LucidMedia is providing its contextual ClickSense technology “to enable enhanced contextualization services within ValueClick’s online advertising platforms.” Read the release.
LucidMedia CEO Ajay Sravanapudi discussed the ValueClick deal.
AdExchanger.com: Does this deal represent a strategic shift for LucidMedia? Are you moving away from the DSP model you announced earlier in the year?
AS: No, our demand-side platform is still our core solution. This represents an evolutionary advancement to what we feel is now the single most comprehensive digital advertising management platform in the marketplace. Our platform includes our ClickSense(R) patented page-level contextual analysis technologies, and features like intelligent real-time bidding (RTB), a consolidated buying seat on all the major exchanges, unique insights into inventory avails, preemptive brand safe filters, a universal frequency cap, and reach into 95% of the online population. Our self-service and managed service DSP is another component of this comprehensive display management solution. Our partnership with ValueClick is another way in which we are going to market with our ad management platform.
What does it say about the state of the industry that LucidMedia is providing contextual technology to what could be seen as a competitor in ValueClick?
It’s more “co-opetition” than direct competition. Our comprehensive platform strategy has always included embedding our contextual engine as broadly as possible making our categorization the industry standard. We began this strategy in 2008 when we integrated our contextual engine with Yahoo’s RightMedia Exchange. ValueClick is one of the select strategic partners leveraging our data services. Advertisers may be able to benefit from our contextualization with several of our partners, but our clients come to our demand-side platform for a level of control, efficiency, and scale that they cannot get elsewhere.
How does pricing work for your ClickSense contextual targeting in deals such as this?
Each deal is structured differently, but they can range from flat-fee licensing arrangements to revenue sharing models. We are not at liberty to discuss the financial structure of this specific deal, but we have a variety of structures in which we are compensated for deploying our technology to our many partners.
By John Ebbert
