Virurl has launched a new feature that it says will make it even easier for publishers to promote articles and videos through its platform.
The feature is called RSS Ads, and it offers another way to convert articles into advertising — when a new article gets posted to a publisher’s RSS feed, it automatically becomes an ad, which can then be promoted through the content widget displayed on Virurl’s partner sites, as well as through the social influencers who get paid to share Virurl content. In the press release announcing the new feature, co-founder and CEO Francisco Diaz-Mitoma said that it allows advertisers to “stay focused on what they do best — creating valuable content.” The company also argues that by allowing publishers to promote, more content, it will increase clickthrough rates.
In addition to RSS ads, Virurl is announcing that since it launched in 2011, it has been used to distribute 4 million stories, including 3 million in the last six months. Publishers who use Virurl to promote their content include Sports Illustrated, VICE, Funny Or Die, and StyleCaster.
There are, however, plenty of other companies offering to transform content into ads — earlier this month, for example, I wrote about the launch of OneSpot. Diaz-Mitoma told me via email that what sets Virurl apart is the completely customizability of its ad units.
“Virurl’s tools coupled with our high quality content network allows our publishers and advertisers to get as close as possible to the ‘native advertising’ unicorn,” he said.
The company raised $1.2 million in seed funding earlier this year.