Forget real-time bidding, video advertising is the new must-have technology this year as Ooyala, backed by Telstra, makes a play for London-based Videoplaza.
Ooyala CEO Jay Fulcher described the acquisition of video advertising platform Videoplaza as the biggest “game-changing moment” since his company sold a controlling stake for $270 million.
Fulcher outlined his hopes for Videoplaza and its ad-serving platform in a blog post on Ooyala’s site, detailing how his vision is to create a global platform for personalised cloud television and digital video.
“Granular data”
Increasing a client’s reach is the aim of the game for Fulcher and with Videoplaza’s insights he feels marketers a whole host of more powerful tools available to them.
“We help broadcast and media companies build the largest possible audiences online, and Videoplaza helps them extract as much value as possible from that audience,” he explained.
“Together, we can offer a more holistic view of content and ad performance – including granular data on not only what, how and where people are watching, but also where and how they can make the most money.”
European presence
Videoplaza was targeted because of its talent, the company’s exposure to the European video ad market, the executive team and the firm’s global team with staff in Cologne, Berlin, Paris, Madrid and Singapore complementing offices in London and Stockholm.
Ad-serving and management platform Karbon and Konnect, used for programmatic trading, will continue on the same roadmap that existed before Ooyala made its interest in Videoplaza known.
Both Karbon and Konnect will be added to the Ooyala product portfolio, but they will be available separately too, while Videoplaza founder and CEO Sorosh Tavakoli and his executive team will lead Ooyala’s video advertising business line.