Audience Partners Announces Revolutionary Voter-Targeted Digital Advertising Patent

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., July 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued Patent No. 8,763,033 to Audience Partners for its proprietary technology allowing political campaigns to target digital advertising using voter registration records and a host of other data.  

Audience Partners is the first company in the ad tech industry to use a voter file to target ads by leveraging programmatic ad buying systems and real-time bidding (RTB). 

The patented technology provides the ability to use publicly available voter registration records and political demographic data such as party affiliation, voting history and political geography to target and place advertising and messaging across millions of websites, mobile apps and multiple digital devices including addressable TVs.  

"We have invested millions of dollars into our solution and feel like we have built the 'Holy Grail' of political advertising," said Jeff Dittus, the company's CEO and co-founder. "Our patented system and methodology allows political advertisers to accurately micro-target digital ads driven by voter registration records and hundreds of other characteristics, while respecting privacy." 

Audience Partners' patented technology provides advertisers with access to billions of proprietary cookies and nearly 100 million anonymous mobile phone and tablet IDs for unprecedented targeting at scale across multiple screens.  Audience Partners' proprietary solution for targeting voters uses its National Online Voter File® (NOVF), a non-partisan list of every registered voter in the United States, as well as custom lists and house files owned by its clients.

"This patent is significant because it recognizes Audience Partners as an innovator in the field of political and advocacy advertising," says Rich Masterson, the company's co-founder and chairman.  

Voter files have been used for many years to target direct mail, telephone calls, walk lists and for first generation online targeting.  More recently, voter files have been enhanced with consumer data to allow targeting beyond voting history.  Audience Partners' invention combines rich voter data and the type of targeting that has been winning campaigns offline for years and moves it to voters' computers, tablets, phones and addressable televisions.

"For several campaign cycles, thousands of advertisers and media companies have used our innovative ad platform that allows political campaigns, PACs and advocacy groups to target ads to a highly customizable subset of voters.  We help advertisers and campaigns minimize waste and maximize the impact of their ad dollars by targeting only those voters relevant to the campaign," said Jeff Dittus, CEO and co-founder of Audience Partners.   

As media consumption habits become increasingly fractured, advertising through broadcast television and mail alone is no longer sufficient to sway public opinion.  Audience Partners' innovation seeks to take advantage of the trend by linking voting records programmatically to the growing number of digital screens that are replacing old media.

The political media category is estimated by Kantar Media to be $4.5 billion this year, and over time digital has grown to 7% of political spending.  Data-driven addressable advertising has moved from exotic to expected and will continue to grow through the 2016 Presidential cycle and beyond.

In addition to aiding in campaign advertising, Audience Partners' system is also a proven money-maker for web publishers, broadcasters, cable television companies and mobile operators to capture more dollars from the political category.  The system provides easy integration of voter registration information with owned and operated inventory of web publishers, mobile apps and addressable television systems.  Easy to use mapping and media planning tools allow media planners to create audiences of voters for direct sales and a training program teaches sales teams how to sell political and advocacy advertising.

About Audience Partners

Audience Partners, with a long standing commitment to innovation, is a four screen, Audience Curation Company that operates an addressable advertising platform that uses data science, programmatic ad buying and unique first party data to target individuals with cross device advertising on computers, mobile phones, tablets, and addressable televisions. 

Advertisers, agencies and media companies have purchased 6 billion ad impressions for 2,400 clients via 11,000 campaigns since 2008.  Audience Partners' clients consist of Presidential candidates, Senators, Members of Congress, Governors, powerful advocacy groups, U.S. Government agencies and a growing number of the nation's largest hospitals and health insurers. Founded in 2008, the firm has 40 employees and in 2013 was named the 13th fastest growing company in the Greater Philadelphia region. The company has offices in Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.

Audience Partners and its patented technology serve political consultants, top media and television companies, and online publishers; and their tools are used to facilitate free political speech.  As a member of Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Audience Partners is committed to privacy compliance and being an open platform that transparently allows campaigns, advocacy groups, and government agencies to reach the electorate accurately while respecting privacy.

SOURCE Audience Partners