• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, February 15, 2019

Criteo’s investments this year will focus on mid-market advertisers, to provide self-service tools for its platform that allow advertisers to take control of strategies.

Benoit Fouilland, Criteo CFO, described one self-service tool as an "onboarding module" for mid-market advertisers that enables them to use Criteo’s platform. He expects the product to roll out in the second quarter of 2019.

The move opens new opportunities for the company to work more closely with agencies. “We couldn’t do this in the past,” he said.

Fouilland said the company also will invest in building an app with support from Manage, an app install company that Criteo bought in October 2018.

Criteo released fourth-quarter 2018 earnings this week, showing that the company has begun to stabilize after a rocky year. The company reported $670 million in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2018, although earnings for the year were flat at about $2.3 billion.

In the announcement the company said its client roster rose by 7% year-over-year to about 19,500, and it also managed to retain some 90%. About 13% now use at least two of its platform tools, up from 4% a year ago.

The platform, Criteo Direct Bidder, is now connected to more than 3,500 large publishers, up from 2,600 last quarter, including Mediavine, NBC, and The Washington Post.

Tom White, analyst at DA Davidson Equity Capital Markets, said in a research note that Customer Acquisition and Audience Match products grew by triple digits in the fourth quarter of 2018, helping the company to regain its footing.