When was the last time I said that this was a year of acquisitions? Seeing that TeD has just stepped into his third month online, it wouldn’t have been long back. Well, I say it again – this is a year of acquisitions. And Facebook has just bought LiveRail – an online video advertising platform.
Founded in 2007 by Mark Trefgarne (CEO) and Andrei Dunca (CTO), LiveRail Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, London, and Romania. What does it do exactly? In their own words,
For Publishers, LiveRail provides a single interface to manage direct advertiser campaigns and optimize major ad networks, DSPs, and Trading Desk partners. With industry-leading RTB technology, publishers can monetize their video content, control who accesses their inventory with our Private Exchange capabilities, and drive higher revenue and fill rates with access to hundreds of demand partners using the world’s largest supply-side platform.
For Video Ad Networks, LiveRail provides robust network management capabilities in a real-time video ad serving platform to manage and buy video advertising campaigns across large pools of dynamic inventory, whether through direct publisher relationships or via the major real-time biddable exchanges. Through LiveRail’s technology, users can forecast, buy, and report on campaigns in both private and public video ad exchanges using RTB and multifaceted audience data.
Facebook announced on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement to acquire LiveRail. Alhough terms of the deal were not disclosed, it was learnt (as stated by Facebook) that “LiveRail’s ambition is to become integral to the fast growing online video advertising business.”. Said Brian Boland, Vice President of Ads Product Marketing and Atlas at Facebook in a blog post,
What LiveRail ultimately offers is a complete advertising solution for video publishers.
It is no secret that Facebook has been upping the ante with regards to expanding its advertising and data to inventory. Facebook manages its own ad exchange, but had recently also acquired the ad serving company Atlas from Microsoft in early 2013.
Also Read: Facebook Debuts “Missed Call” Ads In India, Wants To Test New Ad Formats Tailored For A Specific Market
No doubt Facebook is eying a larger share in the digital advertising world. Says Boland,
We believe that LiveRail, Facebook and the premium publishers it serves have an opportunity to make video ads better and more relevant for the hundreds of millions of people who watch digital video every month.
More relevant ads will be more interesting and engaging to people watching online video, and more effective for marketers too. Publishers will benefit as well because more relevant ads will help them make the most out of every opportunity they have to show an ad.
I must confess how Facebook would be able to make video ads “better and more relevant”. To start with, video ads have never been good for me personally, leave alone better. And relevant? Well, only time will tell.
