Some of the smartest minds have been working on this problem at places like Google and Yahoo, and they’ve solved a large part of it — algorithmic relevancy.  First, with search ads, they figured out a way to put the right advertiser in front of the right consumer using search history. Then, with contextual text ads, they extended their solution. Now, many of these great minds have figured out how to do the same with display advertising, so that a display ad reaches the right audience by using click, browse, and search histories.

In spite of these solutions, one huge problems remains — messaging. It’s not enough to be in front of the right person if you don’t know what to say or can’t say it. The problem is heightened due to the crowded digital platforms space and the amount of targeting data available, with each combination requiring a new ad to be made.

The next frontier of advertising is algorithmic messaging or programmatic creatives. It’s how you make a beautiful ad with a machine that has no visual cortex and can only rely on its artificial-mind’s eye. This challenge has confounded many of the greatest technical minds because it requires artistic taste. Nobody wants to look at an ugly ad, let alone click on it. Good design conveys trust and quality — something lacking in many of today’s ads and sorely needed to make them perform better for consumers and advertisers.

We’re solving this problem by building an ad engine that can produce attractive, enticing and high quality ad creatives. Our solution combines machine learning, groundbreaking front-end engineering, image analysis, semantic analysis, top design talent, and artistic touches. To adapt what the late, great Steve Jobs once said, “technology alone is not enough – it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing.” Digital advertising is no different; we work in a space defined by ingenuity and creativity, which are achieved through diverse backgrounds and different types of people.

At PaperG, we believe the combination of algorithmic relevancy and programmatic creatives will create a digital media and advertising world that strikes the right balance for consumers and advertisers. We hope to succeed at the balancing act and deliver a well-rounded solution that satisfies advertisers and the more than one billion people who consume digital media and advertising everyday.

Brooke will be heading up the sales, accounts, and support teams. She will help the company expand into new channels of revenue through her experience and existing relationships with agencies and direct advertisers, with the goal of doubling PaperG’s bottom-line in 2013. Prior to PaperG, Brooke was Director of Sales at Bizo, another successful ad-tech startup, where she helped significantly grow revenue to $22MM. Brooke has over 12 years of digital sales experience through her previous positions with top media outlets including Conde Nast, Time Inc., and VideoEgg (now SAY Media.)

We asked Brooke a couple questions to get to know her a little better and see what she thinks about the opportunity ahead of her. See her responses below:

What are you looking forward to working at PaperG?
“I am super excited to join PaperG at such a pivotal moment in the company’s growth. I believe we are in a great position to capitalize on a highly lucrative market — and I’m looking forward to helping us get there.”

What are some of your hobbies and what do you like to do in your spare time?
“I’m a big fan of snowboarding, science fiction books, traveling, yoga, and lots of other stuff. I’m currently training for a half marathon (running before the work day!) — it will be my second ever”

What’s your go-to local SF restaurant?
Beretta in the Mission

What’s your favorite ad campaign?
“Think different” by Apple

We are happy to have Brooke onboard and look forward to the extensive experiences she will share and bring to PaperG.

On the business side, we’ve seen ad sales on our ad platforms swell to a run rate of over $20MM/year. We’ve seen revenue consistently reach record heights and have achieved consistent profitability — a rare feat for a technology startup.

On the product side, we’ve released the best mobile ad creation solution on the market. We’ve expanded our ad targeting capabilities to include re-targeting, behavioral, and geo, which are specifically tailored to small budget clients. The technical accomplishment of making display advertising work for smaller budgets cannot be overstated.

On the services side, we’ve built out an amazing team of product specialists who support over 3,000 ad-sales reps in the field. We have also added account managers to support some of the biggest names in media.

We’ve been fortunate to get recognition for these efforts through huge client wins and from the press. Most recently, Forbes and Business Insider listed us in their respective “under 30″ lists. These recognitions not only highlight the youth and energy of our company, but also the amazing things that we as a young company have accomplished.

The rate of change for the coming year will far exceed the combined changes from the last few years, and we are looking forward to the exciting things 2013 will bring. Stay tuned!

The adoption of digital is apparent and a move towards mobile is inevitable: 94% of advertisers are interested in mobile advertising and over 90% of sales executives are optimistic about sales for mobile display advertising. The survey establishes a continued push towards display ads as 94% of respondents will be offering online display ads to their clients and 86% will be offering mobile display ads in Q4. Only 34% of respondents will offer Facebook ads.

The report assesses the necessities of sales executives. The findings show that better education on the value of digital ads and having spec ads to show clients are the top two ways to help sales executives sell more digital advertising.

Other key findings include:

• 85% of publishers receive less than half of their advertiser’s total marketing budget
• 31% of ad sales executives sell out of inventory and lose an opportunity to capture a larger portion of ad spend from their clients
• More than 57% of respondents have lost money because an ad campaign did not start on schedule.
• The top two reasons publishers have lost money due to a delayed ad campaigns are ad creative not being developed and received on time
• Ad sales executives are adopting tablets for their sales representatives, 60% have bought or plan to buy tablets. 85% of sales executives prefer iPads.
• 88% of sales executives haven’t moved leads and sales tracking to a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) system
• 77% of sales executives resell Yahoo/RightMedia inventory

“It’s clear from the results that local publishers and broadcast stations have an opportunity to get a larger portion of their clients’ marketing budget,” stated Victor Wong, CEO of PaperG. “When these companies use the right set of tools they are able to sell more ad campaigns and exceed revenue expectations,” he added.

PaperG’s PlaceLocal ad platform shortens the ad creation process and efficiently builds a spec ad in less than 60 seconds using only the name and location of a business, enabling publishers to quickly and effectively sell digital ad campaigns to prospective clients.

To learn more about PaperG please visit www.paperg.com or email PR manager, Asees Singh asees.singh@paperg.com.

Audience Extension provides publishers, like local broadcast stations, the capability to sell to local advertisers specific online audience segments beyond their own website. PlaceLocal’s Audience Extension automatically suggests the most relevant audience segments based on who the advertiser is. More than 1,000 local advertisers rely on PlaceLocal’s Audience Extension capability and access the technology through PaperG’s partners including Emmis Communication and Granite Broadcasting Corporation. These partners have experienced stellar results, delivering hundreds of millions of highly targeted ad impressions to their advertisers each month since launching the audience extension product.

While Audience Extension has been in use by many of our great partners for a few months, we are happy to formally announce it today. Below please find our press release with full details.

PAPERG ANNOUNCES AUDIENCE EXTENSION, A PLACELOCAL AD PLATFORM TECHNOLOGY

Audience Extension Allows Broadcasters, Agencies and Publishers to Increase Ad Sales with One-Stop Shop for Local Advertisers

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA) September 19, 2012 – Today, PaperG (www.paperg.com), a San Francisco based local display ad technology company, announced Audience Extension, a new addition to its PlaceLocal digital ad platform for publishers and agencies servicing local advertisers.

Audience Extension provides publishers, like local broadcast stations, the capability to sell to local advertisers specific online audience segments beyond their own website. PlaceLocal’s Audience Extension automatically suggests the most relevant audience segments based on who the advertiser is. More than 1,000 local advertisers rely on PlaceLocal’s Audience Extension capability and access the technology through PaperG’s partners including Emmis Communication and Granite Broadcasting Corporation. These partners have experienced stellar results, delivering hundreds of millions of highly targeted ad impressions to their advertisers each month since launching the audience extension product.

“Audience Extension is more than just a technology. We’re offering broadcasters, agencies and publishers a new way to fulfill the needs of their advertisers who want to reach more customers. We’re providing the simplest solution and easiest experience on the market to meet these needs,” stated the CEO of PaperG, Victor Wong.

PlaceLocal’s Audience Extension is a one-stop solution for sales executives to:

- Display ads from local advertisers on top-tier websites across the web beyond their own web properties

- Target the most interested customers based on demographics, web browsing interests and geographic location

- Provide comprehensive analytics to local advertisers demonstrating the value of display ads

Experience and results are paramount for PaperG. The Audience Extension technology is continually working; every five minutes the engine reevaluates and refines its criteria to ensure ads reach the most relevant potential customers.

For more information about PaperG, please contact Asees Singh, PR Manager, at asees.singh@paperg.com.

To learn how your company can access PaperG’s suite of ad technology tools for a highly targeted ad campaign, please visit www.paperg.com.

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