Lijit has launched its ad network, which CEO Todd Vernon talked about in an interview previously. He outlines the beta in a blog post:
In this release, publishers will be able to opt-in to the search-based ad network and begin receiving a share of the revenue for ad units displayed in your search results. As a thank you for your patience while we’ve been developing and testing these features, your account will be pre-loaded with a credit for estimated revenues based on your search history during this period (a minimum of $5).
We’re not done yet! In the near future those publishers who have opted in to Lijit’s Ad Network will be able to sell their search based ads directly to advertisers with whom they may already have relationships, targeting just their own publication and making even more money for themselves. This is going to be big!
Maybe this is what’s needed to get more websites and blogs (in particular) to switch their standard search box to a Lijit powered one?