Ad network YuMe became the latest to offer its video advertisers behavioral targeting capabilities today thanks to a new deal with AutoTrader.com.
YuMe advertisers will now be able to deliver video ads to customers on AutoTrader.com based on past search and browsing behavior, something advertisers on the site could previously do only with display ads.
Behavioral targeting opportunities are hard to come by for video advertisers, partially because most video players can't be "tagged" the way display ads can. The AutoTrader.com deal was made possible thanks to a step forward in video technology that changed that, said Jayant Kadambi, co-founder and President of YuMe.
"What we figured out how to do is take third party data, keep it proprietary -- it's Auto Trader's data -- and apply it across our network through use of some software we've thrown into our partners' video players," he said.
YuMe is not the first to figure out how to apply behavioral targeting techniques to video ads. Last month, Hulu announced it had partnered with AudienceScience to enable behavioral targeting for its in-stream video ads.
It is no coincidence that YuMe struck this deal with one of the largest auto-shopping sites on the Web. Kadambi noted that the auto category -- despite its recent challenges -- is still a leader in video advertising.
"The spend is there," he said. "And given the state of the car industry now, and marketing that shows a return on investment and can show all key performance indicators going in the right direction will get more funds."
YuMe, which claims more than 500 publishers in its network and over 60 million unique viewers per month, anticipates forging similar deals with other publishers in its network soon, Kadambi said.
Advance Partners with Microsoft to Sell Local Advertising
Advance Internet, the division representing 36 newspaper Web sites owned by the Newhouse family including NOLA.com and NJ.com, has entered into a deal with Microsoft. The partnership will allow Advance salespeople to sell Microsoft Media Network inventory on the local level and offer behavioral targeted advertising."We have the No. 1 local news and information sites in each of our markets," Peter Weinberger, president of Advance Internet, said in a statement citing Media Audit data. "Now through our agreement with Microsoft, we will be able to serve our advertisers with even better online marketing solutions."With the addition of Microsoft Media Network inventory, Advance can expand its local reach in the marketplace to about 75% of all adults who use the Internet. Additionally, Advance will be implementing Microsoft Advertising's Content Ads and Search Ads, which serve contextually relevant advertisements within articles and other content pages, and will be able to sell Microsoft search products."The local perspective that Advance Internet offers will be incredibly helpful as we develop our reseller efforts," Brian Handly, general manager, PubCenter, Microsoft, said in a statement. "We are excited to expand Content and Search Ads into Advance Internet's porfolio of regional Web sites." This alliance differs from the Yahoo newspaper consortium in that Advance can maintain its own advertising platform, notes Ken Doctor, who reported the news earlier on his blog Content Bridges.
