Video ad distribution company Jun Group has launched a new, wholly-owned subsidiary called HyprMX, offering mediation tools for mobile publishers and developers manage video ads from multiple sources.
HyprMX CEO Corey Weiner said that Jun Group runs its ads through hundreds of publishers, and it found that some of those publishers needed more help managing their inventory: “They’re just not in the ad business — they’re in the content business, they’re in the games business.” So HyprMX helps those publishers run ads from multiple sources, including Jun Group.
There are a number of mediation options when it comes to standard display advertising, but Weiner said it’s an unmet need in video. The other challenge on mobile is delivering video ads in a way that doesn’t annoy users. For example, preroll ads are even more annoying on mobile, because you can’t just ignore them — they take over your phone for the duration of the ad. That’s why HyprMX focuses on incentivized ads, namely videos that users are rewarded for watching.
Of course, there’s a potential conflict of interest there. In some situations, HyprMX will be determining whether to run an ad from Jun Group or from one of its competitors. But Weiner said, “We’ve formed a Chinese Wall between the two companies.” The only thing the HyprMX platform cares about is maximizing the amount of money that the publisher makes on each ad view, and if an ad from another source will be more lucrative than an ad from Jun Group, HyprMX will choose the competitor.
At the same time, Weiner said the new company has an advantage in signing up publishers, since they’ve usually heard of or have a relationship with Jun Group already.