Pheedo offers RSS/Atom Ad Server

News feed and Blog ad firm Pheedo launched an ad management tool to let publishers insert paid ads into their RSS or Atom content feeds, and track the resulting activity.

Kanoodle, which has pioneered RSS ads will provide syndicated ads, but publishers may also sell ads directly. Participating publishers at launch include Topix, Lockergnome and PaidContent.org.

The Web-based ad server is called SimpleAd Feed Management and Server. It monitors feed activity to determine how often an ad should be inserted. It also serves ads tailored to the characteristics of each news reader.

Reporting includes both data on ad views and click-throughs. It also gives publishers information about their audience size, the popularity of their content and what aggregators audience members are using.

As Blogs and XML-based feeds have begun to catch on with early adopters, start-up companies like Pheedo are working to help publishers monetize their investment in content feeds. Another firm (RSSAds.com) is also developing an ad model for feeds, while FeedBurner provides audience metrics similar to those offered through Pheedo’s new product.