Unruly Integrates With Casale Media's Index Exchange to Bring Top DSPs to First Programmatic Video Platform to Transact on Viewable Impressions

NEW YORK and LONDON, October 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

- As advertisers demand transparency and control, UnrulyX is the first programmatic media trading platform able to guarantee the viewability of premium video impressions bought via RTB

Marketing technology company Unruly today announces it has partnered with Index Exchange, a division of ad technology firm Casale Media, to access programmatic demand from leading demand side platforms and agency trading desks.

This partnership marks the launch of the UnrulyX™ programmatic media trading platform, the first to allow advertisers to buy video inventory from premium publishers via RTB on a viewable impression basis.

With comScore reporting that fewer than half of all video ads are actually seen by users^[1] and amid concerns over brand safety, view fraud and audience integrity on open exchanges, UnrulyX guarantees advertisers only pay for In-Feed views that are actually seen. Inventory is sourced transparently from direct integrations with premium publishers, including IDG and USA TODAY Sports Media Group, and already stands at 170MM unique users globally.

"Our RTB integration with Index Exchange provides publishers on our platform with direct access to a broad swathe of premium programmatic demand from leading platforms, including Varick Media," said Scott Button, CEO and founder at Unruly. "With programmatic video ad spend set to reach $3.64 billion by 2016 in the US alone^[2], the connection of UnrulyX to leading DSPs means that Unruly's viewable video inventory can now be bought programmatically by all major agency trading desks."

"We are thrilled to be able to align our infrastructure and demand partnerships with supply sources that offer quality and viewability," said Alex Gardner, vice president of platform solutions at Index Exchange. "There is no question that viewability is in high demand and this partnership with Unruly allows us to deliver high quality, viewable programmatic video inventory that will lead to better outcomes for buyers, while also providing Unruly's publishers with the premium, scalable demand they want and need."

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1. comScore vCE Benchmarks, Q1 2014, U.S found that 46% of display ads were delivered in-View.

2. US Programmatic Digital Video, eMarketer Oct 2014

UnrulyX allows integration directly with premium publishers in order to dynamically inject native video ads into the newsfeeds and content streams of site homepages. Exploiting Unruly's ViewPlay technology and using an asynchronous RTB loop, the winning bidder is notified when and only when the video player is directly viewable on the screen for 3 continuous seconds - exceeding the MRC standard for video viewability - making it impossible for RTB buyers to purchase a video impression that's unseen.

Unruly's proprietary Liquid Layout Engine automatically adapts the In-Feed video ad in real-time to the design and layout of the publisher's desktop, tablet and mobile sites. This enables cross-device, multi-screen advertising and squares the circle of programmatic native.  

In addition to the safety of buying premium video inventory via private marketplace mechanics and the certainty of buying native ad formats that guarantee viewability, Unruly has partnered with Integral Ad Science to assure brand safety and with MOAT to validate video viewability, both MRC-accredited vendors.

Rowena Johnson, Global Digital Director at MediaCom, said: "This is a very welcome move by Unruly because buying premium video inventory at scale in safe, well-lit environments is critical to our clients. The UnrulyX offering is strong because it exceeds IAB and MRC standards on viewability. This is particularly attractive on mobile devices, where such a large number of TV-averse Gen Y audiences are watching video."

Button added: "We've been methodically building a full programmatic stack from the ground up for the last two years, aiming squarely at the holy trinity of mobile, video and native. Launching our own proprietary RTB trading platform means we can increase transparency and trust for advertisers on key issues such as viewability, brand safety and audience integrity."

Availability  

The platform is now available in the US and UK. Availability in other markets will follow.

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UNRULY, UNRULYX and associated logos, designs and other marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Unruly Group Limited in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Other trademarks are owned by their respective owners. 

We are Unruly 

Marketing technology company Unruly is the leading programmatic platform for social video advertising. With 3 out of every 4 video views now taking place outside of YouTube, 83% of Ad Age 100 brands use Unruly's proprietary technology to reach and engage a global audience of 1.27 billion monthly unique users.  

Founded in 2006, Unruly employs 160 people across 13 offices in 10 countries, with regional HQs in London, New York and Singapore.

Powered by a unique data set comprising 521 billion video views and analyzing 24 million shares per day, Unruly's technology enables advertisers to algorithmically predict content shareability and programmatically target super-sharers across In-Page, In-Feed and In-Stream ad formats, with guaranteed viewability, shareability and brand safety across desktop, tablet and mobile devices.

To find out more, visit http://www.unruly.co

About Index Exchange 

Index Exchanges (http://www.indexexchange.com) provides a neutral, transparent exchange layer that enables leading publishers and suppliers to sell their ad impressions in real time. A division of online media technology veteran, Casale Media, Index equips enterprise level sellers with custom architected solutions, fully transparent sell side management technology, and access to programmatic demand that is organized and certified by humans into an ever evolving taxonomy.

Contact: David Waterhouse, +44(0)20-7199-5871