Ari Jacoby is CEO of Solve Media, an online ad technology company.
AdExchanger.com: Where did the idea come for Solve Media? Why the name change from Ad Copy?
AJ: We spoke with over 200 CMO’s and senior agency folks who told us that display click through rates were tiny and they needed a solution to help people remember brands and brand messages like they do with TV. Consumers can’t buy what they can’t remember!
Given what our business is built on, the name Ad Copy makes a lot of sense: you copy the ad you see. However, with simplicity sometimes come unintended ramifications. We realized that many people we were talking with thought we were a copy writing business. So we changed the name to Solve Media—which we think is also a great name that conveys what we do well.
What problem is Solve Media solving?
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 and makes it simpler and more effective.
Solve media addresses the awareness and consideration portions of the funnel with a cognitive experience. We really solve the “last mile problem” for brands. Having a consumer complete a TYPE-IN is very similar to getting a read-receipt in email: message comprehension is guaranteed and on a cost per engagement basis, we can guarantee results.
What is Solve Media’s target market both from the publisher and advertiser perspectives?
We can work with any large publisher that has a CAPTCHA verification system and wants to improve user experience and create an additional revenue stream. On the advertiser side, we work with large brand advertisers & agencies across all major categories.
What types of formats are available and where do you see formats evolving?
The TYPE-IN is a 300×150 creative asset; we support rich media and static images. Our widget currently works on the iPhone and Android. We will be releasing a mobile SDK soon.
How defensible is Solve Media’s offering? Couldn’t ad networks offer such a feature?
We’ve spent a long time developing this product. While the concept itself is simple in nature, it’s quite complicated on the backend. We are a security platform and that’s not what ad networks are, or want to be. Will folks try to attack this same market? Sure. We’re confident that we’ve got a significant R&D and market lead on anyone who wants to try to do what we do.
Where and how do you source CAPTCHA inventory? Is significant scale that might attract bigger brand buys possible?
We are very fortunate to have built an impressive sales and marketing team. And they are selling and marketing a transformative industry product that we believe makes the online experience better for EVERYONE, not just the publishers or advertisers. We are hearing from more publishers and advertisers every day and the pace is very encouraging.
Do you cookie users? What kind of datasets can you offer marketers for targeting purposes?
We fingerprint each user and analyze their use of the widgets to detect bots and fraud. We do not store PII data. Anyone can review our privacy policy here.
How many employees today? How are you funded – do you need more?
We’re currently staffed at about 20 people and have received a very healthy series A financing from top tier firms. We’re well capitalized to grow our business and take aggressive advantage of our first mover position.
A year from now, what milestones would you like Solve Media to have accomplished?
We’d like to have global reach and widespread adoption of our TYPE-IN product.
Follow Ari Jacoby (@arijacoby), Solve Media (@SolveMedia) and AdExchanger.com (@adexchanger) on Twitter.
