Microsoft Taps YuMe To Handle Unsold Video Inventory Online
Redwood City, Calif., – YuMe, the largest online video advertising network, said today it had scored a deal with Microsoft Corp. to help Microsoft’s existing video advertising services, stepping up competition with Google Inc. and Yahoo! Inc.
Closely held YuMe, based in Redwood City, Calif., supports advertisers with Internet content providers such as NBC Universal Inc. The company said Monday that it will provide video advertising network management capabilities and sales for unsold inventory on Microsoft’s online properties.
The deal will let YuMe to enclose and sell Microsoft’s unsold video through its network of channels, which advertisers can buy based on subject category (news, entertainment, sports, etc.).
Jayant Kadambi, CEO and co-founder of YuMe, defined the deal as a confirmation of the upstart network’s approach to video, and the strength of the online video market in general.
“There is a general philosophy that there is not enough video to advertise against online,” he said. “Well, our video network has grown pretty large, large enough now that we can give the advertising community what they really want, which is to reach the online video audience at scale.”
It is remarkable that Microsoft did not just acquire YuMe; the two have worked together before, making matters of long-term usefulness and trust look like less of an issue than usual. But for whatever reason (perhaps YuMe’s backers see an even brighter future for the comparatively small company), this agreement was reached instead.
Rob Bennett, Microsoft’s general manager of MSN Entertainment, Video & Sports, explained the basic idea, stating, “YuMe offers the ability to connect additional ad networks to its platform, and we plan on utilizing this service to provide YuMe and other ad networks access to Microsoft’s unsold video inventory.”
“In working with YuMe, we will further maximize the value of our unsold video inventory through YuMe’s robust platform for video advertising network management,” Bennett said.
The deal is also a big boost for YuMe, which launched a little over a year ago, and claims more than 400 Web sites, 150 million-plus video streams and 46.9 million unique visitors. The Redwood City, CA.-based Company tends to publicize its targeting abilities and has signed up a number of small web publishers in recent months, along with one other prominent name, NBC.com.
The network focuses on professionally produced content rather than user generated videos coupled with a sophisticated approach to targeting, said Kadambi. This is not user-generated content, he said, but rather “premium, independent, professional productions” that producers are looking to monetize.
YuMe focuses exclusively on video advertising; advertisers will have the choice of pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll or overlay ads on the Microsoft inventory, and is capable of showing ads on content that is downloaded as well as streamed. “We try and let advertisers run whatever ad format they think is best for their campaign,” said Kadambi. “We let advertisers petty much runs everything.”
YuMe will provide both sales and network management tools for Microsoft. Microsoft sites placed fifth among U.S. online video properties in comScore’s latest measure, with 25 million unique viewers.
The deal comes just weeks after the most recent collapse of Microsoft’s bid to takeover Yahoo, and could provide a glimpse of the Redmond, WA-based company’s approach to online advertising now that such a deal is unlikely.
The deal will take effect later this summer. Financial terms were not disclosed.