Vibrant Signs on to Deliver In-Text Solutions Across ITV Websites

LONDON – Vibrant, the world leader in in-text solutions, has signed a year-long deal with ITV, the biggest commercial television network in the UK, to provide in-text solutions across its portfolio of online properties including www.itv.com, www.friendsreunited.com and www.itv-f1.com.

Vibrant In-Text Solutions offer both advertising revenue through Vibrant In-Text Advertising and editorial solutions through Vibrant Related Content. Vibrant In-Text Advertising highlights words and word phrases within premium web content. These words act as triggers, displaying relevant advertising when a user mouses over the word or phrase of interest. The ad, often video, is only activated once the user hovers over the word, and the advertiser is only charged when the user clicks on the ad itself.



According to a recent Nielsen Online report, commissioned by Vibrant, 70% of those surveyed felt that in-text ads are the most relevant to page content and 65% felt in-text ads are most effective in conveying their message. And, by extension, over half of respondents indicated a positive opinion of advertisers who use in-text ads-more than any other online format. Through Vibrant, top tier brand advertisers can reach over 120 million people worldwide with ads across 3,500 premium websites.

In addition to providing in-text advertising, Vibrant will work with ITV to provide Vibrant Related Content, an editorial tool which offers an automatic hyperlinking system to surface an additional layer of information to editorial hyperlinks. These links could include the websites related articles, video, music, and images. Clearly differentiated from Vibrant’s In-Text Advertising product which use a double-underline, these links mirror the style of the publisher’s own editorial hyperlinks with a tiny magnifying glass icon to indicate that further editorial information is available.

Says Gary Cole, ITV’s Head of Online Revenue, “The best thing about Vibrant’s in-text technology is that it enables us to deliver ads that are relevant to our users when they want to see them. Through in-text ads, we are able expand our ad real estate whilst ensuring a better user experience across our network.”

According to Craig Gooding, Co-founder and CCO of Vibrant, “ITV is a great addition to our growing list of 3,500 of premium publisher websites offering Vibrant In-Text Advertising. We also look forward continuing our roll out of Vibrant Related Content in the coming months and working closely with the ITV to surface valuable content from their editorial archives.”

About Vibrant

Vibrant, a world leader in contextual technologies and in-text advertising solutions gives marketers the opportunity to deliver highly targeted advertisements within premium Web content and offers publishers premium editorial tools to re-circulate users throughout their websites. Reaching more than 128 million unique users per month (comScore, Oct 2008), Vibrant manages more than five billion words and phrases each month for top brand advertisers such as Microsoft, Unilever, Warner Bros and Sprint. The company was founded in 2000 and has offices in London, New York, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Paris and Hamburg, with more than 200 employees. Vibrant’s rapid growth has been recognized by both the Inc. 500 and Deloitte Fast 50 lists. For more information, visit: www.vibrantmedia.com, www.vibrantmedia.co.uk, www.vibrantmedia.de, www.vibrantmedia.fr.

About Friends Reunited

Friends Reunited is the original social network with over 19 million members, representing an unparalleled cross section of Britain’s online population. It was launched in 2000 as a back-bedroom hobby to put old school friends back in touch with each other and swiftly became a British media phenomenon. In 2005 Friends Reunited was acquired by ITV.

About ITV Network

ITV is the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster and the largest advertising funded media owner in the UK across all media: television, radio, press, cinema, outdoor and the internet. As a producer, ITV makes more hours of network television than any other UK commercial producer. With the digital transformation of the media sector, ITV is developing new businesses across different platforms and media. ITV.com, the home of ITV online, offers access to ITV programming, clips and exclusive content.