• by Tobi Elkin  @tobielkin, August 18, 2016

Advertising automation platform AudienceScience on Thursday announced that it has opened an office in Shanghai to offer data management and programmatic buying capabilities. The company already has offices in Beijing and Guangzhou. AudienceScience said it’s already serving more than 200 million impressions per day in China, and has doubled its market share in the country within the past quarter.

AudienceScience's China expansion aims to provide global advertisers with access to Chinese inventory and local data partners, helping them to reach Chinese consumers in a mobile- and video-heavy media market. AudienceScience’s Helios software platform helps advertisers manage media spend and achieve maximum viewable reach with relevant messaging.

Simultaneously, AudienceScience is building relationships with Chinese publishers looking to do business with Western advertisers. The company already has several direct local integrations with supply partners in China, including YouKu, a multi-screen entertainment and media company, and LeEco (Le.com), an internet TV network. These partnerships enable AudienceScience’s advertiser clients to programmatically access inventory via open exchanges, private exchanges, and other buying models.

"By any measurement, China is the second largest market in the world and is poised to be No. 1 depending on the brand or service.  Global brands can’t simply ignore the importance of the market nor the complexity of operating programmatic media within the bounds of Chinese technology and governmental restrictions,” AudienceScience CEO Bill Gossman told Real-Time Daily via email.

AudienceScience  has tapped Richard Huo to serve as VP, China business operations. Huo and his team will be responsible for overseeing AudienceScience’s integrations with local media and data partners, as well as managing AudienceScience’s Chinese data server operations. Huo comes to AudienceScience from Lincolnshire Management, Inc., a mid-market private equity firm. He also assisted Netli, a global content delivery network that’s now part of Akamai, in setting up the legal and regulatory framework to operate in China.