First Integration of Ooyala Video and Ad Tech Platforms Brings Premium Ad Feature Set to Ooyala Player, Unlocks Lost Revenue for Ooyala Customers

Plugging Europe’s leading ad technology into core video offering results in better viewer experience, improved ad targeting and personalization, and more

SANTA CLARA, Calif.(16 Jun 2015)

Ooyala, a Telstra subsidiary and a leading innovator in premium video publishing, analytics and monetization, today released the company’s first integration of its video and ad tech platforms, bringing advanced advertising capabilities to the Ooyala video player. Specifically designed to take advantage of key features in Ooyala’s ad serving platform, a new plugin available immediately to all Ooyala customers includes a host of new solutions including anti-ad blocking technology, sequencing for storytelling, audience targeting for ad personalization and rich customization capabilities. This integration, available now, comes just six months after Ooyala’s acquisition of Videoplaza.

Ooyala’s new anti-ad blocking technology is an important new means of unlocking significant revenue by preventing the use of third-party ad blockers, which keep video ads from displaying. Since December 2014, five major European premium publishers using this new and now publicly available feature consistently unlocked more than 90 million ad impressions per month that were previously blocked and otherwise could not have been monetized. As a result, the customers saw well more than $1 million of additional - or previously lost revenue - per month due to Ooyala’s new anti-ad blocking functionality. The feature also ensures more accurate reporting of ad impressions for advertisers.

Jonathan Wilner, vice president of product at Ooyala said, “This is a major step forward for Ooyala customers as we weave our ad tech into our widely adopted personalized video platform. It provides an entirely new value-add for our customers as they begin to see how key components of our advertising technology stack can impact audience engagement and improve profitability when used in conjunction with our video platform.”

The new plugin represents a unique, all-in-one feature set for the market, improving the experience for viewers, providing attractive features for brands and agencies, as well as significantly boosting revenue for publishers and broadcasters. More benefits of the plugin include:

• Ad Clash Protection: Advertisers are guaranteed protection from competing advertisements within a session or ad break

• Ad Sequencing: Strengthens the storytelling of a brand’s ad campaign by serving the proper sequence of ads for a viewer watching a single program

• Audience Targeting For Ad Personalization: Leverages the existing CMS metadata tied to video assets for better ad placement and targeting

• Dynamic Live Ad Insertion: The plugin can insert pre or mid-roll ads during a live stream when cue-points accompany the video, leveraging known parameters, such as location and device type, to personalize the ad to the viewer

• Interactive Features: The plugin will track interactions such as closure, expansion of the ad, the ad selector format as well as skip-ahead functionality

• Passbacks: A cue of backup ads from third party sources can be called upon and delivered if the primary ad, or any subsequent ad, fails to play

• Player Customization: Customers can now personalize the skin, font, labels and languages of their player to match branding and audience preferences

• Ad Unit Support: The plugin includes standard and premium pre, mid and post-roll, overlay, pause ads and companion banners

About Ooyala:

Ooyala helps deliver content that connects. A US-based subsidiary of global telecommunications and IT services company Telstra, Ooyala's comprehensive suite of offerings includes one of the world's largest premium video platforms and a leading ad serving solution. Built with superior analytics capabilities for advanced business intelligence and a strong commitment to customers success, Ooyala's industry-leading end-to-end solutions help large-scale broadcasters, operators, media companies, enterprises and brands build more engaged and more profitable audiences, and monetize video and TV with personalized, interactive experiences across any screen.

ESPN, Univision, Sky Sports (U.K.), Foxtel (Australia), NBCUniversal, RTL Group (Germany), M6 (France), TV4 (Sweden), Mediaset (Spain), Star India (India) and STV (U.K.): these are just a few of the hundreds of broadcasters and media companies who choose Ooyala.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Ooyala has offices in New York, London, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore and Guadalajara, and sales operations in dozens of other countries across the globe. For more information, visit www.ooyala.com.