Tag: Anzu

Singapore — Anzu, an in-game advertising solution, and Integral Ad Science (IAS), a global media measurement and optimization platform, have announced the introduction of an industry-wide solution that tracks viewability and invalid traffic (IVT) across 2D and 3D gaming environments.

Anzu and IAS have enhanced their in-game ad measurement solution, providing advertisers with increased trust and confidence in investing in the gaming industry. This comprehensive solution spans mobile, PC, and console gaming platforms, supporting programmatic and direct ad purchases for display and video formats.

Ben Fenster, co-founder and CPO, at Anzu, said, “When founding Anzu, we knew that for in-game to succeed, advertisers would need a robust and transparent way to measure their success and be able to compare it to other mediums, which is why this area has been a core focus for us as a business from day one.” 

He added, “It’s been great to work together with IAS on this first-to-market solution which marks a significant step forward in how measurement is done within the in-game advertising space.”

Meanwhile, Yannis Dosios, chief commercial officer at IAS, said, “We know that gaming is one of the most compelling environments for advertisers because consumers bring passion, focus, and dedication when they are playing.” 

Dosios added, “Our expanded partnership with Anzu brings IAS’s powerful viewability and invalid traffic measurement products to in-game 3D settings for the first time, demonstrating our leadership in the gaming space while providing marketers with even greater levels of transparency and actionable data to deliver results for their campaigns.”

Singapore – Digital marketing performance and branding solutions platform Entravision MediaDonuts has partnered with in-game ad solution Anzu to bring its in-game advertising platform in Southeast Asia.

Through the partnership, Entravision MediaDonuts will now represent Anzu in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, enabling advertisers in these markets to tap into the power of real-world ads inside gaming platforms. 

The partnership will also provide brands with a sophisticated channel where they could run campaigns in some of the most popular titles by Ubisoft, Saber Interactive, Amanotes, and other leading game developers. These video and banner ads via blended but highly viewable IAB-compliant formats can appear as stadium banners, billboards, buildings, or other 3D renditions.

Pieter-Jan de Kroon, CEO at Entravision MediaDonuts, said, “Gaming in our region has seen incredible growth over the last two years. We’re thrilled to partner with Anzu to bring its groundbreaking, nondisruptive in-game advertising solutions to 8 countries in APAC.”

He added, “Asia will remain a mobile-first gaming region, but we also see growth in console gaming so advertisers can now connect with consumers across all gaming platforms, leveraging Anzu’s full suite of advertising solutions.”

Meanwhile, Stephanie Lublinski, head of partnerships of emerging markets at Anzu, commented, “Southeast Asia has seen phenomenal growth in gaming in recent years, home to over half of all the world’s gamers. Our partnership with MediaDonuts means advertisers in SEA can now reach this massive, rapidly growing audience with in-game advertising that preserves the gameplay experience.” 

She added, “Thanks to our patented, adaptive technology, first-to-market in-game ad viewability measurement with Oracle Moat, and full suite of third party integrations with adtech vendors, advertisers will be able to achieve this huge reach in a measurable, cost-effective way.”

New York, USA – Integral Ad Science (IAS) and Anzu have recently announced a partnership to enable global brands and agencies to effectively monitor the quality of their in-game media investments in mobile gaming environments.

Through this collaboration, IAS provides advertisers with Invalid Traffic (IVT) measurement and reports on Viewability through the IAS Signal platform.

This strategic collaboration further delivers ad transparency into mobile gaming environments, continuing IAS’s progress related to in-game brand safety, suitability, IVT, and viewability measurement everywhere in the digital advertising ecosystem. 

Tom Sharma, chief product officer at IAS, said, “Gaming continues to emerge as a medium with broad appeal and growing reach. By partnering with Anzu, we now deliver in-game measurement and transparency for advertisers within gaming environments. This integration sets the platform for quality standards within ad-supported gaming and allows advertisers to better understand and control the quality of their media on Anzu.”

Meanwhile, Itamar Benedy, co-founder and CEO of Anzu, commented, “Anzu’s new partnership with IAS is the next step in standardising in-game viewability and performance in the mobile gaming industry, which is projected to reach $136 billion worldwide this year. This new partnership means advertisers can now get enhanced visibility into the effectiveness of their campaigns. This further strengthens the already robust metrics and reporting advertisers benefit from when running in-game ad campaigns with Anzu.”

Lastly, Joe Cady, EVP of advanced advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, commented, “This important measurement advancement will help accelerate advertisers’ ability to scale their in-game media investments by further demonstrating the high performance of the Anzu platform. We are excited to see Anzu and IAS partner to expand insights and streamline measurement operations for marketers as they evaluate their in-game media effectiveness.”

Singapore – Tom Simpson, former senior vice president for Asia-Pacific at AdColony, joins Anzu as its strategic advisor with a special focus on the APAC region itself.

He brings in vital experience working with brands and game publishers across Asia-Pacific to connect gaming and marketing opportunities. During his time at AdColony, he led the Asia-Pacific business, culminating in a sale to NASDAQ-giant Digital Turbine. Simpson also serves on the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) board in APAC.

Speaking on his appointment, he said, “I’m thrilled to partner with such a dynamic team and bring my passion for building strategic product and business relationships to help Anzu reach their next level of growth in this important region.”

He added, “Gaming is the fastest growing sector in media and marketing, meaning the play economy is hugely important right now. If work was the modus operandi for the industrial age, then play is how humanity creates value in the 21st century and beyond.”

Meanwhile, Anzu Co-Founder and CEO Itamar Benedy, commented, “We are thrilled to have Tom, who is also a good friend, on board and are excited to learn from his invaluable knowledge and insight into APAC’s gaming and advertising industries. Tom will focus on guiding the development of partnerships to further Anzu’s opportunities with brands and game publishers in this strategically important region, which boasts the largest gaming community in the world.”

Tel Aviv, Israel – In-game advertising platform Anzu has announced that it has raised US$20m in funding, bringing its total capitalization to US$37m since 2017. The funding will be used to continue its work as a global in-game advertising platform.

The funding round was led by two global brands namely entertainment company NBCUniversal and technology company HTC. It should be recalled that Anzu and NBCUniversal entered into a partnership to allow the brand’s marketing partners to run non-intrusive, in-game ads across Anzu’s cross-platform gaming inventory, which spans mobile, PC and consoles.

Itamar Benedy, CEO and co-founder at Anzu, said, “Everyone is talking about the impending metaverse, and we are starting to see it emerge from several different angles. However, if you want to see it in action right now, you just need to look to today’s most popular gaming platforms, which are hosting virtual concerts and film screenings. This funding will further expand our in-game advertising solution, helping even more advertisers understand where their brand fits in, and how they navigate these immersive, digitally-connected spaces.”

Other investors include WPP, Sony Innovation Fund, BITKRAFT Ventures, HBSE Ventures, Alumni Ventures Group, the iconic baseball team The Chicago Cubs, Goal Ventures, and a prominent angel investor Marc Merrill, the co-founder, co-chairman, and president of games at Riot Games. As with the previous round, all investors will act as strategic partners, while Anzu will remain an independent company.

Benedy added, “I am proud to have iconic investors who share in Anzu’s vision and enable us to bring in-game advertising and our best-class tech to more gaming platforms and global brands. Our last investment round helped us achieve some monumental milestones, including bringing in-game advertising to Roblox, becoming the first advertising platform to be verified by Unity, extending our partnership with Ubisoft, and launching new partnerships with leading games studios, including Saber Interactive for its AAA game Dakar Desert Rally.”

Tel Aviv, Israel – In-game advertising solution Anzu and Oracle Moat, a measurement and marketing analytics suite that is part of Oracle Advertising and Customer Experience (CX), have announced the launch of its first-to-market viewability measurement for in-game ads. 

This means advertisers working with Anzu have access to third-party viewability verifications and in-view metrics by Oracle Moat when running in-game ads, either direct or programmatically, on mobile and PC.

The in-view ad impressions within in-game take into consideration the percentage of the creative on-screen, the ad size, time in view, and the angle of the ad to ensure a robust and accurate measurement is made. 

Moreover, these metrics are also available globally, no matter where advertisers are running their campaigns from. In addition to in-view metrics, Oracle Moat will also continue to verify impressions delivery and detect invalid traffic (IVT) across Anzu’s in-game banner and video ad formats.

Ben Fenster, chief product officer at Anzu said, “Providing third-party measurement is essential to building effective media strategies, industry confidence, and wider adoption of in-game advertising, helping to establish it as an ad category. We’re excited to be the first to bring Oracle Moat’s viewability measurement for in-game ads to advertisers, and we look forward to helping them establish clear benchmarks when it comes to viewability so they can see how their in-game campaign performance compares to other channels.”

Meanwhile, Mark Kopera, head of product at Oracle Moat added, “As advertisers continue to invest in in-game advertising, it’s crucial that they can measure key viewability metrics, like the percentage of an ad that appeared on-screen, time in-view, and more. By expanding our collaboration with Anzu, we’re able to give advertisers the measurement tools they need to make more informed buying decisions to reach these highly engaged audiences across gaming environments.”

Sydney, Australia – Gametech and gaming marketing company Livewire has expanded its exclusive partnership with in-game advertising platform Anzu to help more APAC advertisers reach players within some of the most popular AAA console titles via non-disruptive in-game ads.

The partnership between Livewire and Anzu first began in January when the two companies partnered to help APAC advertisers reach players in Roblox.

Anzu is the sole official licensed provider for Xbox and their offering includes AAA console titles from leading game studios, including Ubisoft and Saber Interactive, who recently announced a partnership with Anzu to bring in-game ads into their highly anticipated AAA racer Dakar Desert Rally at launch.

Many more AAA titles are also on the way, which adds to Livewire’s growing suite of gaming solutions including the recent launch of a social gaming offering and the Livewire Creative Studios.

Furthermore, advertisers working with Anzu and Livewire benefit from advanced gaming marketing and gametech solutions, including research, gaming strategies, brand lift measurement, audience verification, data enrichment, and fraud detection in partnership with industry leaders such as Moat, Comscore, Kantar, and Nielsen.

Livewire co-founders Indy Khabra and Brad Manuel, said, “Launching in-game ads within premium AAA console titles is a significant milestone for gametech. Console games boast large durational play time, high attention rates, and are often played on large screens. Brands and agencies can now reach players within this premium environment via in-game ads that add to the gaming experience.” 

Meanwhile, Itamar Benedy, co-founder and CEO at Anzu, commented, “We are very excited to bring our premium AAA console inventory to more advertisers in APAC through this extended partnership with Livewire. We have already seen huge success working together with Roblox. I’m looking forward to extending this partnership and success to the console space, which is becoming an increasingly important media channel for advertisers looking to connect with their audience in an authentic and engaging way.” 

The expanded partnership taps on the 1.4b gamers in APAC, which is expected to grow to 1.8b by 2024, where advertisers running their campaigns in premium titles have a unique opportunity to place themselves in front of this large and diverse audience. With the APAC games market also estimated to grow by over 10% annually with a total market cap of $708.3 billion by 2026, this lucrative region has plenty of demand up for grabs.

New York, USA – NBCUniversal, a popular global media and technology company, has unveiled a new partnership with Anzu.io, an in-game advertising platform to further enrich NBCUniversal’s capabilities in growing entertainment areas like gaming and esports. 

NBCUniversal enlists the strategic partnership with Anzu as a global sales partner and the exclusive third-party seller in the US and UK. Now, NBCUniversal’s clients will be able to run non-intrusive, in-game ads across Anzu’s cross-platform gaming inventory— which spans mobile, PC and consoles—and use interactive, data-driven, contextual, and programmatic in-game advertising solutions, all with the high standards of privacy and brand safety they’ve come to expect from NBCUniversal’s One Platform.

Moreover, partners will also have access to Anzu’s full suite of leading adtech integrations as well as its robust measurement—including ad viewability, brand lift measurement, audience verification, data enrichment, and fraud detection—powered by Anzu’s partnerships with trusted industry leaders like Moat, Comscore, Human, Lumen, and Kochava.

Krishan Bhatia, president & chief business officer of NBCUniversal, shared, “NBCUniversal continues to reach consumers at scale on any platform and on every screen. In addition to streaming, gaming is one of the fastest growing ways to reach young audiences.” 

“This partnership with Anzu will allow our marketers to engage with an audience of over three billion gamers worldwide, and we’re only getting started,” Bhatia added.

As part of the deal, Anzu will be able to access the power of NBCUniversal’s One Platform, including its client and agency relationships, and marketing teams. Meanwhile, Anzu’s cross-platform ad monetization solution will help game developers generate significant revenue while respecting their players and adding to the overall gaming experience.

Itamar Benedy, co-founder & ceo of Anzu, commented, “We’re excited to bring our best-in-class tech and exclusive inventory to one of the world’s leading ad sales teams. This new partnership means more brands and agencies will be able to take advantage of our solution to reach an engaged and untapped audience within the world’s most popular titles while preserving the gamer experience. We also believe, over the next few years, most Fortune 500 brands will incorporate gaming into their ad strategies and the partnership with NBCUniversal brings us a step closer to this becoming a reality.”

This latest partnership announcement comes in the run up to NBCUniversal’s tech developer conference, ONE22 taking place on March 22nd, where the company is expected to announce its latest capabilities and partnerships in the data, technology, and measurement space.

Tel Aviv, Israel – In-game advertising company Anzu has secured rights from game developer Saber Interactive to be its in-game adtech provider for its racer game title ‘Dakar Desert Rally’. The secured rights comes after the two companies partnered up in November 2021 to bring blended in-game advertising to Saber Interactive’s upcoming game titles.

Anzu is helping the team replicate that; advertisers will be able to run their banner and video ads within Anzu’s in-game ad placements, which will take the form of 3D objects like roadside billboards and banners. They will also be able to take advantage of a variety of custom integration options, including custom vehicles that can be painted with brand colours, logos, and even have the driver wear a custom uniform. 

In addition, there are also options for roadside flags that can be branded with a product logo and different colours, and garage takeovers, where brands can add custom wall banners and items to decorate the building.

Alex Yerukhimovich, VP for games at Anzu, said, “We’ve been working closely with Saber Interactive to ensure our ad placements are perfectly positioned to enhance both the player and advertising experience. This is a great opportunity for advertisers to showcase their campaigns in a visually stunning AAA title, and for players to experience races with real ads that are relevant to the setting alongside the track. Just like they would expect to see if they were watching a real race, making the experience all the more authentic.”

He added, “More and more advertisers are making in-game advertising a larger part of their digital ad strategies. As the anticipation continues to grow around this title, we’re looking forward to bringing many into the Dakar experience to reach its millions of diverse and dedicated fans who stretch across the entire globe.”

Meanwhile, Todd Hollenshead, head of publishing at Saber Interactive, commented, “Our goal is to bring Dakar to life in a realistic and fun way, and it’s been great to see that passion mirrored by the talented team at Anzu through their industry-leading technology and expertise. We’re working closely together to ensure these ads are implemented in a way that is immersive and serve to help faithfully recreate the real-life rally experience.”

Tel Aviv, Israel – In-game advertising company Anzu has partnered with Top Down Games, the Roblox game development group under Benoxa, to allow advertisers to run their campaigns within ‘All Star Tower Defense’, the hit experience on the Roblox platform, playable across mobile, PC, and console.

The experience, one of Roblox’s most-played titles, is a tower defense game where players equip and deploy towers to defend their base from incoming enemies for as many waves as possible. 

As part of the partnership, advertisers will be able to run their banner ads and gifs within ‘All Star Tower Defense’ via Anzu’s in-game ad placements, which put players first and blend into the gameplay, appearing on objects like billboards, banners, and buildings.

The team at Top Down Games believes that Anzu’s solution provides a reliable and consistent stream of advertising content without taking anything away from the gameplay. 

“This allows us to focus more time and resources on future updates and new experiences for our fans. The team was also great at helping us figure out exactly where the ad placements should sit to help us get the most out of them while ensuring they naturally feel part of the player experience,” the team said.

Alex Yerukhimovich, Anzu’s vice president of games, commented, “2022 will be a pivotal year in the construction of the metaverse, and we’re extremely excited about our role in shaping it through partnerships with fellow innovators such as the Top Down Games.”

In October 2021, Anzu has launched its global Roblox offering, partnering with creators and integrating in-game ad placements into their experiences to make it easier for advertisers to enter the platform.