can only help advertisers, Web properties, and the blogging world as a whole.