Solve Media Blog

Police Academy's Michael Winslow is back, discussing Bots!

solvemedia — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:29:00 -0400

Months ago, our marketing team sat down and brainstormed how to explain our security story in a simple way. We put on our creative caps and came up with something special - a children’s book!

Last week, we released “Bot or Not?”, a rhyming tale that explains the dangers of malicious online Bots.

With such a vibrant book, we looked for someone animated and hilarious to read it to a group of children! We couldn’t think of anyone better than Police Academy’s Michael Winslow.

If you haven’t seen the original video, you can view it here.

Curious what the kids thought of Michael Winslow and “Bot or Not?”. Check out the bloopers below!

How are you celebrating Mother's Day?

solvemedia — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:30:52 -0400

Here’s what visitors of the 6,000 publishers in our network said!

Mobile Bot Traffic on Pace to Waste Nearly A Billion Dollars of Advertising Budgets in 2013

solvemedia — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:20:00 -0400

Solve Media Q1 Market Advisory Update Shows Bots Continue to Impact the Effectiveness of Online Advertising Campaigns

NEW YORK – April 25, 2013 – Solve Media (www.SolveMedia.com) issued its latest Bot Traffic Market Advisory update today, revealing an increase in bot traffic during the first quarter of 2013. The company identified that suspicious activity remained above 40 percent in Q4 2012 and Q1 2013. Further analysis showed that 29 percent of the suspicious activity in Q1 was the result of bot traffic, up from 25 percent in Q4.

Mobile bot traffic is also on the rise. Solve Media’s authoritative anti-bot security platform revealed that 29 percent of mobile traffic acted suspiciously in Q1 2013, 14 percent of which was confirmed as bots.

Not all of the traffic identified as mobile is in fact from a mobile device. Malicious hackers are increasingly writing code to masquerade as mobile users in order to take advantage of the lower security levels imposed on mobile users. Regardless of the true origin of the user, mobile bot traffic is an increasing concern for the advertising community. At the current level of mobile bot traffic, the industry is on pace to waste close to a billion dollars in ad spend in 2013.

“The barrier to entry for fraud and bots in mobile is almost nonexistent,” said Justin Somaini, Chief Trust Officer at Box, and the newest member of Solve Media’s Security Advisory Council. “The mobile bot levels reported by Solve Media should serve as a wake up call to both publishers and advertisers. Marketers will continue to demand a human audience.”

A geographic analysis revealed that Singapore and the United Arab Emirates have the highest levels of suspicious mobile traffic, at 71 percent and 67 percent respectively. In the US, suspicious web activity in Q1 reached 44 percent, and suspicious mobile activity reached 19 percent.

“With the increase in mobile advertising spending this year, it has become incredibly important for advertisers and agencies to be aware of the inefficiencies associated with serving mobile ads to bots,” said Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. “It is up to publishers to implement anti-bot solutions and up to advertisers to seek out partners that take a real stance against bot traffic.”

Solve Media runs advertisers’ campaigns on its network, consisting of more than 6,000 publishers, and uses its proprietary TYPE-IN™ technology to prevent bot traffic, improve user experience, and guarantee human engagement. Solve Media’s anti-bot security platform specifically addresses bot traffic affecting publishers, ad agencies and advertisers by authenticating that audiences are, in fact, human. Solve Media is the market leader in the space, and hasbeen monitoring and deterring bot traffic for more than three years.

Bots crowd web and mobile traffic and cause advertisers to pay for impressions and clicks that are not being engaged with by people. Malicious bots undermine the security of the web and cause harm, including stealing publisher content, creating spam assets and phishing.

About Solve Media

Solve Media (www.SolveMedia.com) was founded by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists focused on innovative Internet advertising and security solutions. The company’s proprietary online advertising platform, the TYPE-IN™, was designed to create highly effective opportunities for brands to engage online. With the platform, Solve Media guarantees brand message delivery, brand lift and return on investment for advertisers. Additionally, the platform creates new revenue opportunities for publishers, and saves time for consumers. Backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures, Bullpen Capital and prominent angel investors, Solve Media is based in New York City and Philadelphia.

Solve Media Collaborates With comScore to Introduce Native Insights Research

solvemedia — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:44:00 -0500

Groundbreaking Initiative Creates Measurement Tool That Improves Efficiency, Effectiveness and Cost of Optimizing Digital Campaigns.

NEW YORK (February 28, 2013) – Solve Media (www.SolveMedia.com), the leader in guaranteed, performance-based online branding, today announced its collaboration with comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, to launch a first-of-its-kind method to accurately measure online advertising in a native manner. Native Insights research is collected in the flow of users experience, similar to native advertising, and allows advertisers to leverage unbiased results into actionable insights in order to optimize their digital campaigns.

An online survey conducted by Solve Media revealed that brand marketers and market research professionals are dissatisfied with the current state of digital campaign research. 40.6% of online marketers reported feeling that online surveys take too long to show results. In addition, 60.6% of Market research professionals believe sample groups are heavily biased. Native Insights research was developed to address these issues.

Solve Media’s Type-In network of over 6,000 publishers, across multiple verticals, creates an ideal setting for Native Insights research. Key benefits include:

Survey Targeting – the ability to create and target specific audiences by brand preference and demographics.
Brand Lift – by presenting users with brand attribution questions on a control versus exposed basis, Native Insights natively measures awareness, perception and purchase intent targets.
Creative Optimization – advertisers using Native Insights can quickly determine changes in perception and sentiment on a per creative basis, and optimize messaging accordingly.
Publisher Specific Targeting – by limiting the audience to a specific site or group of sites, advertisers can hyper-target an audience type.

Solve Media’s Native Insights research tool leverages a unique methodology that aligns with comScore’s rigorous standards and benchmarking requirements. In early studies, this approach has proven to be 200 times more effective at generating survey responses, and four times faster at data collection, when compared to traditional, non-native research methodologies. As a result, Solve Media now optimizes digital campaigns faster and more efficiently. In addition, by presenting research questions in the flow of a users’ experience, Solve Media eliminates the “natural born clicker” effect, which can sometimes produce user bias in online advertising research.

“We are proud to work with comScore. Together we are changing the way agencies, marketers, and publishers measure campaign effectiveness data,” said Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. “We guarantee performance for brand campaigns, and we’re excited to turn brand data into actionable insights in order to deliver campaign success in a faster, more economical, and efficient manner.

“We’re pleased to play a role in bringing this new application of online branding effectiveness measurement to the market,” said Bryan Goski, Director of Marketing Solutions at comScore. “By organically integrating with the flow of the user experience, ‘Native Insights’ has shown the ability to quickly deliver superior sample sizes and help advertisers evaluate campaign effectiveness almost immediately.”

Study Methodology
Solve Media surveyed 600 professional market researchers and online marketers in the United States from February 1-14, 2013.

About Solve Media
Solve Media (www.SolveMedia.com) was founded by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists focused on innovative Internet advertising solutions and security. The Company’s proprietary online advertising platform, the TYPE-IN™, was designed to create new and highly effective opportunities for brands to advertise online. With the platform, Solve Media guarantees brand message delivery, brand lift and return on investment for advertisers. Additionally, the security platform creates new revenue opportunities for publishers and saves time for consumers. Backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures, Bullpen Capital and prominent angel investors, Solve Media is based in New York City and Philadelphia.

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in digital measurement and analytics, delivering insights on the web, mobile and TV consumer behavior that enable clients to maximize the value of their digital investments. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

And The Winner Is...

solvemedia — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:31:00 -0500

In preparation for this weekend, we asked our network who they thought should win. Find out what they said in the Infographic below!

And be sure to check back next week to see how we stack up against the official results!

Online Bot Traffic Spikes During Q4 2012 Holiday Shopping Season

solvemedia — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:58:00 -0500

Solve Media Continues To Monitor Online Bot Traffic In Its Market Advisory Update

NEW YORK – Feb 7, 2013 – Solve Media (www.SolveMedia.com) issued its latest Bot Traffic Market Advisory update today, revealing an alarming increase in bot traffic during the fourth quarter of 2012, peaking during the busy holiday shopping season. In its Q4 update on bot traffic, Solve Media found suspicious activity spiked during the US holiday shopping season and attributed it to a marked increase in online activity and advertising expenditures. The company identified that suspicious activity increased from 26 percent in Q3 to highs of 40 percent in Q4 of 2012. During the same timeframe, Solve Media identified that 25 percent of the suspicious activity in Q4 was the result of bot traffic, up from only 10 percent in Q3.

Solve Media runs advertisers’ campaigns on its network, consisting of more than 6,000 publishers, and uses its proprietary TYPE-IN™ technology to prevent bot traffic, improve user experience, and ensure campaign performance. Solve Media’s anti-bot CAPTCHA security platform specifically addresses bot traffic affecting publishers, ad agencies and advertisers by authenticating that audiences are, in fact, human. The company has been monitoring and deterring bot traffic for more than 3 years.

Bots crowd web traffic and cause advertisers to pay for impressions that are not being seen by human beings. Bots can undermine the security of the web and cause harm by stealing publisher content, creating spam assets and posting inappropriate content.

“Solve Media is bridging the gap between the security and advertising communities, “ said Chris Wysopal, CTO of Veracode and a member of Solve Media’s Security Advisory Council. “Advertising to non-humans is simply ineffective and publishers who have taken a proactive stance against bot traffic are to be commended”.

In order to better differentiate between levels of suspicious activity and useful bots from nefarious bots, Solve Media categorized bots by their interests:

Level 1: Green – Bots used for research
Level 2: Yellow – Unsophisticated, brute force bots. Mostly used by spammers
Level 3: Orange – Sophisticated fraud bots working to register fraudulent accounts, impact polls, and steal ad budgets
Level 4: Red – Bots seeking to cause harm, spread viruses, and steal identities

“Through our proven security solutions, we are working to eradicate the bot scourge that is impacting all digital publishers and advertisers,” said Ari Jacoby, CEO, Solve Media. “In Q4 we found that bots cost marketers at least $1 Billion in display advertising and more than $2 Billion in digital advertising investments – a considerable loss that impairs return on investment calculations. With Solve Media, brands are guaranteed memorable engagements with consumers and brand lift, on a performance-basis. *”

Key findings from the Q4 Bot Market Update include:

Higher activity and growth among level 2 bots
A Geographic analysis that shows significant increases in bot traffic in two hotspots
Bot traffic in The United Arab Emirates nearly doubled in past quarter, from 33% to 64%
Bot traffic in the U.S. grew from 16% to 32.36%

About Solve Media

Solve Media was founded by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists focused on innovative Internet advertising solutions. The Company’s proprietary online advertising platform, the TYPE-IN™, was designed to create new and highly effective opportunities for brands to engage online. With the platform, Solve Media guarantees brand message delivery, brand lift and return on investment for advertisers. Additionally, the platform creates new revenue opportunities for publishers and saves time for consumers. Backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures, Bullpen Capital and prominent angel investors, Solve Media is based in New York City and Philadelphia. http://www.solvemedia.com

* Based on eMarketer Net US Digital Ad Spending excluding Classified and Directories, Lead Generation, Mobile Messaging and Email.

Ticketmaster Launches New, Innovative CAPTCHA Solutions, Making The Fan Experience Better

solvemedia — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:45:00 -0500

- New Online and Mobile Solutions Effective in Blocking Scalpers’ BOTS-

LOS ANGELES (January 30, 2013) –Ticketmaster, a Live Nation Entertainment company (NYSE: LYV), is beginning the process of upgrading the hard to read squiggly lines with new, friendlier, easier to use solutions provided on their mobile Ticketmaster Apps and online. These solutions will improve the fan experience and are designed to be more effective in blocking BOTS, automated computer programs that some scalpers use to grab tickets before real fans have an opportunity.

“Ticketmaster is passionate about the fan experience and we relentlessly pursue ways to make ticket buying more fan-friendly,” said Nathan Hubbard, CEO of Ticketmaster. “While an important step in blocking BOTS, we know the current CAPTCHA solution has been a frustrating part of buying tickets for fans. By working with Solve Media and deploying our own innovative mobile solution, we’re leading the industry forward through our buying experience and the aggressive fight against BOTS.”

On Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster partnered with Solve Media. During the purchase process, fans will be presented with phrases, questions or ads from Solve Media instead of the normal, hard to read mix of characters that needed to be deciphered before proceeding with the transaction. This new solution is proven to be a much better user experience and effective at keeping BOTS out of the buying process.

“We are excited to work with Ticketmaster to make the purchase process as painless and efficient for fans as possible,” says Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. “At Solve Media, we take complex problems and create simple solutions. With our proprietary TYPE-IN™ technology, consumers can solve CAPTCHAs in half the time it takes to decipher the outmoded squiggly number and letter CAPTCHAs. Our security platform makes it difficult for BOTS to affect the system, allowing for better user experience and premium branding opportunities.”

Ticketmaster has also developed an innovative mobile solution that leverages the ‘push’ notification feature on mobile phone applications. Fans using the Ticketmaster Apps will be authorized by a ‘push’ notification in the background during the purchase process that will allow them to bypass the existing type-in CAPTCHA security.

“Our goal is to improve the fan experience while providing security from BOTS and in the case of our mobile apps, we found a way to remove the type-in step completely,” said Hubbard.

About Solve Media

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment is the world’s leading live entertainment and ecommerce company, comprised of four market leaders: Ticketmaster.com, Live Nation Concerts, Artist Nation and Live Nation Network. Ticketmaster.com is the global event ticketing leader and one of the world’s top five ecommerce sites, with almost 27 million monthly unique visitors. Live Nation Concerts produces over 22,000 shows annually for more than 2,300 artists globally. Artist Nation is the world’s top artist management company, representing over 250 artists. These businesses power Live Nation Network, the leading provider of entertainment marketing solutions, enabling nearly 800 advertisers to tap into the 200 million consumers Live Nation delivers annually through its live event and digital platforms. For additional information, visit www.livenation.com/investors.

Lead Engineer Matt MacMillan walks us through the Solve Media...

solvemedia — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:02:00 -0500

Lead Engineer Matt MacMillan walks us through the Solve Media holiday video.

To All Humans,

solvemedia — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:07:00 -0500

Four months ago, the marketing team at Solve Media pulled together a crew of top-notch engineering & creative talent. They met with a single goal: to create an amazing Rube Goldberg holiday video that represents Solve Media.

Matt MacMillan, University of Pennsylvania Engineering Alumnus, headed construction on the machine while Machele Nettles, founder of MacNet Design, took on creative direction. “We wanted to visually represent the Solve Media brand while creating high-quality content,” said Jonathan Kriner, Marketing Manager at Solve Media. “A Rube Goldberg machine is perfect since it’s so engaging - the crux of Solve Media products.”

What resulted were months of planning, building, and shooting the Rube Goldberg in a studio space in North Philadelphia. “We took full advantage of the space, creating machines that hung from the ceiling, elevated off the floor, and sat on the ground,” Matt described. “Adding height variation to the 800+ square feet helped make the devices more dynamic and allowed contraptions to cross the room unimpeded.” This is especially true with the rocket-propelled toy airplane zipping across the room!

ABOVE: The Solve Media space in progress

The Solve Media holiday video, called “To All Humans, Happy Holidays,” took over 900 total hours from a team of 13. You can see a behind-the-scenes walk through before the shoot here.

INFOGRAPHIC: Native Advertising in Context

solvemedia — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 09:19:00 -0500

The term “native advertising” is getting considerable traction in the online advertising community, but its definition has been confusing until now. Native advertising is not advertorial. Instead, it contributes value to any page it graces by improving user experience and adding value for consumers. Recent data confirms that publishers, agencies, marketers, and investors believe that native advertising is the fastest growing segment in the online advertising business. We created this infographic to take a deeper look into this growing segment:

If you are an advertiser looking to advertise on Solve Media’s secure network, learn more here.

If you are a publisher looking for a better way to guarantee human engagement, learn more here.

Copy and Paste to Embed:
<img align=”middle” alt=”Solve Media Infographic” height=”1757” src=”http://solvemedia.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/121204_solve_native_3.png” width=”600” />

Solve Media Study Finds Half of Media Buyers will Purchase Native Advertising in 2013

solvemedia — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 09:18:00 -0500

One-Fourth Plan to Spend More Than 20% of their Budget on Native Advertising

NEW YORK (December 13, 2012) – Solve Media (www.SolveMedia.com) today revealed the results of an online survey showing that 49 percent of media buyers plan to make native advertising purchases in 2013. Although spending levels vary, two of five media buyers surveyed reported that they have allocated more than 10 percent of their 2013 budget to native advertising. While native advertising has received significant attention in the media and at industry events, this is the first insight into the impact it will have in the market in 2013. In addition to ad buyers, other industry stakeholders, including publishers, creative agencies and investors are focused on native advertising going into the new year.

There has been a lot of buzz around native advertising, but no substantive information around user experience or effectiveness. “Native advertising must create value for consumers in order to perform,” said Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media, “At Solve Media, we save consumers 7 seconds per transaction or more than a full year of time, in aggregate, every single day. The industry talks about ‘serving’ ads and, in a very real sense, I feel they should ‘serve’ the consumer.”

Solve Media’s data indicates that native advertising is becoming an integral part of online advertising as it has garnered the attention of agency media buyers and creatives, online publishers, and even venture capitalists, private equity firms and angel investors. Key findings from the study include:

Native Advertising is Important to Media Buyers – Nearly 60 percent of agency media buyers said native advertising was “very important” or “extremely” important in 2013. Additionally, buyers based in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco will spend the most on native advertising.
User Experience is Key for Effective Native Advertising – Seven of ten agency Creatives noted that user experience is the most important component of native advertising.
Publishers are Recognizing the Need for Native Inventory – Nearly 20 percent of online publishers are likely to add a native advertising option to their sites.
Private Investors are Excited about Native Advertising– More than half of the venture capitalists, private equity firms and angel investors that invest in media and ad technology, said that they are likely to very likely to invest in companies that sell native advertising in 2013.

Consumer behavior and expectations evolved when social media became mainstream, and native advertising is the byproduct. “Native advertising adoption and spend—spurred by the rise of prominent social formats such as Facebook Sponsored Stories and Twitter Promoted Tweets - are accelerating quickly. Increasingly, consumers expect an integrated content experience,” said Jed Williams, Senior Analyst and Program Director at BIA/Kelsey, “This trend is only the beginning. We foresee continued momentum in original advertorial content, rich media, long form viral video and other formats in the years ahead. Solve Media’s Type-In ads are a compelling advance in native advertising that creates value for users and measurable performance for brands.”

Native advertising will continue to grow as the market introduces new and innovative ways to address users’ needs. “Native advertising isn’t a trend—it’s the new reality for publishers and marketers who are focused on both serving the consumer and satisfying the investor community,” said Gene Munster, managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray. “Solve Media is well-positioned to capitalize on this important marketplace shift.”

Results of the study and additional analysis can be found in the Solve Media White Paper on Native Advertising, which is available for download here.

Study Methodology
Solve Media surveyed 800 media buyers, agency creatives, online publishers, venture capitalists, private equity firms and angel investors in the United States during September and October 2012.

About Solve Media
Solve Media was founded by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists focused on innovative Internet advertising solutions. The Company’s proprietary online advertising platform, the TYPE-IN™, was designed to create new and highly effective opportunities for brands to engage online. With the platform, Solve Media guarantees brand message delivery, brand lift and return on investment for advertisers. Additionally, the platform creates new revenue opportunities for publishers and saves time for consumers. Backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures, Bullpen Capital and prominent angel investors, Solve Media is based in New York City and Philadelphia. http://www.solvemedia.com

Solve Media Creates First Security Advisory Council for Online Advertising

solvemedia — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:08:00 -0500

All-Star Group of Industry Experts will Study and Address Growing Online Advertising Security Issues

Bot Traffic an “Extreme Concern” for Two-Thirds of Security Professionals, According to Survey Findings

NEW YORK (November 19, 2012) – Solve Media (www.SolveMedia.com) today announced the formation of the first Security Advisory Council specifically focused on online advertising. Inaugural council members include world-renowned information security experts Kevin Mitnick, Adam J. O’Donnell, Bruce Schneier, Chris Wysopal and Elad Yoran. Creation of the council was spurred by a recent Solve Media survey of 200 IT-focused online publishing professionals in which 69 percent said they were extremely concerned with bot traffic. Solve Media’s anti-bot CAPTCHA security platform specifically addresses bot traffic affecting both publishers and advertisers by authenticating that audiences are, in fact, human.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, interactive ad spend reached a record $17 billion globally in the first half of 2012 and is projected to be greater than print ad spend by Q4. Solve Media previously identified that as much as 10 percent of all online traffic is generated by bots. This means potentially $1.7 billion of online ad spending is wasted marketing to bots that will never become customers.

“Security is a growing concern for both advertisers and publishers as they recognize the substantial negative brand and monetary impact of bots,” says Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. “Agencies prefer to work with publishers that have safeguards against bot traffic so they are not wasting ad spend, and publishers want to offer quality inventory. To improve the industry, we enlisted the top information security experts to discuss how best to address online security quandaries and advise our agency clients and publisher partners.”

The Solve Media Security Council will organize the industry’s best security minds around this issue to help deliver a solution that benefits advertisers and publishers. The Council is tasked with identifying ways to combat bots and other serious security issues plaguing online advertising, and providing expert guidance to advertisers and publishers seeking security help. Below is additional information about each council member:

Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, cryptographer, author, and founder of BT Managed Security Solutions. Described by the Economist as a “security guru,” Schneier has testified before the US Congress and is the author of a dozen books including the bestseller Applied Cryptography. Bruce Schneier is a prominent international speaker who has presented at TED, RSA, DEF CON, and Hacktivity among many other events.

Chris Wysopal is a Blackhat Review Board member and CTO of Veracode. He has been named one of the 100 most influential people in IT and an InfoWorld CTO 25. He has been lead security researcher for @stake and director of development at Symantec and helped to produce the Organization for Internet Safety. Wysopal is co-author of the award winning password auditing and recovery application L0phtCrack currently used by over 6,000 organizations worldwide.

Kevin Mitnick is the NY Times Bestselling Author of Ghost in the Wires, and frequently cited as the world’s most famous hacker. He is well known for using social engineering tactics and has testified before the US Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. In a previous life, Mitnick successfully hacked into organizations including Motorola, Nokia, Sun Microsystems, and Fujitsu Siemens. He is currently CEO of Mitnick Security Consulting LLC.

Dr. Adam J. O’Donnell is the Chief Architect in the Cloud Technology Group at Sourcefire, and the author of numerous academic papers regarding malware and network security. He has been cited in publications including IEEE Security & Privacy, CNET, & The New York Times.

Elad Yoran is the Chairman and CEO of Vaultive, Inc, and founder or executive director of security companies MediaSentry, Riptech, and Sentrigo which were acquired by SafeNet, McAfee and Symantec respectively. Yoran has been awarded Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. He is a member of the FBI Information Technology Advisory Council, and is a regular speaker on innovation as well as IT security technology and market trends.

“I have spent my career counseling the masses on how security really works in the hopes of helping companies, organizations and the general public prevent online attacks and security breaches,” says Bruce Schneier. “Solve Media’s unique CAPTCHA solution is also helping to prevent security breaches by hampering bots’ access to advertiser, publisher and consumer data. I’ve joined Solve Media’s Security Council to further combat Internet security vulnerabilities.”

“It is important for security experts to understand vulnerabilities from the attacker’s perspective to be effective,” says Chris Wysopal, CTO of Veracode. “The steps Solve Media is taking to combat Internet bots is a solid start and my experience identifying and exposing Internet security vulnerabilities will help them build out their offering.”

“Having started my career hacking into some of the most secure government and corporate fortresses, I am fully aware of how serious a threat there is to public and private sector security,” says Kevin Mitnick, CEO of Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC. “I’m happy to bring my expertise to the Solve Media Security Council in the hopes of helping others protect their valuable information assets.”

“Solve Media has produced the most interesting solution to the CAPTCHA generation problem I have seen in a very long time, and I am very excited to help advise them on the security space at large,” said Dr. Adam J. O’Donnell, Chief Architect in the Cloud Technology Group at Sourcefire.

“My mission has always been to improve innovation within the security industry to better combat vulnerabilities,” says Elad Yoran, CEO of Vaultive Inc. “Solve Media embraced a similar mission in online advertising and their continued commitment is evident in their creation of this council.”

About Solve Media

Solve Media (www.SolveMedia.com) was founded by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists focused on innovative Internet advertising solutions and security. The Company’s proprietary online advertising platform, the TYPE-IN™, was designed to create new and highly effective opportunities for brands to advertise online. With the platform, Solve Media guarantees brand message delivery, brand lift and return on investment for advertisers. Additionally, the security platform creates new revenue opportunities for publishers and saves time for consumers. Backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures, Bullpen Capital and prominent angel investors, Solve Media is based in New York City and Philadelphia.

INFOGRAPHIC: The Bot Stops Here

solvemedia — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:24:00 -0400

Managing Advertising Investments for a Human Audience

Recent data has shown us that bot traffic continues to rise across the internet, particularly in the areas of registration, voting, and commenting. These areas are those wherein human presence is not only crucial to the integrity of a given website, but directly related to publishers’ advertising investments. When non-human traffic takes the place of real consumers, publishers are victimized. As a result, media buyers are moving to high-quality, native ad placements on a cost per engagement basis. We created this infographic to take a deeper look into this growing problem:

If you are an advertiser looking to advertise on Solve Media’s secure network, learn more here.

If you are a publisher looking for a better way to guarantee human engagement, learn more here.

Copy and Paste to Embed:
<img align=”middle” alt=”Solve Media Infographic” height=”1757” src=”http://goo.gl/imh5M” width=”600” />

Robot Dance Off

solvemedia — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:22:00 -0400

Robot Dance Off from Solve Media on Vimeo.

Solve Media Uncovers $1.5 Billion in Wasted Ad Spend

solvemedia — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:20:00 -0400

New Research and Survey Results Show That Bot Traffic Is a Growing Problem in the Digital Media Industry, Impacting Publishers and Advertisers

NEW YORK, NY—(Marketwire - Sep 28, 2012) - Solve Media (www.SolveMedia.com) today revealed that 10 percent of all online traffic is generated by bots — software applications that run automated processes across the Web. eMarketer predicts online display ad spend will reach $15.3 billion globally in 2012, which means that potentially $1.5 billion in ads will be served to bots. Since 2011, Solve Media has witnessed a 400 percent rise in aberrant traffic across registration, voting, commenting and contact services on the web. The company’s CAPTCHA-based advertising technology provides security authentication solutions for publishers.

Bots harm publishers by stealing content, posting inappropriate comments and creating fake user accounts that can be used to launch other bot attacks. Advertisers are also negatively impacted by bots through wasted time and money spent marketing to entities that will never become customers. Both advertisers and publishers risk their reputations when bots are active on web sites.

“By working with Solve Media, we’ve taken the necessary steps to stop bot traffic that targets Meredith through our contest and sweepstakes entries,” said Andy Wilson, SVP of Digital Marketing at Meredith Corp. “These actions ensure the most positive experience for our users and our advertisers.”

Solve Media reviewed a monthly average of 100 million identity authentications from all of 2011 to August 2012 across 5,000 publishers. Key findings include:

The majority of bot traffic comes from the U.S. based on total numbers.
Singapore (56%) and Taiwan (54%) had the highest percentage of bot traffic; in the U.S., bots are 16% of total traffic.
comScore observed that between 4% and 11% of ad impressions for given U.S. campaigns were delivered against bot traffic; web site security firm Incapsula estimates bot traffic to be 31%.

What Bots Do
Bots are computer programs that automate tasks, such as clicking on web page functionality or ads. When bots crowd web traffic, they cause advertisers to pay for impressions that are not being seen by human beings. Bots undermine the security of the web and cause harm by stealing publisher content, creating spam assets and posting inappropriate content.

“Security is a paramount concern for publishers and advertisers, as they continue to be victimized by bots. Publishers need rock-solid solutions to stop massive, global bot attacks that can happen at any time,” said Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. “Solve Media engineered its technology from the ground up with security at its core. No other ad technology company has the capabilities, experience and commitment we have to solving this problem.”

Jordan Rohan, Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Stifel Nicolaus and Co. added, “Bots present a much larger threat to display advertising than most advertisers understand. Solve Media addresses this problem head on through human authentication, while also providing an effective advertising platform.”

To protect against bots, advertisers should:

Seek cost-per-engagement (CPE) media opportunities that demand human cognition.
Embrace publishers that have proactively implemented an anti-bot solution.
Demand third-party attitudinal research that confirms effectiveness of ads.
Require site transparency on all network buys.
Implement attribution tracking technology on all video buys.

“The existence of non-human traffic is an issue that affects the entire digital ad ecosystem,” said Kirby Winfield, SVP of Corporate Development, comScore. “comScore research has shown that a significant percentage of ad campaigns are delivered against non-human traffic, which represents waste for advertisers that can diminish their confidence in the medium. Any efforts to quantify the magnitude of this problem and validate ad delivery represent a step in the right direction for digital.”

About Solve Media
Solve Media was founded by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists focused on innovative Internet advertising solutions. The Company’s proprietary online advertising platform, the TYPE-IN™, was designed to create new and highly effective opportunities for brands to advertise online. With the platform, Solve Media guarantees brand message delivery, brand lift and return on investment for advertisers. Additionally, the platform creates new revenue opportunities for publishers and saves time for consumers. Backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures, Bullpen Capital and prominent angel investors, Solve Media is based in New York City and Philadelphia. http://www.solvemedia.com

Solve Media Lifts the Hopes of 2012 U.S. Olympians Sarah Robles and Brady Ellison as They Target the Gold Medal

solvemedia — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:25:00 -0400

Solve Media Sponsors the Highest Ranked American Weightlifter and Top Archer in the World at This Year’s Games

NEW YORK, NY—(Marketwire - Jul 16, 2012) - With only ten days until the opening ceremony of the Games, Solve Media is pleased to announce its sponsorship of U.S. Women’s Weightlifting Olympian, Sarah Robles, and the top archer in the world and two-time U.S. Olympian, Brady Ellison.

“We are proud to sponsor two of the U.S.’s most accomplished athletes and promising medalists, and look forward to cheering them on during the Games,” says Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. “Sarah and Brady are passionate and dedicated to their quest for gold, and respectively embody the ideals of Solve Media — massive lift and precise targeting.”

Solve Media chose to support Sarah Robles and Brady Ellison because they represent the best of the best, and are associated with the highest level of performance — just like Solve Media and its performance-based advertising model. Similarly, the company’s capabilities align closely to both Sarah and Brady’s abilities — accomplishing massive lift and precise targeting. Solve Media’s ads are 11 times more effective than standard display media (as measured by ComScore) and are consistently the most memorable ads online. On a mission to become the best in the world, Sarah, Brady and Solve Media make a strong team.

“Being a female weightlifter and Olympian comes with a variety of challenges,” says Sarah Robles. “But everyday I persevere to lift more, become stronger and change the perception of women’s weightlifting. Having a sponsor that supports my quest for gold and greater awareness around my sport is amazing, and that’s why I am excited to have Solve Media on my team.”

Sarah Robles, a first time Olympian, is the top female weightlifter on the U.S.’s 2012 team. In fact, she ranked higher than any other American weightlifter, male or female. Coined “The Strongest Woman in America,” some even speculate that she’s the best hope the U.S. has at a medal in the sport during this year’s Games. Follow Robles during her quest for gold on Twitter @roblympian or via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sarahroblesfanpage.

“It’s great to be sponsored by a company that shares my passion for hitting the bull’s-eye every time,” says Brady Ellison. “Solve Media helps brands reach their target audience with every ad, and that’s the same precision that I strive for with each of my shots.”

In 2010, Brady Ellison was ranked as the number one archer in the world — for the first time. He did it again in 2011. Now Ellison, a two time Olympian, has his eyes trained on the gold medal at this year’s Games. Find out if Ellison hits his target by following him on Twitter @Brady_Ellison or via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ellisonbrady.

DISCLAIMER: Solve Media is a sponsor of athletes Sarah Robles and Brady Ellison, not of this year’s Games.

ABOUT SOLVE MEDIA
Solve Media was founded by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists focused on innovative Internet advertising solutions. The Company’s proprietary online advertising platform, the TYPE-IN™, was designed to create new and highly effective opportunities for brands to advertise online. With the platform, Solve Media guarantees brand message delivery, brand lift and return on investment for advertisers. Additionally, the platform creates new revenue opportunities for publishers and saves time for consumers. Backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures, Bullpen Capital and prominent angel investors, Solve Media is based in New York City and Philadelphia. http://www.solvemedia.com

Ian Schafer Joins Solve Media’s Board of Directors

solvemedia — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:25:00 -0400

Industry Veteran Supports Company’s Move to Redefine Effective Engagement

NEW YORK, NY—(Marketwire - Jan 25, 2012) - Solve Media, the TYPE-IN™ advertising company, today announced it has added Ian Schafer to its Board of Directors. Mr. Schafer is the founder and CEO of Deep Focus, a full-service digital engagement agency. Formerly a vice president of new media at Miramax Films, he is one of the most influential voices in the industry and a recognized leader in interactive marketing and social media. He will provide senior counsel to Solve Media executives as the company continues to change how brands and publishers advertise online.

“The future of advertising lies with innovative and creative approaches like Solve Media’s TYPE-IN that can capture a user’s attention in a powerful yet unobtrusive way and deliver measurable results in lift, recall and participation rates,” said Mr. Schafer. “Solve Media has grown quickly because they are addressing a critical market need. I look forward to helping Solve Media reach its next stage of growth.”

Mr. Schafer has received a number of industry recognitions including being named a “Media Maven” by Advertising Age and one of Adweek’s ”Young Ones.” He also serves on the executive board of the Social Media Advertising Consortium. He joins Chris Fralic and Scott Johnson on Solve Media’s board.

“As one of the industry’s foremost experts, Ian has an uncanny ability to anticipate trends in the creative and media agency landscape,” said Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. “His leadership, knowledge and strategic insight will be invaluable as Solve Media continues to seek innovative and impactful ways to drive true engagement for brands.”

Since its launch in 2010, Solve Media’s TYPE-IN platform has been delivering performance-based campaigns for leading brand advertisers seeking superior engagement, awareness and recall. Unlike traditional engagement metrics that essentially measure ad exposure, TYPE-IN ads create lasting memories that benefit brands beyond clicks and drive loyalty and sales. The company’s approach has attracted more than 3,000 publishers and leading advertisers, including Toyota, Microsoft, Universal Pictures and AOL.

ABOUT SOLVE MEDIA
Solve Media was founded by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists focused on innovative Internet advertising solutions. The Company’s proprietary online advertising system, the TYPE-IN™ was designed to create new and highly effective opportunities for brands to advertise online. The platform leverages CAPTCHA authentication for brand messaging to bring unprecedented consumer engagement. With the platform, Solve Media: guarantees brand message delivery and increases recall rates and return on investment for advertisers; creates new revenue opportunities for publishers; and simplifies the authentication process for consumers. Backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures and prominent angel investors, Solve Media is based in New York City and Philadelphia. http://www.solvemedia.com

Solve Media Adds Video to TYPE-IN Ad Units

solvemedia — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:24:00 -0400

Video CAPTCHA Solution Gives Brand Advertisers New Tool to Increase Engagement and Message Recall

NEW YORK, NY—(Marketwire - January 19, 2011) - Solve Media, the TYPE-IN™ advertising company, has extended its platform to offer advertisers 15-second video TYPE-IN ads with brand messages. TYPE-IN ads replace the distorted words, numbers and phrases typically used for puzzle-based CAPTCHA authentication systems with a logo or video, a brand message in quotes, and an input box. The Solve Media platform allows advertisers to increase both consumer brand engagement and message recall, on a cost-per-engagement basis.

Solve Media’s 15-second video TYPE-IN ads run inside the CAPTCHA and are easy for consumers to see, interpret and control. Consumers play the video and immediately view the authorization text — usually a branded message related to the subject of the video or the product/service being advertised. Then, the consumer types the brand message into the input box to gain authorization to the desired website, form or content.

Solve Media’s video TYPE-IN campaign for Universal Pictures’ motion picture “Devil” won the DPAC Award for Best Advertising Network Innovation in 2010. To view the campaign visit:http://www.solvemedia.com/gallery/universal.html.

“Users don’t pay attention to or remember key messages in banner ads or even expandable video ads. TYPE-IN ads engage users where they are already paying attention without disrupting their experience online,” said Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. “By layering video into Solve Media’s TYPE-IN technology, brand advertisers can take advantage of our cognitive advertising approach in another effective medium.”

Solve Media’s TYPE-IN platform delivers performance-based campaigns for brand advertisers seeking superior engagement, awareness and recall. Since the launch of Solve Media’s CAPTCHA advertising platform in September, consumer interaction with TYPE-IN ads has dramatically increased brand recall and resulted in approximately 40 percent engagement rates.

“Confirming that users are actually watching our videos with sound is a very important part of building awareness for upcoming theatrical releases through online media,” said Lindsay Dye, Media Supervisor, Ignited, the digital media planning and buying agency of record for Universal Pictures. “This goal is often difficult to achieve, and Solve Media’s TYPE-IN approach offers us a unique and engaging solution to the problem that is safe and effective.”

ABOUT SOLVE MEDIA
Solve Media was founded by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists focused on innovative Internet advertising solutions. The Company’s proprietary online advertising system, the TYPE-IN™ was designed to create new and highly-effective opportunities for brands to advertise online. The system leverages CAPTCHA authentication for brand messaging to bring unprecedented consumer engagement. With the solution, Solve Media: guarantees brand message delivery and increases recall rates and return on investment for advertisers; creates new revenue opportunities for publishers; and simplifies the authentication process for consumers. Backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures and prominent angel investors, Solve Media is based in New York City and Philadelphia. http://www.solvemedia.com/

Type-In Ads Spark ‘Significant, Important’ Recall Boost, Study Finds

solvemedia — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:24:00 -0400

Solve Media’s Methodology Proven to Double Brand Recall Over Static Ads

NEW YORK, NY—(Marketwire - February 17, 2011) - New research published in the International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications finds online type-in advertising substantially boosts brand and message recall among study participants. According to investigators Keith E. Niedermeier, Ph.D. and Corey Pierson, type-in ads earned 65 percent brand recall and 35 percent message recall. These findings demonstrate how type-in ads deliver double the amount of brand recall and approximately 12 times message recall compared to 32.3 percent and 3.1 percent for static ads.

Type-ins are interactive ads which require the user to enter information, like a brand message or marketing slogan, into a text box in order to access content or complete a form on a website. In the study, type-ins replaced captcha boxes for human authentication on websites, presenting users with a simple logo, a brand message in quotes, and an input box. This direct interaction with the type-in ad dramatically improves brand recall, according to the study.

“[These results] suggest that online ads in a more interactive format like type-ins could play an important role in creating brand awareness and reinforcing brand messages,” Niedermeier and Pierson wrote. “We feel that type-ins may have a particular utility in replacing captchas for form submission.”

Solve Media, an online advertising technology company, centered its methodology on type-ins. The company’s TYPE-IN™ platform serves both static and video ads in captchas as a replacement for distorted words, numbers and phrases typically used for user authentication, providing performance-based campaigns for brand advertisers with 40 percent engagement rates.

The Niedermeier and Pierson study validates Solve Media’s approach to online advertising and demonstrates the advertising effectiveness of its TYPE-IN platform. Since the platform’s launch in September 2010, it has been used by a number of well-known advertisers and publishers, including Toyota, Microsoft, Expedia, Dr. Pepper, Universal Pictures, AOL, Tribune, and Meredith Publishing. The company’s TYPE-IN ads offer advertisers and publishers robust functionality, including brand survey and insight research capabilities, engagement analytics, video, rich media and clickable ad units as well as strict safety and security features.

“Dr. Niedermeier and Mr. Pierson’s study validates what advertisers and publishers have already learned about advertising effectiveness,” said Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media. “The TYPE-IN solution is based on simple, timeless principles of advertising that enable brand marketers to target attentive consumers with certainty that their message is received and understood so that it can be recalled at the purchase decision point. Type-in ads provide that. Banner and pop-up ads cannot.”

Research Methodology
254 subjects participated in the experiment, including graduate and undergraduate students at two large universities in the Eastern United States and general Internet users across the United States, solicited online.

Dr. Niedermeier is the Director of the Undergraduate Marketing Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the school’s department of marketing. Mr. Pierson is a Wharton MBA graduate. Their article reporting the study findings, entitled “The Impact of Type-In Interactivity and Content Consistency of Internet Ads on Brand and Message Recall,” appears in the Fall 2010 issue of the International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications, which is published by Racom Communications, Chicago.

ABOUT SOLVE MEDIA
Solve Media was founded by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists focused on innovative Internet advertising solutions. The Company’s proprietary online advertising system, the TYPE-IN™ was designed to create new and highly-effective opportunities for brands to advertise online. The platform leverages CAPTCHA authentication for brand messaging to bring unprecedented consumer engagement. With the platform, Solve Media: guarantees brand message delivery and increases recall rates and return on investment for advertisers; creates new revenue opportunities for publishers; and simplifies the authentication process for consumers. Backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures and prominent angel investors, Solve Media is based in New York City and Philadelphia. http://www.solvemedia.com

SOLVE MEDIA “TYPE-IN” AD UNITS TRANSFORM CAPTCHA INTO POWERFUL BRAND MESSAGING OPPORTUNITY

solvemedia — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:23:00 -0400

Innovative Advertising Platform Achieves 40+% Engagement Rates, Guarantees Brand Message Comprehension on a Performance Basis

Partners at Launch include Toyota, Microsoft, Universal Pictures, Saatchi & Saatchi, Universal McCann, Ignited and many others

New York, NEW YORK—September 20, 2010—Solve Media today announced the launch of its TYPE-IN^TMadvertising platform, a unique solution which leverages CAPTCHA authentication for brand messaging to bring unprecedented consumer engagement to online advertising. With the solution, Solve Media: guarantees brand message delivery and increases recall rates and return on investment for advertisers; creates new revenue opportunities for publishers; and simplifies the authentication process for consumers.

Solve Media’s cognitive advertising approach has already won the support of top advertisers and publishers including Toyota, Microsoft, Universal Pictures, AOL, Tribune, and Meredith Publishing. The company is backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures, and several prominent angel investors.

The Solve Media platform replaces the distorted words, numbers and phrases typically used for puzzle-based CAPTCHA human authentication systems with a simple logo, a brand message in quotes, and an input box. Advertisers pay only for messages that have been both read and typed correctly, thus ensuring that each TYPE-IN^TM purchased has not only been read and comprehended by a consumer, but also repeated, resulting in far greater retention and impact. Engagement rates for TYPE-INs^TM have exceeded 40 percent—compared with rates of 1 percent or less for typical online display ads.

From the consumer’s perspective, a memorable, plain-English brand message based on a product attribute, slogan, or value statement is much easier to type than a distorted arrangement of letters or words. This overcomes a key complaint with the existing CAPTCHA experience: that even the most engaged users so often get it wrong. In fact, the existing system takes an average of 14 seconds to complete as users peck through letter-by-letter; with TYPE-IN^TMs, this time can be cut in half, improving usability and quality of experience.

Solve Media created the TYPE-IN^TM platform in response to an increasingly fragmented and busy online advertising experience in which marketers struggle for attention and publishers face numerous challenges monetizing their inventory and their audiences. Rather than introducing new distractions or interruptions to the user experience, the solution takes advantage of an existing mechanism which has long been required of consumers. TYPE-IN^TM ads deliver messages quickly, achieve user engagement and recall through an efficient, streamlined experience, and let consumers move on to the things they want to do.

Ari Jacoby, CEO of Solve Media, said “The Solve Media TYPE-IN^TM solution is based on simple, timeless principles of advertising: meet the audience where they already are, gain their active engagement with your message, and help them remember it by having them repeat it.” He continued, “top-tier brand marketers are the toughest and most discerning customers, and to date, they have been underserved by tools available on the web.”

“Solve Media helped us directly access consumer attention that was previously untapped,” said Marty Collins, Emerging Media lead at Microsoft. “Our recent Internet Explorer campaign saw 41% brand lift for safety attributes, which was substantiated in our recent Comscore report.”

Solve Media’s platform also offers robust additional functionality including significant brand survey and insight research capabilities, engagement analytics, targeting/re-targeting/re-marketing, video and rich media ad units, clickable ad units, and strict safety and security.

For publishers, working with Solve Media creates new, untapped inventory which they can immediately monetize, while delivering superior user experience. Andy Wilson, SVP Digital Marketing, Meredith Interactive said: “Based on great trial campaign results, we’ve extended additional inventory to Solve Media across new properties in our network.”

ABOUT SOLVE MEDIA

Solve Media was founded by veteran entrepreneurs and technologists focused on innovative internet advertising solutions. The Company’s proprietary online advertising system the TYPE-IN™ was designed to create new and highly-effective opportunities for brands to advertise online. The system leverages CAPTCHA authentication for brand messaging to bring unprecedented consumer engagement. With the solution, Solve Media: guarantees brand message delivery and increases recall rates and return on investment for advertisers; creates new revenue opportunities for publishers; and simplifies the authentication process for consumers. Backed by First Round Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, AOL Ventures and prominent angel investors, Solve Media is based in New York City and Philadelphia. www.solvemedia.com