Adobe Expands Into Online Video Advertising Through Auditude Acquisition

Adobe Expands Into Online Video Advertising Through Auditude Acquisition

Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 9:40 AM ET

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Posted by Will Richmond

Adobe is expanding into the surging online video advertising space, announcing that it has acquired video ad manager Auditude, whose Connect platform is used by customers such as Comcast, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, Dailymotion and others. Adobe views Auditude as providing the monetization piece of an integrated Adobe solution that already includes video creation, publishing and optimization across all IP-enabled devices. Auditude had raised approximately $40 million to date.

The overall solution is targeted to premium video publishers and distributors where Adobe already has a strong footprint through its Flash Media products and Digital Marketing Suite (i.e. Omniture). The deal seems like a pretty smart move since at a minimum Auditude will benefit from exposure to Adobe's large customer base. Adobe's positioning of the deal as streamlining work flows from creation through monetization/measurement will also resonate with publishers who are swamped trying to keep up with myriad new devices, platforms and social media opportunities.

A longer term benefit of the deal is that by integrating Auditude with Adobe Pass - which has quickly become the leader in TV Everywhere authentication - Adobe stands to gain as content offered by cable networks to multiple devices ramps up and needs to be monetized.

Below is a video from this past summer's ELEVATE conference including Mike Gaffney, Auditude's Chief Revenue Officer and Noah Garden, MLBAM's EVP, Revenue.

And note - if you want to get a deep dive into online video advertising, come to VideoSchmooze: NYC Online Video Leadership Forum on Wed., Nov. 30th, and hear from executives at YouTube, CBS Interactive, VivaKi, Comcast, Yahoo, Kantar Video, Roku and others. Early-bird registration discount is now available.

Categories: Advertising, Deals & Financings

Topics: Adobe, Auditude