Media tech company PulsePoint today announced the launch of a real-time bidding (RTB) platform in Europe. In conjunction with the release of the platform, PulsePoint has also added Gareth Shaw as programmatic sales director, Europe. The New York-based company is gearing up for a surge of programmatic in Europe, so RTM Daily spoke with PulsePoint's CEO Sloan Gaon about RTB, the new platform, and what the future holds. 

RTM Daily: What did your platform look like in the UK/Europe before this announcement? 

Sloan Gaon: PulsePoint is actually a merged company (Datran Media and Contextweb). Contextweb was a contextual ad network. Traditionally, it had a pretty big presence in the UK market, so we had quite a bit of a foundation in London to begin with.

RTM Daily: Why did you add RTB capabilities to the fold?

Gaon: A couple of notes. The first is we had tremendous success here in the U.S. on the programmatic side. We've exceeded the growth of the market over the last couple of years. It's becoming a larger and larger part, and more important, part of our business. We've been offering both RTB and contextual ad network [services] here in the U.S. for the last three years.

Based on the secular nature of that marketplace - the fact that it's somewhat fragmented between the European countries - the programmatic side…really plays well into that marketplace.

RTM Daily: What makes your platform different than other options?

We act as an exchange, not a DSP or SSP. We are the party in the middle that's neutral.

Just by the nature of our development in the marketplace, we have a contextual ad network [supplying each impression with specific data to make it more valuable]. By the very nature of our name, we think we are best of breed as it relates to contextualization. We think we are able to read a page better than anyone in the industry, both in the U.S. and in Europe.

We think context is equally as important as audience, [and that it is] going to play a more important role in the next year or two.

RTM Daily: Are you white labeling any technologies for your platform?

Gaon: We've invested millions of dollars in building up our own proprietary tech stack. We don't use any white labeled solutions.

RTM Daily: How are you going to manage a RTB platform in Europe when you are a U.S.-based company, both technically and operationally?

From an operations perspective. we've been in the European market for six years. We know that market well and have great relationships with clients, trading desks, [etc]. Between the infrastructure in the U.S., combined with the existing team in the EU, and new members (such as Shaw being appointed head of programmatic sales across Europe), we'll have a fairly robust infrastructure.

RTM Daily: What are your RTB plans the U.S.?  

Gaon: Our core product…serves as a good foundation. We'll also focus on layering our contextual targeting and audience targeting on top of RTB technology.  This will help to bring more value to both the supply and demand side.