GumGum Expands to Canada in Agreement with Oboxmedia

Oboxmedia’s +40 entertainment, lifestyle, sports, music, and automotive sites to offer in-image advertising; a first in Canada

Los Angeles – GumGum, the world’s largest in-image ad platform, today announced an agreement which will introduce in-image advertising in Canada for the first time. GumGum is partnering with Montreal-based Oboxmedia, a media company with more than 40 websites targeted to over 8 million online entertainment conscious Canadians aged 18 to 44 yrs. old. This is the first time GumGum has been offered outside the US where it pioneered in-image advertising which turns publisher photographs into interactive user experiences by placing contextual ads on part of the images.

GumGum’s proprietary image recognition and targeting technology behind the ad placements can yield 20 times the click-through rate of traditional online ads. In the US, GumGum works with online publishers like Time Warner, Hearst Corporation, Tribune, TMZ, Gannett and Glam Media.

“Oboxmedia is a one-stop shop for followers of entertainment, lifestyle, sports, auto, and music and sets the conversational agenda for millions of young, passionate, and creative tastemakers and their social circles. Images play a central role in that process. Now, with GumGum, Oboxmedia can monetize their photos while creating an additive user experience,” says Ophir Tanz, CEO and founder of GumGum. “We’re excited to serve the Canadian territories in partnership with Oboxmedia.”

“To us, successful online branding is about more than generating clicks. It’s about getting face time with the right users in environments that support the brand’s promise,” says Christopher Rovny, Oboxmedia’s co-founder & Vice-President, Business Development. “With GumGum, we introduce a unique and captivating way of extending brand messages to contextually relevant images. In addition to helping brands reach audiences predisposed to their message, the GumGum model gives us a completely new monetization stream and provides brands the opportunity to reach highly targeted mass audiences.”

With more than 40 websites attracting over 9 million monthly unique visitors,  Oboxmedia (www.oboxmedia.com) is a one-stop shop for French- and English-speaking Canadian followers of entertainment, lifestyle, sports, and music. Focused on delivering “digital engagement,” Oboxmedia offers its clients access to core entertainment audiences, enabling them to reach these audiences exactly where they play and consume media both. Brands become the center of uniquely produced videos, photos, editorials, and real life events with Oboxmedia’s signature style that never fails to attract the exact audience. Based in Montreal, the company was founded in 2009.

GumGum (www.gumgum.com) is the world’s largest in-image ad platform and a Quantcast Top 10 Network, reaching 150 million unique visitors and serving billions of in-image ads per month.

GumGum’s proprietary image recognition and targeting technology helps garner user engagement through highly targeted campaigns that yield 20 times the click-through rate of traditional advertising units. In addition to helping brands reach audiences predisposed to the marketer’s message, the GumGum model gives publishers a completely new monetization stream and provides brands the opportunity to reach highly targeted mass audiences.

Hundreds of the Internet’s premier websites, including Time Warner Inc., Tribune, Scripps, Gannett, Hearst Corporation, Internet Brands Inc. and Glam Network rely on GumGum to turn photographs into lucrative interactive experiences by overlaying text, banner or Flash ad units on top of the images.

Founded in 2007, GumGum is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA and backed by investments from GRP Partners, First Round Capital, New Enterprise Associates and Crosscut Ventures.

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