Solve Media

Great article written by Solve Media’s own Ash Nashed!

At Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Annual Leadership Meeting on January 29, 2017, Marc Pritchard called out the marketing world for subpar advertising. In an ultimatum, Pritchard, Procter & Gamble’s Chief Marketing Officer, announced that he would be giving agencies and media suppliers associated with P&G one year to become more transparent or they’ll lose business with them.

One specific improvement Pritchard called for was to have a third party conduct measurement verifications. The verification would allow companies like P&G to know whether or not their online advertising is being viewed by actual humans or bots. This would follow one of the Media Ratings Council’s standards for media rating research, particularly for viewability. Pritchard also mentioned that viewability standards shouldn’t be as disparate as they are and called for a one-size-fits-all standard. For example, Facebook has held that once a display ad appears on a user’s screen, it’s considered “viewed,” regardless of how much time the user spent looking at it. Meanwhile, Twitter’s standard states that a “chargeable” view on the social media site is when a video is 100% visible on the user’s screen and the video must have been watched for at least three seconds.

There has been growing concern about the quality of pre-roll “views”. Our own research has shown that over 2/3rds of users don’t actually watch the pre-roll ads. Facebook has been looking to better monetize videos published on their platform and it seems they’ve found the answer in mid-roll ads. In contrast to pre-roll ads one might see before watching a YouTube video, a mid-roll ad will appear in the middle of the video. Testing of the mid-roll ads within Facebook’s live videos began last August.

The social media giant has some conditions for their video publishers if they want to start implementing ads, however. The video must be at least 90 seconds long and the ad will only show once the user has been watching the video for at least 20 seconds. While this does post a challenge to video publishers, it seems to show a trend towards quality over quantity. While Facebook has traditionally held that a “view” constitutes a user watching at least three seconds of a video, it’s hard to tell whether the user is actually watching the full video since videos on Facebook automatically start playing once they show up in the user’s feed. The restrictions force the publisher to create a high-quality video that is engaging enough that the user will want to continue watching, instead of simply closing out the video before the ad even begins.

At Solve Media, we invented the branded, “Type-In to Skip” function to help advertisers reach real humans who are actually watching video content.

Adiant, a leading pioneer of native advertising, with more than 550M monthly global uniques, today announced that it has acquired Solve Media’s advertising business unit and its TYPE-IN™ ad platform that transforms CAPTCHA into a highly engaging consumer touchpoint for brands.

Solve Media’s TYPE-IN™ technology creates extremely effective branding opportunities to engage consumers through CAPTCHA, display, video, pre-roll and mobile formats. Solve Media increases brand message delivery, recall rates and return on investment for advertisers.  The acquisition will create new revenue opportunities for existing publishers and improve the user experience for consumers.

“In today’s digital world of ad blockers and fraud, engagement has become one of the most important metrics to measure digital advertising campaign success,” stated Ash Nashed, CEO Adiant. “We make it a priority to invest in technology and unique ad formats that increase value for both advertisers and publishers. Many top tier brand agencies stated that Solve Media’s TYPE-IN™ products consistently generate the highest brand and message lift. This is the only major ad format where consumers interact with a brand’s key message as opposed to the passive display and pre-roll models.”

Effective immediately, Solve Media’s inventory, groundbreaking ad formats and brand expertise, combined with Adiant’s ad technology and scale, will give advertisers fraud-free, highly measurable digital solutions across all screens.

Solve Media’s innovative advertising and security solutions will be available across Adiant’s vast network. With the combination of Adiant’s scale and Solve Media’s technology, it will provide unprecedented opportunities for advertisers who seek consumer engagement and brand awareness.  In addition, Solve Media will add to Adiant’s existing roster of blue chip clients with brands such as Merck, British Airways, Fedex, P&G, Unilever and New York Life, to name a few.

Solve Media Sponsors the Highest Ranked American Weightlifter and Top Archer in the World at This Year's Games

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Jul 16, 2012) - With only ten days until the opening ceremony of the Games, Solve Media is pleased to announce its sponsorship of U.S. Women's Weightlifting Olympian, Sarah Robles, and the top archer in the world and two-time U.S. Olympian, Brady Ellison.

"We are proud to sponsor two of the U.S.'s most accomplished athletes and promising medalists, and look forward to cheering them on during the Games," says Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. "Sarah and Brady are passionate and dedicated to their quest for gold, and respectively embody the ideals of Solve Media -- massive lift and precise targeting."

Solve Media chose to support Sarah Robles and Brady Ellison because they represent the best of the best, and are associated with the highest level of performance -- just like Solve Media and its performance-based advertising model. Similarly, the company's capabilities align closely to both Sarah and Brady's abilities -- accomplishing massive lift and precise targeting. Solve Media's ads are 11 times more effective than standard display media (as measured by ComScore) and are consistently the most memorable ads online. On a mission to become the best in the world, Sarah, Brady and Solve Media make a strong team.

"Being a female weightlifter and Olympian comes with a variety of challenges," says Sarah Robles. "But everyday I persevere to lift more, become stronger and change the perception of women's weightlifting. Having a sponsor that supports my quest for gold and greater awareness around my sport is amazing, and that's why I am excited to have Solve Media on my team."

Sarah Robles, a first time Olympian, is the top female weightlifter on the U.S.'s 2012 team. In fact, she ranked higher than any other American weightlifter, male or female. Coined "The Strongest Woman in America," some even speculate that she's the best hope the U.S. has at a medal in the sport during this year's Games. Follow Robles during her quest for gold on Twitter @roblympian or via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sarahroblesfanpage.

"It's great to be sponsored by a company that shares my passion for hitting the bull's-eye every time," says Brady Ellison. "Solve Media helps brands reach their target audience with every ad, and that's the same precision that I strive for with each of my shots."

In 2010, Brady Ellison was ranked as the number one archer in the world -- for the first time. He did it again in 2011. Now Ellison, a two time Olympian, has his eyes trained on the gold medal at this year's Games. Find out if Ellison hits his target by following him on Twitter @Brady_Ellison or via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ellisonbrady.

DISCLAIMER: Solve Media is a sponsor of athletes Sarah Robles and Brady Ellison, not of this year's Games.

Industry Veteran Supports Company's Move to Redefine Effective Engagement

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Jan 25, 2012) - Solve Media, the TYPE-IN™ advertising company, today announced it has added Ian Schafer to its Board of Directors. Mr. Schafer is the founder and CEO of Deep Focus, a full-service digital engagement agency. Formerly a vice president of new media at Miramax Films, he is one of the most influential voices in the industry and a recognized leader in interactive marketing and social media. He will provide senior counsel to Solve Media executives as the company continues to change how brands and publishers advertise online.

"The future of advertising lies with innovative and creative approaches like Solve Media's TYPE-IN that can capture a user's attention in a powerful yet unobtrusive way and deliver measurable results in lift, recall and participation rates," said Mr. Schafer. "Solve Media has grown quickly because they are addressing a critical market need. I look forward to helping Solve Media reach its next stage of growth."

Mr. Schafer has received a number of industry recognitions including being named a "Media Maven" by Advertising Age and one of Adweek's "Young Ones." He also serves on the executive board of the Social Media Advertising Consortium. He joins Chris Fralic and Scott Johnson on Solve Media's board.

"As one of the industry's foremost experts, Ian has an uncanny ability to anticipate trends in the creative and media agency landscape," said Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. "His leadership, knowledge and strategic insight will be invaluable as Solve Media continues to seek innovative and impactful ways to drive true engagement for brands."

Since its launch in 2010, Solve Media's TYPE-IN platform has been delivering performance-based campaigns for leading brand advertisers seeking superior engagement, awareness and recall. Unlike traditional engagement metrics that essentially measure ad exposure, TYPE-IN ads create lasting memories that benefit brands beyond clicks and drive loyalty and sales. The company's approach has attracted more than 3,000 publishers and leading advertisers, including Toyota, Microsoft, Universal Pictures and AOL.

Solve Media's Methodology Proven to Double Brand Recall Over Static Ads

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - February 17, 2011) -  New research published in the International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications finds online type-in advertising substantially boosts brand and message recall among study participants. According to investigators Keith E. Niedermeier, Ph.D. and Corey Pierson, type-in ads earned 65 percent brand recall and 35 percent message recall. These findings demonstrate how type-in ads deliver double the amount of brand recall and approximately 12 times message recall compared to 32.3 percent and 3.1 percent for static ads.

Type-ins are interactive ads which require the user to enter information, like a brand message or marketing slogan, into a text box in order to access content or complete a form on a website. In the study, type-ins replaced captcha boxes for human authentication on websites, presenting users with a simple logo, a brand message in quotes, and an input box. This direct interaction with the type-in ad dramatically improves brand recall, according to the study.

"[These results] suggest that online ads in a more interactive format like type-ins could play an important role in creating brand awareness and reinforcing brand messages," Niedermeier and Pierson wrote. "We feel that type-ins may have a particular utility in replacing captchas for form submission."

Solve Media, an online advertising technology company, centered its methodology on type-ins. The company's TYPE-IN™ platform serves both static and video ads in captchas as a replacement for distorted words, numbers and phrases typically used for user authentication, providing performance-based campaigns for brand advertisers with 40 percent engagement rates.

The Niedermeier and Pierson study validates Solve Media's approach to online advertising and demonstrates the advertising effectiveness of its TYPE-IN platform. Since the platform's launch in September 2010, it has been used by a number of well-known advertisers and publishers, including Toyota, Microsoft, Expedia, Dr. Pepper, Universal Pictures, AOL, Tribune, and Meredith Publishing. The company's TYPE-IN ads offer advertisers and publishers robust functionality, including brand survey and insight research capabilities, engagement analytics, video, rich media and clickable ad units as well as strict safety and security features.

"Dr. Niedermeier and Mr. Pierson's study validates what advertisers and publishers have already learned about advertising effectiveness," said Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. "The TYPE-IN solution is based on simple, timeless principles of advertising that enable brand marketers to target attentive consumers with certainty that their message is received and understood so that it can be recalled at the purchase decision point. Type-in ads provide that. Banner and pop-up ads cannot."

Research Methodology 254 subjects participated in the experiment, including graduate and undergraduate students at two large universities in the Eastern United States and general Internet users across the United States, solicited online.

Dr. Niedermeier is the Director of the Undergraduate Marketing Program at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the school's department of marketing. Mr. Pierson is a Wharton MBA graduate. Their article reporting the study findings, entitled "The Impact of Type-In Interactivity and Content Consistency of Internet Ads on Brand and Message Recall," appears in the Fall 2010 issue of the International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications, which is published by Racom Communications, Chicago. 

Video CAPTCHA Solution Gives Brand Advertisers New Tool to Increase Engagement and Message Recall

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - January 19, 2011) - Solve Media, the TYPE-IN™ advertising company, has extended its platform to offer advertisers 15-second video TYPE-IN ads with brand messages. TYPE-IN ads replace the distorted words, numbers and phrases typically used for puzzle-based CAPTCHA authentication systems with a logo or video, a brand message in quotes, and an input box. The Solve Media platform allows advertisers to increase both consumer brand engagement and message recall, on a cost-per-engagement basis.

Solve Media's 15-second video TYPE-IN ads run inside the CAPTCHA and are easy for consumers to see, interpret and control. Consumers play the video and immediately view the authorization text -- usually a branded message related to the subject of the video or the product/service being advertised. Then, the consumer types the brand message into the input box to gain authorization to the desired website, form or content.

Solve Media's video TYPE-IN campaign for Universal Pictures' motion picture "Devil" won the DPAC Award for Best Advertising Network Innovation in 2010. To view the campaign visit:http://www.solvemedia.com/gallery/universal.html.

"Users don't pay attention to or remember key messages in banner ads or even expandable video ads. TYPE-IN ads engage users where they are already paying attention without disrupting their experience online," said Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. "By layering video into Solve Media's TYPE-IN technology, brand advertisers can take advantage of our cognitive advertising approach in another effective medium."

Solve Media's TYPE-IN platform delivers performance-based campaigns for brand advertisers seeking superior engagement, awareness and recall. Since the launch of Solve Media's CAPTCHA advertising platform in September, consumer interaction with TYPE-IN ads has dramatically increased brand recall and resulted in approximately 40 percent engagement rates.

"Confirming that users are actually watching our videos with sound is a very important part of building awareness for upcoming theatrical releases through online media," said Lindsay Dye, Media Supervisor, Ignited, the digital media planning and buying agency of record for Universal Pictures. "This goal is often difficult to achieve, and Solve Media's TYPE-IN approach offers us a unique and engaging solution to the problem that is safe and effective."

Innovative Advertising Platform Achieves 40+% Engagement Rates, Guarantees Brand Message Comprehension on a Performance Basis

Partners at Launch include Toyota, Microsoft, Universal Pictures, Saatchi & Saatchi, Universal McCann, Ignited and many others

New York, NEW YORK—September 20, 2010—Solve Media today announced the launch of its TYPE-INTM advertising platform, a unique solution which leverages CAPTCHA authentication for brand messaging to bring unprecedented consumer engagement to online advertising. With the solution, Solve Media: guarantees brand message delivery and increases recall rates and return on investment for advertisers; creates new revenue opportunities for publishers; and simplifies the authentication process for consumers.

Solve Media’s cognitive advertising approach has already won the support of top advertisers and publishers including Toyota, Microsoft, Universal Pictures, AOL, Tribune, and Meredith Publishing. The company is backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures, and several prominent angel investors.

The Solve Media platform replaces the distorted words, numbers and phrases typically used for puzzle-based CAPTCHA human authentication systems with a simple logo, a brand message in quotes, and an input box. Advertisers pay only for messages that have been both read and typed correctly, thus ensuring that each TYPE-INTM purchased has not only been read and comprehended by a consumer, but also repeated, resulting in far greater retention and impact. Engagement rates for TYPE-INs TM have exceeded 40 percent—compared with rates of 1 percent or less for typical online display ads.

From the consumer’s perspective, a memorable, plain-English brand message based on a product attribute, slogan, or value statement is much easier to type than a distorted arrangement of letters or words. This overcomes a key complaint with the existing CAPTCHA experience: that even the most engaged users so often get it wrong. In fact, the existing system takes an average of 14 seconds to complete as users peck through letter-by-letter; with TYPE-INTMs, this time can be cut in half, improving usability and quality of experience.

Solve Media created the TYPE-INTM platform in response to an increasingly fragmented and busy online advertising experience in which marketers struggle for attention and publishers face numerous challenges monetizing their inventory and their audiences. Rather than introducing new distractions or interruptions to the user experience, the solution takes advantage of an existing mechanism which has long been required of consumers. TYPE-INTM ads deliver messages quickly, achieve user engagement and recall through an efficient, streamlined experience, and let consumers move on to the things they want to do.

Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media, said “The Solve Media TYPE-INTM solution is based on simple, timeless principles of advertising: meet the audience where they already are, gain their active engagement with your message, and help them remember it by having them repeat it.” He continued, “top-tier brand marketers are the toughest and most discerning customers, and to date, they have been underserved by tools available on the web."

"Solve Media helped us directly access consumer attention that was previously untapped," said Marty Collins, Emerging Media lead at Microsoft. "Our recent Internet Explorer campaign saw 41% brand lift for safety attributes, which was substantiated in our recent Comscore report."

Solve Media’s platform also offers robust additional functionality including significant brand survey and insight research capabilities, engagement analytics, targeting/re-targeting/re-marketing, video and rich media ad units, clickable ad units, and strict safety and security.

For publishers, working with Solve Media creates new, untapped inventory which they can immediately monetize, while delivering superior user experience. Andy Wilson, SVP Digital Marketing, Meredith Interactive said: "Based on great trial campaign results, we've extended additional inventory to Solve Media across new properties in our network."

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