Here’s an overview of what has been happening in the video world over the last week, with highlights from YouTube, Simulmedia, Adap.tv, BrightRoll, Rockabox and Netsonic. To stay up to date and have the latest industry news and insights delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for the weekly VAN newsletter.
YouTube Gross Revenue Up to $5.6 Billion According to Emarketer
YouTube’s gross revenue has grown to $5.6 billion, up over 50 percent year on year, according to eMarketer. In 2012 the video platform made $3.7 billion.
However, YouTube doesn’t get to pocket all its gross revenues, of course, but after paying advertising partners and content creators, eMarketer still expects the company to net $1.96 billion in ad revenues worldwide this year, up 65.5% over 2012. Emarketer say that translates to a 1.7% share of all global digital ad revenues—higher than the market shares of Twitter, AOL, Amazon.com, Pandora, LinkedIn, Millennial Media and other large players.
Simulmedia Raise $25 Million in Funding
Simulmedia, a targeted television advertising company, announced that it has closed a $25 million Series D round of funding led by new investor Valiant Capital. This brings the total raised by Simulmedia to nearly $59 million since the company was launched in 2009.
“We are gratified to have our long-time investors continue their support of our mission to turn television ad buying ‘inside out’ to help accelerate the market and support the emerging audience-based TV ad ecosystem,” says Dave Morgan, Simulmedia’s founder and CEO. “And we are very pleased to have Chris Hansen’s Valiant Capital and R&R Venture Partners as backers. The new funds will be used specifically to build out our technology, sales and service.”
Adap.tv Predict that Mobile Video Will Take Europe by Storm in 2014
Adap.tv have made a number of predictions for 2014. While it’s hardly surprising they’re predicting the growth of programmatic trading, they say next year will see more serious investment from advertisers who have been trialling it in 2013. The video ad platform also say that they’re expecting huge growth in mobile and that targeting methods will shift dramatically as the ability to use cookies is reduced and other methods try to take its place.
Finally, YouTube’s dominance will be challenged by the launch of Facebook video ads, which will open the video market to an even wider audience. Adap.tv say, of course, that both will face a new challenger for the number one spot: AOL.
BrightRoll Announce Partnership with Nielsen, Integrate OCR into BrightRoll Console
BrightRoll, a programmatic video advertising platform, announced a strategic agreement with Nielsen, the global measurement and information company, to help advertisers increase the efficacy of their digital video ad campaigns and maximize accountability and return on investment. Integrated into the BrightRoll console, Nielsen Online Campaign Rating provide advanced measurement and analytics for the digital video ad industry and will enable BrightRoll to bring new programmatic planning and reporting capabilities to the market.
Renowned advertising figure Michael Greenlees joins Rockabox as Chairman
Rockabox, a ‘video engagement technology’ company, announced the appointment of Michael Greenlees as Chairman of the Board of Directors. The announcement is the latest in a string of senior appointments for Rockabox, which recently recruited Glue Isobar’s Seb Royce to Chief Creative Officer and AOL Advertising’s Steve Filler to CEO, Tech & Distribution.
Netsonic Signs Agreement to Exclusively Rep Publiespaña and Mediaset España Television Group’s Inventory
Netsonic, a video technology company that focuses on the Latin American market, has signed an agreement with media sales agency Publiespaña to deal exclusively with all of Mediaset España Group’s Latin American video inventory. Mediaset España Group is the leading Spanish audiovisual communications group. The bulk of the demand is from Spain but Netsonic say there is a significant and growing audience from Latin America, with requests for online video content coming from users in countries like Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru. Manuel Rodriguez Paez, Internet Sales Manager at Publiespaña, commented: “Netsonic will help us improve the performance of digital advertising sales in 2014, providing extra income to our Internet division, through advertising campaigns by advertisers based in the Americans that monetize growing consumption by audiences in Latin America.”
