• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, March 31, 2015

AOL on Tuesday announced it has upgraded the demographic targeting options available via its programmatic platforms by partnering with comScore to validate the audiences. The audience segments are created using AOL’s existing audience profiles, which are them “validated” by comScore’s validated Campaign Essentials (vCE).

The announcement signals AOL's desire to revamp demographic targeting and draw more brand advertisers -- who are familiar and comfortable with demographic targeting -- to the programmatic marketplace.

“Demographic targeting, the traditional currency for TV buying, is a key element for brand advertisers to be able to drive awareness and consideration of their products and services,” stated Jonathan Goodwin, director of audience targeting product management at AOL.

AOL claims that A/B tests saw its new offering be 15% more “effective” than standard targeting segments, as measured by comScore, with “effective” targeting representing boosts in brand safety, viewability and audience validation.

The new demographic segments will be updated monthly, per a release, and can be used to target audiences on desktop and mobile via display or video advertising.