Equativ accelerates CTV growth with Nowtilus stake
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| 11 July 2022
Aiming to boosts its ability to offer addressable live TV advertising for broadcasters, rights owners, distributors and operators, independent ad monetisation platform Equativ has made a strategic investment in digital video personalisation provider Nowtilus.
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After a recent rebranding, shifting away from Smart to Equativ to complete integration of its unified value proposition, the new move is the latest in a series of acquisitions and partnerships that accelerates Equativ’s growth in the connected TV (CTV) space.

Nowtilus facilitates broadcaster and publisher transitions to digital streaming, featuring, interoperability, ad-delivery and scale and is the developer of the Serverside.ai server-side dynamic ad insertion (SSAI) platform.
Citing research showing that more than a quarter of people in the US and UK are pure “streamers”, Equativ says that a significant percentage of the population can now only be reached on streaming platforms. It believes that server-side ad insertion (SSAI) technologies are vital for enabling ad-personalisation and targeting, while maintaining a premium user experience.

As a result, it says the integration of the Nowtilus’ core SSAI functionality into its programmatic video ad tech stack will provide broadcasters and operators with industry-leading live video advertising insertion capabilities. Video rights owners, distributors, and aggregators will also have the flexibility to manage revenue from direct sales with the power of reaching programmatic buyers.

By investing a significant stake in Nowtilus, Equativ intends to build an open framework for SSAI integration with other vendors. The company’s goal is to maximise ad revenue and performance by combining all key attributes of TV ad management in an integrated and open monetisation platform. Nowtilus will continue to operate independently, with the Serverside.ai brand remaining unchanged to provide a standalone SSAI solution for OTT, HbbTV and audio services.

Features of the joint offering will include header bidding with unified auctions between SSPs and direct demand; ad routing aiming to give direct access to the best possible outcomes with every ad request; ad break management to optimise the fill for advertising opportunities with matching ad creatives for each break; and dynamic ad substitution via HbbTV to ensure broadcast ads are delivered into the signal while filling open placement opportunities dynamically.

“The strategic investment in Nowtilus is the natural next step in Equativ’s advanced TV journey, allowing us to accelerate our vertical integration by internalising relevant TV tech expertise and resources,” explained Equativ CEO Arnaud Créput. “Nowtilus is the perfect match as it allows us to provide our clients with a completely interoperable and agnostic advanced TV and video solution that innovates with new format capabilities such as audio. Together we will provide greater control for the seller, limit ad leakage and optimise outcomes for the buyers.”

“We’re all thrilled to be joining the Equativ family,'' added Leander Carell, managing director and co-founder at Nowtilus. “As a fervent supporter of the Open Web, Equativ also advocates for the wider adoption of stronger standards in terms of data sharing, competition management, transparency, interoperability, and openness. All the ingredients of a more robust and efficient CTV ecosystem.”