AOL Braces Video Ads With Lightningcast

Determined to ride the rising wave of video advertising, AOL Thursday said it acquired the video ad network and technology company Lightningcast. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal was actually completed on Monday.

AOL's radio and video properties have employed Lightningcast's services for several years, most recently facilitating the launch of "In2TV," AOL and Warner Bros.'s classic TV land-over-broadband initiative.

AOL will now merge Lightningcast's streaming media technology and advertising network operations under Advertising.com within AOL's Audience business unit. In addition, Advertising.com's newly launched pre-roll video network and Lightningcast's InStream network--dedicated exclusively to broadband video ads--will merge and operate under the InStream name. The combined network will make up 300 Web sites and 175 million monthly streams, according to AOL.

Advertisers are being offered the opportunity to target video campaigns across the network by behavior, demographic, and content channels. "This acquisition will provide a huge infusion of talent, technology, and publisher relationships for Advertising.com at a time when streaming video is growing at a blistering pace," Mike Kelly, president, AOL Media Networks, which oversees Advertising.com, said in a statement on Thursday.

Since 1999, Lightningcast has operated as a provider of technology that enables broadband audio and video marketing, branding, and advertising. Its core ad management system is designed to manage and deliver targeted, audited audio and video ads into audio and video content. The company's CEO, Tom MacIsaac, and its 34 existing employees, will stay on.

Advertising.com, which AOL bought in June 2004, launched its video ad network in April. At launch, the network consisted of 30 publishers--most of whom are not sold-out--and less than 20 advertisers--all of whom said they needed help placing their video advertising, Mollie Spilman, chief marketing officer, Advertising.com, told OnlineMediaDaily at the time.

For advertisers, the network is presently aggregating pre-roll inventory from video-enabled sites; for video-enabled publishers, the network is offering a streamlined process for filling video inventory.

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