LiveRail is a service that helps brands that want to purchase online video ads and place them with publishers. Founded in 2007 and servicing up to 7 billion ads per month, this 170 person start-up will be working with Facebook as of Monday.
Facebook announced they would purchase LiveRail on June the 6th without disclosing the full amount. As we’ve just learned thanks to Tech Crunch, this figure is now set at $400m-$500m – the exact number is still unknown.
What does this mean for general users? Facebook can now LiveRail’s expertise their expertise to better target video advertisements that run in our news feeds and help acquire more advertisers.
Interestingly, Twitter had also very recently announced its own video advertisement product (promoted videos). This move by Facebook can be seen as a quick move to stay in front of the crowd. There is said to be a big move from traditional TV advertisements to a more digital medium – these recent acquisitions by both companies will likely see large profits in the near future.
What’s your opinion on Facebooks current marketing in our news feeds? Do you find it too intrusive or do you accept is as part of using a ‘free service’?
Image courtesy of Video Ink
