Blockgraph is a JV of Comcast, ViacomCBS and Charter’s Spectrum Reach that uses the technology behind Bitcoin to enable privacy-compliant sharing of digital ad transaction and effectiveness data between partners.
Now it is broadening its partner base from broadcasters to the back-end.
In this video interview with TransUnion’s media EVP Matt Spiegel for Beet.TV, Blockgraph CEO Jason Manningham explains.
“It started with distribution – we focused a lot of our efforts, initially focusing on some of the largest distributors in the US,” Manningham says.
“What we see next is working with both demand partners, and bringing them into the equation.
“But, in order to do that, the base of the network will be working with some of the biggest identity enablers in the industry who have the right signals and have the rights to use those signals at scale.
Blockgraph Touts Data Control To Major Players, New CRO Schleider Says
For several years now, tech vendors have searched for an application for blockchain technology in ad-tech.
It works by using a shared, “immutable” – or, untamperable – ledger of actions like ad transactions.
Digital advertising, of course, is an industry that suffers greatly from lack of supply chain transparency, where intermediary vendors stand accused of obfuscating effectiveness and pocketing “ad tax”.
For Manningham, use of Blockgraph could be widespread. He continues: “Then likewise, other kinds of applications, whether it’s modelling, or being able to push segments to all of the programmatic platforms.
“So, we really see this as an ecosystem where we’re bringing together all of the right constituents for whether it’s for addressable TV, data-driven linear, or cross-channel video, which would also include OTT/CTV.
“So for us, it started with core addressable TV, and now we’re increasingly focusing on cross-platform, and working with some of the biggest identity and data partners in the world to make this a reality at scale.”
Comcast’s Blockgraph Sets Up As A JV With Charter, ViacomCBS
Blockgraph was launched in 2017. It uses peer-to-peer technology to let marketers, publishers and distributors match audience segments without sharing consumers’ identifiable information and without any technology intermediaries.
Blockgraph, which already included Comcast, ViacomCBS and Charter’s Spectrum Reach as partners, recently reconstituted as a joint venture, in which the three groups will take equal ownership. Jason Manningham, who was GM of the project, became CEO.
Comcast’s NBCUniversal also began integrating Blockgraph into AdSmart, the pioneering addressable TV platform it got when Comcast acquired Sky.
Manningham, tells Spiegel the tech has application in digital video.
“The landscape is just inherently more complex when it comes to video,” he says. “You have distribution channels, and those are increasingly more fragmented.
“And those are not always the same party as the inventory publisher, as the brand advertiser or the data provider.
“So all of these companies need to work together, but they need to do it in a controlled, compliant fashion.”
You are watching “The New Media Reality: A Consumer-Centric View of Identity and Personalization Emerges,” a Beet.TV Leadership Series presented by Transunion. For more videos, please visit this page.
]]>Blockgraph, which already included Comcast, ViacomCBS and Charter’s Spectrum Reach as partners, is now reconstituting as a joint venture, in which the three groups will take equal ownership. Jason Manningham, who was GM of the project, will become CEO.
Comcast’s announcement of the move also revealed that the group’s NBCUniversal has begun integrating Blockgraph into AdSmart, the pioneering addressable TV platform it got when Comcast acquired Sky.
In forming as a JV, Blockgraph is another example of the collaborative approach that has taken hold in the TV industry over the last year and a half, as broadcasters have realized they need to come together to achieve scale.
The initiative was launched in 2017. It uses peer-to-peer technology to let marketers, publishers and distributors match audience segments without sharing consumers’ identifiable information and without any technology intermediaries.
The idea of applying blockchain technology to advertising industry problems has been circulating for a few years.
Exponents believe blockchain’s use of an “immutable ledger”, a record of every transaction and event, stored in unison by every node in the network, can give ad buyers deeper insight and more certainty into where parts of their spend are actually going.
At Beet Retreat San Juan 2020, Jason Manningham said: “It is designed to become the “identity layer” for the TV industry, providing a platform on which media companies and publishers can offer marketers data capabilities without disclosing identifiable user data to third parties.
“Today, everyone who wants to match data is required to send that to the trusted third party. That can be very manual and it requires using these third parties who are putting an extra tax on the ecosystem. Blockgraph is a platform approach, so it allows near realtime matching off of data without exposing the underlying raw data sets. ”
“We’ve been quietly amassing a group of distributors across a large footprint of TV viewing homes, as well as inventory partners.”
More on the news reported by the Wall Street Journal.
]]>That is the promise of Blockgraph, a division of Comcast’s FreeWheel that has been working on realizing the potential.
The initiative was launched in December 2018, counting Viacom and Charter’s Spectrum Reach as early partners. Now Blockgraph is getting ready to get bigger, with some big announcements in the works.
“Blockgraph has been building a platform that will enable both addressability through secure peer-to-peer audience matching, data-permissioned usage applications, and then ultimately provide a lot of utility to all of the industry for those inventory activations,” says Jason Manningham, GM of Blockgraph, in this video interview with Beet.TV.
“To achieve that, we’ve been quietly amassing a group of distributors across a large footprint of TV viewing homes, as well as inventory partners. And there should be a really exciting announcement in the coming month that we’re really excited about.”
Blockgraph is video ad-tech firm FreeWheel’s new industry initiative focused on creating a more secure way to use data and share information.
By decentralizing information flow, the software aims to help:
“It is designed to become the “identity layer” for the TV industry, providing a platform on which media companies and publishers can offer marketers data capabilities without disclosing identifiable user data to third parties,” Manningham adds.
“Today, everyone who wants to match data is required to send that to the trusted third party. That can be very manual and it requires using these third parties who are putting an extra tax on the ecosystem. Blockgraph is a platform approach, so it allows near realtime matching off of data without exposing the underlying raw data sets. ”
Manningham was interviewed by TV[R]EV co-founder Alan Wolk at Beet Retreat San Juan 2020, where he was a participant.
This video was produced at the Beet Retreat San Juan 2020 sponsored by 605, DISH Media, NBCU, Roundel & Tubi. For more videos from the series, please visit this landing page.
]]>But do marketers have what they need to succeed in this new world?
“Identity is really at the center of data-driven TV,” says Jason Manningham, General Manager of FreeWheel’s Blockgraph, in this video interview with Beet.TV.
“If you think about the ability for a marketer to reach an audience across different distribution points in an increasingly fragmented environment, identity and being able to understand that audience across those different devices and distributors is the foundation.”
Blockgraph is video ad-tech firm FreeWheel’s new industry initiative focused on creating a more secure way to use data and share information. It is designed to become the “identity layer” for the TV industry, providing a platform on which media companies and publishers can offer marketers data capabilities without disclosing identifiable user data to third parties.
For a new white paper on the topic, Blockgraph has uncovered emerging trends.
For instance, the survey found that marketers imagine a growing proportion of their TV spend will be data-enabled, but 36% of marketers feel that identity resolution is one of the top three barriers preventing them from using data to build TV advertising segments.
This video is part of the Beet.TV preview series titled “The Road to Cannes.” The series is sponsored by 4INFO. Please visit this page for additional segments.
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