Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) announced that it entered an agreement to acquire LiveRail, an advertising technology company that helps companies offer better video advertisements on their websites and apps. The social network giant did not disclose the details of the transaction.
LiveRail is sometimes known as space as a “supply side” platform in the advertising technology space. Some of the clients of the company include A&E, ABC, Gannett, Daily Motion, Univision and Major League Baseball. The company was established in 2007.
In a blog post, Brian Boland, vice president of Ads Product Marketing and Atlas at Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) said LiveRail offers a “complete advertising solution for video publishers.”
According to him, the company provides marketers with access to premium video inventory and information to help them decide where to place their advertisements.
“We believe that LiveRail, Facebook and the premium publishers it serves have an opportunity to make video ads better and more relevant for the hundreds of millions of people who watch digital video every month,” added Boland.
Furthermore, Boland said the partnership between Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and LiveRail os just starting, and he expressed excitement about the future for both marketers and video publishers.
He believed that LiveRails supply-side platform and the expertise of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) in relevancy, delivery measurement would help them improve video advertising for every user.
Brian Lesser, CEO of Xaxis commented, “This is an excellent acquisition and consistent with the acquisition of Atlas, indicating an aggressive push to expand Facebook advertising and data to inventory outside of Facebook’s owned media.”
On the other hand, Mike Henry, CEO of Outrigger Media, a web video advertising firm opined,“LiveRail gives them access to video inventory that wasn’t going to happen organically. It’s a strong signal that their ad business needs to grow beyond the walls of Facebook.”
Observers in the advertising industry suggested that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is strengthening its reach in programmatic buying. The social network giant is managing its own ad exchange, and recently launched its mobile ad network. In 2013, the company purchased Atlas, an ad serving company from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
LiveRail is the world’s largest programmatic platform for video publishers. It delivers more than 7 billion video ads per month.
