Horizon Media and Adap.tv Form Strategic Alliance Built on Advanced Video Ad Platform and Marketplace

NEW YORK, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Horizon Media, the largest independent media services agency, today announces a partnership with Adap.tv, the platform that makes buying and selling video advertising simple and efficient, to power the next generation video ad buying and campaign management system.

Paid video represents a significant percentage of Horizon Media's current digital media investments. "We have seen the number of our video campaigns double in the past year and we expect volume to continue to grow rapidly," said Donnie Williams, Chief Digital Officer at Horizon Media.  "Given the accelerating rate of change in this industry, it's becoming extremely challenging for our clients to keep up.  Adap.tv for Advertisers and the unique product integrations we are collectively working on with Adap.tv will give us the speed and efficiency required to succeed in this marketplace."

Adap.tv for Advertisers streamlines the process of working with multiple inventory sources, formats, devices and other time-consuming complexities.  Buyers have simple, powerful access to advanced targeting capabilities, the ability to import existing segments and cookie pools, brand awareness and tracking tools, brand safety features, integrated audience data, global frequency capping, smart optimization and unified reporting – all from a single interface.

"Horizon Media's high-investment entertainment, retail, CPG and financial services brands want to engage consumers more effectively through video ads," said Toby Gabriner, President of Adap.tv. "By offering buyers a streamlined and transparent campaign planning tool, the result will be scalable and targeted video campaigns across multiple channels, from the Web and to the connected TV universe."

With annual video billings in excess of $2 billion, high volume agencies like Horizon Media also benefit greatly from the Adap.tv Marketplace which hosts more than 4,200 publishers and hundreds of brand advertisers. The Adap.tv Marketplace provides Horizon with direct access to premium quality inventory and easy-to-use tools to help clients fully understand how their investments are performing.  

Together Horizon Media and Adap.tv plan to explore proprietary research initiatives that deepen visibility into the power of video across channel.  By surfacing new value-rich environments, Horizon Media can maximize clients' buying power in a tightening marketplace.

Adap.tv recently secured $20 million in funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners to fuel international expansion, platform growth and new product development. Adap.tv reaches more than 60 million unique viewers, delivers more than 1.8 billion ad views monthly and is ranked by comScore® as the third largest online video property measured by video ads delivered.

About Adap.tv

Adap.tv builds the technology that makes buying and selling video advertising simple and efficient. The company's products – Adap.tv for Advertisers, Adap.tv for Publishers and the Adap.tv Marketplace – work in harmony to connect video advertising buyers directly to sellers on a single platform. The Adap.tv Marketplace is the industry's largest video marketplace for premium publishers and brand name advertisers, with over 4,200 sites selling inventory and hundreds of campaigns running daily. Based in San Mateo, Calif. and with sales offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and London, Adap.tv is privately held and backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Gemini Israel Funds, Redpoint Ventures and Spark Capital. For more information, please visit http://adap.tv/.  

About Horizon Media

Horizon Media, Inc. is the largest independent media services company in the world. The company was founded in 1989, is headquartered in New York and has offices in Los Angeles, San Diego and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Horizon Media was chosen as 2010 U.S. Media Agency of the Year by Adweek/Brandweek/Mediaweek as well as by AdAge and as one the world's ten most innovative marketing and advertising companies by Fast Company in 2011.

The company's mission is "To create the most meaningful brand connections within the lives of people everywhere." By delivering on this mission through a holistic approach to brand marketing, Horizon Media has become the fastest-growing media agency in the industry, with estimated billings of $2.6 billion and approximately 600 employees. The company is also a founding member of Columbus Media International, a multi-national partnership of independent media agencies. For more information, please visit www.horizonmedia.com.

SOURCE Adap.tv