TidalTV Raises $16 Million, Looks To Expand Reach Of Its Targeted Ads
TidalTV shows "the right ad to the right person at the right time," says Scott Ferber, the company's chairman and CEO, and soon it will be doing it in more places and with more targeted results. TidalTV raised $16 million is series B funding, led by Comcast Interactive Capital, with New Enterprise Associates and Vahalla Partners.
TidalTV works in what it calls "video ad decisioning." That means rather than blanketing a group of programs with selected ads, there's an intelligence behind the company's work that matches the ad with the viewer. While standard television viewers all see the same ads in a program, for example, people watching online shows with advertisements served by TidalTV are seeing ads custom tailored to appeal to them.
The funding will let the Baltimore-based TidalTV focus on three goals, says Ferber, who was formerly CEO of Advertising.com. First, the company will improve the technology it uses so that it can deliver even better ad targeting. To do that, it will use data collection techniques and user studies to increase the information it has on online video viewer behavior.
The company's second goal is to offer more products to advertisers and publishers. It licenses the ad decisioning technology that it's created, and Ferber wants to grow those offerings with more targeting features.
Finally, Ferber also wants to expand the scope of where TidalTV can serve ads, and move into television and mobile video. A technology called Advanced Television—currently being studied by Comcast, Cablevision, DirecTV, and Dish Networks—would allow one-to-one ad serving in households.
"Comcast's investment in TidalTV demonstrates our superior technology and ability to leverage it for future revenue growth," Ferber says.
TidalTV already has a healthy roster of clients, including major advertising agencies such as Interpublic Group (IPG) and Publicis. The company works with 75 major brands directly says Ferber, but he can't reveal their name without permission.
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