Videoplaza, an ad serving startup for video platforms is partnering with Belgian publisher RTL Newmedia, its first client in the country. In addition, Richard Titus, a long time entrepreneur and investor, is joining Videoplaza’s board, following a minor investment. The partnership means a full integration of ads into online videos and radio for RTL Newmedia, part of RTL Belgium, the country’s largest TV, radio and production company in the French-speaking part of the country.
Videoplaza’s ad server platform monetises online video, live radio and radio-on-demand, via pre- and mid-roll ads for online radio. An iPhone app is also in development. Sorosh Tavakoli, Videoplaza founder and CEO says the solutions they created for RTL Newmedia are also new for the startup. He told me “95% of the publishers we chat with do more than online video now, they all do or want to do mobile, tables, set top boxes, etc.The Display platforms just can’t do that. We are more the core infrastructure of how a publisher manages their ad inventory. All ads go through our system – their own ads, prerolls, networks, inskins etc.”
As such Videoplaza is competitng with Adtech and Doubleclick. But those platforms are built for display and not video. They are especially not built for what is known now as the “New TV” as in Web TV. Hense the startup’s advantage.
Edouard de Witte, Deputy Director at RTL Newmedia says “Adding radio and mobile technology platforms to the mix enables us to further tap into the full potential this type of unobtrusive ad serving offers.”
Titus will assume an advisory role. Most recently he served as the CEO of Associated Northcliffe Digital in the UK.
Videoplaza now has customers in fifteen European countries across broadcasters, newspapers and other media companies and partners with US-based Ooyala and Brightcove.
UPDATE: Although we previously reported that VideoPlaza had won the contract with RTL over Adswizz, we’ve since learnt that while Adswizz has an agreement with Beweb, a leading Belgian on-line ad-network which counts RTL Newmedia has one of its affiliated publishers, it’s never directly entered into any agreement.