Comscore and FreeWheel Forge Next-Gen Partnership, Further Enhancing Privacy-Resilient CTV and Contextual Advertising

Rhea-AI Summary

Comscore (NASDAQ:SCOR) and FreeWheel have partnered to support privacy-resilient ID-free audiences for CTV. This innovation will provide publishers with streamlined access to future-proofed audience monetization tools and enable buyers to reach targeted audiences across premium CTV content. The integration of Proximic by Comscore's data into FreeWheel's ad management platform will allow publishers to access extensive content-level categorization data, including contextual advertising capabilities.

Paramount is the first to adopt this new solution, incorporating it into their EyeQ Select solution. The partnership aims to address the industry's disruptive signal loss challenges by offering targeting audiences that scale beyond ID-based solutions. FreeWheel will surface Proximic by Comscore's full contextual suite, including IAB categories, brand safety, and suitability, enabling content-level inventory insights.

Positive

• Partnership with FreeWheel expands Comscore's reach in the CTV advertising market
• Integration provides privacy-resilient, ID-free audience targeting solutions
• Paramount adoption of the solution demonstrates market validation
• Expansion of targeting capabilities for advertisers across Paramount's digital content portfolio

Negative

• None.

Insights

Market Research Analyst

This partnership between Comscore and FreeWheel marks a significant shift in CTV advertising, addressing critical industry challenges. The collaboration introduces privacy-resilient, ID-free audience targeting for CTV, a timely solution as the industry grapples with signal loss and privacy concerns. This move could potentially increase the attractiveness of CTV advertising to brands, especially those in sensitive sectors like pharmaceuticals.

The integration of Proximic's data into FreeWheel's platform offers publishers enhanced monetization tools and provides buyers with scalable, targeted audience reach. This could lead to more efficient ad spending and potentially higher CPMs for premium CTV inventory. Paramount's early adoption of this solution for its EyeQ platform suggests confidence in its effectiveness, which could influence other major players to follow suit.

While this development is promising, its long-term impact will depend on widespread adoption and its ability to deliver results comparable to ID-based targeting. Investors should monitor how this solution performs in terms of ad effectiveness and revenue generation for both publishers and advertisers in the coming quarters.

Tech Expert

The Comscore-FreeWheel partnership represents a technological leap in CTV advertising. By leveraging contextual advertising capabilities and content-level categorization data, this solution circumvents the need for individual user IDs, addressing privacy concerns while maintaining targeting precision.

The integration of over 1,000 ID-free interest and purchase intent audiences into FreeWheel's Audience Manager is particularly noteworthy. This vast array of targeting options, combined with IAB categories and brand safety measures, provides a comprehensive toolkit for advertisers. The scalability of this solution is a key technical advantage, potentially allowing for more efficient and widespread application across the CTV landscape.

However, the effectiveness of this technology in matching the performance of ID-based targeting remains to be seen. The industry will be closely watching metrics such as audience reach, engagement rates and conversion data to assess its viability as a long-term solution in the evolving digital advertising ecosystem.

Paramount among first to adopt new CTV audiences as part of its EyeQ Select solution, enabling ID-free interest and intent audience buying across its global portfolio

NEW YORK, Aug. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Proximic by Comscore, a division of Comscore Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOR) and a leading provider of audience targeting solutions for programmatic activation, and FreeWheel, a global technology platform for the television advertising industry, today announced a partnership to support privacy-resilient ID-free audiences for CTV. The innovation will provide publishers with streamlined access to future-proofed audience monetization tools and provide buyers the ability to reach targeted audiences at scale across premium CTV content.

With the integration of Proximic by Comscore’s data directly into FreeWheel’s ad management platform, publishers working with FreeWheel will be able to seamlessly access extensive content-level categorization data, including contextual advertising capabilities:

• This data will enable inventory packaging against high-demand segments, such as interest and purchase-intent behaviors, in a highly scalable manner thanks to the ID-free and privacy-resilient nature of these Proximic datasets.
• Buyers seeking to reach targeted audiences on premium CTV inventory will benefit from FreeWheel’s extensive network of DSP integrations to execute their deals.

As the industry faces disruptive signal loss challenges, there is a growing demand for targeting audiences that scale beyond ID-based solutions. FreeWheel is adding to its array of solutions and will surface Proximic by Comscore’s full contextual suite, including IAB categories, brand safety and suitability, enabling content-level inventory insights. Additionally, more than one thousand Proximic ID-free interest and purchase intent audiences will be made available in Audience Manager, FreeWheel’s simplified solution for ingesting, managing and activating audiences across any screen.

“With CTV now a core component of modern media campaigns, the industry needs a multitude of solutions that unlock audience targeting and content-level buying across premium video while still respecting consumer privacy,” said Matt Clark, Vice President, Partnerships, FreeWheel. “By partnering with Proximic by Comscore, FreeWheel is facilitating even more data optionality in a privacy-first manner by combining the power of purchase data and content-level insights across premium streaming publishers at scale.”

“At Paramount, we are committed to providing best-in-class programmatic activation and making television a full-funnel performance vehicle for advertisers of all sizes,” said Leo O’Connor, SVP of Advertising at Paramount. “Comscore’s ID-free audience data expands our targeting capabilities within our EyeQ solution to include interest and intent signals, providing more flexibility and choice for advertisers looking to activate scalable audience buys across Paramount’s massive domestic and international digital content portfolio in a privacy-sensitive manner.”

“As the programmatic TV advertising landscape undergoes critical transformation, we’re thrilled to be joining forces with FreeWheel to provide publishers and media buyers with privacy-resilient, ID-free audience targeting solutions when and where they need them the most,” said Rachel Gantz, Managing Director, Proximic by Comscore. “Together with FreeWheel, Comscore is changing the fundamental nature of programmatic TV into an effective, privacy-forward advertising environment.”

“Having access to options for reaching targeted audiences, especially within the pharmaceutical vertical, across premium video content and without infringing on a consumer’s data privacy helps us unlock the potential of CTV for our business,” said Sari Applebaum, Senior Director of Digital Investment, Hearts & Science.

Paramount is the first to adopt this new solution, and it will be available for additional publishers later this year. With signal loss continuing to persist, Proximic by Comscore and FreeWheel will remain dedicated to investing in a privacy-centric TV advertising ecosystem.

About FreeWheel:

FreeWheel empowers all segments of The New TV Ecosystem. We are structured to provide the full breadth of solutions the advertising industry needs to achieve their goals. We provide the technology, data enablement and convergent marketplaces required to ensure buyers and sellers can transact across all screens, across all data types, and all sales channels, in order to ensure the ultimate goal – results for marketers. With offices in New York, Chicago, London, Paris, Beijing, and across the globe, FreeWheel, A Comcast Company, stands to advocate for the entire industry through the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video. For more information, please visit freewheel.com, and follow us on X and LinkedIn.

About Proximic by Comscore:

Proximic by Comscore, a division of Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), is a leader in programmatic targeting. Powered by Comscore's trusted datasets and one of the industry's leading natural language processing contextual engines, Proximic by Comscore enables media buyers and sellers to maximize the scale and performance of their campaigns. Through their innovative suite of ID-based and ID-free audience and content targeting segments, Proximic by Comscore supports the evolution of the programmatic ecosystem, enabling clients and partners to continue executing impactful advertising strategies. For more information about Proximic by Comscore, please visit www.proximic.com.

Media contact:
Marie Scoutas
press@comscore.com

FAQ

What is the purpose of the partnership between Comscore (SCOR) and FreeWheel?

The partnership aims to support privacy-resilient ID-free audiences for CTV, providing publishers with streamlined access to future-proofed audience monetization tools and enabling buyers to reach targeted audiences across premium CTV content.

How does the Comscore (SCOR) and FreeWheel partnership benefit publishers?

Publishers working with FreeWheel will be able to seamlessly access extensive content-level categorization data, including contextual advertising capabilities, enabling inventory packaging against high-demand segments in a privacy-resilient manner.

Which company is the first to adopt the new CTV audience solution from Comscore (SCOR) and FreeWheel?

Paramount is the first to adopt this new solution, incorporating it into their EyeQ Select solution to expand targeting capabilities across their digital content portfolio.

When will the Comscore (SCOR) and FreeWheel CTV audience solution be available to other publishers?

The solution will be available for additional publishers later in 2024, following Paramount's initial adoption.