Oracle has acquired Grapeshot, a UK-based contextual targeting startup, the companies announced Tuesday. Grapeshot provides pre-bid insights based on the media being considered. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Grapeshot will join the Oracle Data Cloud, where it will be combined with Moat to strengthen the company’s brand safety service. The company initially focused on contextual targeting, but its more recent activity has focused on developing tools to ensure brand safety.
For instance Vice Media last year used Grapeshot to build a tool that let advertisers decide which content categories they wanted to advertise against.
Grapeshot has a pre-existing integration with Oracle’s Moat. Combined, the two technologies can track fraud and viewability (Moat), as well as metrics like engagement and how long people hovered or dwelled on a specific part of the page (Grapeshot).
“We expect Oracle’s continued investment in Grapeshot will deliver more functionality and capabilities at a quicker pace, as well as provide better integration and alignment with Oracle Data Cloud’s other product offerings,” wrote John Snyder, Grapeshot CEO, in a note to customers.
On top of the brand safety solution, Grapeshot opens a better look into media environments and will “extend global audience reach by targeting the most relevant context, including late-breaking news and trending themes,” Oracle Data Cloud said in the release.
Contextual targeting has become more important for global clients because it’s less exposed to GDPR and other potential regulation, since it applies data for targeting media rather than users.
And unlike many ad tech subcategories, contextual targeting isn’t saturated with competitors. The Trade Desk’s partner program, for example, features two contextual targeting companies, Sizmek’s Peer39 and Grapeshot.
