NEW YORK, NY (February 11, 2021) -- Media.net, a leading contextual advertising company, today announced an industry-first partnership with LiveRamp® (NYSE: RAMP), the leading global data connectivity platform. Media.net’s next-gen ad exchange — enhanced by its proprietary contextual engine — will integrate with LiveRamp’s people-based identifier to empower brands with the ability to reach their high-value consumers in relevant environments, at scale.

Today, at least 40-50% of U.S. website visitors are not targetable via third-party cookies. This enormous gap in consumer reach, along with the rise of data protection laws like GDPR and CCPA, have created challenges for advertisers, limiting scale and personalization. Media.net offers the world’s first and only ad exchange that is powered by a rich and proprietary contextual data engine, allowing advertisers and agencies to reach key consumers in a cookie-independent, privacy-focused manner.

LiveRamp's Authenticated Identity Infrastructure enhances Media.net's supply with people-based audience targeting, creating a new advertising paradigm, which ensures advertisers that the right consumers are messaged while engaging with the most relevant content in real-time. Furthermore, publishers deploying LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution (ATS) are able to utilize Media.net’s platform to harness the transformative benefits of both addressable and contextual targeting.

Here’s how it works:

• Media.net Exchange generates a deal ID that enables advertisers to reach their target audience in contextually-relevant environments via LiveRamp's people-based identifier
• Advertisers activate the deal ID in their DSP of choice
• LiveRamp's Authenticated Identity Infrastructure and Media.net's proprietary Contextual Engine create a highly curated ecosystem of programmatically accessible inventory that connects advertisers and consumers via addressable and contextual audiences

"Now, addressable reach and contextual no longer have to be leveraged in silos – advertisers can take advantage of them together,” said Namit Merchant, COO at Media.net. “Partnering with LiveRamp, a leader in the data connectivity space, to enhance our ad exchange and contextual data engine of over 7 million segments was a no-brainer. We are pleased to announce this partnership which ultimately benefits buyers intending to reach their most valuable consumers at scale."

“As regulation, browser restrictions and consumer preferences curtail the effectiveness of cookies, we have built an infrastructure that allows ecosystem-wide use of non-cookie, people-based identifiers,” said Travis Clinger, SVP and head of addressability and ecosystem at LiveRamp. “Our integration with Media.net’s ad exchange and contextual data engine delivers an optimized targeting solution that advertisers have demanded for a long time, and we are excited to bring this to market with Media.net.”

In addition to access to high-performance inventory, Media.net’s supply is 100% ads.txt-verified and direct-to-publisher, providing a cleaner, transparent supply path for brands to deliver their messages in contextually-relevant environments.

Paul Bannister, Chief Strategy Officer at CafeMedia weighed in, stating, "This is a great partnership that combines the power of contextual and addressable audience targeting, two of the most critical elements of publishers' strategies for the post-cookie digital advertising ecosystem. We're excited to augment our existing contextual and addressable targeting systems by working with LiveRamp and Media.net to maximize revenue."

“Media.net and LiveRamp coming together is a game changer,” said Jen Eenigenburg, Vice President, Digital Media at Rain the Growth Agency. “With this partnership, we’re getting the best of both worlds – contextual and people-based targeting, which is critical as the industry rightfully evolves on privacy. This will improve our campaigns, allowing us to reach our audiences in a wider, yet more targeted way, and in an environment that consumers can trust.”