Oboxmedia’s +40 entertainment, lifestyle, sports, music, and automotive sites to offer in-image advertising; a first in Canada

Los Angeles – GumGum, the world’s largest in-image ad platform, today announced an agreement which will introduce in-image advertising in Canada for the first time. GumGum is partnering with Montreal-based Oboxmedia, a media company with more than 40 websites targeted to over 8 million online entertainment conscious Canadians aged 18 to 44 yrs. old. This is the first time GumGum has been offered outside the US where it pioneered in-image advertising which turns publisher photographs into interactive user experiences by placing contextual ads on part of the images.

GumGum’s proprietary image recognition and targeting technology behind the ad placements can yield 20 times the click-through rate of traditional online ads. In the US, GumGum works with online publishers like Time Warner, Hearst Corporation, Tribune, TMZ, Gannett and Glam Media.

“Oboxmedia is a one-stop shop for followers of entertainment, lifestyle, sports, auto, and music and sets the conversational agenda for millions of young, passionate, and creative tastemakers and their social circles. Images play a central role in that process. Now, with GumGum, Oboxmedia can monetize their photos while creating an additive user experience,” says Ophir Tanz, CEO and founder of GumGum. “We’re excited to serve the Canadian territories in partnership with Oboxmedia.”

“To us, successful online branding is about more than generating clicks. It’s about getting face time with the right users in environments that support the brand’s promise,” says Christopher Rovny, Oboxmedia’s co-founder & Vice-President, Business Development. “With GumGum, we introduce a unique and captivating way of extending brand messages to contextually relevant images. In addition to helping brands reach audiences predisposed to their message, the GumGum model gives us a completely new monetization stream and provides brands the opportunity to reach highly targeted mass audiences.”

With more than 40 websites attracting over 9 million monthly unique visitors,  Oboxmedia (www.oboxmedia.com) is a one-stop shop for French- and English-speaking Canadian followers of entertainment, lifestyle, sports, and music. Focused on delivering “digital engagement,” Oboxmedia offers its clients access to core entertainment audiences, enabling them to reach these audiences exactly where they play and consume media both. Brands become the center of uniquely produced videos, photos, editorials, and real life events with Oboxmedia’s signature style that never fails to attract the exact audience. Based in Montreal, the company was founded in 2009.

GumGum (www.gumgum.com) is the world’s largest in-image ad platform and a Quantcast Top 10 Network, reaching 150 million unique visitors and serving billions of in-image ads per month.

GumGum’s proprietary image recognition and targeting technology helps garner user engagement through highly targeted campaigns that yield 20 times the click-through rate of traditional advertising units. In addition to helping brands reach audiences predisposed to the marketer’s message, the GumGum model gives publishers a completely new monetization stream and provides brands the opportunity to reach highly targeted mass audiences.

Hundreds of the Internet’s premier websites, including Time Warner Inc., Tribune, Scripps, Gannett, Hearst Corporation, Internet Brands Inc. and Glam Network rely on GumGum to turn photographs into lucrative interactive experiences by overlaying text, banner or Flash ad units on top of the images.

Founded in 2007, GumGum is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA and backed by investments from GRP Partners, First Round Capital, New Enterprise Associates and Crosscut Ventures.

Publishers and App Developers Get Access to Pre-Roll Ad Units Through AdMob’s Ad Network Mediation Solution

SAN FRANCISCO – BrightRoll, the world’s largest provider of digital video advertising services, today announces it is teaming up with Google’s AdMob to allow publishers and developers to seamlessly integrate video ads into their mobile apps and generate revenue from premium advertisers.

Through this collaboration, publishers and developers who have the AdMob SDK can now use its Ad Network Mediation to access BrightRoll pre-roll ad units through the BrightRoll AdMob Adapter. BrightRoll is the first video ad network available through AdMob Mediation, which lets publishers manage their networks to increase their fill and eCPM.

“App developers often work with several ad networks to maximize mobile revenue. The updated Mediation solution in AdMob’s new SDK 6.0 makes that process easier and enables developers to more effectively build their businesses,” said Clay Kellogg, head of mobile platform and partnership strategy at Google. “Brightroll’s efforts to make their video ads available via AdMob’s Mediation solution represent an industry-leading example of innovation in mobile advertising.”

Mobile video advertising offers publishers attractive revenue opportunities and superior CPM rates compared to traditional mobile display ads. BrightRoll adapts advertisers’ traditional TV or web video content into pre-roll ad units for a broad range of mobile devices including iPhones, iPads, Android phones and tablets. BrightRoll currently runs global, large-scale campaigns in every major advertising category, including entertainment, CPG, business, auto, financial services, and food and beverage.

“Google and BrightRoll are pleased that publishers and developers can now harness the power of dynamic pre-roll ads on the AdMob SDK to improve in-app experience and drive revenue growth,” said Tod Sacerdoti, CEO and founder at BrightRoll. “This integration substantially expands the BrightRoll mobile offering and gives advertisers increased reach and scale on mobile devices.”

About BrightRoll

BrightRoll is the world’s leading provider of digital video advertising services. The company has access to billions of monthly digital video impressions across the globe through its network and exchange (BRX). The company enables advertisers to execute smart digital video advertisers across the web and mobile landscape. Proprietary buying technology, combined with full site disclosure and flexible targeting provides BrightRoll network and exchange customers with the reach, frequency and scalability needed to achieve campaign goals. The company provides publishers with access to the industry’s largest video marketplace to maximize monetization of their inventory. BrightRoll is a privately held, venture-backed company headquartered in San Francisco, California.

For more information visit brightroll.com or brx.com

Gamification of Video Ensure Mobile Consumers Remember Brand Messages

San Jose - blurbIQ Inc., a video advertising solution provider, today announced that Mojiva, has become the first company to deploy blurbIQ’s patent-pending cross platform interactive video advertising solution for mobile. Mojiva, the mobile ad network reaching more than one billion unique devices globally, will have exclusive rights to offer blurbIQ’s game mechanics technology to its growing base of Fortune 1000 advertisers seeking higher interaction rates and performance metrics.

Utilizing game mechanics, blurbIQ inserts a combination of polling, trivia, and logic questions for consumers to answer as video streams, creating an unobtrusive game environment to interact with video ad messaging. As a result, consumers pay closer attention to brand messages. The blurbIQ technology can also recommend products based on consumer answers to questions as well as create fully immersive “choose your own adventure” video experiences.

“As we look for innovative ways to help deliver relevant advertising at significant scale, blurbIQ gives Mojiva’s advertisers another unique opportunity to increase engagement with their audiences that they can’t get anywhere else,” says Jack Hallahan, Vice President of Mobile Innovations at Mojiva. “As mobile continues to gain momentum, new offerings like this will strengthen a marketer’s campaign by allowing them to branch out horizontally and vertically and gain visibility through data and metrics.”

blurbIQ Inc recently launched its cross platform interactive video ad units enabling brands to measure their interactive video campaign’s messaging across the digital marketing spectrum – from online pre-roll and in-banner units, to mobile,tablets, social media, and interactive TV - with one technology provider.

“The blurbIQ gamification of video is driving consumers to interact with and retain video brand messaging in a compelling and unique manner,” adds Scott Reese, CEO of blurbIQ Inc. “We are seeing tremendous response to our interactive video solutions in the marketplace and we are thrilled have Mojiva be our first mobile partner.”

With quick time analytics dashboards, dynamic insertion of brand questions within video, brand rankings to encourage replay and sharing, brands are truly able to measure video campaign performance that ensures return on advertising spend are maximized.

blurbIQ (http://www.blurbiq.com ) is the leader in interactive gamification of video across the digital marketing spectrum. The patent pending technology overlays video with brand and trivia questions as the video streams. blurbIQ turns video commercials into interactive “games” that dramatically increases viewer engagements, video completion rates, and ad retention. These interactive video units are distributed as pre-roll, in banner, mobile, tablet, and social media advertising units. blurbIQ provides quick time analytics dashboards so brands can measure every interaction with their video content like never before. Since launching in July of 2010, blurbIQ has acquired key accounts such as E*Trade, Duracell, Church & Dwight and General Motors.

Proprietary Algorithm Automatically Adjusts to Individual Campaign-Critical Metrics to Optimize Media Allocations for Brands

REDWOOD CITY, CA – YuMe, the operating system for TV 2.0, today announced a first for the video advertising industry: the YuMe Placement Quality Index (PQI), a proprietary algorithm that monitors and identifies the optimal placement of video ads on digital properties. In this age of site list parity, media buyers need a better way to evaluate expected performance for their campaigns. Not all impressions are created equal, and the PQI ensures that campaigns deliver the best possible performance and maximum impression value to align with brand marketing objectives.

YuMe’s PQI algorithm is a composite function of key performance metrics that are important to brand marketers including: interaction rate (IR), video completion rate (VCR), video player size, player on-page location, among many others based on campaign objectives. A baseline PQI is calculated continuously for YuMe’s Connected Audience Network, so new campaigns can be evaluated in real-time against the average performance of the entire network. Additionally, as the campaign progresses, the real-time PQI calculations allow YuMe to automatically adjust campaign placements to optimize overall performance. As a result, the PQI highlights new opportunities to maximize the value of each impression per the advertiser’s desired price point, ensuring that each advertiser gets what they pay for. Placement quality is a critical component of YuMe’s 8 Essential Elements for successful video advertising.

“We are excited to be the first video ad network taking a dynamic approach to optimize performance so that advertisers do not have to rely on outdated or oversimplified data,” said YuMe CEO Jayant Kadambi. “With PQI, brands are assured that their campaigns will reach the right audience and run on sites that yield the highest possible performance according to their desired campaign objectives.”

YuMe has conducted extensive testing to demonstrate the impact of utilizing a PQI-based media allocation compared to a traditional site-list based media allocation on video ad campaign performance. In one instance, YuMe compared a set of 10 campaigns with major travel and telecommunications brands utilizing the PQI algorithm against 10 campaigns that opted out. These campaign sets and audience targets were identical, and the associated creatives were placed on the same digital publisher properties. Key findings of these tests include:

· PQI optimized video ad campaigns yielded a 215 percent lift in Interaction Rate (IR) as compared to campaigns which were not.

· PQI optimized video ad campaign yielded a 90 percent lift in Video Completion Rate (VCR) as compared to campaigns which were not.

PQI ultimately proves that site lists are less important than the actual placement on a page. One site might perform well for one campaign and quite poorly for another. PQI unearths valuable publisher inventory wherever it might exist based on the campaign type and goals.

Placement quality is one of YuMe’s 8 Essential Elements of video advertising for brands, which includes:

Ad visibility assurance: YuMe’s viewport detection solution guarantees that no impressions will go unseen, so every video ad impression truly extends reach and brand awareness.

Brand-safe distribution: YuMe ensures ads are associated with safe content to protect brand equity. Since video ad players are portable, YuMe’s brand security measures follow the video player wherever it goes to guarantee protection.

Cross-screen compatibility: YuMe enables marketers to reach any screen their customers are viewing, be it a computer, mobile device, or connected TV. Moreover, advertisers can build their YuMe Ads just once and run them on all screens.

Premium, 100% in-stream video inventory: User-initiated, well-lit video ad placements on quality publisher properties and applications yield high brand impact and optimal branding opportunities.

Video ad placement on professionally-produced content: YuMe ensures that the brand message is always paired with high-quality video content for brand credibility via the first-ever Placement Quality Index.

Highly interactive video ad units: Socially rich ad units drive brand awareness, favorability, recall, and purchase intent for immediate brand engagement.

Advanced, guaranteed audience targeting: YuMe delivers ads to the right audience using a variety of targeting techniques to meet audience guarantees, ensure relevance, and maximize brand favorability.

Powerful analytics for brand performance optimization: YuMe provides instant, actionable insight into video ad campaign performance across all connected devices.

About YuMe
YuMe is the software infrastructure provider powering digital video and the next generation of television with its operating system for TV 2.0. Its video advertising technology and services seamlessly connect advertisers, app developers, content distributors, consumer electronics manufacturers, and publishers across the globe. YuMe’s patent-pending Relevance Engine powers its premium in-stream video ad network, the YuMe Connected Audience Network, and its industry-leading advertising management solutions, ACE for Publishers and ACE for Advertisers. The YuMe Relevance Engine matches the right ad to the right audience on whatever screen they are viewing—PC, mobile, or connected TV. YuMe is a privately held company headquartered in Redwood City, CA with its European headquarters in London. The company is backed by Accel Partners, BV Capital, DAG Ventures, Intel Capital, Khosla Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung Ventures, and Translink Capital. For more information, visit www.YuMe.com, follow @YuMevideo on Twitter, or like YuMe on Facebook at www.facebook.com/YuMevideo.

Sharethrough has recently announced the hiring of Hanz Kurdi as senior director of publisher strategy and operations. Hanz will play an integral part in Sharethrough’s push this year to develop more native advertising inventory on media sites: placements that look and feel like the site’s actual content.

Otilia Otlacan: Congratulations for your new role at Sharethrough! Can you tell us what your priorities will be over the following months?

Hanz Kurdi: Thanks! I am really excited to be at Sharethrough. In the next few months our efforts are to grow our partner network via our native experience. We have had a tremendous response from large publishers as they continue to see the value of Sharethrough’s native monetization platform. We have numerous channel partnerships in the pipeline that will extend our reach and offer really unique video experiences for brands.

Otilia Otlacan: I understand that this year Sharethrough will focus on what is known as “native advertising inventory”. Would you mind explaining the basics beyond this concept and tell us why there is a need for this type of inventory?

Hanz Kurdi: The difficulty of advertising is trying to find new ways to engage users beyond the constant barrage of banner ads and interruptive pre-rolls. In many ways, consumers have been desensitized to the impact of such ad experiences. This is why Sharethrough has been successful in its approach. Advertisers can reach an engaged audience through our platform because it is comprised of native video placements. From the start, we’ve looked to create a platform that offered video placements that fit naturally with publisher’s content and are folded within the fabric of the site. This bodes well for the user experience and how the publisher content is consumed. The other side of this equation is that we are delivering the highest quality, engaging brand video content. We think that we can create a reality where ‘every day is like the Super Bowl’ — in the sense that brands create genuinely entertaining content, and people actively choose to watch and enjoy ads.

Otilia Otlacan: I imagine quite a few publishers will raise what may very well be a legitimate question: if the ads blend very well into the content, will this not lead to a negative user experience? Will the ads not run the risk of causing unintentional user engagement?

Hanz Kurdi: On the contrary, we think that brand content running through native placements enhances the overall experience of a site for consumers. We’ve run studies on the same videos placed in standard auto-play and interruptive placements vs user-initiated, native experiences and consistently found that brand metrics were lifted higher by the latter. All of our placements are always called out as being sponsored, so there is no concern about consumers being confused, but we make the effort to work with publishers to find sponsored placements that make sense within their individual site.

Otilia Otlacan: We see more and more signs that the industry tries to break away from the traditional metrics in measuring the success of an online ad campaign, particularly the click-through rate. What metrics and pricing models do you see as most relevant for campaigns running on native advertising inventory?

Hanz Kurdi: We are increasingly seeing the shift to CPV pricing, though we are always open to publisher needs. We have been very successful with our campaigns that our publisher partners fully understand the CPV pricing model very well and in fact prefer this method. There is a great value in the social aspect of what we do and how viral and engaging the content has been. Social engagement rates (SER) on our video placements have always been of paramount importance to advertisers, as it directly correlates to earned media. There is tremendous value for the advertisers based on post engagement and publishers enjoy the quality of content their users get to experience.

Otilia Otlacan: In your opinion, which one between the ad creative design and the ad placement on the page is more important in driving engagement?

Hanz Kurdi: I think this is equal parts creative and placement. You need great content in the right place to drive engagement. A step up would be what platform can deliver this seamlessly and that is why Sharethrough has been very successful.

Otilia Otlacan: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

Hanz Kurdi: A successful company is one that creates value and delivers on that value aggressively. One point that is hardly mentioned is what happens behind the scenes. I feel compelled to tell you how amazing the company culture has been in hiring a great team dedicated to delivering this value to our partners.

About Sharethrough

Sharethrough is the first advertising technology platform built exclusively for native advertising and brand video content. Fortune 1000 brands and their agencies work with Sharethrough to guarantee audiences and maximize social engagement for their original video content and social web publishers partner with Sharethrough to create native, non-interruptive brand video placements. Sharethrough is used by many of the world’s leading brands, including Sony, Microsoft, General Motors, Victoria’s Secret, Nestle and LEGO, as well as top agencies such as Pereira & O’Dell, Universal McCann, Evolution Bureau and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Founded in 2008, Sharethrough is a privately held company based in San Francisco, Calif. For more information about Sharethrough, please visit www.sharethrough.com.

playMobi JavaScript library provides a “Write Once” single API for in-app payments, social engagement, advanced analytics for all HTML5-based game platforms

SAN FRANCISCO – appMobi (www.appmobi.com) announced public beta availability of playMobi™, a cross-platform HTML5-based game development, deployment, and monetization SDK. playMobi gives HTML5 game developers an elegant JavaScript API solution to the many issues they face, including user authentication, in-game payments, social player engagement, scoring and leaderboard management. The core technology of playMobi is based on TapJs, which pioneered the social network category for HTML5 games and was acquired by appMobi in 2011. Developers can apply to join the playMobi beta program at www.appmobi.com/playmobi.

“With a single JavaScript API, playMobi gives HTML5 game developers all the tools they need to create interesting and socially engaging games that run on iOS, Android and Facebook platforms,” said Sam Abadir, CTO of appMobi. “playMobi includes slick in-app purchasing capabilities based on appMobi’s patent-pending ‘1Touch’ technology, making the experience very simple and highly secure. playMobi leverages the rapidly expanding HTML5 platform, offering game developers the unique ability to ‘write it once’ and deploy the same code to iOS, Android, Facebook, and the open Web — fully compliant with each platform’s terms of service.”

Scirra is the developer of “Construct 2,” a leading HTML5 game development environment. Director Ashley Gullen said, “Like appMobi, Scirra believes HTML5 is the gaming platform of the future. We’re excited by the potential of cross-platform IAP, leaderboards and achievements. We look forward to making playMobi really easy to use in games made with Construct 2.”

One interface enables In-App Purchases for all platforms

In an industry “first,” playMobi enables cross-platform in-app purchasing with its 1Touch in-app payment system. When a player makes a purchase, playMobi automatically completes the transaction using the correct in-app-purchase backend system, based on the device in use. When running on iOS, playMobi uses iTunes; on Android, Google Payments; on Facebook, Facebook Credits; and on the Open Web, PayPal. By providing a simple JavaScript programming interface that seamlessly supports e-commerce on the four most popular mobile gaming platforms, playMobi eliminates a huge headache for game developers who want to make money with their games.

Built-in Social Player Engagement Features – Interactive Leaderboards & Badges

playMobi includes social gaming tools that game developers can use to increase the “stickiness” of their games. User login is simple and easy using Facebook Connect. Tools are also provided to create and manage leaderboards, game achievements, player analytics, and cloud-based storage of game status and inventory.

Game Levels, Scores and Inventories Saved across Multiple Devices, even Across Platforms

Because today’s casual gamers increasingly play on multiple devices (both mobile and desktop), playMobi enables multi-device and even multi-platform social game play, supporting HTML5 Web-based games, Facebook games, and iOS and Android hybrid games created with PhoneGap or appMobi. For example, with playMobi, the achievement level and high score from a player’s lunchtime session on his iOS iPhone game will be in place when he plays the Facebook version of the game later on his home laptop. playMobi’s cross device/cross platform social gaming capability is another industry “first.”

Game Analytics Let Developers “Look Over Players’ Shoulders” to Improve Gameplay

playMobi gives HTML5 game developers important new insight into how their games are actually being played. Detailed analytics can be captured as the game is played, isolating trouble spots or levels that are too easy. Because high-score cheating is an issue on the open Web, playMobi allows developers to create rules-based checks on posted scores, eliminating most score hacks and protecting leaderboard validity. Integrating playMobi analytics into a game is simply a matter of adding the playMobi JavaScript library and a few lines of JavaScript code.

playMobi complements appMobi’s existing HTML5 gaming technology, which includes directCanvas, multiSound, and directBox2D, forming an integrated, high performance platform that creates games that perform well as native iOS and Android app store games on Facebook and on the open mobile Web. playMobi is being offered free of charge to a limited number of developers during a short testing phase. Interested developers can sign up for the beta program at www.appmobi.com/playmobi.

About appMobi

A bold proponent of the open mobile Web, appMobi has developed tools and cloud-based services built on HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, creating a unified, open ecosystem that competes favorably with “walled gardens” offered by Apple and Google. In 2011, the company released several of its core technologies as open source, including its cross-platform mobile device API, mobiUs Web browser, and directCanvas HTML5 game acceleration. In December, appMobi was named “Most Promising Tech Company for 2012” by ReadWriteWeb. appMobi’s technology allows mobile app developers to support HTML5 and native app platforms with just one code base, and to deploy and service their apps on multiple platforms, including the open Web. For more information visit http://www.appmobi.com.

Acquires Social/Casual Gaming Platform NeoEdge, Adds Canadian Distribution and Opens NY Sales Office

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Double Fusion, the leading independent in-game advertising network, announced its acquisition of NeoEdge Networks, a pioneer in social and casual in-game advertising. This strategic acquisition of NeoEdge’s assets positions Double Fusion as the premier, comprehensive in-game advertising solution for advertisers, brand marketers and publishers to reach any demographic playing any game genre on the PlayStation®3 system as well as social and casual platforms.

NeoEdge and its partners add over 100 million monthly video impressions in numerous casual and social games to Double Fusion’s extensive global network of 3 billion monthly impressions in top games from publishing partners such as Ubisoft, THQ and 2K Sports. In addition, much of this new social inventory is based on the latest highly engaging advertising formats designed to deliver powerful brand interaction with consumers.

“This acquisition highlights our commitment to deliver a complete 360 degree in-game advertising solution for our clients and partners,” said Dan Chambers, Double Fusion’s Head of Sales. “Gaming has become much more than the entertainment of choice for males 18-34. With the dramatic rise of social and casual gaming, it’s now mainstream and appeals to women as well as Generations X and Y. You can basically find a game to fit every age and demographic.”

By offering a full spectrum of dynamic in-game advertising opportunities in console, social and casual gaming, Chambers points out that Double Fusion enables advertisers and brand marketers to reach “super targeted, super engaged, super consumers” with high impact campaigns.

According to technology researcher Gartner Group, worldwide spending on gaming will exceed $74 billion this year, up 10.4% from 2010. By 2015, spending will reach $112 billion with online gaming rising to $28.3 billion in 2015. PopCap Games Research reports that there are an estimated 98 million social gamers in the US, a 71% increase since just 2010.

Leveraging this explosive growth, in-game advertising is proving to be a ‘must have’ in today’s media buying mix. Gaming offers a uniquely engaging environment that leads to across the board better brand awareness and recall versus TV, radio, print or other media. In-game ads provide access to an affluent, brand-literate audience and reach every segment of the population. Having worked with some of today’s blue chip brands including McDonald’s, Twentieth Century Fox, Dr. Pepper, State Farm and Toyota, Double Fusion has exclusive in-game opportunities with 2K Sports, as well as games like Pro Evolution Soccer 2012, Square Enix’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s Mortal Kombat and Ubisoft’s Shaun White Skateboarding and Driver®: San Francisco.

“THQ has always had an excellent relationship with Double Fusion and we are excited about their recent expansion,” said Tim Walsh, Vice President, THQ Partners. “We have and will continue to embrace in-game advertising to add realism, information and an additional revenue stream for us and our developers.”

To expand its presence in Canada, Double Fusion also sealed an exclusive sales relationship with Toronto-based Cue Digital Media. Recently named one of “Canada’s Most Promising New Digital Companies” at The Digi Awards, Cue represents several highly visible, U.S.-based digital content sites, including UFC.com, Heavy.com, CollegeHumor.com, celebrity news site TMZ.com and FunnyOrDie.com.

“We are excited to add Double Fusion to Cue’s roster of top tier media properties,” commented Cue CEO David U.K. “With Canada’s gaming industry representing $1.7 billion in economic activity in 2011, with an expected growth rate of 17% over the next two years as per ESRB 2011 Canadian Study, there is clearly a massive opportunity for Canadian marketers to reach deeply engaged consumers through in-gaming advertising.”

To help leverage its expanding footprint, Double Fusion has also opened a New York sales office. Newly hired Jesse Paynter, with over 6 years of experience at AOL as well as stints at Turner Broadcasting and Ryan Partnership, will lead the team as VP of East Coast Sales. Paynter will be joined by Senior Sales Director, Lou Bridda and Sales Director, Don Snellings. Senior Sales Director Michele Sushin has also joined Chambers in Double Fusion’s West Coast office.

About Double Fusion

Double Fusion is one of the world’s leading in-game advertising networks with unmatched reach across console, social and casual gaming. Double Fusion connects Fortune 500 brands to millions of video game players through its award-winning dynamic ad-serving technology and marketing services. Double Fusion provides highly engaged, authentic experiences for gamers and the advertisers looking to reach them across all demographics, platforms and game genres.

Privately-held and headquartered in Santa Monica, Double Fusion has offices and/or affiliates in Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, London, Madrid, New York, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.

For more information: www.doublefusion.com and www.facebook.com/doublefusionads.

Industry-First Viewport Detection Technology and Other Video Advertising Essentials Optimize Campaign Performance and Viewer Experience

REDWOOD CITY, CA – YuMe, the operating system for TV 2.0, today announced Ad Visibility capabilities to guarantee that brand marketers’ video ads are always visible to viewers, eliminating wasted impressions and ensuring higher ROI on their ad spend.

Using YuMe’s ACE Relevance Engine, which collects detailed information about the in-page environment of the video player, YuMe’s Ad Visibility technology automatically determines the viewing area, detects the player size, pinpoints player coordinates relative to the viewing area, and intelligently delivers a contextually relevant video ad. This integrated viewport detection technology ensures that video ads are served only when the video players are within the viewer’s sight.

According to Radar Research, up to 50 percent of all ad impressions are never seen by the intended audience.[i]  Inclusion of unseen impressions in campaign reporting results in inaccurate metrics. YuMe’s Ad Visibility technology eliminates waste and delivers accurate brand engagement metrics to marketers.

“Ad Visibility technology is not only critical for advertisers to run successful video ad campaigns in which their ads are always visible, it is also necessary to provide advertisers and publishers with accurate brand performance metrics,” said Jayant Kadambi, YuMe CEO. “The Connected Audience Network is the only video ad network in the market that delivers all the essentials of video advertising for brands.”

YuMe’s Connected Audience Network, powered by ACE technology, enables YuMe to effectively deliver visible video content across multiple screens—online, mobile, and connected TV—and provides advertisers with real-time targeting, measurement, and optimization tools to accurately track campaign performance.

YuMe’s video advertising essentials for brands include:

•       Ad visibility assurance: YuMe’s viewport detection solution guarantees that no impressions will go unseen, so every video ad impression truly extends reach and brand awareness.

•       Brand-safe distribution: YuMe ensures ads are associated with safe content to protect brand equity. Since video ad players are portable, YuMe’s brand security measures follow the video player wherever it goes to guarantee protection.

•       Cross-screen compatibility: YuMe enables marketers to reach any screen their customers are viewing, be it a computer, mobile device, or connected TV. Moreover, advertisers can build their YuMe Ads just once and run them on all screens.

•       Premium, 100% in-stream video inventory: User-initiated, well-lit video ad placements on quality publisher properties and applications yield high brand impact and optimal branding opportunities.

•       Video ad placement on professionally-produced content: YuMe ensures that the brand message is always paired with high-quality video content for brand credibility. Ads are never placed next to user-generated video content.

•       Highly interactive video ad units: Socially rich ad units drive brand awareness, favorability, recall, and purchase intent for immediate brand engagement.

•       Advanced, guaranteed audience targeting: YuMe delivers ads to the right audience using a variety of targeting techniques to meet audience guarantees, ensure relevance, and maximize brand favorability.

•       Powerful analytics for brand performance optimization: YuMe provides instant, actionable insight into video ad campaign performance across all connected devices.

About YuMe
YuMe is the software infrastructure provider powering digital video and the next generation of television with its operating system for TV 2.0. Its video advertising technology and services seamlessly connect advertisers, app developers, content distributors, consumer electronics manufacturers, and publishers across the globe. YuMe’s patent-pending Relevance Engine powers its premium in-stream video ad network, the YuMe Connected Audience Network, and its industry-leading advertising management solutions, ACE for Publishers and ACE for Advertisers. The YuMe Relevance Engine matches the right ad to the right audience on whatever screen they are viewing—PC, mobile, or connected TV. YuMe is a privately held company headquartered in Redwood City, CA with its European headquarters in London. The company is backed by Accel Partners, BV Capital, DAG Ventures, Intel Capital, Khosla Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung Ventures, and Translink Capital. For more information, visit www.YuMe.com, follow @YuMevideo on Twitter, or like YuMe on Facebook at www.facebook.com/YuMevideo.

ATLANTA – InTopic Media, an online advertising company headquartered in Atlanta, GA, announced today they are relaunching their company following a complete redesign of their website and user control panels. InTopic is also expanding its advertiser base through its proprietary MicroBanner program by allowing advertising partners to inject their logos directly into the text of publisher pages. InTopic Media, LLC was established in 2009 and uses innovative technology solutions such as MicroBanners to generate higher conversion rates for in-text advertisements.

“We have completely redesigned InTopic from the ground up,” said Jake Bakker, Director of Strategic Partnerships. “We received a lot of good feedback from our publishers and advertisers during our beta testing phase and we incorporated a lot of that feedback into our redesign. We updated our main webpage with a new and fresh look but, more importantly, we made our user control panels sleeker, more efficient and more user-friendly. Publishers and advertisers need their data to be transparent and accessible and we are confident that our new set of control panels put us way ahead of the curve in the in-text advertising space.”

Along with traditional banner display ads and in-text options, InTopic Media also offers MicroBanners, a unique form of in-text advertising that turns text into advertiser logos. MicroBanner ads grab web visitors’ attention and direct them to specific products or information via pop-up notification, which allows advertisers to target key demographics at higher conversion rates than traditional in-text ads using underlined words only.

“MicroBanners give us an edge over the competition,” Bakker said. “Our data shows that MicroBanner ads generate significantly higher click-through rates than traditional banners while expanding brand recognition at no additional cost to advertisers. InTopic’s redesign allows our clients to take full advantage of our innovative technology at some of the highest payouts in the industry. We are offering even higher than usual revenue share for a limited time to celebrate our relaunch and reward our loyal base. We are excited about expanding our footprint in online advertising in the coming years and we anticipate a huge response to our new platform and services.”

InTopic Media, LLC, based in Atlanta, GA, offers a number of in-text and traditional online advertising solutions. For more information, visit www.intopicmedia.com or contact Jake Bakker directly at (678) 486-1916 or jbakker@intopicmedia.com.

Industry first to use game mechanics in video driving consumers to remember brand messages

San Jose – blurbIQ Inc., whose patent pending interactive video advertising platform allows advertisers and publishers to use game mechanics to drive consumers to interact with their video messaging to remember brands at the point of purchase, today announced the launch of its cross platform interactive video ad units. Brands can now deploy and measure their interactive video campaign’s messaging across the digital marketing spectrum – from online pre-roll and in-banner units, to mobile, tablets, social media, and interactive TV – with one technology provider.

With game mechanics, blurbIQ inserts questions as video streams creating an unobtrusive game environment for the consumer to interactive with the video messaging. With its new cross-platform interactive video ad units, blurbIQ can create and execute video campaigns on any platform within 48 hours. As a result consumers pay closer attention to brand messages producing effect, cost efficient results. For example, after a 30 day cross platform interactive video campaign, a leading online financial company saw video completion rates as high as 81%, interaction rates of 38%, a click through rate of 5.86% and most importantly, achieved a 428% reduction in their cost per acquisition.

“Consumers want to be entertained instead of being annoyed by advertising. blurbIQ turns ordinary video into interactive video that engages, entertains, and educates like never before. We drive consumers to interact with and understand the messaging of the video,” says Scott Reese, CEO of blurbIQ Inc. “When consumers remember your brand at the point of purchase, they will buy your products.”

Advertisers and publishers are also able to serve blurbIQ’s interactive video in-stream as blurbIQ is fully compliant with VAST/VPAID standards developed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

“We have always operated under the premise that advertisers must be able to deliver their interactive video content wherever they want easily and quickly,” adds Mr. Reese, CEO of blurbIQ Inc. “Over the last few months our team has built out the necessary tools to allow for a one stop shop environment.”

Leading brands, agencies, ad networks, and publishers can now leverage the blurbIQ Interactive Video Advertising Platform as part of the company’s engagement, brand messaging measurement, and ad retention strategy. With quick time analytics dashboards, dynamic insertion of brand questions within video, brand rankings to encourage replay and sharing, brands are truly able to measure video campaign performance that ensures return on advertising spend are maximized.

Quiz questions pertain to brand massage

blurbIQ (http://www.blurbiq.com ) is the leader in interactive gamification of video across the digital marketing spectrum. The patent pending technology overlays video with brand and trivia questions as the video streams. blurbIQ turns video commercials into interactive “games” that dramatically increases viewer engagements, video completion rates, and ad retention. These interactive video units are distributed as pre-roll, in banner, mobile, tablet, and social media advertising units. blurbIQ provides quick time analytics dashboards so brands can measure every interaction with their video content like never before. Since launching in July of 2010 blurbIQ has acquired key accounts such as E*Trade, Duracell, Church & Dwight and General Motors.

Advertisers see 93% completion rates for mid-roll video ads in long-form content.

New York, NY – According to a new study by VINDICO, the leading online video ad management platform, mid-roll video ads offer advertisers higher performance than pre-roll or post-roll video ads within long-form video environments. VINDICO analyzed millions of video ad impressions within the consumer and packaged goods category delivered by VINDICO over the past 12 months to identify viewing trends and help marketers set benchmarks for advertising success.

VINDICO’s data revealed that mid-roll ad placements in the study worked better than pre- or post-roll ads: 93 percent of mid-roll video ads were viewed in their entirety, compared with only 83 percent completion of post-roll video ads and 85 percent completion of pre-roll video ads. Pre- and post-roll ads are attached to most ad-supported content regardless of length, whereas mid-roll ad placements are typically found only in longer-form online content, such as in the middle of a TV program or movie.

“The industry has grown accustomed to predominantly using pre-roll ads as the main vehicle for delivering brand messages via video,” said Matt Timothy, president of VINDICO. “However, our data shows that online viewers may respond better to mid-roll ads particularly because they are delivered within ‘full meal’ video environments as opposed to ‘snacking’ opportunities, such as a movie trailer or video clip. As a result, mid-roll within episodic content where the viewer is invested in watching the full video event tends to offer higher completion rates. Advertisers should consider giving more emphasis to mid-roll when developing their video media plans.”

The study also revealed that many video ad campaigns that run in long-form environments lack sufficient labeling of pod position, suggesting there is a huge opportunity to further understand online viewing behavior.

“There is a tremendous opportunity for marketers and publishers to better understand not only which pod placements work best, such as pre-roll or post-roll, but also the frequency and timing of such video ad placements within each piece of content,” Timothy added.

Serving almost 40 percent of all online video ads, VINDICO provides advertisers and leading agency groups such GroupM, Havas, IPG, Publicis and Omnicom the easiest way to buy, serve and track all online video ad campaigns with a single video ad management platform. A market leader, VINDICO delivered more than 15.7 billion video ad impressions over the last 12 months, including five billion video ads in Q2 2011, up from 1.8 billion in Q2 2010.

About VINDICO
As the first ad management platform dedicated exclusively to video, VINDICO allows advertisers to buy, serve, track and measure all of their online video ad activity. Since 2006, VINDICO has been the gold standard in online video platforms, providing standardized reporting and analytics for the online video industry. The power of online video isn’t just the audiences it reaches and how it reaches them. Its strength also derives from its ability to track an ad campaign and precisely measure the campaign’s effectiveness. For more information, please visit http://www.vindicogroup.com. For insights into the dynamic landscape of online video advertising, follow VINDICO on Twitter: http://twitter.com/VINDICO_Group.

Following YuMe’s recent launch of interactive ads for engagement across online, connected TV and mobile platforms, we have talked to Scot McLernon, YuMe’s Chief Revenue Officer, who explains further how brands can achieve superior audience engagement through video ads.

Otilia Otlacan: YuMe has just launched three ad units, all focused on increasing the brand engagement of video ads. Can you comment on what have been the drivers behind this launch, what has made you look into new ad formats?
Scot McLernon: This particular launch was primarily driven by findings from our brand advertiser clients and our Innovation Lab. Many YuMe advertisers want to run interactive ads on the YuMe Connected Audience Network as opposed to plain pre-rolls that lack opportunities for immediate, on-the-fly engagement. As a result, we now offer interactivity to all advertisers, particularly those seeking high brand engagement metrics.

Video ad innovation is not new to YuMe. This launch simply underscores our commitment to designing high-impact video ad experiences. We will continue to innovate and launch new ad units through our new ad framework and powerful video player technology. Moreover, we will continue to build and serve ad executions that reach audiences wherever they are watching video: at work, at home, and everywhere in between.

Otilia Otlacan: I have taken a look at the new YuMe Ads gallery and noticed there is quite a variety of social interaction that can be added to a previously standard video ad. Could you tell me a bit more on how the integration with various social media platforms works and whether there are any requirements for the publishers carrying these ads?
Scot McLernon: YuMe Ads allow for multiple hooks into social media integration such as driving brand followers and sharing brand videos on popular destinations like Facebook and Twitter. With that in mind, our brand advertisers utilize social interactions in three ways to build upon their social media presence and create a viral impact:
1.    Increasing fan base via follows or likes for opportunities to re-market or upsell.
2.    Sharing video ads or other video content, such as product demos and client testimonials to allow for further user engagement.
3.    Driving traffic to apps on social networks to drive brand consideration, improve recall, and [eventually] increase purchase intent.

YuMe publishers are not required to take further action in order to serve these ads as they are already equipped with this functionality. Also, new YuMe platform publishers and app developers can begin to serve socially rich, interactive video ads quickly and easily.

Otilia Otlacan: It is my understanding that these new interactive video ad formats can also be delivered on TV. What types of interaction and what engagement metrics are available in this case?
Scot McLernon: YuMe can report all interactions with our screen-agnostic video ad units. However, each connected TV environment into which we serve video ads varies in the level of interactivity support for video ads. Since some devices may not accept interactivity, Yume Ads can easily adopt to each manufacturer’s video ad environment. Whatever the case may be, YuMe tracks and reports on essential video ad metrics.

Otilia Otlacan: Of all new features offered by YuMe’s three new ad formats, which one is the most employed by advertisers so far?
Scot McLernon: While the Ready-Mades have proven to be quite popular among advertisers on cross-screen, integrated campaigns, the new YuMe Pre-Roll is the hottest new ad format, both on web-only and mobile/tablet video campaigns.

Otilia Otlacan: Earlier this summer, YuMe has strengthened its presence in Europe . Considering the differences in online privacy regulations between the EU and the US, do you have a different approach in working with your EU-based advertisers, as far as socially-enabled ads go?
Scot McLernon: YuMe complies with regional targeting and re-targeting regulations and does not map social media data to cookies. YuMe’s socially-enabled ads drive highly engaged users to brands’ various social campaigns to encourage interactions with advertisers’ landing pages, such as a Facebook fan page or official Twitter account. That is exactly what our brand advertisers want: to drive engagement within their already established social media channels.

Otilia Otlacan: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Scot McLernon: Brand marketers are increasingly looking to reach audiences via video ads across all screens and to obtain deeper insights into how viewers engage on those different delivery mediums. YuMe’s socially rich, interactive ad units help brand advertisers deliver a consistent video ad experience across any screen with the same interactive features, while sharing detailed analytics to provide insight into campaign performance on each platform. Moreover, allowing for sharing of video ads yields a greater reach of brands’ marketing messages, as impressions driven by a friend, colleague, and/or community recommendations on social networks can help a brand’s video ad campaign go viral.

About Scot McLernon, Chief Revenue Officer – YuMe

Scot brings over 15 years of interactive marketing experience to the YuMe team. He has built and led three successful web sales teams, including at CBS Marketwatch and CBS Interactive. Most recently, McLernon was President of Upstream Group, Inc. where he developed Habitat–the industry’s only combined training and networking event for sellers. McLernon was on the Board of Directors for the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) for five years and co–founded the Bay Area Interactive Group (BIG) in 2004, which educates and helps network the Bay Area’s interactive marketing community.

Recognizing his accomplishments as an innovator and industry pioneer, McLernon received the ad:tech Industry Achievement Award in 2007.

Company Offers Portfolio of Interactive Ads for Engagement Across Online, Connected TV and Mobile Platforms

REDWOOD CITY, CA – YuMe, the leading relevant video advertising technology company, today announced the availability of new product offerings focused on increasing brand engagement impact of video ads. The new initiative, YuMe Ads, consists of an entirely new base pre-roll unit that features automatic hooks into Facebook, Twitter, YouTube campaigns and features supplemental brand awareness and response elements. Additionally, other units in the YuMe ad portfolio include Ready-Made, quick to market experiences that incorporate key interactive features, and a brand new Custom-Made offering that lets brands create one-of-a-kind video advertising experiences.

YuMe’s unique player technology and video ad framework enables brands to offer interactive experiences natively on publisher sites, providing advertisers with scale across three screens — mobile, online and TV, reaching audiences wherever they are consuming video content.

“Consumers are actively consuming online video and brand advertisers are getting more adventurous and creative about their cross-screen video ad campaigns and offering consumers more ways to interact with their brands,” said YuMe CEO Jayant Kadambi. “These new interactive video ad formats will help brands connect the dots and engage with consumers more fully wherever they are viewing content—whether it be on their phone, PC or TV.”

“With YuMe Ads, we were able to successfully combine both engagement and response objectives in one unit that led to stronger brand recall and purchase intent in a single execution,” said Kelley Elizabeth Train, Group Digital Director for Omnicom PHD. “We have already experienced a 20 percent increase in viewer downloads and trial sign-ups from the custom ad units as opposed to just the traditional video and companion banner. Moving forward we aim to leverage highly interactive ad units in more unique ways to allow the media buys to feel richer and have the ability to answer multiple business objectives.”

Three New Units

YuMe Ads includes three distinct category ad offerings with interactivity and standardized cross-platform compatibility.
·         YuMe Pre-Roll: Enhances traditional pre-roll and supports up to three interactivity options, from a rich set of options, with zero turnaround time and no pricing surcharge. Optional interactions include: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Special Offers, and Store/Dealer Locator and more.

·         Ready-Made: Quick to market for advanced mix-and-match capability and builds off existing pre-roll video with support for special in-player web API integrations (Twitter, Google, YouTube, etc.).

·         Custom-Made: Built to order signature ad units with massive in-player interaction and flexibility around branding. Also supports special in-player web API integrations.

Redefining Pre-Roll

As brands build extensive campaigns that encompass Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social content sites, video campaigns are an important portal into their broader campaigns. With the new YuMe pre-roll, brands will be able to select up to three optional links as overlay buttons on their video ads, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, other websites, offers, and dealer/retail information. This format replaces the current pre-roll format from YuMe and commands the same CPM as a traditional video-only pre-roll.

Ready-Made and Custom-Made Units

Ready-made ad units extend flexibility for multiple video combinations, enabling the addition of sophisticated animations, social and interactive features, and supplemental videos and even rendering a microsite experience in the player.  Encompassing some of YuMe’s most popular formats such as PowerRoll, an interactive banner across the bottom of the pre-roll, and InSynch formats that synchronize with other elements of a page, ready-made ad units now include more interactivity and extend to the mobile environment with all new Tap2Motion and 2Motion ad units.

Custom-made ads provide a wholly unique experience, enabling endless creative options specific to the brand and their desired viewer experience. In addition, YuMe’s built-in advanced analytics track all user interactions and provides multi-level insight to marketers seeking to measure their brand impact, such as interaction rates, brand lift, campaign ROI and overall viewer engagement.

For more information on YuMe Ads, please visit: http://www.yume.com/ad_gallery_all.

About YuMe
YuMe is the leading, relevant video advertising technology company. It enables top-tier publishers to maximize profits on their professional video content while safely delivering the most effective advertising campaigns for major brands and their agencies. YuMe’s patent-pending Relevance Engine powers both its premium in-stream video ad network, The YuMe Connected Audience Network, and its industry-leading advertising management solutions, ACE for Publishers and ACE for Advertisers. The YuMe Relevance Engine matches the right ad to the right audience on whatever screen they are viewing—PC, mobile, or connected TV. As a result, YuMe gives publishers and advertisers unprecedented reach, brand safety, contextual relevance, controlled syndication, unique YuMe Ads and consistent delivery across all digital media platforms. YuMe is a privately held company headquartered in Redwood City, CA with its European headquarters in London. The company is backed by Accel Partners, BV Capital, DAG Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and Intel Capital. For more information, visit www.YuMe.com, follow @YuMevideo on Twitter, or like YuMe on Facebook at www.facebook.com/YuMevideo.

Unique Collaboration Leverages VivaKi Research Initiative The Pool; Builds on ASq Success to Find Additional Video Ad Models to Support the Marketplace

NEW YORK – AOL announced today that it has brokered a unique partnership with VivaKi, the strategic entity that combines the media and digital assets that sit inside of Publicis Groupe. This partnership aims to explore the online video advertising arena and continue to innovate and identify top performing ad models that are best for advertisers, publishers and consumers. This initiative will leverage the success and momentum of VivaKi’s ongoing research effort, The Pool, which has conducted extensive research and testing in the online video space. In its first three waves of research or “lanes,” the ASq was selected as the most superior online video ad model, out-performing the industry’s pre-roll standard.

To date, ASq has 15 certified publishers, including AOL, and has supported over 150 client campaigns across 35 advertisers and garnered more than 400 million impressions. This partnership between VivaKi and AOL will build on the success of this model and identify other formats that provide more personalization and social components within the online video user experience. ASq is powered by VINDICO, a leading video ad management platform, which will also serve the VivaKi-AOL partnership.

“We are excited to be partnering with VivaKi to push product innovation forward and evolve online video ad models,” said Tim Armstrong, Chairman & CEO, AOL. “We challenged the industry last year with the launch of Project Devil in display, which helped us rethink how content and advertising should be viewed on the Web, and we wanted to explore what the Devil principles and philosophies could mean for video ad formats. There is still so much opportunity for growth and innovation.”

“We know the ASq is a breakthrough idea, but there is room for more ad models that support the medium. No other platform can be sustained through simply one format, look at TV or display,” said Tracey Scheppach, VivaKi’s EVP/Innovations Director and Co-Founder of The Pool. “We gave our employees around the world, as well as our trusted partners, an opportunity to voice their ideas for the best online video ad models and we received 72 ideas in total, which we’ve narrowed down to the top three that will go into testing.”

The first model that will go into field trial testing consists of a pre-roll overlay within a video player that gives the viewer an option to click and expand the ad into a branded toolbar, which provides viewers with multiple ways to interact with the brand. The second model is a slate ad format that asks whether the viewer would like to watch a full :30 ad or a :15 ad and then answer a question immediately following the ad. The third and final model is a pre-roll overlay that provides buttons for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social platforms to enable a seamless way to interact and share ads with their social circle. To reinforce the sharing option, this model would also include a billboard at the end of the pre-roll or at the end of the content. VINDICO will handle ad serving for all three models during this process.

Since its inception in 2008, The Pool has launched nine lanes globally and logged over 35,000 hours, working with over 100 different companies while reaching 262 million consumers.

This lane will kick off in November 2011 and is open to all VivaKi clients. Results are expected in early 2012 and official names will be given to the three models during The Pool process.

About AOL

AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is a premier global media company with a suite of brands and products serving consumers, advertisers and publishers worldwide. The AOL Huffington Post Media Group is a leading source of news, opinion, entertainment, community and digital information comprising a wide range of destination websites, including AOL.com, The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Moviefone, Engadget, Patch, AOL Music, StyleList and MapQuest. The AOL Advertising.com Group includes Advertising.com, ADTECH, Pictela, Video (inclusive of AOL Video, goviral and 5min Media), Content Solutions and Sponsored Listings and serves a combined content and advertising market at scale through video, brand advertising, content and ad serving. AOL is focused on engaging consumers and providing online advertising services and solutions on both AOL Huffington Post Media Group destination websites and third-party websites, in addition to serving consumer platforms including AOL Mail, AIM, about.me, and mobile experiences. AOL also operates one of the largest Internet subscription access services in the U.S., which serves as another distribution channel for its consumer subscription products, such as AOL TechGuru and Computer Checkup.

About VivaKi

VivaKi is part of Publicis Groupe (Euronext Paris Exchange: FR0000130577; and part of the CAC 40 index) the world’s third largest communications group. VivaKi aggregates the marketplace influence of four autonomous brands, including two global media agency networks: ZenithOptimedia and Starcom MediaVest Group; and two leading digital marketing agencies: Digitas and Razorfish. On behalf of its agency brands and their clients, VivaKi faces the market to help identify and build technology, message distribution, audience aggregation and content solutions for the future.

About The Pool

The Pool is a first of its kind industry program that unites the financial resources and thought leadership of its clients and a host of content providers to test and create industry standards for new advertising models. By “pooling” insights and resources, this initiative aims to identify future engagement models across a variety of emerging media platforms. Participating clients and content providers are given the opportunity to view and evaluate new advertising models and receive access to all proprietary research ahead of the marketplace. The following lanes have been launched and released: Lane 1: US online video – November 2008 launch, February 2010 industry release; Lane 2: US short-form online video – July 2009 launch, September 2010 industry release; Lane 3: China online video – April 2010 launch, April 2011 industry release. The following Lanes have been launched and are still in progress: Lane 4: UK online video – October 2010 launch; Lane 5: MENA display – September 2010 launch; Lane 6: Spain online video – November 2010 launch; Lane 7: Australia online video – March 2011 launch; Lane 8: China online video/cross media metrics – August 2011 launch; Lane 9: US Tablets – October 2011 launch.

- Cross Network Measurement and Analytics System Now Available To All Advertisers and Agencies
- Self Serve VideoHub Marketplace Enables Early Stage Video Advertisers To Buy In-stream Video With Ease
NEW YORK – VideoHub, a division of Tremor Video, today made its full platform of video brand marketing tools and real-time analytics available to all marketers and agencies. With the launch of VideoHub for Advertisers and VideoHub Marketplace, Tremor Video now offers a comprehensive advertising platform that enables brand marketers and agencies to measure, track, report and deliver on the signals driving the performance of their video campaigns.

VideoHub launched with Tremor Video’s advertising and publisher partners in May of this year and now has more than 200 advertisers running campaigns through the platform. With the full launch, advertisers and agencies can license the VideoHub technology to view campaign performance and analytics across all of their video advertising buys, even those outside of the Tremor Video network.

With VideoHub for Advertisers, marketers and agencies can look at how their video campaigns are performing across all networks and publishers in real-time. For the first time, advertisers have access to unparalleled and sometimes surprising insight into brand performance metrics and the factors enhancing the brand, provoking viewer engagement and driving other key performance indicators.

VideoHub Marketplace provides early stage video advertisers with an easy-to-use, self-serve interface to buy video on the Tremor Video network and other inventory sources.

“In the absence of alternatives, the video advertising industry has focused almost exclusively on efficiency over effectiveness,” said Anthony Risicato, GM of VideoHub, a division of Tremor Video. “With VideoHub, we mine for answers to ‘why’ advertising performs the way it does. Our advertising partners are already uncovering surprising correlations between certain signals and brand performance, and that intelligence will grow exponentially as the platform evolves.”

VideoHub analyzes numerous video signals and determines which factors are the most important in delivering campaign success, with particular emphasis on the criteria that drive engagement and brand lift. In an effort to share the insights gathered from the nearly 1 billion streams running through the platform every month, the company recently launched a report that give marketers a snapshot of the video advertising industry.

The story was first reported in VideoNuze.

About Tremor Video

Founded in 2005, Tremor Video (www.tremorvideo.com) provides in-stream video advertising solutions to Fortune 1000 brand advertisers and top tier publishers and is widely regarded as the leading video company online. Leveraging their innovative video ad formats and publisher technology, Tremor Video delivers the mass reach and campaign results advertisers should expect from digital video. Tremor Video is the only video ad platform that can provide 100% brand safety by scanning and categorizing every single video stream before an ad is ever served. Powered by award-winning SE2 technology, Tremor Video’s video algorithm also gets smarter at finding and engaging viewers with every ad served, enabling the company to welcome and encourage pay-per-engagement pricing. Tremor Video is a privately held company headquartered in NYC with 10 national and international offices.

VideoHub, a division of Tremor Video, is a first of its kind analytics console that helps marketers and agencies monitor the complex video ecosystem to dynamically match ads with content and viewers, deliver upon marketing goals, and maximize brand impact. Unlike traditional video management platforms, VideoHub focuses on effectiveness and delivers real-time analytics for deep transparency across ads, content, viewers, and performance. To request a demo, visit videohub.tv

Delivers industry’s first in-stream Brand Lift measurement and optimization solution through support of VAST/VPAID standards and integration with leading video player technologies

San Francisco -Vizu Corporation (www.brand lift.com), an online ad technology company whose solutions allow advertisers and publishers to measure and optimize Brand Lift in real-time, today announced the launch of its “Value in Video” initiative. The program’s objective is to provide the industry with the ability to leverage in-stream, real-time testing of consumer sentiment wherever and however video is delivered, addressing one of the key challenges facing the growth of the medium – a fragmented landscape of video serving technologies.

As a first step in this initiative, Vizu also announced enhancements to its brand advertising effectiveness platform to fully support the VAST/VPAID standards developed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), allowing anyone serving video inventory compliant with these standards to leverage Vizu’s in-stream capabilities to measure and optimize Brand Lift.

“Our broadcaster partners utilize a variety of players and online video platforms, so putting together an all-encompassing measurement methodology was a challenge,” says Joshua Iselin, Managing Director of TVN, Australia’s largest in-stream video network. “With Vizu now enabling Brand Lift measurement and optimization via VAST/VPAID compliant inventory, we have multiple options at our disposal. The ability to survey viewers in-stream is a major technological innovation – as a result we’ve seen incredibly high response rates, helping to alleviate an issue that plagues the industry. We are proud to be working with Vizu to pioneer in-stream video measurement and optimization.”

“If advertisers can’t measure the performance of video on the entire media plan, they’re not getting the full picture. VAST/VPAID were developed to meet that challenge, and to bring more confidence to video advertisers,” says Daryl McNutt, BrightRoll’s Senior Vice President of Research and Marketing. “BrightRoll is a major proponent of standards like these that help move the industry forward, and we’re happy to see partners like Vizu support them as well.”

Leading brands, agencies, ad networks, and publishers leverage Vizu’s Ad Catalyst solution, part of the company’s brand advertising effectiveness platform, to measure and optimize the effectiveness of online brand advertising efforts in real time. Ad Catalyst measures the Brand Lift generated by online advertising campaigns, replacing click-through rates with a much more appropriate metric for brand advertisers. As Brand Lift data is available in real time, it also enables in-market optimization of campaigns. Leveraging an intuitive dashboard, the contribution of different creative, messages, targeting, and frequency to overall campaign performance can quickly be evaluated and adjustments made that ensure both Brand Lift and return on advertising spend are maximized.

“We strongly believe in the value of video, and that it has the potential to accelerate the flow of brand advertising dollars online. We are thus investing to ensure the medium reaches its full potential,” says Dan Beltramo, CEO of Vizu. “We’re excited to announce our support of the VAST/VPAID standards, but aren’t stopping there – we will soon be announcing integrations with many leading video player technologies, ensuring our customers can measure and optimize their video efforts anytime, anywhere.”

Vizu Corporation (www.brandlift.com) brings the same metrics used to measure and optimize brand advertising effectiveness in the offline world to the online medium. By providing the first real-time, enterprise technology platform that allows brand advertisers and their partners in the digital media ecosystem – publishers, ad networks, exchanges, and demand side platforms – to collaborate around measuring and optimizing Brand Lift metrics, Vizu enables its customers to move their target audience through the purchase funnel, from building awareness to creating intent and preference.  Vizu’s brand advertising effectiveness platform is used by over 60% of Advertising Age’s Top 100 Brand Advertisers and Comscore’s Top 50 Media properties to support all key aspects of the advertising lifecycle, including media buying, audience profiling, and Brand Lift optimization.

W Capital Partners Leads Round to Fund Future Acquisitions, Video Hub Adoption, and Growth in the US and Overseas

NEW YORK – Tremor Video, the largest independent online video technology company, announced that it has successfully raised a $37 million round of financing. New York City-based W Capital Partners led the round, which also includes the participation from Keating Capital, Canaan Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth, General Catalyst Partners, Meritech Capital Partners, Singapore’s EDBI, Time Warner and SAP Ventures.

Having acquired ScanScout and Transpera in the past year, Tremor Video has extended its market leadership in the interactive video space and reaches more consumers than any other online video advertising company (according to comScore).

“We invest in companies that are leaders in rapidly growing markets, and this is no exception,” said Bob Migliorino, Managing Director of W Capital Partners. “Tremor Video’s performance in the fastest growing segment in online media, combined with Video Hub’s game-changing technology, makes us extremely happy to be working with them.”

With the launch of Video Hub in May of this year, Tremor Video has radically changed the network model by enabling brand advertisers and their agencies to monitor in real time the key factors that are driving their campaign performance. VideoHub analyzes numerous video signals and determines which factors are the most important in delivering campaign success, with particular emphasis on the criteria that drive engagement and brand lift.

Based on Tremor Video’s SE2 technology, Video Hub provides marketers with unparalleled insight into which environments enhance their brands, what provokes viewer engagement, and why a campaign is successful. Tremor Video plans to continue investing in the continued development and market adoption of Video Hub. It will also use these funds to explore additional acquisitions and expand into fast growing markets internationally.

“W Capital has a history of successful late-stage investments in leading companies, such as Ancestry.com, OpenTable and Pandora,” said Bill Day, Tremor Video’s CEO. “As we continue to develop our technology and increase its market presence, we plan to use this capital to aggressively increase our leadership role here in the U.S. while expanding globally.”

About W Capital Partners

W Capital Partners is a private equity firm that acquires portfolios of direct private equity and venture capital investments in the secondary market investing in late stage growth equity companies with market leading platforms and business models. Since 2001, W Capital has become a leading participant in providing private equity firms, financial institutions, corporations and employees with a liquidity alternative for their private equity investments.

W Capital provides private equity investors an exit for highly illiquid investments, in order to generate distributions to limited partners, reallocate resources into new strategic areas and eliminate follow-on capital requirements for portfolio companies.

With more than $1 billion of committed capital under management, over 60 completed portfolio transactions and investments in more than 100 companies, W Capital is the largest firm dedicated exclusively to the acquisition of direct private equity investments in the secondary market. For more information, please visit: www.wcapgroup.com

About Tremor Video

Founded in 2005, Tremor Video (www.tremorvideo.com) provides in-stream video advertising solutions to Fortune 1000 brand advertisers and top tier publishers and is widely regarded as the leading video company online. Leveraging their innovative video ad formats and publisher technology, Tremor Video delivers the mass reach and campaign results advertisers should expect from digital video. Tremor Video is the only video ad platform that can provide 100% brand safety by scanning and categorizing every single video stream before an ad is ever served. Powered by award-winning SE2 technology, Tremor Video’s video algorithm also gets smarter at finding and engaging viewers with every ad served, enabling the company to welcome and encourage pay-per-engagement pricing. Tremor Video is a privately held company headquartered in NYC with 10 national and international offices.

Emeryville, CA – Exponential Interactive Inc., the owner of global online advertising provider Tribal Fusion and engagement video solution Firefly Video, today announced it has  completed the acquisition of AdoTube, a centralized end-to-end digital video solution offering publishers and advertisers easy and efficient access to proprietary in-stream video advertising, including Polite Pre-Roll®, In-Stream Skins, Takeovers, and Interactive Overlays.

This strategic acquisition brings additional scale to the video advertising opportunities available from Exponential®, which already include Firefly Video. With the combined market share of AdoTube and Firefly Video, Exponential is now one of the largest global video providers. While Firefly Video offers a cost-per-engagement model that leverages Tribal Fusion’s global display inventory, consisting of the second largest worldwide global reach of 453 million, AdoTube offers advertisers innovative video solutions that leverage in-stream video inventory.

Exponential will operate AdoTube as an independent entity. AdoTube will leverage Exponential’s global footprint, which consists of 33 locations across 23 countries and will immediately expand its presence globally from just the United States. AdoTube will also apply Tribal Fusion’s advanced audience platform, consisting of data, targeting, optimization, and audience insights to its in-stream video solution, making it the most advanced video offering in the market.

AdoTube, based in New York City, was founded by Leo Grzhonko and Constantine Goltsev in 2007 who partnered with Josh Winograd and Steven Jones to join in leading the executive team. AdoTube offers a variety of innovative in-stream video formats that move beyond simple insertion of TV ads into video content, and allow users to engage, interact and provide feedback within the video ad unit.  AdoTube’s Polite Pre-Roll is the least intrusive In-Stream video ad unit, allowing users to skip ads and where advertisers only pay for completed views. Publishers also benefit from the Polite Pre-Roll format, as users are less likely to leave their site due to being forced to watch in-stream ads.

“We are big believers in the potential of online video advertising and this acquisition accelerates our growth in the rapidly growing online video space,” says Dilip DaSilva, Exponential Interactive’s CEO. “In-Stream video ad serving is very much in its infancy, but by combining the advanced data, targeting, optimization, and insights available in the more mature display space with AdoTube’s innovative and interactive video solutions, we feel we can offer advertisers online video solutions that leverage the best of online advertising and engage users in a much deeper way than simply inserting TV ads into online video content.”

“This is a great transaction for all stakeholders as this relationship provides AdoTube with access to Exponential’s extensive global foot-print and advanced audience platform,” says Constantine Goltsev, AdoTube’s CEO.  “Impactful advertising is about using creativity to engage users and leave a lasting and effective impression. The AdoTube platform lets advertisers augment their TV ads with interactive elements to create engaging ads. Combining this with an advanced audience platform, lets advertisers engage specifically with their most desirable target audience.”

AdoTube™ (http://adotube.com) is the leading global in-stream advertising technology company. AdoTube’s powerful and flexible technology provides a centralized end-to-end digital video solution offering publishers and advertisers easy and efficient access to in-stream video advertising across all media platforms.  An early pioneer, AdoTube spearheaded the Polite Pre-Roll® and has continually spurred innovation in the online video ecosystem. With its sophisticated and comprehensive video ad management platform combined with a full service video ad network, and third party media measurement system, AdoTube is simplifying the complex world of digital video for publishers and marketers, while delivering engaging experiences for consumers.

Exponential Interactive Inc (http://www.exponential.com) the parent company of Tribal Fusion and FireFly Video, is a technology-enabled media company that delivers innovative products and services to meet the demands of today’s digital advertisers. Through a variety of offerings, the Exponential group of businesses enables online advertisers to reach their target audiences from around the globe to across town.

From premium publishers and CPM advertisers to performance marketing and highly engaging video solutions, Exponential delivers results for online advertisers. Each of its businesses – Tribal Fusion®, Firefly Video™, FullTango® LeadGenuity® and EchoTopic® – brings state of the art optimization technology, media services and years of experience in representing publishers and delivering highly successful campaigns for our advertising clients.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Joost Media, a digital brand solutions company, announced the debut of j-Roll, its advanced, interactive pre-roll video product. This new product provides all the functionalities of Joost’s successful expandable banners within pre-rolls across its publishers.

j-Roll aims to increase consumer interactivity and engagement by offering advertisers and marketers the opportunity to include all of the features and functionality of a website within the ad unit. It offers consumers an immersive interactive brand experience within the ad. j-Roll’s multiple functionalities in a single ad includes the ability to open ads over pre-roll, play games, print coupons, view image gallery, look up store locators and movie show times just to name a few.

“Joost Media has been offering highly effective and progressive in-banner video units for years on a global scale. It’s been a part of our DNA since the very beginning,” said Nick Higgins, chief revenue officer at Joost. “Now we are extending these successful offerings and capabilities for pre-rolls. j-Roll is yet another example of our commitment to offer the best possible brand solutions to our partners.”

Expanding its product offerings with j-Series, its suite of in-banner video products, and now with j-Roll, Joost Media continues to deliver innovative and creative tools for effective video advertising.

About Joost Media

Joost Media is a digital media company that connects brands and audiences. Combining the power of exclusive publisher relationships, targeted reach and custom experiences, the company provides advertisers with high-impact branding solutions to an engaged audience. Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, Joost Media is a fully owned subsidiary of Adconion Media Group (www.adconion.com). For more information about the company, visit http://www.joostmedia.com.

Three new hires to handle increased demand for high-impact in-stream video advertising

NEW YORK – AdoTube, the in-stream video advertising technology leader, announced the addition of several key members to the company’s sales and business development teams today. The expansion is a direct result of rapid growth on the AdoTube Network, which grew 191% last year to 3.5 billion ads served.

Benjamin Stimler joins the AdoTube team as Senior Manager of Business Development. He will be responsible for establishing relationships with online video publishers and businesses representing emerging platforms such as mobile, tablets and connected television. Stimler will also oversee publisher retention and relationship management, helping evaluate, model, and improve the prospects of their online video business to ensure consistently-high satisfaction. He was previously with Everyday Health, Inc., where he handled accounts representing over $10 million in annual budgets.

Additionally, two new sales hires, Senior Account Executive Sal Gambino, and Account Executive Matthew Hall, will work with agencies and clients across the east coast to further the adoption of AdoTube’s multiple in-stream advertising formats, including the Polite Pre-Roll®. Gambino joins AdoTube from MEC, where he specialized in integrated media and digital strategies for companies including Sony Ericsson, TomTom and Toys “R” Us. Hall was previously at Turner Broadcasting, working with news properties including CNN, HLN and CNN En Espanol.

“As AdoTube continues its rapid growth, we are elated to further strengthen our team with such highly-qualified digital-media experts,” stated Josh Winograd, AdoTube’s Chief Revenue Officer. “With their talent and experience, they will help educate publishers, advertisers and agencies on video advertising and how to deliver the most engaging creative to the right audience, in the right context, at the right time.”

About AdoTube

AdoTube is a complete in-stream/in-video solution that enables each part of the industry (agencies, advertisers and publishers) to have easy and efficient access to in-stream ads. AdoTube’s platform includes the AdoTube Ad Network, Publisher Management Tool (PUMA),Network Partner Console for third party networks, and Creative Services. AdoTube’s complete platform helps each part of the industry to deliver high-quality, in-stream advertising solutions through a quick, easy and cost efficient platform. AdoTube is headquartered in New York, with offices in California and Europe. For more information, please visit www.adotube.com and follow AdoTube on Twitter.

-Becomes First Video Company to Implement Advertising Option Icon in In-Stream Video Ad Units

-Creates new standard for the advertising industry in which all interested parties can participate

NEW YORK – Tremor Video, the largest independent online video technology company, is developing a first of its kind in-stream privacy compliance solution for behaviorally targeted video advertising. The implementation marks the first time the ad choices consumer notification icon has been applied to in-stream video within the player. This is the launching point of an industry-wide leadership initiative for digital video advertising privacy.

The icon will be incorporated into all of Tremor Video’s targeted video ads as part of its commitment to the online advertising industry’s self-regulatory privacy program, which is being managed by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA). The video solution will be available in September to all Tremor Video advertisers, as well as publishers that use the company’s proprietary Acudeo® video ad monetization platform. Tremor Video will share the learnings from this endeavor to inform the future efforts of the DAA and Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) for video privacy programs.

Tremor Video currently employs the Advertising Option Icon and “Ad Choices” text in some of its interest-based in-banner advertisements, designed to provide consumers a better understanding and greater control over customized ads that they receive. The company expects the icon will appear in 100 percent of the behaviorally targeted video in-banner campaigns it serves by the third quarter of 2011. The DAA has developed standards for digital display advertising, which Tremor Video has translated into in-banner video, but no such standard exists for streaming video.

“We take privacy very seriously, and we want consumers to feel comfortable with the ads they see,” said Jason Krebs, Tremor Video’s SVP and Chief Media Officer. “Tremor Video is proud to be at the forefront of protecting consumer privacy and leading the way toward video advertising transparency. The ultimate goal is to give consumers relevant advertising that becomes part of the information and entertainment experience. We are also happy to take the first step for the industry that benefits all parties.”

Tremor Video is the industry leader in targeted video advertising, and its technology platforms help advertisers match their ads to the most relevant consumers.

As reported in Ad Age, Tremor Video is the first company to offer the Advertising Option Icon within in-stream video ads. It is the latest in Tremor Video’s list of firsts, as the company is:

- The first and only to offer in-stream brand protection, determining brand-safe environments for all in-stream content within Tremor Video’s network.
- The first and only to offer a cost-per engagement (CPE) in-stream video pricing model for pre-roll, meaning advertisers only pay when consumers engage with an ad.
- The first and only to offer premium site placement controls that let advertisers approve a site list and only run the ads within that list.

Much of the industry self-regulation effort thus far has focused on display advertising, and the complicated nature of video advertising has prevented the implementation of an industry-wide in-stream standard. Interactive creative elements and the time span of pre-roll video ads raise questions of when a notification icon should appear within the ad and for how long.

“Standard banners are static images with little interactivity, as opposed to video, which offers a wealth of consumer engagement opportunities,” said Ragu Kamakshisundaram, Director of Product Management at Tremor Video. “Rather than wait for a standard, we’re building our self-regulation solution to ensure our ads are in line with privacy compliance.”

For the benefit of consumers and the entire video advertising industry, use and behavior of the icon will align with the initiatives currently endorsed by the DAA and in use for display ad units. The icon will appear within the video player on top of ad units and will link to a page where consumers can learn more about targeted online advertising, including how to opt-out of receiving interest-based advertising from Tremor Video. In addition to hosting its own opt-out functionality, Tremor Video also participates in the DAA’s consumer choice opt-out page.

About Tremor Video

Founded in 2005, Tremor Video (formerly Tremor Media) (www.tremorvideo.com) provides in-stream video advertising solutions to Fortune 1000 brand advertisers and top tier publishers and is widely regarded as the leading video company online. Leveraging its innovative video ad formats and publisher technology, Tremor Video delivers the mass reach and campaign results advertisers should expect from digital video. Tremor Video is the only video ad platform that can provide 100% brand safety by scanning and categorizing every single video stream before an ad is ever served. Powered by award-winning SE2 technology, Tremor Video’s video algorithm also gets smarter at finding and engaging viewers with every ad served, enabling the company to welcome and encourage pay-per-engagement pricing. Tremor Video is a privately held company headquartered in NYC with 10 national and international offices.

In-Game Advertising Startup Brings in Industry Pioneers to Help Push Mobile Advertising to New Heights

CHICAGO – Tap.Me, creators of the gaming industry’s revolutionary game-first advertising platform, announced the founding of an advisory committee led by five top advertising executives with world-class agency and in-house experience. The Advertising Advisory Board represents a powerhouse dream team that will provide counsel to Tap.Me.

The Advertising Advisory Board brings a wealth of forward thinkers to the table with deep marketing and gaming experience. This power-packed bunch bring years of advertising know-how, intimate familiarity with current and budding trends, and strong connections with key brands and potential partners.

The advertising gurus joining the ranks of Tap.Me’s Advertising Advisory Board include:

Brandon Berger, Chief Digital Officer, Worldwide at Ogilvy & Mather
Brandon Berger is the worldwide head of Digital for Ogilvy & Mather. Berger is one of the pioneers in the intersection of brands and video games having founded the Digital Innovation Group at Ogilvy, which leads all gaming efforts for the agency. Formerly at MDC Partners, where as VP of Digital Innovation, he was responsible for all digital investments, acquisitions and partnerships for the network, growing the digital capabilities of the holding to where they are today. Berger is also co-founder of wireless technology company, Qwikker (formerly WideRay Corp), and is a board member and advisor to many of the top adtech companies in the space.

Tim Harris, Co-Founder, SVP and Managing Director, Denuo; and Founder, CEO, Seven Lights
Harris is the guiding force of Denuo, Publicis Groupe’s creative innovations arm. He was also co-founder of Play, the industry’s first and most recognized agency unit dedicated to leveraging game mechanics for marketing and games themselves as a consumer contact channel. Harris serviced clients such as GM, P&G, LEGO, Miller and Allstate, eventually integrating the Play offering into a seamless part of Denuo’s broader creative expertise. Harris is also Founder and CEO of Seven Lights, a company that specializes in the creation of customizable online entertainment. In bringing games like The Continuum to market, Harris has filled the roles of game designer, community manager, marketing/promotions director and producer, and continues to innovate in multiple areas of game development. He was named as one of the iMedia25 Class of 2010, recognizing the key influencers in interactive marketing.

Dave Knox, Chief Marketing Officer for Rockfish Interactive
A seven-year veteran of Procter & Gamble, Knox was instrumental in the digital turnaround that led to P&G being named to AdAge’s Digital A-List. As Brand Manager for Global Branded Entertainment, Knox led the strategy for new business models in venture investment, digital media and original content. Knox’s knowledge of the space and influential voice has landed him in the iMedia 25 Class of 2010, created by AdAge, as “1 of 25 Media People You Should Follow on Twitter” and Media Industry News as a “2010 Social Media Superstar.”

Saneel Radia, North American Head, BBH Labs
In addition to his current title at BBH Labs, a cutting edge research and development arm of BBH, Radia is Director of Innovation at BBH NY. He is an atypical hybrid talent, spanning both a Creative Director and Media Director positions, servicing a wide client base form Google, Kellogg, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble, Nintendo and Miller. While previously at Publicis, Radia co-founded Play, the industry’s first and most recognized agency unit dedicated to leveraging game mechanics for marketing and games themselves as a consumer contact channel. He’s also been recognized as an Internationalist “Agency Innovator” (2009), an Advertising Age “Twentysomething” (2005) and as MediaWeek’s “Media All-Star.”

Tom Weigman, Partner, The NextGen Marketing Group
Weigman’s background as both an operating executive and consultant is in helping businesses integrate effective marketing solutions into their established operations. At NextGen he is currently developing strategic marketing plans for clients in the wireless, internet and new media arenas. Weigman has a strong operating background, as former CMO and President of Sprint’s consumer business, as EVP of Wireless Services for Aircell, and driving key marketing initiatives at Mars and Procter & Gamble. As a consultant, he has provided strategic services to the likes of Quaker Oats, Duracell, Kraft, Japan Telecom, Ralston Purina and many others. He has also been a member of the Boards of Directors of Sprint PCS, MDC Partners, Upoc Networks, and On2 Technologies.

“We’re thrilled with the Dream Team assembled for the Advertising Advisory Board,” said Joshua Hernandez, CEO of Tap.Me. “Our ability to attract key industry leaders is a vote of confidence from the advertising world. The Advertising Advisory Board recognizes that Tap.Me has a unique platform for in-game advertising that is non-disruptive and actually enhances the game play experience for the player. Our goal from the beginning was to build a truly scalable platform that not only provides a great experience for gamers and advertisers, but makes buying into in-game advertising simple and effective. Our all-star Advisory Board has played a key role in making sure that we have a product that they want to buy because of its flexibility across mobile, social and local marketing efforts. ”

“Gaming offers a huge opportunity for brands, yet most ad platforms are limited to in-game signage with no targeting,” said Saneel Radia, Director of Innovation at BBH Labs. “Tap.Me’s ability to target actions in games offers a more authentic and effective approach that capitalizes on the very reason advertisers want to be in games: a highly engaged, happy audience.”

The key to Tap.Me’s success is streamlining the process to offer real rewards to coincide with innovative and captivating gameplay. Having launched its platform during GDC 2011, the Tap.Me team has been tapping into their developer network for feedback on creating a gameplay-first mobile in-game advertising platform. Tap.Me’s platform allows brands to reach a critical mass of mobile gamers in an unobtrusive, fluid and engaging way for users of all levels. Developers meta-tag in-game content which advertisers can sponsor and apply their brand attributes in a way that makes sense in the context of the game, putting gameplay and content first – where it belongs. The benefit for the player is an extended gameplay experience with in-game and real-world rewards — something that goes well beyond traditional ad impressions and banners.

For more information, please visit Tap.Me’s homepage at http://tap.me/wp/.

About Tap.Me

Based in Chicago, IL, Tap.Me is a new startup focused on reinventing the in-game advertising space with the introduction of the industry’s first in-game advertising platform. Founded in 2009, Tap.Me is channeling the founding team’s game development roots and experience in advertising and game design to build and offer a set of products that will disrupt how advertising has traditionally been applied both in video games and in mobile game apps. For more information, interested parties may visit http://tap.me.

The Polite Pre-Roll®, which lets viewers choose whether or not to watch an ad, had a View-Through Rate of nearly 45% in Q1

View the full index: http://ftx.bz/iiL74N

NEW YORK – AdoTube, the leader in in-stream video advertising, announced the release of its Q1 2011 In-Stream Ad Format Index. The index showcased the continued consumer acceptance of the Polite Pre-Roll®, which jumped to 30% of ads served in Q1 and increased its view-through rate to nearly 45%. The Polite Pre-Roll enables viewers to retract and ‘pause’ the video ad experience. Viewers are allowed to proceed to their desired video, where an overlay message appears reminding them to watch the rest of the ad. This added functionality lowered video abandonment rates by 18% compared against the standard pre-roll.

The index is the result of analysis on 4.25 billion impressions served across the AdoTube Network and provides an overview of the growth and effectiveness of different in-stream video ad formats across industry verticals. Additional highlights from the index include:

- Polite Pre-Rolls® and Standard Pre-Rolls account for 64% of ads served
- Over 5% of viewers who dismiss overlay ads re-engage with that ad
- Overall CTR continues to grow due to high impact in-stream formats
- CPG continues aggressive investment in online video as a way to extend TV buys, accounting for 60% of ads served in Q1

Included are discussions of overall trends in adoption across formats and verticals as well as metrics regarding click-through, engagement and retention rates. View the full index and findings at news.adotube.com.

AdoTube

AdoTube is a complete in-stream/in-video solution that enables each part of the industry (agencies, advertisers and publishers) to have easy and efficient access to in-stream ads. AdoTube’s platform includes the AdoTube Ad Network, Publisher Management Tool (PUMA), In-Stream Ad Exchange (AdEx), Network Partner Console for third party networks, and Creative Services. AdoTube’s complete platform helps each part of the industry to deliver high-quality, in-stream advertising solutions through a quick, easy and cost efficient platform. AdoTube is headquartered in New York, with offices in California and Europe. To learn more about AdoTube, become a partner, or see their solutions for agencies, advertisers, publishers and ad networks, visit www.AdoTube.com.

Partnership brings together leading context-driven display technology solutions from Kontera and real-time ad infrastructure from AppNexus

NEW YORK – Kontera, the leading provider of context-driven advertising solutions, announced that it has partnered with AppNexus, the real-time ad platform used by global ad networks, demand-side platforms (DSPs), and other leading online advertising companies, in order to advance quality, reach and efficiency for marquee brand advertisers. This relationship was unveiled at the “IAB Innovation Days – The Future of Display” conference.

Kontera provides unique solutions that span In-Text and premier display placement, and use deep semantic context, predicted consumer intent, and publisher’s editorial and relevant social content within display ads. Kontera’s Synapse engine performs real-time editorial analysis, is used exclusively by more than 15,000 publishers, reaches more than 170 Million unique users, and delivers five times the brand lift of traditional display (comScore, July 2010).

“Large marquee brands count on Kontera for superior editorial placement to reach the right user in the right context,” said Brian O’Kelley, CEO of AppNexus. “We are delighted to be working with their team to bring their power, sophistication, and unique display offerings to the broader ecosystem.”

Led by the pioneers of the Web’s original ad exchanges at Yahoo!’s Right Media and Google’s DoubleClick, AppNexus offers a comprehensive suite of core infrastructure and ad technology capabilities including data management, optimization, APIs, financial clearing and support for directly negotiated media campaigns.

“AppNexus is widely used by the industry’s leading providers because it has great pathways into the display ecosystems, superior scalability, and best-in-class functionality,” said Yoav Shaham, CEO of Kontera. “We are excited to team with them to add their real-time bidding and campaign management capabilities to our display solutions for marquee brands and publishers.”

About Kontera

Kontera’s real-time Synapse Platform uses sophisticated semantic and web trend analysis to predict intent and to instantly react to user’s interests with relevant information and Ads. With Kontera advertisers gain greater targeting precision across the entire web, users find information that is relevant to their interests, and publishers increase interaction with their content. Kontera’s delivery platforms and solutions encompass the PC web, Mobile devices, and major social platforms. Kontera delivers its context and interest capabilities to the market through multiple partners. It is the exclusive in-content analysis and engagement platform for more than 15,000 web publishers. Kontera’s real-time Synapse platform is also being used within major display advertising platforms. The company works with top brand advertisers such as Toyota, Microsoft, AT&T, Samsung and L’Oreal to identify context and interest, and to provide unique brand experiences to more than 170 million users each month.

Kontera is backed by Sequoia Capital, Carmel Ventures, and Tanaya Capital. To learn more about Kontera, Kontera’s Social Boost, Related Content solutions, Mobile Advertising, Semantic Advertising or Contextual Advertising visit: www.kontera.com follow: facebook.com/Kontera, twitter.com/kontera.

About AppNexus

AppNexus is the real-time ad platform used by global ad networks, demand-side platforms (DSPs), ad exchanges, and other leading online advertising companies. Led by the pioneers of the Web’s original ad exchanges at Yahoo!’s Right Media and Google’s DoubleClick, AppNexus offers a comprehensive suite of core infrastructure and ad technology capabilities that empowers sophisticated companies to build, manage and optimize their entire display advertising businesses and provides single-point integration to the largest buyers and sellers of online advertising, including major aggregators and exchanges.

Based in New York City, AppNexus is backed by an outstanding group of investors; including Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, First Round Capital, Venrock, Kodiak Venture Partners, Ron Conway, Khosla Ventures, and Microsoft. For more information, visit www.appnexus.com.

Grab Networks to offer AdoTube’s Polite Preroll® in-stream advertising, Ad Selector, Overlays, and other premium advertising formats to advertising clients worldwide

NEW YORK – Grab Networks, the Web’s premiere online media company that creates custom video audience networks for advertisers, announced a partnership with AdoTube™, a leader in the online video advertising space, that will expand its advertising offerings by implementing AdoTube’s technology platform and full suite of premium services. The AdoTube platform will enable Grab Networks to meet rising client demand by providing advertisers with access to advanced in-video advertising formats.

“With the continued growth of the online video market, Grab Networks is committed to delivering the best video content and consumer connection opportunities for our advertisers,” Alvin Bowles, Grab Networks CEO said. “Integrating AdoTube’s premium products into our service offerings allows us to take advantage of current market opportunities and provide additional advertising options for our customers.”

Grab Networks’ advertisers will also benefit from AdoTube’s creative services, allowing them to easily create or leverage existing online advertising assets. Among those formats of particular client value, Grab Networks will be offering AdoTube’s Polite Preroll® which enables viewers to retract or ‘close out’ of video ads. Viewers who opt out of brand messages proceed to their desired video with an overlay appearing to remind users to view the ad when ready. Recent A/B testing proved that – when compared to standard pre-roll – Polite Preroll has a higher view-through rate and a 36% higher retention rate. These formats enhance in-stream video advertising and increase purchase intent.

“AdoTube’s partnership provides advertisers more options and a unified tool-set via Grab Networks’ content network, allowing advertisers to seamlessly leverage multiple creative formats that drive user engagement,” said Constantine Goltsev, CEO, AdoTube. “By continuing to optimize the in-stream video ad experience for viewers with multiple engaging formats, Grab Networks can lower video abandonment rates, increase user retention rates and ultimately drive more ad revenue.”

AdoTube

AdoTube is a complete in-stream/in-video solution that enables each part of the industry (agencies, advertisers and publishers) to have easy and efficient access to in-stream ads. AdoTube’s platform includes the AdoTube Ad Network, Publisher Management Tool (PUMA), In-Stream Ad Exchange (AdEx), Network Partner Console for third party networks, and Creative Services. AdoTube’s complete platform helps each part of the industry to deliver high-quality, in-stream advertising solutions through a quick, easy and cost efficient platform. AdoTube is headquartered in New York, with offices in California and Europe. To learn more about AdoTube, become a partner, or see their solutions for agencies, advertisers, publishers and ad networks, visit www.AdoTube.com.

Grab Networks

Grab Networks is the Web’s premiere online media company that distributes video content and advertising through an exclusive collection of premium publishers. As an ad-supported, video-only global network with a monthly unique audience of more than 15 million viewers, Grab Networks sources short-form video content from leading media companies and distributes programming with the ability for monetization through advertising. Grab Networks is headquartered in Washington DC, with offices in New York and San Francisco. For additional information, visit www.GrabNetworks.com.

Company’s New Automotive Category Development Manager Managed More than 250 Accounts During Eight Years at J.D. Power

NEW YORK – Tremor Media, the largest independent online video advertising network, announced that they have added Kristina Wines as Automotive Category Development Manager. Wines, a former senior account director at J.D. Power and Associates, will oversee all sector development in the fast-growing automotive segment for the dominant player in interactive video. She will be based in Detroit.

Wines spent nearly nine years at J.D. Power and Associates, where she was responsible for new business development on behalf of 250 clients. From conceptual design projects, delivery and sales, through satisfaction, service and loyalty, Wines’s deep knowledge of the automotive segment and the digital marketplace was honed through the development of dozens of these projects. Products and services represented range from syndicated studies and analysis (including Power Information Network dealer transaction data), consulting/proprietary projects, quality and satisfaction tracking studies, website development/improvement, advertising positioning, and forecasting – each of which she will bring to bear on behalf of Tremor media’s automotive clients. Prior to J.D. Power and Associates, Wines spent 10 years at Johnson Controls, a Tier 1 automotive supplier in various roles including Six Sigma, Consumer Research and Human Resources.

“We’re extremely pleased to add someone with Kristina’s automotive pedigree to the Tremor Media team,” said Jason Krebs, Tremor Media’s Chief Media Officer. “The automotive segment is one of the pillars of our business, and we will continue developing products in partnership with the manufacturers and their agencies that capitalize on the unique power of Tremor Media’s platform.”

“I have had the privilege of working with Kristina and in all of the years of working with her, she has been the most responsive and action based person I have worked with,” said Denton Dance, former Senior Director at J.D. Power and Associates (now at Maritz). “Her role in the automotive media space at J.D. Power and Associates was an area without precedence and she shaped and developed it while at J.D. Power and Associates. She is a respected member of the automotive digital community and considered a trusted advisor by her client base. I truly cannot say enough about Kristina Wines.”

About Tremor Media

Tremor Media (www.tremormedia.com), the leading online video monetization and advertising company, provides brand advertisers with in-stream and in-page video advertising solutions to top tier publishers. It reaches more than 3,000 publishers who serve in-stream video, and more than 5,000 publishers who serve in-page video in exclusively brand-safe environments. Tremor Media’s innovative video ad formats, advanced targeting, and industry-leading SE2 brand success measurement tools, enable advertisers to deliver efficient, scalable, and engaging video campaigns with measurable impact.

Tremor Media’s Acudeo® technology provides publishers with a full suite of products and services to monetize streaming video and maximize ROI. Acudeo delivers the industry’s most flexible and easy-to-use ad policy management tools and provides access to the industry’s leading revenue sources including turnkey integrations with all major video ad networks, ad serving, and video analytic technologies. With Tremor Media’s Acudeo technology, publishers can achieve maximum revenue while retaining total control and flexibility over their advertising inventory.

Those Surveyed Plan to Increase Spend on Digital Video by 22% in next 12 months

NEW YORK – “An Inside Look at Demand-Side Perceptions of Digital Video Advertising,” a comprehensive survey examining the views of marketers and agencies, reaffirms that the shift in ad dollar allotment has solidified. The study, released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and conducted by Advertiser Perceptions, shows that 69% of marketers and 55% of agencies plan to increase their Digital Video Advertising (DVA), with a 22% growth predicted in the next 12 months. Those surveyed project they will spend 17% of their total online display advertising budget on DVA in the next 12 months. The results of the study were announced at the IAB Digital Video Marketplace where almost 400 industry executives gathered to address the most pressing issues across the digital video platform.

Some of the other key findings of the study include:

- Advertisers are finding that their audiences respond better to DVA, with consumers showing a higher engagement rate with online video.
- DVA is more trackable and targetable and DVA production is less expensive, making it more cost efficient.
- Marketers will migrate TV ad dollars to digital video based on the belief it will deliver better ROI; agencies and television decision makers will shift ad dollars in an attempt to follow their target audiences.
- Among the different available DVA formats (pre-roll, in-banner, expandable banner, mobile video, rich media overlay and post-roll), agencies primarily use pre-roll while marketers are not committed to any specific format. Most respondents believe the appropriate length is 15 seconds.
- The preferred pricing model is CPM.
- A majority of marketers and a majority of agencies believe they should each be responsible for deciding whether to use DVA and how much budget to allocate to it.

There are still several opportunities for increasing the growth of DVA including:

- Improved ROI measurement
- Better standardized metrics
- Demonstrated audience shift to digital

“The study substantiates the buy-side appeal of digital video advertising – the power of sight, sound and motion paired with interactivity,” said Sherrill Mane, SVP Industry Services, IAB. “This bodes exceptionally well for the future revenue growth.”

“There was strong consensus that demand for digital video advertising was strengthening,” according to Randy Cohen, President of Advertiser Perceptions. “It was described best by a senior agency buyer who stated that ‘Digital video is becoming an ever-more common way that our target is consuming what was traditionally broadcast content – and our target is spending more time online, and video is another way to reach and engage the target.’”

All interviews for this study were completed online between November 17- December 6, 2010 in a blind survey. The sample was digital and/or television media decision makers with the intent to spend $1 million or more in the next 12 months. There were 500 respondents total, 148 marketers and 352 agencies, with 44% percent holding higher level titles. Sixty-two percent of respondents were involved in television decision making and 85% were involved in digital decision making.

The summary findings can be found at www.iab.net/digital_video_perceptions.

About the IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 500 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.

Digital Media Leaders Team Up to Transform Static Pre-Roll into High Impact Engagement Vehicle

NEW YORK – Undertone, which delivers quality display, high impact and video solutions for advertisers, announced that it has partnered with Innovid, the leading provider for in-stream video advertising solutions, to bring high impact pre-roll video advertising to its advertiser and brand marketer clients. Through the agreement, unveiled at the “Interactive Advertising Bureau Marketplace – Digital Video” event in New York, Undertone will offer Innovid’s iRoll Engage, iRoll apps and other leading in-stream video ad technologies to clients seeking new ways to connect with users on the web. The partnership builds on Undertone’s vision for delivering a complete range of display, video and high impact ad solutions that help brands leverage digital media as a critical engagement vehicle with their target audiences.

The market for pre-roll video advertising is exploding, as pre-roll ads have proven adept at replicating the TV experience online, a highly desirable proposition for advertisers. Innovid’s iRoll products inject dynamic rich media capabilities onto digital video, augmenting proven brand recall with opportunities for greater consumer engagement. By joining with Innovid, Undertone can now provide its top-tier roster of brand marketer and advertiser clients access to this technology as part of a complete digital media solution.

“Undertone works with the biggest and best advertisers in the business,” said Zvika Netter, CEO & Co-Founder, Innovid. “The ability to provide a turn-key solution to our partners and, in turn, their world class roster of brands is a very exciting proposition for us.”

Undertone’s partnership with Innovid further validates the company’s commitment to providing display and video ad solutions that “span the screens,” bridging the gap between traditional TV and digital advertising in a unique and highly engaging way. The company’s Digital Advertising Suite™, designed with this vision in mind, comprises a complete range of display, high impact and video solutions that help its advertiser and brand marketer clients target their key audiences no matter where they are.

“Video and high impact are crucial components of the Undertone vision,” said Eric Franchi, Co-Founder and Senior Vice President of Business Development, Undertone. “Innovid’s technology unites these two formats in a unique and highly desirable way, adding yet another vital tool to our arsenal and giving our clients the most complete range of solutions available to meet their digital media needs.”

Click to learn more about Undertone’s complete range of video and high impact solutions for advertisers and brand marketers.

About Undertone

Undertone delivers quality display and video experiences for advertisers, publishers and the global audiences they serve. Undertone’s Digital Advertising Suite™ is a unified platform that supports targeting, optimization and reporting across multiple formats. Armed with the insights to turn data into better decisions, Undertone helps marketers around the world create value from their online investments. For more information, go to www.undertone.com.

About Innovid

Innovid developed the groundbreaking iRoll®, which embeds interactive elements in pre-roll video ads making them dynamic and engaging without forcing audiences away from the page. Innovid’s proprietary technology provides a seamless integration between videos, embedded images and interactive features, empowering today’s marketers to engage their audiences more deeply than ever before. iRoll® is the only interactive pre-roll unit with the scale necessary to elevate campaigns to the next level. With integrations across all the top premium publishers and across almost all the top networks, iRoll® can provide unprecedented scale not available anywhere else. Beyond ad integration and serving, the company solution includes a back-end analytics dashboard to measure and track engagement. Visit (www.innovid.com).

Joins Exclusive List of Advertising Services Providers For the Facebook Platform

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Intergi Entertainment, the premier global gaming site representation company, announced that it is one of the select advertising providers for the Facebook Platform. Developers creating applications for the Facebook platform can only use listed providers to monetize Facebook applications.

Intergi Entertainment is comScore’s top ranked destination for reaching online gaming and entertainment enthusiasts. The company enables advertisers to engage with more than 62 million unique consumers including the highly desirable 18-34 year old male and 25-54 year old female demographics.

“With more than 500 million active users, Facebook has quickly become the platform of choice for reaching consumers,” said Jayson Dubin, CEO of Intergi Entertainment. “The opportunity to monetize applications on the Facebook platform is a potentially transformative event for the consumer advertising industry, and Intergi is honored to be included in this selective list of advertising providers.”

Intergi specializes in tailored and integrated advertising campaigns, including banner ads, takeovers, and in-game opportunities. The company is known for providing customized, quality campaigns that support the branding goals of both its advertising and publishing clients.

Intergi represents more than 3,000 of the leading video game publishers worldwide, providing exclusive online video advertising and sales for its high-profile clients. The company recently launched a new online video platform, Playwire, which includes a free online video player for developers and publishers. For more information, please visit: www.playwire.com.

About Intergi Entertainment

Ranked by comScore as a top digital outlet for reaching video game and entertainment enthusiasts online, Intergi Entertainment offers advertisers unparalleled access to millions of online gaming enthusiasts powering the multi-billion dollar gaming industry. Intergi helps connect advertisers and brand managers with the coveted male (18-34) and female (25-54) consumer engaged in online gaming. Intergi creates customized, site specific and channel-wide opportunities designed to help each advertiser deploy tailored, integrated advertising campaigns, including banner ads, takeovers and in-game opportunities, across entertainment and specialized gaming categories. For more information, visit http://www.intergi.com.

Integration Expected to Speed Shift of Broadcast Ad Revenue to Online Video

NEW YORK – Collective, a full service provider of media and technology solutions for display and video advertising, announced that it has acquired premium online video advertising network, Web TV Enterprise. The deal, which follows only six months after the Company’s expansion into the UK and just weeks after acquiring video advertising platform OggiFinogi, furthers Collective’s position as a leader in delivering audiences to brand advertisers utilizing unified in-banner and in-stream video ad formats.

Web TV Enterprise is the UK’s largest premium online video ad network, representing many of the UK’s leading web publishers and content owners. A pioneer of the VOD (video on-demand) advertising space since 2006, Web TV presents advertisers with the widest range of premium video channels on the web, reaching more than 25 million UK viewers a month.

“Slow adoption of online video advertising has resulted in the format’s potential being left largely untapped with video companies remaining a small subset of overall television advertising spend,” said Joe Apprendi, CEO, Collective. “Unlike most video networks, Web TV’s revenues come largely from broadcast media budgets versus smaller digital plans. This is a trend that we see accelerating in the UK, US and globally.”

In its Online Video Advertising Market Report based on a survey of UK media buyers, Web TV Enterprise revealed that more than seventy percent expected online video advertising to increase by twenty five percent over the next six months. The research also suggested digital buyers are responding to improvements in audience measurement techniques, which has long been an obstacle for many, as noted by eMarketer which reported 31 percent of UK advertisers said online video ads need better measurement.

Collective also makes available Internet Gross Rating Point (iGRP) reporting for all Collective video and display campaigns, making the integration a natural extension of Collective’s product suite as the company continues to align its business with meeting brand advertising objectives.

“The promise of online video advertising lies in its ability to allow brand advertisers to engage with their audiences within the most appropriate content environments, where the most impact and opportunity exist,” said Jamie Estrin, founder and managing director, Web TV Enterprise. “Collective’s success in combining audience targeting and analytics with the most engaging advertising format available makes this a natural fit for us. Our combined efforts will drive the advancement of online video advertising.”

“We are delighted for Jamie Estrin and his team. His vision in 2006 has found success in a rapidly evolving industry through hard and smart work,” said Mark Sterling, Managing Director, Marster Capital, which backed the Web TV Enterprise Ltd.’s creation and supported the company through its growth and onto sale. “Backing the individual as much as the idea, we saw an opportunity to partner Jamie in a world before video existed on the Internet.”

The deal closed at an undisclosed amount.

About Collective

Founded in 2005, Collective is a full service provider of media and technology solutions for display and video advertising. We help brand advertisers and leading publishers monetize trusted audience data and brand safe ad inventory. Collective’s industry expertise provides a strategic advantage to its clients by leveraging proprietary audience modeling, insights and ad effectiveness metrics. Our flagship products, Collective Display and Collective Video®, are powered by AMP®, our market-tested data and media management platform. Collective is headquartered in New York with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London. Collective’s investors include Accel Partners®, Greycroft Partners and iNovia Capital. For more information, please visit www.collective.com.

About Web TV Enterprise

Web TV Enterprise (www.webtventerprise.com) is the UK’s largest premium online video ad network, representing many of the UK’s leading web publishers and content owners. As a pioneer of the VOD (video on-demand) advertising space since 2006, the company presents advertisers with the widest range of high quality premium video channels on the web, where it places audio-visual advertising. Web TV Enterprise exclusively represents premium content from partners including Sony Music, iVillage, The Independent, E! Online and IPC Media. Over 250 leading advertising brands have run pre-roll campaigns on Web TV Enterprise’s premium video channels including Sony Playstation, COI, Vodafone, L’Oreal, Renault and Unilever.

Founded in 2006 by Jamie Estrin, Web TV Enterprise’s premium video ad network reaches over twenty five million online viewers.

New advertisers such as CPG, Fashion, Travel, and Finance made a concerted push after the growing and broadening online video audience in 2010

Full Adotube Q4 2010 Index available at http://ftx.bz/adotubeadindexq410

NEW YORK – AdoTube announced the release of its Q4 2010 In-Video Ad Format Index. The index highlighted how placing similarly constructed rich media banner ads into the video stream led to engagement rates that are 7 times higher and click-thru rates that are 8 times higher than leading display benchmarks.* In terms of growth, the online video audience broadened in 2010 courting significant pushes from new advertisers such as CPG, Fashion, Travel and Finance.

The index is the result of analysis on 3.5 Billion impressions across the AdoTube network and provides an overview of the growth and effectiveness of their different in-stream video ad formats across industry verticals. Highlights from the index findings include the following:

- As the overall number of ads served grew, interactive ads benefited the most rising to account for 50% of Ads Sold; Pre-Roll fell to 30%.
- In-Video Ads have 7X higher engagement, 8X higher CTR than their rich media display counter parts.
- Despite the fact that Polite Pre-Rolls® feature far more 30+ second ads, the Polite Pre-Roll® View-Thru Rate continued to grow rivaling the 15 second dominated Standard Pre-Roll.
- In 2010 the online video audience broadened, while CPG, Travel, Fashion, and Finance Advertisers made a concerted push into the space.

Included are discussions of overall trends in adoption across formats and verticals as well as metrics regarding click-through, engagement, and retention rates. To view the full index and findings, visit the research section of their site. (http://news.adotube.com/research)

*Source: DoubleClick for Advertisers, U.S. Advertisers, DoubleClick Rich Media formats (video only), January – December 2009

About AdoTube

AdoTube is a complete in-stream/in-video solution that enables each part of the industry (agencies, advertisers and publishers) to have easy and efficient access to in-stream ads. AdoTube’s platform includes the Adotube Ad Network, Publisher Management Tool (PUMA), In-Stream Ad Exchange (AdEx), Network Partner Console(NPC) for third party networks, and Creative Services. AdoTube’s complete platform helps each part of the industry to deliver high-quality, in-stream advertising solutions through a quick, easy and cost efficient platform. AdoTube is headquartered in New York, with offices in California and Europe. To learn more about AdoTube, become a partner, or see their solutions for agencies, advertisers, publishers and ad networks, visit www.adotube.com.

AdoTube’s growth has accelerated due to a focus on high-impact tools to deliver a higher ROI per buy for advertisers. AdoTube has done this through targeting and optimizing video, banner, and rich media ads and placing them where the viewers are paying attention – in the video stream.

NEW YORK – AdoTube, one of the leading in-video advertising platforms, showed incredible growth in 2010, serving over 3.5 billion ads. This growth represents a 191% increase over the 1.2 billion ads served in 2009 and an astonishing 13 times increase over 2008’s numbers. This was bolstered by both returning advertisers and new advertisers eager to aggressively invest in the video space and make use of AdoTube’s high-impact premium formats, optimization, and targeting services. By leveraging these tools and services, advertisers were able to decrease the number of ads served per campaigns by delivering ads to only the most relevant viewers. This raised advertisers’ ROI and increased the number of campaigns fulfilled by AdoTube in 2010 by 281%.

The company’s growth has been driven by concentrating on making online advertising campaigns more effective by targeting and optimizing video, banner, and rich media ads and putting them where people are paying attention in the video stream.  The platform gives advertisers the ability to easily connect with its wide and growing network of publisher partners, while delivering to them award-winning creative services, analytics, and campaign management. Advertisers increasingly made use of leading edge video ad formats, such as the Polite Pre-Roll®, comprehensive real-time optimization tools, such as the Creative Studio Wizard, and sophisticated targeting methods, such as Response-Based™ Targeting; all of which led to more successful campaigns.

“AdoTube has remained focused on helping advertisers increase returns by delivering their message to only the most relevant audience in the most engaging formats. By doing so, we help publishers better monetize their content without losing viewership,” said Steven Jones, Chief Strategy & Operations Officer. “We are proud to see such explosive growth over 2010 and plan to continue building innovative products to further help advertisers reach the ever-growing online video audience in 2011.”

About AdoTube

AdoTube is a complete in-stream/in-video solution that enables each part of the industry (agencies, advertisers and publishers) to have easy and efficient access to in-stream ads. AdoTube’s platform includes the Adotube Ad Network, Publisher Management Tool (PUMA), In-Stream Ad Exchange (AdEx), Network Partner Console (NPC) for third party networks, and Creative Services. AdoTube’s complete platform helps each part of the industry to deliver high-quality, in-stream advertising solutions through a quick, easy and cost efficient platform. AdoTube is headquartered in New York, with offices in California and Europe. To learn more about AdoTube, become a partner, or see their solutions for agencies, advertisers, publishers and ad networks, visit www.adotube.com.

Groupon, Nokia, Universal Pictures, and Visa Among First Brands to Advertise on Skype

Skype Establishes Advertising Sales Partnerships in U.S., U.K. and Germany to Sell Advertising to Premier Brands

LUXEMBOURG – Skype announced the launch of advertising in Skype software, which will appear in the “Home” tab of Skype for Windows starting this week. This move represents the first time that advertising will appear in Skype, giving brands a unique opportunity to be part of the Skype experience, which has enabled millions of people around the world to do things together when they’re apart through voice and video calling, instant messaging, conferencing, and more.

Skype has partnered with leading companies: Meebo in the U.S., Ad2One in the U.K., and Ströer Interactive in Germany to sell advertising for Skype in each of their respective markets.

With 145 million average monthly connected users for the fourth quarter of 2010 and 29 million concurrent users at peak times, Skype’s reach and engaged user base makes it an attractive platform for brands to market their products. The first advertisers to sign up with Skype include: Groupon, Nokia, Universal Pictures, and Visa.

“We’re really pleased by the initial response among advertisers. We believe advertising on Skype helps fill a creative gap by giving brands a platform that has broad reach and global engagement, while also supporting large-format, rich and interactive ads,” said Doug Bewsher, Chief Marketing Office for Skype.

Skype “Home” provides a sponsored large masthead space at 650 x 170 pixels expandable to 650 x 340 pixels for advertisers to display ads that can include audio or video. Since the ads are on Skype, advertisers can add a Click & Call button in the ad as another call to action. In addition, it allows people to share the ad to their Facebook or Twitter accounts, and with one-click, ads can also be closed with the “Close Ad” button.

“The user experience on Skype is always job number one. So, we’ve spent a lot of time working through the best way to show advertising in the Skype environment. We believe our daily sponsorship ad from one brand per day is valuable for premier advertisers, but doesn’t detract from the experience for our users,” said Bewsher. “We are just taking our first steps in this space and we expect to test and learn a lot as we move forward.”

“Driving international usage of Visa cards is a key priority for Visa and users of Skype are more likely to travel and transact internationally than the general population,” said Alex Craddock, Head of USA Marketing at Visa Inc. “To be the first to work with both Meebo and Skype in a highly engaged environment is a great opportunity for us.”

“Many people log into Skype as part of their daily routine, just like they check Groupon,” said Rob Solomon, president and COO of Groupon. “We look forward to leveraging Skype’s new display advertising to connect Groupon to an even larger captive audience.”

“Skype is known for great value with its low-cost calls to mobiles and landline phones, and free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls. We believe that advertising, done in the right way, will help us continue to add more value into the Skype experience as a whole,” said Bewsher.

Skype’s advertising sales partners in the U.S., UK, and Germany will help present advertisers with the opportunity to market on Skype.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Meebo, Ad2One, and Ströer Interactive. They give us great sales teams, reach and meaningful advertiser relationships, right from day one,” said Andy Sims, director of advertising for Skype. “All three partners are leaders in their space, have deep relationships with top advertisers and agencies in their markets, and have experience selling high-impact brand advertising.”

For more advertiser information, go to www.skype.com/go/advertise.

About Skype

Skype is a communications platform provider whose purpose is to break down barriers to communication. With an Internet-connected device, families, friends and colleagues can get together for free with messaging, voice and video. At low cost, they can also call landlines or mobiles virtually anywhere in the world. Skype has recently introduced group video, allowing groups of more than two people to do things together whenever they’re apart. Skype was founded in 2003 and is based in Luxembourg. Skype can be downloaded onto computers, mobile phones and other connected devices for free at www.skype.com.

You can get news and updates from Skype on its blog: blogs.skype.com Twitter: twitter.com/skype or Facebook: www.facebook.com/skype.

Becomes First to Provide Advertisers with Unified Audience Metrics for In-Banner and In-Stream Video

NEW YORK – Collective, a full service provider of media and technology solutions for display and video advertising, announced that it has acquired video advertising platform and services provider, Oggifinogi. The deal furthers Collective’s position as a leader in delivering audiences to brand advertisers utilizing unified in-banner and in-stream video ad formats.

“The dramatic growth in video viewership over the past three years led to television quality video being more widely distributed online,” said Joe Apprendi, CEO, Collective. “The full potential of online video advertising has yet to be unleashed. This acquisition enables us to bring the right mix of art and science to brand advertisers, especially as they rethink their television advertising budget and look to online to complement their broadcast and cable ad spend.”

As brand advertisers continue to seek relevant metrics and insight into what factors boost brand awareness, Collective now provides reporting features that make it possible to compare the effectiveness of in-banner and in-stream video. The company is uniquely poised to secure increased online video dollars by providing marketers with measurement programs that help them understand how each impact key brand metrics including lift and awareness.

Collective also makes available Internet Gross Rating Point (iGRP) reporting for all Collective video, rich media and display campaigns. In its study of video advertising trends, Digital Video Advertising Trends 2011, Break Media revealed that the majority of advertisers believe that online advertising should be measured using GRPs, and 47 percent would spend more with online video if it were available.

Oggifinogi is a natural extension of Collective’s product suite as the company continues to align its business with meeting brand advertising objectives. Despite the forecasts that online video advertising spending will increase by forty three percent over the next two years, brand advertisers have not yet tapped video’s promise. Apprendi maintains that more than seventy percent of Collective’s business is generated by brand advertisers looking to shift spend from TV budgets.

Oggifinogi provides highly interactive video advertising in both the banner and interactive pre roll space and is recognized for the significant interactive rates that its product drives. Collective’s acquisition of Oggifinogi combines audience targeting with engaging ad units, making it possible for AMP clients to more readily tap the benefits of rich media and video ad formats into their existing AMP capabilities. Oggifinogi’s platform is already seamlessly integrated into Collective’s AMP platform and media network, with more than 300 campaigns executed since 2009.

Based in Bellevue, Washington, Oggifinogi’s client roster includes more than 100 companies, including Bing, Best Buy, Sony, NBC, Paramount and others. Its rapid growth is due largely in part to its first-rate customer service, a feature that has also set Collective apart. The synergy between the two in this area will further enhance Collective’s reputation for service excellence.

Oggifinogi reaches more than 150 million unique users across more than 2,500 publisher sites, and will continue to operate as a subsidiary of Collective, servicing its existing agencies, advertisers and publishers.

“We are thrilled to become a part of Collective, integrating our creative and technical know-how with Collective’s access to publisher, agency and marketer channels,” said Michael Hyman, CEO, Oggifinogi. “Together, we can offer a turn-key video advertising solution for brand advertisers.”

The deal closed at an undisclosed amount.

About Collective

Founded in 2005, Collective is a full service provider of media and technology solutions for display advertising. We help brand advertisers and leading publishers monetize quality audience data and brand safe ad inventory. Collective’s industry expertise provides a strategic advantage to its clients by leveraging proprietary audience modeling, insights and ad effectiveness metrics. Our flagship products, Collective Display and Collective Video®, are powered by AMP®, our market-tested ad management, targeting and analytics platform. A member of the NAI, IAB, AAAA, DMA and OPA, Collective is headquartered in New York with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London. For more information please visit www.collective.com.

On-demand video ads for social games – the next wave in monetization

Game Developers Conference 2011
SAN FRANCISCO – Blue Noodle, one of the leaders and innovators in advertising services for casual and social games, announced the launch of its new video ad-bar, Clickstrip, at the 2011 Game Developers Conference.

Unlike other in-game ad products that are forced upon users, Clickstrip delivers on-demand video-ads whenever the player chooses to view them. The simplicity of the ad-bar allows players to receive instant virtual rewards for viewing ads and quickly get back to playing their game. Plus, the bar is simple to integrate and fully customizable so it blends into the experience of any game. Blue Noodle will be debuting and demonstrating this innovative technology at their gold sponsorship table during GDC’s Social and Online Games Summit.

“Over 250 million people play social games each month, yet just 2% pay for premium items and services,” said Lesley Mansford, CEO, Blue Noodle. “Blue Noodle is introducing the next big wave of monetization with a platform that enables game developers to generate revenue by bridging the gap between brands and social gaming. Brands want into social gaming and are looking for new and innovative ways to reach consumers. We believe that the addition of Clickstrip to our already robust platform will provide developers and advertisers the ability to serve social gamers meaningful and beneficial ads that translate to higher returns.”

Blue Noodle is leading the charge in melding online advertising into social and casual games, resulting in a combined offering that enriches both the developer’s revenue and the user experience. Blue Noodle is also uniquely positioned to spur on such innovations, because it pairs world-class video ad technology with industry leaders from Pogo.com, Microsoft, and Electronics Arts. Now, with one of the largest catalogues of video-ad enabled games and strategic partnerships with Yahoo! Games, iWin, and RedAtoms, Blue Noodle is monetizing hundreds of millions of casual and social players each day.

About Blue Noodle

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, with sales offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto, Blue Noodle (formerly NeoEdge) is a leading digital media company. To advertise with Blue Noodle or learn more about increasing revenue through ad-supported social and casual games, visit www.bluenoodle.com.

Startup Redefines In-Game Monetization with Ability to Connect Games to Brands and Brands to Gamers in a Relevant, Non-Disruptive Way

Game Developers Conference 2011
SAN FRANCISCO – Tap Me, Inc. unveiled the industry’s first in-game, mobile advertising platform. The company’s namesake platform breaks new ground as it addresses a fundamental problem inherent in current advertising solutions that brands and advertisers have until now used to reach consumers in-game. Tap Me is introducing a new standard to in-game monetization — built with the gamer in mind and designed to play to the natural strength of the game medium. The Tap Me platform enables brands to engage with gamers in a way that adds value to their experience as they are playing the game — rather than taking them out of it.

Games are highly-active, participatory entertainment platforms, and existing advertising solutions were never designed to work well with this medium. Current advertising solutions are interruptive, out of context, and ineffective; they also occupy valuable screen space, are prone to accidental clicks, or inject offers that require players to shift experiences outside of the game.

“Tap Me’s platform is the first, targeted and relevant approach to mobile media I’ve seen. It considers the developer, user and brand advertiser in a way never done before. In a nutshell, it’s nothing short of utter genius,” noted Mills™ of ustwo, a digital design and app development studio.

Beginning today, Tap Me has opened up the beta to their iOS integration library and its web-based management tools to a select group of game platforms. Tap Me welcomes iPhone and iPad app developers to visit http://tap.me/wp/how-it-works, sign-up and download its integration library for iOS and support documentation to get started. The company also has plans to extend support to other mobile platforms such as Android to follow shortly.

Spurring Huge Spikes in User Engagement Rates

Tap Me’s current testing shows engagement rates of players choosing sponsored power-ups as high as 20%, and in certain games above 50%. These engagement rates while early are unprecedented, particularly in comparison to traditional banner ad click-through rates that typically linger below 1%.

“One of Tap Me’s unique strengths is that we are a team of mobile game developers, which gives us an innate understanding of game design and development fundamentals. We set about to create a first-of-a-kind ad platform that takes advantage of the natural attributes of games, with the goal of maximizing the contextual opportunities for advertisers to participate in this exploding medium,” noted Joshua Hernandez, co-founder and CEO of Tap Me. “Importantly, our platform enables developers to monetize the vast majority of gamers who do not engage in other game monetization methods.”

Currently, there are nearly 300 million gamers worldwide; mobile users spend more time on their mobile devices playing games and social networking (47%) than they do making phone calls and sending messages (32%).

For Game Developers:

- Tap Me’s platform enables developers to add their games, categorize content, create sponsored leader boards and obtain performance metrics.
- Game developers can freely meta-tag and classify game content, such as for “endurance” or “speed,” so that advertisers can sponsor relevant content.
- Tap Me creates new real estate for advertising that can be used along side other ad platforms, such as iAd or AdMob, or integrated into virtual goods or currency systems.
- The company provides both a turnkey solution for developers to drop into their games as well as an API that allows for custom GUI integration.

For Advertisers:

- Tap Me provides a new level of user-selected, long-term engagement.
- Advertisers can be included alongside achievements in a game. The notion of an achievement is always a positive moment in the game for a player, so that any advertiser can attach a brand to an “achievement” earned by the player.
- Advertisers can buy audiences in aggregate across Tap Me’s network based on key attributes instead of per individual game title.
- Advertisers can also engage gamers in-context and, adding value to a game, awarding progress or integrating social media. Using Tap Me’s Player Messaging system, sponsors and developers can communicate with players in a non-intrusive manner. For example, sponsors can send a message to a player’s in-box, encouraging the player to “get 5 of their friends to retweet a message to earn 1,000 points.”

For Gamers:

- The Tap Me platform adds value to the game in the form of fun advantages, incentives, and content.
- Players get to choose which participating sponsors they want to involve in their game play. For example, a player can choose to get more endurance or speed from, say, Nike or Gatorade, two companies that could hypothetically associate their brands by sponsoring these meta-tagged attributes in games.

Commented Andreas Vasen, CEO of Machineworks NorthWest, an academy-nominated (AIAS) mobile publisher and developer, “TapMe is one of those obviously brilliant ideas that stare you in the face and nobody sees it.”

About Tap Me

Based in Chicago, IL, Tap Me is a new startup focused on reinventing the in-game advertising space with the introduction of the industry’s first in-game advertising platform. Founded in 2009, Tap Me is channeling the founding team’s game development roots and experience in advertising and game design to build and offer a set of products that will disrupt how advertising has traditionally been applied both in video games and in mobile game apps. For more information, interested parties may visit http://tap.me.

Following In-Market Validation, Winners To Become New IAB Standard Ad Units

PALM SPRINGS, CA — In a sustained effort to spur greater creativity in interactive advertising and speed adoption of new brand-friendly ad formats, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) announced the six winners of its “Rising Stars” Competition. These new-to-the-market formats will be named IAB Standard Ad Units following six months of in-market validation. A pool of 36 innovative submissions came from more than two dozen companies. The Rising Stars contest kicked off at the MIXX Conference & Expo in September 2010, when the IAB put out a call for new standard ad units that would encourage engagement with viewers on their terms and allow people to participate confidently with brands.

It was also announced that 11 of the 18 current IAB standard ad units will be retired as they are no longer commonly bought and offered throughout the market, a requirement defined by the “Ad Unit Guidelines Update” developed by the Reimagining Interactive Advertising Task Force in November 2009.

The winners are:

The IAB has been the standard-setting body for interactive advertising formats since 1997 and is widely regarded for instituting rigor in the digital media supply chain. Agencies, marketers and publishers recognize IAB standard ad units as the foundation of modern digital marketing communications. Seven of the IAB ad units comprise approximately 80 percent of all online ads served in the U.S.

The Rising Stars contest is a core component of “Reimagining Interactive Advertising,” an IAB initiative being led by top agency executive Peter Minnium, formerly Managing Director of Lowe Worldwide, the global creative agency network of the Interpublic Group, where he held leadership roles overseeing international operations. Mr. Minnium joined IAB in June 2010 as a Consulting Director.

The ad unit submissions were evaluated on the following specific criteria:

* Branding - How well does the ad format provide a canvas for brand creativity?
* User Experience - How does the ad format positively impact user experience?
* Functionality - How does the ad format take advantage of online user behaviors and technologies?
* Page Integration – How does the ad format enhance the relationship between the ad and publisher page layout?
* Adoption - How easily could the ad format be widely adopted by publishers?

“In the constant ebb and flow of creative brand advertising online, one thing is clear from the Rising Stars submissions: if the creative community and the brands they represent are inspired by the canvas they are given, we are set to experience a renaissance of more and better brand advertising on the web,” Minnium said.

“I’m incredibly excited about the creativity that flowed in with the Rising Stars submissions and this endeavor has the potential to inspire others within the advertising and marketing community to take the dialogue about standard ad units to a whole new level,” said David Doty, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, IAB.

The winners of the Rising Stars initiative were selected by a cross-disciplinary group that included agency creative directors, media executives, publishers and ad operations specialists, who judged the ad formats for their potential to drive brand equity at scale. In addition to IAB Ad Ops Council professionals from Turner, Microsoft, Google and Disney, among others, Rising Stars evaluators included:

* Alex Shulhafer, Creative Director, BBDO
* Ana Andjelic, Director, User Experience, Huge
* Becky Minervino, Senior Interactive Strategist, McKinney
* Calle Sjoenell, Executive Creative Director, BBH
* Carl Fremont, Executive Vice President, Media Director, Digitas
* David Levin, President, Creative & Technology, 360i
* Dom Goodrum, Art Director, Barbarian Group
* Edward Boches, Chief Innovation Officer, Mullen
* Gary Scheiner, Chief Creative Office, Rosetta
* Ivan Kayser, Senior Vice President, Hill & Knowlton
* Jarrod Riddle, Senior Art Director, Big Spaceship
* Joe Barone, Managing Director, Digital Advertising Operations, GroupM
* John Norman, Chief Creative Officer, Martin Agency
* Josh Stinchcomb, Vice President Digital Sales, Conde Nast
* Kaare Wesnaes, Director of Creative Development, AKQA
* Maggie Sapovchak, Marketing Director, NBC Universal
* Mike Brunick, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships & Platforms, MediaBrands
* Patrick Clarke, Executive Creative Director, Publicis Modem
* Tony Whiteside, Creative Director, Ogilvy

While many of the Rising Stars are available today, there will be a 90-day build-out period after which they will all be available at scale. For embeddable videos, media-ready screen shots and additional information of the Rising Stars, visit: http://www.iab.net/risingstars

About the IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 500 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.

Completion Rates for Women near 75% while Consumer Packaged Goods Takes First Place as the Top Spender at 32% in 2010

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – YuMe, a leading video advertising technology company, released its 2010 Video Advertising Metrics Report. YuMe serves an average of 30 million video ad impressions per day on behalf of the 600+ publishers utilizing its advertising management platform ACE, as well as publishers who are members of the YuMe video ad network. The report provides a snapshot of key trends seen for in-stream video advertising in 2010.

“Video advertising is the fastest growing segment of online advertising and we are definitely seeing an increase across our network and in use of our technology platform,” said Jayant Kadambi, president and co-founder of YuMe. “As consumers turn more and more to online and mobile options for video entertainment, brands are moving ad dollars to reach these consumers wherever they might be.”

Key findings include:

Format and Completion Rates

* Pre-roll continues to be the dominant ad format, representing 96.7% of YuMe’s volume in Q4.
o 15 second pre-roll remains the most common ad length making up 57% of impressions served in Q4.
* The Female audience continues to have a higher video completion rate at 74% versus 67% for Males.

Demographics

* Persons 25-54 was the most requested age demographic by marketers overall, representing 18% of the total Request for Proposal (RFP) volume in 2010.
o Additionally, females 25 to 54 were the most frequently requested gender target; and jumped from 10% of RFPs in Q3 to 15% in Q4.

Industries

* Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) marketers dominate the online video advertising volume with 27% of all spending in 2010.
* Auto and Entertainment trailed close behind at 12% and 9%, respectively.

YuMe saw a 50% increase of in-stream video ad impressions served from Q3 to Q4. Additionally, the network served the highest amount of ad impressions in California at 10.6% of total volume, followed by Texas at 6.8% and New York at 6.2%.

For a heat map that shows where ads ran throughout the U.S. and to download a copy of the video metrics report, visit http://www.yume.com/content/video-ad-metrics.

Methodology

YuMe serves ads on behalf of the 600+ publishers utilizing its video ad management system ACE for Publishers (AFP), as well as publishers who are members of its video ad network. YuMe statistics presented in this report are generated from data recorded with every ad request and ad served across the YuMe network and received by AFP. The statistics are solely representative of YuMe’s network and may not be a reflection of the overall online video marketplace. Efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of data presented, but data is not guaranteed to be accurate.

About YuMe

YuMe is a video advertising technology company that makes professional video profitable for publishers and effective for advertisers. Its robust ACE™ technology powers both its premium ad network and its industry-leading advertising management solutions, ACE for Publishers and ACE for Advertisers. YuMe’s premium ad network aggregates the best video content, representing hundreds of premium publishers. As a result, YuMe gives publishers and advertisers unprecedented reach, brand safety, contextual relevance, controlled syndication, and consistent delivery across all digital media platforms–Web, downloads mobile, and IPTV. YuMe is a privately held company headquartered in Redwood City, CA and backed by Accel Partners, BV Capital, DAG Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Menlo Ventures and Intel Capital. For more information, visit www.yume.com, follow @yumevideo on twitter (www.twitter.com/yumevideo), or become a fan of YuMe on Facebook at www.facebook.com/yumevideo.

Deal Enables Brand Advertisers to Reach Viewers at Scale across Multiple Platforms

NEW YORK – Tremor Media announced its acquisition of San Francisco-based Transpera, the leading mobile video advertising company. Tremor Media’s acquisition of Transpera, the mobile video advertising platform with the broadest penetration, will accelerate Tremor Media’s ability to scale its own mobile video advertising efforts.

“Tremor Media’s acquisition of Transpera will help drive mobile video advertising to the next level and help establish some of the same advertising and analytics principles in the mobile video landscape that have set them up as a leader in online video,” said Doug Brodman, Associate Digital Media Director at Mediavest. “Tremor Media has strengthened its vast scale by not only continually improving their ad technology, but also through the continued development of their data and analytics platform. This will surely impact the mobile video segment.”

The acquisition of Transpera by Tremor Media marries the leading mobile video advertising company with the largest online video advertising company. With this addition, Tremor Media will provide advertisers with the most comprehensive multi-platform service offering for video advertisers – creating the unique ability to run a video campaign across online and mobile platforms, and across a large number of premium publishers with one single media buy, at scale. This dramatically reduces the complexity of a video ad campaign at every level, from managing ad creative and campaign flights, to targeting and reporting. More importantly, for the first time ever, this enables brand advertisers to target, optimize and obtain insights in a unified manner.

“Transpera has become the go-to company for mobile marketing through a powerful media platform that complements Tremor Media’s reach,” said Bill Day, Tremor Media’s CEO. “The continued acceleration of consumer adoption of smart phones and tablets makes mobile devices an increasingly important part of an advertiser’s media plan and moving into the mobile space is a strategic extension of Tremor Media’s current offering – we can help advertisers reach their consumer wherever they may be in a simplified way.”

The acquisition comes in response to key advertiser-driven objectives for online video, solutions for which have not been available in any one place until now. Consumers are spending more time on mobile devices and the depth and richness of experience on these devices makes the mobile segment an increasingly critical component of a brand advertiser’s video campaign. According to Nielsen, in the US, smart phones will overtake feature phones by the end of 2011 while eMarketer predicts tablet sales will reach 24 million units in 2011, up from 9.7 million in 2010.

“We are excited to be part of Tremor Media, furthering our combined leadership in video advertising,” said Frank Barbieri, Transpera’s Chairman and CEO. “The combination of our mobile platform and footprint, and Tremor Media’s own success in digital video advertising will help solve a lot of the challenges our publisher and advertiser customers face in this fast-moving market.”

eMarketer also forecasts US mobile ad market size growing at a robust 48 percent year-over-year to $1.1 billion in 2011, with the video ad format within mobile growing the fastest at 124 percent year-over-year. Combining the largest digital video advertising companies, positions Tremor Media as the sole entity that can deliver results against all of these goals.

This story was first covered in TechCrunch: http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/04/exclusive-tremor-media-acquires-mobile-video-ad-platform-transpera/

About Transpera

Transpera is the leading mobile video ad network, enabling app developers to generate the highest CPMs available on mobile via high quality, interactive video ads from leading brands. For brand advertisers, Transpera is The Attention Network, fostering pure, undivided attention between consumers and brands. Transpera is based in San Francisco, Calif. and is funded by top venture firms Flybridge Capital, Intel Capital, First Round Capital, Labrador Ventures and Blackberry Partners Fund. For more information, visit www.transpera.com or follow us on Twitter @transpera.

About Tremor Media

Founded in 2006, Tremor Media (www.tremormedia.com) provides in-stream video advertising solutions to Fortune 1000 brand advertisers and top tier publishers and is widely regarded as the leading video company online. Leveraging their innovative video ad formats and the Acudeo® publisher technology, Tremor Media delivers the mass reach and campaign results advertisers should expect from digital video. Tremor Media is the only video ad platform that pre-approves content at the video stream level, finally giving advertisers control and full confidence in brand safety. Powered by the award-winning SE2 Engagement Engine, Tremor Media’s real-time intelligence gets smarter at finding and engaging viewers with every ad served, enabling the company to welcome and encourage pay-only-for-engagement pricing. Tremor Media is a privately held company headquartered in NYC with 10 national and international offices.

Launches First in Suite of Ground-Breaking Contextual Products

NEW YORK – Vibrant, the leader of in-text and contextual solutions, announced it will revolutionize contextual advertising by extending the company’s VXPlatform to launch the new VIA Dynamic display product. VIA Dynamic is the first in a full suite of contextual products that the company plans to release throughout the year, delivering new revenue opportunities to premium publishers and powerful contextual marketing solutions to advertisers. Vibrant draws upon 10 years of contextual leadership, a #14 comScoreTop 50 Ad Focus Ranking, and a reach of 68% of the U.S. internet audience to deliver the VXPlatform.

Unlike other one-dimensional solutions, the VXPlatform leverages semantic analysis, frequency of words, page positioning, source code data, and demographics to determine contextual relevancy in the most accurate way.

“At Vibrant we believe that the best advertising experience is a relevant one. We want to create an online world with ‘context everywhere’ to help marketers integrate meaningful experiences into content for our 225 million unique users,” says Vibrant Co-Founder and CEO Doug Stevenson. “We’ve developed a platform that delivers unparalleled understanding of the Web, and goes further, serving creative that understands the context of the page and changes dynamically.”

For example, today a standard Bertolli ad might be served to a cooking site about Italian cuisine. With VIA Dynamic, that same Bertolli ad would be dynamically adjusted to include content taken from the page including ingredients, restaurants and chefs, etc. to enable a more precise match between page and ad.

VIA Dynamic also features Multivariant Creative Optimization, which further helps performance by changing visual aspects of the ads such as background color, fonts, call to actions, etc. Additionally, Vibrant SafeServe™, a proprietary ad verification service, is applied to all Vibrant contextual products, ensuring that the ads are delivered in a brand-safe environment.

Current products enabled through the platform include:

Vibrant In-Text Ads – Reach more than 225 million users across 6,000 premium publisher Web sites. In-Text combines precise word targeting with the brand impact of video and rich media.
VIA – Delivers relevant display ads to target consumers based on article relevance and user interests.
VIA Dynamic – Ads that change dynamically to match page content. Vibrant’s Creative Services Team designs and builds VIA Dynamic ads equipped with live feeds that enable advertiser creative to match the page context in real-time, creating unprecedented contextual relevancy.
Vibrant Related Content – Generates new page views by propelling forward navigation and re-circulating users throughout a website, network or portal.

About Vibrant

Vibrant (www.vibrantmedia.com) is a world leader in contextual technology aligning billions of words across the Internet with relevant video, information, tools, and advertising. With over 6,000 premium publishers, reaching 225 million unique users per month (comScore, 2010), Vibrant gives top brand marketers the opportunity to deliver highly targeted advertisements within premium Web content and offers publishers premium editorial tools to re-circulate users throughout their websites. Vibrant works with top brand advertisers such as Microsoft, Unilever, Warner Bros and AT&T. The company was founded in 2000 and has offices in London, New York, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, Hamburg, Munich and Dusseldorf. Vibrant’s rapid growth has been recognized by the Inc. 500 and Deloitte Fast 50 lists. Vibrant Co-Founder and CEO Doug Stevenson was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2010 for Metro New York. For more information, visit: www.vibrantmedia.com or www.hyperlinkevolved.com or www.facebook.com/vibrantmedia or http://twitter.com/vibrantmedia.

Intergi to Oversee all Digital Advertising and Sales on Behalf of Top Online Gaming Site

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Armor Games, a popular online gaming portal, has signed an exclusive advertising agreement with Intergi Entertainment, the premier global gaming site representation company. Armor Games selected Intergi for the quality of its advertising partners and tailored, creative approach to developing high-performing ad campaigns.

“Armor Games is growing quickly, and we’re working hard to ensure the best possible user experience,” said Daniel McNeely, founder and CEO of Armor Games. “Intergi will help us combine the most relevant advertising partners, compelling creative and effective formats to engage our audience and monetize our content.”

Armor Games offers many popular titles including Crush the Castle, Sonny, Hedgehog Launch, Sushi Cat, Shift and Neon Rider. Intergi’s online advertising expertise is especially critical for Armor Games as the company prepares to launch Armor Games version 3 (AGv3) mid next year. Intergi and Armor Games are working closely together to optimize AGv3 to make it a top gaming site for premium advertisers and campaigns.

“Armor Games is a leading game publisher, and we look forward to a successful partnership,” said Jayson Dubin, CEO of Intergi Entertainment. “We’re also honored to have such a unique opportunity to collaborate with Armor Games on AGv3 to develop new ways of engaging online gamers for our advertising partners.”

The premier digital outlet for reaching video game and entertainment enthusiasts online, Intergi Entertainment represents a number of leading, high-profile clients in the gaming world. The company specializes in tailored and integrated advertising campaigns, including banner ads, takeovers, and in-game opportunities.

About Armor Games

Armor Games is a top-ranked place to play online games, and its games have been played more than one billion times since the company was founded in 2005. The company offers games developed both externally and in house, with hits including Crush the Castle, Sonny, The Last Stand, Hedgehog Launch, Sushi Cat, Achievement Unlocked, Shift and Neon Rider. Based in Irvine, California, Armor Games was founded by Daniel McNeely and employs top game developers such as John Cooney, Larry Root, Tony Lavelle, Joey Betz, Krin, Loussi, Chris Condon and Ian Douglas. For more information, visit: http://armorgames.com.

About Intergi Entertainment

Ranked by comScore as a top digital outlet for reaching video game and entertainment enthusiasts online, Intergi Entertainment offers advertisers unparalleled access to millions of online gaming enthusiasts powering the multi-billion dollar gaming industry. Intergi helps connect advertisers and brand managers with the coveted male (18-34) and female (25-54) consumer engaged in online gaming. Intergi creates customized, site specific and channel-wide opportunities designed to help each advertiser deploy tailored, integrated advertising campaigns, including banner ads, takeovers and in-game opportunities, across entertainment and specialized gaming categories. For more information, visit http://www.intergi.com.

Digital Video Advertising Spend to Grow in 2011 with More Than 70 Percent of Advertisers Planning an Increase; Marketers Cite Lack of Standardized Performance Metrics as Barrier to Further Adoption

LOS ANGELES – Break Media released the results of an in-depth study of online video advertising and the issues faced by marketers and their agencies. Break Media partnered with leading market research firm Advertiser Perceptions to survey hundreds of advertising decision-makers about their 2011 digital video advertising (DVA) plans, overall advertising goals, opinions on how the industry is succeeding, and thoughts on how it can improve. Among other key findings, the study shows that more than 70 percent of advertisers plan to increase their DVA spend next year; video ad networks (VANs) are under-utilized; pre-roll remains the dominant video ad format; and DVA adoption is hindered by difficulty measuring ROI and a lack of standardized performance metrics.

Key Finding #1: Video ad spend is growing, albeit slowly

Of the 70 percent of advertisers that plan to increase DVA spend next year, agencies — rather than marketers — are largely driving the increase. This increase will be funded from television and online budgets and will be relatively small, with 71 percent increasing DVA budgets by only 1-24 percent. This means a minority of advertisers will be the real drivers of growth in video ads. Despite these growth projections, video ads will continue to be a small part of overall display advertising budgets, with 79 percent of advertisers planning to allocate less than 25 percent of their total online display ad budgets.

Key Finding #2: Video ad networks are under-utilized

65 percent of agencies and marketers used video ad networks in 2010 and intend to use them again in the coming year. Study findings also indicate that 74 percent of advertisers expect to spend less than a quarter of their DVA budgets with networks next year. This could possibly be due to that fact that awareness of VAN resources is low among advertisers overall–less than half the advertisers surveyed were familiar with all of the 10 largest VANs in the US.

Key Finding #3: Advertisers favor pre-roll over other video ad formats

Study results show that there is high awareness of almost all video ad formats among advertisers; however, pre-roll still dominates (60 percent) among formats used. Advertisers are so strongly wedded to pre-roll that they prefer it by a more than 2:1 margin over the next most favored format. Around 40% of these advertisers favor pre-roll because they believe the audience is “held hostage to watch” and thus the format “garners the most attention from the viewer.” An additional 25% say the format has the “best completion rates,” “best performance” or “best ROI.” With advertisers using an average of three video ad formats in the past year, we are not convinced a sufficient range of formats have been experienced to conclude pre-roll is most effective.

Key Finding #4: Hindrances to greater DVA adoption and online GRP

Targeting, metrics, and cost are cited in the findings as top criteria when determining where to allocate video ad budget. When asked what is not working among these criteria, advertisers agree that the top hindrance to greater use of digital video advertising is difficulty measuring ROI (41 percent). Secondary hindrances are lack of standardized metrics (33 percent), difficulty getting enough reach (27 percent), and insufficient ROI (27 percent). Despite wanting standardized performance metrics, advertisers are divided on the need for a GRP (gross rating point) for video ads. Even those who call for a GRP exactly equivalent to TV GRPs do not necessarily believe it will lead to higher spend on video ads.

“The projected growth for digital video advertising in 2011 is encouraging, and it reinforces what we’ve been seeing at Break over the past year,” said Andy Tu, vice president of marketing, Break Media. “The digital video ad space has tremendous potential, and while we clearly have some work to do as an industry to help fulfill that potential, we expect that DVA spend will only accelerate as measurement capabilities improve and as more advertisers discover how effective the major video ad networks can be.”

For the full study from Break Media and Advertiser Perceptions visit: www.breakmedia.com/video-study.

About Break Media:

Break Media is a leading creator, publisher, and distributor of digital entertainment content including video, editorial, and games. The company’s properties include the largest humor site online — Break.com — as well as MadeMan, GameFront, HolyTaco, ScreenJunkies, CagePotato, AllLeftTurns, Chickipedia, and TuVez. The Break Media Creative Lab is an in-house production studio creating original videos that range from award-winning branded entertainment to celebrity-driven web shorts to viral one-offs. The Break Media Network represents hundreds of publishers as one of the largest video advertising networks online, reaching more than 125 million visitors each month. For more information, visit www.breakmedia.com.

“Lights Out”, “SideKick”, and “Expanded View” Ad Units Increase Custom Creative Options for YuMe Publishers and Advertisers

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – YuMe, the leading video advertising technology company, announced the launch of three new, in-stream video ad units: Lights Out, SideKick, and Expanded View. These new ad placements provide unique and immersive opportunities for advertisers to successfully reach and engage their audience, and for publishers to monetize their video inventory. The creative approach in these ad units showcase YuMe’s dedication to innovation while exemplifying the advanced capabilities afforded by its technology platform, ACE™, to deliver customized branding experiences across all platforms and devices.

“We’re completely focused on providing video and advertising solutions that drive results for advertisers and publishers alike,” said Jayant Kadambi, co–founder and President of YuMe. “These new, in-stream ad units represent both our emphasis on continuing to build novel ad solutions that provide deeper consumer engagement and the advanced capabilities afforded by our ACE™ technology platform.”

The Lights Out ad unit is the latest in a series of new, interactive video advertising opportunities that gives viewers more control over their online viewing experience. When the pre-roll ad begins playing, the publisher’s website content automatically dims to create a movie theater-style effect. Viewers can reverse this effect at any time while the ad is running by clicking on the “Lights On/Off” watermark. Lights Out simulates a page take-over, making it ideal for advertisers who are interested in creating strong brand awareness. For participating publishers, this unit facilitates greater revenue opportunities thanks to its highly immersive experience.

SideKick is a pre-roll that synchronizes design elements, such as animation or audio cues, with the companion banner. FIRST5, the California Children and Families Commission, and their agency Fraser Communications, are using SideKick to educate viewers on the important role parents play in a child’s first years.

“We are excited to partner with YuMe for the launch of their new SideKick ad unit,” said Genny Drennen, Media Director at Fraser Communications. “This innovative ad placement has given us a whole new way to position our brand while actively engaging users and eliciting response.”

YuMe is also unveiling Expanded View, a pre-roll, which is framed with a border image while the ad plays. Once the ad ends, the branded frame disappears. The Expanded View provides a more impactful branding impression by allowing an advertiser to further extend its message and branding experience beyond the confines of the video player.

To experience and interact with YuMe’s new ad units, visit. http://www.yume.com/ad_gallery_all.

About YuMe

YuMe is a video advertising technology company that makes professional video profitable for publishers and effective for advertisers. Its robust ACE™ technology powers both its premium ad network and its industry-leading advertising management solutions, ACE for Publishers and ACE for Advertisers. YuMe’s premium ad network aggregates the best video content, representing hundreds of premium publishers. As a result, YuMe gives publishers and advertisers unprecedented reach, brand safety, contextual relevance, controlled syndication, and consistent delivery across all digital media platforms–Web, downloads, mobile, and IPTV. YuMe is a privately held company headquartered in Redwood City, CA and backed by Accel Partners, BV Capital, DAG Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Menlo Ventures. For more information, visit www.yume.com, follow @yumevideo on twitter (www.twitter.com/yumevideo), or become a fan of YuMe on Facebook at www.facebook.com/yumevideo.

TORONTO – Adconion Media Group (http://www.adconion.com), the largest independent global audience and content network, announced the new j-Series, the complete suite of in-banner video advertising products from its Joost Video Network. Each of the eight j-Series products provide a powerful tool for all advertisers and brand marketers looking to capitalize their online video campaigns in effective, innovative and intuitive ways.

With online video viewership and overall ad spending on the rise, Adconion is committed to delivering world class results for advertisers and marketers by offering world class video solutions with the j-Series. In Canada alone, online advertising continued to grow throughout the recession even though it slowed from 29% in 2008 to 14% in 2009, as estimated by the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada. However, in their most recent October 2010 report, eMarketer expects growth to rebound and peak at 19.8% in 2012. Thus, armed with the new j-Series products, Adconion can help advertisers and marketers achieve the best ROI on their initiatives in this growing market.

The j-Series will serve video ads on Adconion’s Joost Video Network of over 2,000 premium publishers in more than 70 markets worldwide. Coupled with Adconion’s unparalleled global sales force, account management and media teams as well as Adconion’s regional video specialists, j-Series is the “must buy” video ad offering for the upcoming heavy holiday shopping season.

New j-Series Products Include:

j-Local
Allows geo-location display directly into the video ad unit
Map locator connects to Google Maps for easy retail locator and directions
Drive offline traffic with online traffic

j-Commerce
Allows multiple products to be displayed and purchased directly from within the video ad unit
Increase time spent as viewers browse the carousel

j-Coupons
Unique coupon code display at the end of the video allows tracking ability of viewers who responded to the offer
Give viewers an incentive to complete the purchase transaction started from the video ad unit

j-Social
Offers various methods to share and “social media-ize” video content with others
Opportunity to make the video content go viral on the Internet

j-Gaming
Able to put games directly into the expanded banner so that viewers can play without ever leaving the ad
Increases interactivity, engagement and brand awareness with the campaign

j-Polling
Allows polling capabilities directly within the expanded video as unit
Provides immediate poll results to viewers which increases engagement and brand awareness

j-Multi-V
Able to view multiple videos all within one expanded video ad unit
Allows viewers to consume more content, and thus increase brand awareness from just one expansion

j-Pick 6
Allows a combination of any six functionalities listed above within the expanded video ad unit

For examples of each j-Series products and contacts, please visit: www.adconion.com/j-series.

CPG, Entertainment, and Travel verticals are the top advertisers in Q3

NEW YORK – AdoTube announced the release of its Q3 2010 In-Video Ad Format Index. The index highlighted a continued interest in interactive ad formats, which now account for 48% of ads served by AdoTube. In addition, the results showcase a major push from the CPG Vertical, which grew 377% over 2009 to 30.4% of ads served Q3 2010.

The index is the result of analysis on 1.9 Billion impressions across the AdoTube network and provides an overview of the growth and effectiveness of their different in-stream video ad formats across industry verticals. Highlights from the index findings include the following:

- Interactive Ads on track to double in 2010: 48% of ads Q3
- Use of Interactive Overlays almost doubles: 25% of ads Q3
- Average CTR increases 237% over ‘09: Doubles from Q2 to Q3
- Engagement Rates for interactive ads average a strong 21.6%
- Polite Pre-Roll® CTR Grows to 4.54%: Standard Pre-Roll dips to 2.67%
- CPG vertical makes big push into video ads: Accounted for 30.4% of ads served in Q3 growing 377% over 2009
- Financial/Insurance Ads Engage Video Viewers: A few successful campaigns push engagement rate to 47.7%

Included are discussions of overall trends in adoption across formats and verticals as well as metrics regarding click-through, engagement, and retention rates. To view the full index and findings, visit the research section of their site: http://news.adotube.com/node/17.

About AdoTube

AdoTube is a complete in-stream/in-video solution that enables each part of the industry (agencies, advertisers and publishers) to have easy and efficient access to in-stream ads. AdoTube’s platform includes the Adotube Ad Network, Publisher Management Tool (PUMA), In-Stream Ad Exchange (AdEx), Network Partner Console for third party networks media brokers ,and Creative Services. AdoTube’s complete platform helps each part of the industry to deliver high-quality, in-stream advertising solutions through a quick, easy and cost efficient platform. AdoTube is headquartered in New York, with offices in California and Europe. To learn more about AdoTube, become a partner, or see their solutions for agencies, advertisers, publishers and ad networks, visit www.adotube.com.

Independent Game Developers Report 50-70% Increase in Revenue

SAN FRANCISCO – MindJolt, the largest social gaming platform for 3rd party game developers, announced AdJolt, an innovative monetization product that maximizes advertising and virtual currency revenues for independent game developers on MindJolt owned gaming websites and applications that reach 20 million users across the Web.

AdJolt provides game developers with easy to integrate API’s that provide a full service advertising and virtual currency solution to monetize their content. Developers that have converted to AdJolt have reported exponential increases in revenue, while the company has doubled daily revenue over the last 90 days.

“Small game developers can build big businesses on MindJolt,” explained MindJolt CEO Chris DeWolfe. “We reward their high quality games with the highest possible financial return—putting real money in their pockets. MindJolt’s new advertising solution cranks up the cash flow: Developers simply borrow a few lines of codes to make more money with every game play.”

“Switching over to MindJolt’s AdJolt has dramatically increased our revenues,” said a representative of Adam Jones Productions, an independent flash games developer. “On average, Adam Jones Productions has seen a 50-70% increase over the previous ad solution. MindJolt has always been our highest source of game plays, and now they are offering the highest returns per play.”

For independent game developers, MindJolt’s solution allows them to focus wholly on creating great games, while MindJolt solves business concerns such as distribution, monetization, and analytics. MindJolt delivers their games across popular websites and leading social networks to more than 20 million gamers, and monetizes their content through advertising and virtual currency. For many developers, the opportunity to focus on the creative work of game development while offloading crucial business functions provides the opportunity to remain independent and profitable.

About MindJolt

MindJolt is a social gaming platform that provides independent game developers of all sizes a way to monetize their games, and access to a massive gaming audience on the world’s most popular web destinations. With 20 million unique users across the Web, MindJolt makes it easy for casual and social game developers to bring their games to a massive audience of gamers. MindJolt’s catalog aggregates more than 1,300 of the most popular casual games on the Web making it simple for millions of users to discover and engage with entertaining content. MindJolt was acquired in March of 2010, by the team that founded MySpace in partnership with Austin Ventures.

For more information, please visit: www.mindjolt.com

IRVINE, Calif. – InText.net has successfully kicked off a new contextual advertising network in New York City with the Mix and Mingle party thrown by Moss Events at Ad-tech. InText is committed to leading advertisers through highly successful advertising campaigns and paying affiliates with huge commission checks. The heart of InText is powered by the leading edge AdSmart platform powered by their parent company, Admanage.com. This technology facilitates and offers traffic solutions for affiliates and advertisers alike, the result: more money!

InText has taken the initiative and repurposed core contextual advertising concepts in order to give advertisers a greater opportunity to achieve higher conversions with a smaller ad budget. InText’s formula for success is to continuously remain sensitive to advertiser’s campaign options and solution needs. Advertisers are given a choice between multiple underlining schemes and five high impact intext ad units. While other companies only offer one InText ad unit color and design for keyword highlights, InText offers up to twelve, with unique smart lightbulb icon which appears next to each underlined keyword. InText is a giant leap ahead of the competition.

Charlo Barbosa, CEO is confident that InText.net will revolutionize contextual advertising stating that “not only is the product technologically appealing to advertisers, it’s appealing to affiliates as well because we are the only network that automatically signs up affiliates to the Advertiser Referral Program. We have really focussed on making the InText experience highly customizable for affiliates”. As the only company with an advertiser and affiliate referral program, Barbosa and his team have thought outside of the traditional confines of affiliate program conventions. It’s quite simple. With a link on the ad unit that says ‘Your Ad Here’, future advertisers are encouraged to click and advertise with Intext; following that click the affiliate of the ad unit will earn 5% commission for the life of the future advertiser.

In keeping with our commitment to customization, affiliates have complete control over how and where the ads are placed. By using a wonderfully crafted site submission wizard, an affiliate can thoughtfully determine which pages should and shouldn’t display ads while providing surfers the ability to disable ads for a better browsing experience.

Advertisers are given the opportunity to structure campaigns according to their needs and budget, with bids starting as low as $0.05 for Run of Network traffic, $0.10 with the Global Network traffic and $0.25 for the Premium and top tier traffic. Affiliates will be happy earning a very generous 60% revenue share. In addition to text and image ads, InText also offers display ads as backfill to CPC ads and pays affiliates on a CPM basis if there aren’t any text ads to display. InText promises that advertisers will reach a dimension of inventory that remains virtually untapped, and with InText anti-fraud technology and intelligent conversion tracking, advertisers only pay for clicks not impressions.

For more information about InText and their innovative contextual ad solutions, please visit www.intext.net, read our press release at http://www.intext.net/press-releases or contact Theng Kuoch, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at 1-877-452-5558.

- Combination Creates Dominant Online Video Advertising Network

- Tremor Media’s Acudeo and ScanScout’s SE2 in-stream video technologies marry the market-leading publisher and advertiser platforms

NEW YORK – Tremor Media announced its acquisition of ScanScout, creating a clearly dominant player in online video – the fastest growing interactive advertising segment. The combined company’s scale makes it the undisputed leader in both video ad delivery and unique viewer reach.

As part of the acquisition, Jason Glickman becomes Executive Chairman of Tremor Media and Bill Day becomes the company’s CEO.

“By combining Tremor Media’s scale and robust publisher platform with ScanScout’s unrivaled brand protection and optimization technologies, we are creating the preeminent leader in interactive video advertising,” said Jason Glickman, Executive Chairman. “The addition of proven industry veteran Bill Day as CEO, and the strength of our combined management team place the company in a fantastic position to fully realize the enormous market opportunity.”

The acquisition comes in response to three key advertiser-driven objectives for online video that have not been available with a single solution until now. Combining the two largest digital video advertising companies, positions Tremor Media as the sole entity that can deliver results against all of these goals.

1. Reaching targeted audiences with scale: Both in broadcast and online, video advertisers want to reach specific audiences during specific day parts. Buyers who want to target a specific in-stream video campaign to, for example, eight million women on Thursday night between 8 and 11 PM can now accomplish this with Tremor Media.

2. Reaching targeted audiences with seamless execution: Only Tremor Media can deliver in-stream campaigns at scale across a network of thousands of sites, reaching over 100 million viewers, normalized by a unified technology platform.

3. Delivering campaigns with accountability against brand goals: Only Tremor Media can deliver video campaigns with immediate and measurable results, and can optimize campaigns to achieve an advertiser’s success metrics. Whether it’s brand lift, purchase intent, engagement or viewing duration, Tremor Media can deliver powerful results for advertisers.

“By combining the companies’ strengths, we can deliver what advertisers have told us they’re looking for and create a clear must-buy in the industry for large online video budgets,” said Bill Day, CEO of Tremor Media. “Tremor Media is the largest video ad network serving the most advertisers with absolutely the largest footprint of premium publishers and targeted video inventory. The company will continue to innovate and bolster its leading technology platforms. In addition, our strong balance sheet will enable us to be to be very aggressive in pursuit of expansion on all fronts.”

The ability to provide meaningful scale and accountability across thousands of publishers is something that further differentiates Tremor Media from Hulu, YouTube, and all other players in digital video. Tremor Media’s Acudeo platform provides publishers with a comprehensive ad management console to fully monetize their video inventory.

Tremor Media will now have 40 market-facing sellers in 11 offices throughout North America and Europe. The company’s combined technology suite will include a complete inventory monetization platform for publishers and intelligent targeting, brand protection and brand health optimization/analytics for advertisers. Both Tremor Media and ScanScout have been trailblazers in creating proprietary video ad formats, which include their vChoice and Super Pre-roll units. The company will continue to be a leader on all fronts to create the best video advertising experience for advertisers, publishers, and viewers.

The story was first reported in Advertising Age: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=146937

About Tremor Media

Tremor Media (www.tremormedia.com), the leading online video monetization and advertising company, provides brand advertisers with in-stream and in-page video advertising solutions to top tier publishers. It reaches more than 3,000 publishers who serve in-stream video, and more than 5,000 publishers who serve in-page video in exclusively brand-safe environments. Tremor Media’s innovative video ad formats, advanced targeting, and industry-leading SE2 brand success measurement tools, enable advertisers to deliver efficient, scalable, and engaging video campaigns with measurable impact.

Tremor Media’s Acudeo® technology provides publishers with a full suite of products and services to monetize streaming video and maximize ROI. Acudeo delivers the industry’s most flexible and easy-to-use ad policy management tools and provides access to the industry’s leading revenue sources including turnkey integrations with all major video ad networks, ad serving, and video analytic technologies. With Tremor Media’s Acudeo technology, publishers can achieve maximum revenue while retaining total control and flexibility over their advertising inventory.