YuMe Launches First-Ever Online Advertising Within Downloaded Video on the Bittorrent Entertainment Network
Ads Can Be Customized and Targeted to Specific Download Content and Displayed on Any Device, Unlocking New Ad Inventory in Peer-to-Peer Space
Ads from Video Entertainment Software Publisher Eidos Interactive Are Inserted into Select Content Distributed on BitTorrent
Redwood City, CA—April 2, 2007—YuMe Networks, the first dedicated advertising network created and optimized for broadband video, today announced it will launch the first ad campaign ever that allows a marketer to insert dynamically served video advertising within downloadable content.
“Today we are launching a game–changing capability that will take online video advertising to another level,” said Jayant Kadambi, CEO and co–founder of YuMe Networks. “We are excited to bring advertisers a solution that enables them to insert dynamic, targeted and customizable campaigns in content downloaded from online destinations such as BitTorrent to any device – PC, mobile, IPTV and more.”
Until today, downloaded content was made available to consumers as free content or on a pay– per–download basis. It hasn’t been possible to insert advertising in downloaded content in the past because Web publishers couldn’t measure and track viewings of the ads. In addition, YuMe’s measurement and creative optimization capabilities have never before been available to online video advertisers, who currently can buy only untargeted, “run of site” placement on web sites and receive only basic metrics about how often their ad played.
“We have been working diligently with a range of video publishers from the largest movie studios to the creators of independent video to advocate the role advertising can play in delivering their content to the BitTorrent community,” said Ashwin Navin, President and co–founder of BitTorrent, Inc. “The combination of our extensive user base, worldwide content relationships and powerfully efficient distribution model, is enabling a rapid shift toward free, ad–supported content available on the BitTorrent Entertainment Network.”
YuMe’s groundbreaking technology actually measures “view–throughs” rather than “click– throughs” to report back exactly how many people viewed and the number of times they viewed, in addition to whether they clicked. Because this new “view–through” metric directly measures and reports the viewer’s behavior, it is likely to become the new performance metric used to determine how an advertiser pays a publisher for online video advertising.
Eidos Interactive in North America, one of the world’s leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, is the first advertiser to launch a download campaign with YuMe. The Eidos campaign will promote the upcoming video and PC game “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary.” With YuMe’s technology, Eidos can geographically target its ads, customize ads in real time and update creative messaging in content that has already been downloaded.
The campaign will be featured on select video files from G4 and distributed on the BitTorrent Entertainment Network. YuMe’s ability to insert advertising within downloaded content and track the reach and frequency of a campaign across any device is a groundbreaking development in online advertising. It adds another monetization avenue for peer–to–peer sites, opens up new advertising opportunities for marketers, and could bring to consumers content that previously hasn’t been distributed on the Web because it was difficult to monetize.
YuMe also provides Eidos and G4 with instant measurement capabilities to learn when and where the spot is viewed. These metrics can be used by Eidos to change creative on the fly in order to optimize the campaign.
The targeting, measurement and customization features that YuMe delivers in this campaign are part of its overall mission to improve the effectiveness of online video advertising in general. The YuMe Network was built from the ground up to deliver an online advertising experience that offers the targeting capability of keyword placements and television commercial placement.
YuMe utilizes video sensor technology™ to scour online video content, and then categorizes the video into customizable channels like Auto, Finance, Entertainment and Family Friendly. Advertisers can select the customized video channels that most closely match the brands, products and messaging in their advertising creative. YuMe attaches advertising to the selected content for delivery to any device – whether downloaded or streamed.
About YuMe Networks
YuMe is the first dedicated broadband video advertising network built exclusively for the new
web video world, providing advertisers and publishers the unprecedented ability to identify,
classify and track content to ensure brand safety, contextual relevance, controlled syndication and
consistent delivery across all digital media platforms – web, downloads, mobile and IPTV. YuMe
Networks is a privately held company backed by Khosla Ventures, Accel Partners and BV
Capital. YuMe is headquartered in Redwood City, CA. For more information, visit
www.yumenetworks.com.
About BitTorrent, Inc.
BitTorrent is the global standard for delivering high–quality files over the Internet. Millions of
users worldwide are using BitTorrent’s leading peer–assisted content delivery platform to publish,
discover and download digital entertainment content quickly, easily and securely. Founded in
2004, BitTorrent is a privately held company backed by venture capital firms, Accel and DCM
(formerly known as Doll Capital Management). The company is headquartered in San Francisco,
California. For more information, visit www.bittorrent.com.
About Eidos Interactive Ltd
Eidos Interactive Ltd is part of SCi Entertainment Group Plc (SEG) one of the world's leading
publishers and developers of entertainment software. Eidos consists of publishing operations
across Europe and the US and several development studios including Crystal Dynamics, IO
Interactive, Beautiful Game Studios, Eidos Studios Hungary, Eidos Sweden and Pivotal Games.
The Group has a valuable combined portfolio of intellectual property including: Tomb Raider,
Hitman, Deus Ex, Championship Manager, Carmageddon, Battlestations: Midway, the Conflict
series and Just Cause.
About G4
G4, the fastest growing network on television in 2006, launched in April 2002 and is now
available in 62 million cable and satellite homes nationwide. The No. 1 podcasted cable network
in America and a leader in VOD, G4 embraces the male 18–34 audience and their fascination with
video games, the Internet, broadband, technology, comics and animation. Additionally, G4
provides breaking news and insider opinions on these topics as well as the broader culture young
men are interested in. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles and is owned by Comcast
Corporation. To learn more, log onto www.g4tv.com.