Rocket Fuel Fires Up Video Ad Units

Richard-Franke

Ad network Rocket Fuel has introduced new video pre-roll units that it promises will leverage the company's variety of targeting methods to deliver high-quality audiences more efficiently than the typical online video campaign.

The company's Video Booster solution offers 15- or 30-second pre-rolls with companion display placements. It is also integrated with the video ad network BrightRoll's ad exchange and the Adap.tv Marketplace to provide access to video inventory.

Founded by three Yahoo veterans, Rocket Fuel's goal has been to bring "rocket science" to display advertising by combining multiple targeting methods including behavioral, contextual, geographic and demographic to optimize campaigns on the fly for better results. Now the company, whose ad network reaches 150 million people each month across 20,000 sites, is extending that approach to video.

"What we're doing is allowing marketers to reach much more exactly the audiences they're trying to reach, and drive them to brand goals from awareness to consideration to purchase," said Rocket Fuel President Richard Frankel. The Video Booster ads incorporates the company's Progressive Optimization technology, which applies data gleaned from billions of ad impressions to inform video ad buys. It identifies users who are responsive to online ads and then targeting video ads to others like them.

Frankel added that the cost of running Video Booster units will be in line with current rates for targeted video advertising but will deliver better results. "Plus, we'll be learning a lot about how users engage with ads and sharing that information with clients," he said.

Adap.tv and BrightRoll are counting on Rocket Fuel's targeting and optimization capability as a value-add to refine video ad buying through their respective online exchanges. "When you combine the scale of the Marketplace with Video Booster's advanced ability to accurately identify the most relevant users, you give advertisers a powerful way to connect with the right audience and exceed their campaign objectives," said Adap.tv President Toby Gabriner, in a statement.

The partnerships with the Adap.tv and BrightRoll provide large volumes of inventory and allow marketers to continue buying video media online, as they are accustomed to with Rocket Fuel's optimization technology added in. "They don't have to change how they're buying advertising and we do all the targeting and optimization on the back end," he said.

Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Rocket Fuel last September closed $10 million in a second-round funding led by Nokia Growth Partners and including prior investors Mohr Davidow Ventures and Labrador Ventures. The company has raised a total of $20 million in financing to date.

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