• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 14, 2020

Centro on Wednesday will introduce a web browser extension geared toward digital media buyers to track the changes they make on campaigns running through self-serve advertising platforms such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, Pinterest and Twitter.

Basis Assistant automates and consolidates the information in one location. The need to reduce and keep track of time in projects drove the decision to build the product.

“Many times it’s about making a change like reducing the budget or optimizing content or changing KPI metrics,” said Centro CEO Shawn Riegsecker, but building it into web-browser technology allows the company to take the tool in other directions in the future.

“It can sit on top of Facebook, LinkedIn and other platforms without any API,” said Centro Vice President of Product Management Steven Jones, explaining how it works across web browsers similar to a spell checker.

The smart tab in Basis Assistant time-stamps changes and identifies the user in the browser, keeping tabs on specific information regardless of the ad-tech platform. It can log information about campaigns, line items and more.

The user makes notes in the platform. Others with access can see them when they log into the file.

In other words, Basis Assistant ensures that information about campaign optimizations made through third-party ad tools are transferred in real-time and cataloged within Basis Assistant for the rest of the team to access. Marketers can download reports listing the changes, including dates and times, which are also available.

The authentication for browser extensions is managed in a separate container, so if a user clears their browser cookies in Chrome, Firefox or Edge it won't erase the session for the extensions.

Several regional advertising agencies have been testing the tool for a month, including Gleeson Digital Strategies.

While it’s a stand-alone platform available to download from Google app stores, Centro created it as part of the main product, Basis, which launched a few years ago to automate media planning and activation. Using this product, buyers can purchase programmatic media through the DSP, as well as track search and social campaigns.