Social Media Ad Target Firm Nets $13m Investment

In the US, Lotame (Local Target Media), a firm which targets ads to social media audiences, has raised $13m in Series B funding, which it plans to spend on product enhancements, marketing, and business development.

The firm's proprietary 'Crowd Control' technology has been designed to help brands and ad agencies target campaigns to audiences that have shown recent interest in topics relevant to their campaigns.

Crowd Control pinpoints discussions on social media sites relating to a particular brand, and then helps that brand get its name on to the relevant discussions. Using the platform, advertisers can target the most influential members of social networks and measure a campaign's success according to user generated content about the brand.

Lotame also measures which behavioural and demographic factors indicate audiences that are particularly receptive to a campaign. In addition the firm anonymously collects data points on users' social media participation, such as posting pictures, commenting on blogs or watching a video.

This technology has been embedded into around 20 social sites to enable them to access anonymous user data and gender and age information, and help improve understanding of the key demographic of their sites.

'Forty percent of Internet use is on social networks. This is no longer a wild frontier, and will soon be the primary use of the Internet,' claimed CEO and Founder Andrew Monfried. 'Until Lotame, the basics of Internet advertising had not changed to address the unique challenges and opportunities presented by social media. Now advertisers can take full advantage of the basic premises of social networks - the user sets the content agenda and connects other users to ideas.'

The funding has been led by Emergence Capital Partners, with contributions from existing investors Battery Ventures and Hill Crest Management.

Web site: www.lotame.com .