Vudu Taps Ooyala for New Ad-VOD Service

Ooyala, the Telstra-owned online video publishing and analytics specialist, said its technology is helping to underpin Vudu’s new free, ad-supported video service.

Complemetngn its transactional VOD service, Vudu last week launched Vudu Movies on Us, a service that will pair off in the market with AVOD services such as Tubi TV and Crackle, as well as linear-style, free, ad-based OTT offerings such as Pluto TV.

Vudu Intros Free, Ad-Based OTT Option

Ooyala said it’s the “exclusive technology provider” for Vudu’s new multi-platform offering, which is using Ooyala Pulse, an advertising platform that manages real-time campaigns. With that system, Vudu can monitor if campaigns are on track to reach their goals and impression commitments, Ooyala said.

“Ooyala has quickly become an extension of our day-to-day team and ad operations; helping us connect with the right buyers, ensuring value is added on both sides of the equation, and that the process is seamless as we enter a brand new market,” Scott Blanksteen, Vudu’s VP of product, said in a statement.

“As new ad-supported offerings emerge in streaming TV, publishers are immediately faced with the challenge of building their audiences in an app-based environment that lacks unified search capabilities and a user-friendly means for content discovery,” added Seth Walters, senior partner of connected television at Modi Media, the advanced-TV arm of GroupM.  “Advertisers are faced with significant fragmentation when trying to reach audiences at scale.  Vudu Movies on Us presents an opportunity to place our clients’ messaging within an app that already has an established audience.”

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Ooyala’s customers include NBCUniversal, Star India, Sky Sports (U.K.), ITV Studios (U.K.), RTL Group (Germany), M6 (France), TV4 (Sweden), Mediaset (Spain), America Television (Peru), and Media Prima (Malaysia), am among others.