Peter Horan has been a friend and advisor for years, and today he accepted a job at Halogen Media Group as Chairman.

Halogen Media Taps Peter Horan As Executive Chairman

Halogen Media Group, an online marketing firm focused on connecting “prestige” advertisers with social media audiences, has named former About.com and IAC (NSDQ: IACI) exec Peter Horan as its executive chairman. The announcement comes a day after the shut down of e-mail startup Goodmail Systems, which Horan left a year ago as CEO.

Horan’s role will cover two major areas, said CEO and founder Greg Shove, in an interview with paidContent. Specifically, he’ll be charged with building up the company’s audience strategy. He’ll also grow content sites in-house and will also look for companies to invest in or acquire as additions to its network.

Here is Peter's past job experience from LinkedIn.

Current

Executive Chairman at Halogen Network

Past

CEO at IAC Media And Advertising

CEO at AllBusiness.com, Inc.

CEO at About.Com, Division of Primedia

CEO at DevX.com, Inc.

Senior Vice President at International Data Group

Peter and I have had great conversations over the past few months on social media which fits his move to Halogen.

Our Company

Audience fragmentation continues to accelerate, so the usual media companies can no longer be relied upon to reach and engage the affluent audience with both impact and performance. Typical ad networks can provide reach and efficiency, but are not able to ensure the relevance and brand-safety that prestige brands demand. This gap is why Halogen exists - to provide prestige brands with affluential audience reach that enhances their brands, yet also delivers results.

Since our start three years ago, we have built the largest aggregate network of affluent users online, with hundreds of mid-tail publishers that reach more than 55 million users each month and an email subscriber base of over 10 million. Halogen's suite of capabilities includes custom editorial campaigns, high impact ad formats, behavioral and income targeting, and video advertising channels. Advertisers that have partnered with Halogen in the past include Rolex, smartwater, Trapiche wines, Chase Manhattan Bank and Harry Winston.

While Peter was CEO of IAC, ask.com was expanding in Moses Lake, WA with its data center build out. It is rare to find a CEO who gets data centers.

Horan left his post as CEO of IAC Media & Advertising, to become CEO of Goodmail in May 2008. Before that, Horan was best known as the head of About.com during its sale to NYTCo.

David Kaplan
@davidaKaplanFeb 23, 2011 12:00 AM ET