Hulu Buys Video Genome Project Tech

By Jon Lafayette
published

Hulu said it acquired the assets of The Video Genome Project, a data base that will improve the streaming video company’s recommendation engine. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Video Genome Project has a granular, structured database of video content that uses hundreds of contextual attributes from metadata to deliver more insightful and relevant recommendation to the viewer. The data will be combined with Hulu’s current recommendation technology.

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"The future of television is not just going to be about where and how you watch, it’s going to be about how personal your viewing experience can be,” Ben Smith, head of experience at Hulu, said in a statement. “With this strategic acquisition of The VGP’s technology, we’re gaining important data and personalization capabilities that will allow us to serve our users even better as we expand into live programming.”

Hulu says that 75% of its viewing is driven by recommendations.

Read more at B&C.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.