EX.CO, an online video platform, is expanding its ad server to support auctions in connected TV and digital OOH, the video tech firm announced on Monday. The update sees the company expand its ad serving capabilities beyond online video, enabling media owners to run automated ad auctions in CTV and DOOH environments.
Analyst forecasts often list CTV and DOOH among the fastest-growing channels in terms of ad spend, but EX.CO suggests inefficiencies in these channels are causing missed revenue opportunities for media owners. These include “fragmented technologies, broken programmatic pipes, and outdated auction dynamics,” according to the video tech business.
Multichannel programmatic
EX.CO’s solution seeks to address these inefficiencies using machine learning, the company said. Originally developed for its online video platform (OVP), the yield engine processes vast amounts of data to identify the highest-performing demand sources, in order to maximise revenues. The yield engine also adapts pricing dynamically, modifying CPMs in real-time to optimise results.
“We discovered that the programmatic bid stream, originally designed for the web, presents significant complexities when applied in other environments,” said Tom Pachys, co-founder and CEO at EX.CO. “To solve this, our ad server leverages cutting-edge machine-learning algorithms that dynamically optimise auctions in real-time, reflecting a new generation of unified auction technology. This ensures media owners achieve the best outcomes without relying on outdated, rule-based or manual decision-making, delivering a smarter and more efficient approach tailored for CTV and DOOH.”
Following 12 months of R&D, the ad server is currently being tested with select CTV and DOOH clients, according to EX.CO.
Branching out
EX.CO has been steadily expanding its offering for publishers over the last 10 years. Originally called Playbuzz, the startup enabled publishers to integrate interactive elements into articles, such as polls and galleries. After rebranding as EX.CO in 2019, the firm started to develop video and AI tools for publishers, including premium video libraries and content recommendation engines.
Last year the company launched a new vertical video player for mobile and desktop, and a unified video tool for publisher sales houses that manage multiple websites. The tool’s launch partner, 1XL (a publisher collective that includes City A.M, Newsquest and The Irish News), said the solution had helped double its monthly revenues across the network.
But this latest announcement marks a move beyond the world of online publisher video and into CTV and DOOH, potentially helping publishers make moves into these fast-growing channels, as well as opening EX.CO’s doors to new types of publisher clients.
