Paul McIntyre, Sydney Morning Herald

The start-up online advertising sales network Full Circle Digital, which Channel Nine Melbourne's former boss Paul Waldren co-founded, has sold an undisclosed stake in its business to digital marketing group Clear Light Digital.

Mr Waldren established Full Circle Digital in December with the former Channel Ten executive Brian Gallagher and a former sales director of The Age, Peter Barrie, to sign up the advertising sales rights for websites, portals and other emerging digital channels.

So far the company has signed contracts with the likes of Southern Cross Broadcasting's new online division for its MyTalk website, the official Neighbours website and the website of TV personality Kerri-Anne Kennerly, www.kerrianne.com.au.

Clear Light Digital, which is headed by Yahoo! Australia's former managing director Cliff Rosenberg, has also agreed to provide ad serving technology to Full Circle Digital on websites, online portals and other digital channels such as mobile phones.

Mr Waldren said a number of additional representation deals would be completed within weeks and played down criticism that most of the major online websites were already under contract to rivals.  He also rejected suggestions that the online sales representation market was overcrowded.

"In 20 years we will very much look at this period as pioneering days," he told the Herald.  "Two years ago MySpace and YouTube weren't here.  They needed advertising representation and in two years there will be more.  The good operators are focusing on the growth in the sector."

While most online networks aggregate sites by audience demographics or by content genre - sport, news and entertainment for example - Mr Waldren said Full Circle Digital would do both.  "We're certainly fans of the network model [for specific content genres] but we'd be foolish to only do one or the other," he said.  "We will have a few options."