Ad Serving, Direct Deals and OTT Drive SpotX s 06 Grow

Cross-screen ad serving, private marketplace and Curated Marketplaces drive global expansion

23 March, 2017 -- Video inventory management platform SpotX today released its full year 2016 growth figures, noting significant growth from its advanced ad serving and over-the-top (OTT) video business streams.

The Denver-based company, which significantly expanded its footprint in Asia Pacific and Europe in the past year, saw media spend transacted through its platform grow 33% year on year in 2016. Headcount grew 26% year on year and the number of media owners using SpotX's platform increased by 56%.

This growth shows an expanding and more strategic use of the principles of programmatic in video, with the use of automated inventory management expanding to tag-based direct deals between media owners and advertisers. SpotX's modern ad serving platform blends programmatic and direct deals, giving media owners a single platform to manage all demand sources.

We're seeing a continuing expansion and sophistication of automated monetisation in the video space as media owners look for ways to maximise their video yield, said Mike Shehan, CEO and Co-Founder of SpotX. Around the globe, media owners are looking to advanced ad server technology and a blend of transaction styles to get the most out of their precious video assets. These trends have driven shifts within our business towards more private marketplaces and direct deals, as well as growth in new areas such as Curated Marketplaces and connected TV.

SpotX's Growth Milestones - FY 2016

Signed over 300 publishers in 2016 (a 56% year-on-year increase), including names such as Microsoft Casual Games, Thomson Reuters, Mediacorp, Meredith Local Media Group, PBS, Gameloft, Newsy, Xumo, Anypoint Media, MLB Advanced Media, FOX Deportes, AccentHealth, Cheetah Mobile, Playwire, VICE, TMG, Time Inc, International Business Times, Dingit, Discovery, G+J.

New offices opened in Belfast, Stockholm and Singapore, bringing the number of offices to 10 around the globe.

Headcount grew to 345 globally, a 26% year-on-year increase.

Full integration across all connected TV devices, with publishers using SpotX to monetise over 50 types of connected devices, including Amazon, Apple, Roku, Google, Sony, Vizio, gaming consoles and other connected TV devices.

In a landmark deal with targeted linear TV advertising service Anypoint Media, SpotX brought household-level addressability to linear TV to the Asia Pacific region for the first time.

New product releases included enhanced mobile app data and monetisation options, advances in user rights management, outstream ad unit enhancements, increased functionality and reporting for programmatic direct campaigns, Universal AdOS, a DirectAdOS SDK, and improved viewability and geo targeting capabilities.

Commenting on the results in the UK, L on Siotis, Managing Director for the UK and Southern Europe, explains, 2016 was a good growth year for SpotX in the UK and Southern Europe. We have more than doubled the size for the team and more publishers in the region have been adopting the SpotX platform - including, Time Inc, International Business Times and Dingit, - and there has been a 50% increase in number of publishers utilising the SpotX software in 2016.

In addition, Alex Merwin, SpotX VP International, added thoughts on the company's operations in Asia, eMarketer predicts that digital media will grow to become 53.5% of total media investment by 2020 and programmatic video markets within the Asia Pacific region are still developing. Recent developments show its potential to become the largest international region for video investment.

Merwin continues, Insular markets like Japan, China and South Korea have major players now activating video ad servers with modern infrastructure, with Cheetah Mobile (China) and AnyPoint Media (South Korea) adopting SpotX. South East Asia is more nascent, but broadcaster adoption like MediaCorp (Singapore) and BHD (Vietnam) represent strong wins for SpotX. To support this growth the team - distributed between Sydney, Singapore & Indonesia - has grown from 10 to 18 in the past 12 months.

About SpotX

SpotX is a video inventory management platform providing premium publishers and broadcasters with monetization tools for desktop, mobile and connected devices. The platform features modern ad serving and programmatic enablement technology, and other monetisation tools, including outstream video ad units and solutions for connected TV. SpotX gives publishers the control, transparency and actionable insights needed to understand buyer behavior, manage access and pricing, and maximize revenue. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Sydney, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Hamburg, Munich, Belfast, and Singapore. In July 2014, European entertainment network RTL Group acquired a 65% stake in SpotX. For updates, follow SpotX on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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