Rovi has agreed to buy Veveo for about $62 million, the companies announced late Monday. The maker of technology that helps consumers navigate video across platforms said it could pay an additional $7
million if and when certain growth targets are met.
Per the deal, Rovi will add Veveo’s content personalization and contextual search tools to its existing search and
recommendation engine. With Veveo, Rovi is also getting 50 related patents, and more 80 pending patent applications.
Founded in 2004, Veveo specializes in semantic technologies and
natural-language controls that power voice-based search interfaces. Complex as that sounds, Veveo is actually in the business of simplifying consumers’ search and discovery efforts.
In a statement, Ajit Rajasekharan, co-founder of Veveo, said the merger will make life easier for multiple-system operators (MSOs), device manufacturers and social media companies
alike.
Veveo clients include AT&T, Cablevision Systems and Verizon Communications.
Rovi has recently been pushing into the advanced TV audience-targeting
business. At the beginning of the year, it unveiled its Audience Management Solution, which combines first-party data about what consumers are actually doing with a specific network, operator or
brand, along with third-party data representing attributes about an audience that brands or agencies want to target.
Rovi also recently helped Microsoft incorporate a TV program guide
into its new Xbox One gaming console. The addition of Rovi’s database for global TV, movie and celebrity metadata is giving Xbox users the ability to browse, search and watch live content from
various cable, Web and traditional telecommunications TV service providers.
Kudos to Rovi for its understanding of the importance of search & discovery in the red-hot smart TV space. But truth be told, voice recognition a la Veveo will only get Rovi so far. To truly dominate, a more ecumenical approach to input is required, and a keener understanding of consumer behavior is paramount. Rovi should make more of its streamlined remote control, and consumer affinity for this input device acquired from decades of conditioning. All that needs to go is the tortuous onscreen keyboard, and siloed searching across multiple channels. You are close, Rovi. Now step up your search & discovery game with Kannuu: http://www.kannuu.com -- Kannuu demo video: http://bit.ly/1fw2Ctp