Official Rollout of Advertising Targeting Solution ATOM: Strong Performance of 28% Higher Click-Through-Rates and App 15% Better Monetization Compared to Campaigns Without IDFA

Rhea-AI Summary

Verve Group has announced the successful beta launch of its innovative advertising targeting solution, ATOM, which enhances user targeting without relying on IDFA. The solution achieved over a 28% increase in click-through rates and a 15% improvement in effective cost per mille for publishers compared to non-IDFA campaigns. With positive feedback from industry leaders, ATOM is set for commercial rollout, backed by significant investment growth. The company aims to secure a patent for ATOM as it continues to evolve its capabilities in response to market changes.

Positive

• ATOM achieved over a 28% increase in click-through rates during beta testing.
• Publishers reported a 15% increase in effective cost per mille (eCPM) with ATOM.
• Verve Group plans to double its investment and team size for ATOM.
• The private beta phase's success positions ATOM for a forthcoming commercial rollout.

Negative

• None.

• Verve Group's in-house developed advertising targeting solution ATOM achieves a level of effectiveness that currently cannot be matched by any other provider without the use of IDFA.
• Campaigns during the beta phase saw an increase in engagement (click-through- rate) of more than 28% compared to campaigns without IDFA, coupled with an increase in eCPM (effective cost per mille) for publishers of approximately 15%.
• Industry thought leaders like Chris Hayek (former head of global media division at Shell) are impressed: "ATOM is one of the notable exceptions in the market, that delivers strong results in both CTR and ad personalization without relying on IDFA."
• Verve is now ready for commercial rollout; increasing team size and sales efforts. Largest German private media agency Pilot is committed for broad rollout to its customers.

VALLETTA, MALTA / ACCESSWIRE / November 30, 2021 / Media and Games Invest SE ("MGI" or the "Company", ISIN: MT0000580101; ticker M8G; Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market and Scale Segment Frankfurt Stock Exchange) publishes positive results for ATOM (Anonymized Targeting on Mobile), an innovative on-device targeting solution developed in-house by Verve Group (MGI's media segment) as a result of its Beta launch as well as a roadmap to market launch.

Based on Apple's recent decision that iOS users must provide consent in order to be tracked via IDFA as well as Apple strongly limiting the data that is made available to advertisers and publishers, efficient targeting and tracking of campaigns has become a major issue in the media sector in general and in the mobile space in particular, as Google is also expected to take a similar step. In the mobile space, this affects ad spend estimated to be around USD 140bn by 2022. For this reason, Verve Group started developing a solution almost two years ago that enables the segmentation and targeting of users - based on anonymized behavioral and contextual data - without using IDFA while displaying relevant ads to users and enabling advertisers to accurately reach their target audience and thereby achieving much higher accuracy than without IDFA.

Earlier this year, Verve Group announced the private beta launch of ATOM, and since then, ATOM has been made available exclusively to a select group of Verve Group's customers who have used the solution to run advertising campaigns without IDFA data. The initial results show that ATOM achieves a level of effectiveness that according to our information cannot be matched by any other provider without the use of IDFA.

Results of the Private Beta Phase
ATOM today has the capability to successfully build up to 50+ audience segments/consumer segments of interest for any marketer or advertiser. This number will continue to grow as we expand our advertiser and SDK footprint. These segments allow Verve Group to personalize the ad experience in the absence of mobile identifiers, delivering better value for consumers, increased CPMs for publishers and improved results for advertisers. These segments include: Demographic audience segments (gender, income, ethnicity, households with children, age, etc.) as well as visits and behavioral based audience segments (points of interests, shops, restaurants, commute habits, joggers, etc.). In the beta phase so far, ATOM delivered a higher degree of accuracy in identifying the target audiences, when compared to campaigns where IDFA is not used. Campaigns saw more than a 28% uplift in engagement (measured via click-through-rate or CTR) and approximately 15% increase in yield (measured via eCPM) compared to non-targeted IDFA-less campaigns.

Industry thought leader and former head of Shell's Global Media Division Chris Hayek is impressed with the results of ATOM and ranks the challenges for advertisers posed by the changes around identifiers as follows: "While it's becoming increasingly important for brands to reach their customers via mobile devices these days, the crumbling of identifiers like Apple's IDFA presents an extreme challenge for all advertisers. Without the use of IDFA, as an advertiser you are currently almost blind in regard to investing your media to reach the highest value / high income consumers that utilize iPhone devices. It's like dropping flyers from an airplane at 30,000 feet. At the same time, it represents a great opportunity, because if we are able to reach the right users without using identifiers, this can increase user acceptance for advertising and especially for relevant advertising in the long term. ATOM is extremely exciting in this respect, as it not only removes the need to utilize the IDFA but also refrains from pulling personal data from the mobile device into a cloud. This is very clever and could be the future of mobile marketing. This is one of the notable exceptions in the market that delivers strong results in terms of both CTR and personalization of creatives."

Also, Kristian Meinken - CEO of Pilot GmbH, one of the largest media agencies in Germany has had this to say about ATOM results: "Our clients expect us to achieve maximum performance while ensuring data protection for the consumer. We are therefore always searching for future-proof alternatives to well-known and tested tracking methods such as cookies or identifiers. In this time of need for innovation, we are pleased to have Verve Group as a partner who has the strength coupled with the will to find solutions and bring such groundbreaking on-device technologies as ATOM to the market."

Market launch and patent
The private beta phase is scheduled to continue until next year to allow for further testing and optimization of the algorithms, after which ATOM will be made available to the broader market. Due to its great potential, MGI has applied for a patent for ATOM's most relevant territories in order to protect this pioneering invention and the idea behind it accordingly.

Ionut Ciobotaru Co-CEO of Verve Group: "We have put a lot of effort into the development of ATOM over the past two (COVID) years. Seeing ATOM's great results, we plan to more than double our investments and the team size for this product. What started with a hackathon within one of the companies we acquired, has now expanded and brought together our best mobile developers and data scientists. With every step we're inching closer to successfully address one of the biggest challenges in the advertising industry."

Responsible parties
The information in this release has been made public through the agency of the responsible persons set out below for publication at the time stated by MGI's news distributor EQS Newswire at the publication of this release. The responsible persons below may be contacted for further information.

For further information, please contact:
Sören Barz
Head of Investor Relations
+49 170 376 9571
soeren.barz@mgi-se.com, investor@mgi-se.com
www.mgi-se.com

Jenny Rosberg, ROPA, IR contact Stockholm
+46707472741
Jenny.rosberg@ropa.se

Axel Mühlhaus / Dr. Sönke Knop, edicto GmbH, IR contact Frankfurt
+49 69 9055 05 51
mgi@edicto.de

About Media and Games Invest SE
Media and Games Invest SE is a digitally integrated games and media company with main operational presence in Europe and North America. The company combines organic growth with value-generating synergetic acquisitions, demonstrating continuous strong, profitable growth with a revenue CAGR of 78% since 2018. Next to strong organic growth, the MGI Group has successfully acquired more than 35 companies and assets in the past 6 years. The acquired assets and companies are integrated and amongst others cloud technology is actively used to achieve efficiency gains and competitive advantages. The Company's shares are listed on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market in Stockholm and in the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The Company has a secured bond that is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Open Market.

The Company's certified advisor on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market is FNCA Sweden AB; info@fnca.se, +46-8-528 00 399.

Forward-looking statements
This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's intentions, beliefs, or current expectations about and targets for the Company's and the group's future results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, anticipated growth, strategies and opportunities and the markets in which the Company and the group operates. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "may", "plan", "estimate", "will", "should", "could", "aim" or "might", or, in each case, their negative, or similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release, including the pro-forma financial figures addressed therein, are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements and pro-forma financial numbers are reasonable it can give no assurances that they will materialize or prove to be correct. Because these statements are based on assumptions or estimates and are subject to risks and uncertainties, the actual results or outcome could differ materially from those set out in the forward-looking statements as a result of many factors. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this release by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not guarantee that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements in this release (including the pro-forma financial figures) are free from errors and readers of this release should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this release. The information, opinions and forward-looking statements that are expressly or implicitly contained herein speak only as of its date and are subject to change without notice. Neither the Company nor anyone else undertake to review, update, confirm or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise in relation to the content of this release, unless it is so required by law or applicable stock exchange rules.

SOURCE: Media and Games Invest SE

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FAQ

What is the performance of ATOM by Verve Group?

ATOM achieved over a 28% increase in click-through rates and a 15% rise in eCPM during its beta phase.

When will ATOM be commercially available?

ATOM is set for commercial rollout following the private beta phase, which will continue into the next year.

What are the implications of Apple's IDFA changes for advertisers?

Apple's IDFA changes have made efficient targeting more challenging, highlighting the importance of solutions like ATOM.

What is the mission of Verve Group with ATOM?

Verve Group aims to enhance ad targeting through ATOM, enabling personalized advertising without IDFA.

What investments are being made in the ATOM project?

Verve Group plans to more than double investments and expand the team for the ATOM project.