YuMe Bounces Back Into Ad Network Top 10

After getting yanked from comScore's ranking of top online ad networks, YuMe has yo-yoed back into the top 10.

The video ad network in June vaulted from no. 44 to no. 8 in comScore's Ad Focus rankings on the strength of a new deal to sell ads on remnant video inventory on Microsoft properties, including MSN. Obscure YuMe suddenly boasted an audience of 134 million unique visitors and 71% reach among U.S. Internet users, on par with Google and Yahoo.

After competitors and others cried foul, comScore downgraded YuMe to no. 32 in the rankings, with 59.2 million visitors--saying that some MSN traffic had been "inappropriately assigned" to YuMe. The company disputed the revision and continued to tout its original top 10 ranking in June on its home page.

With the release of comScore's July ratings last Friday, YuMe was back at no. 8, with 136.5 million visitors and 72% reach. Why the reversal? A footnote to the Ad Focus rankings stated: "ComScore has verified that a legitimate business relationship exists between YuMe and Microsoft through documentation provided."

It went on to say that YuMe "meets all current rules for inclusion as a custom entity in the Ad Focus category." A "custom entity," is a custom research report commissioned by a comScore customer.

Molly Gallatin, YuMe's director of marketing, said the company had provided comScore with further proof of its ads partnership with Microsoft. "ComScore realized after speaking with me that I had the correct documentation, necessary approvals, and a legitimate business relationship with Microsoft so that the inclusion of MSN in our roll-up was accurate," she said.

To help reduce confusion, comScore said last week that it plans to distinguish between "potential" and "actual" audience reach in its Ad Focus rankings, starting with the August ratings data. The former will reflect the largest possible audience an ad network could deliver, while the latter will show reach based on ads actually served.

So, YuMe's audience of 136.5 million in July would represent its "potential" audience. Its actual audience, based on ads served against video inventory, will presumably be considerably smaller.

That step will not resolve the challenges comScore still faces in measuring Web video, however. Gallatin said, for instance, that the ratings firm tracks pre-roll ads--but not other types of video units it runs, like interactive overlays. She added that YuMe is now working with comScore to expand its tracking so the audience for its video ads is fully counted.

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