Flush with Funds, Moat Plans Digital Ad Currency

New York-based web analytics company Moat has raised $50m in funding, three times its previous total, and says it aims to develop its viewability metric into a currency for buying digital ads.

Moat's work on measuring viewable ad impressions recently won it accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC) - both for apps and mobile web browsing; while in 2014 it was accredited for desktop display and video viewability.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Jonah Goodhart, quoted in the Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com ), says Unilever is already transacting ad deals using data from his firm, which has been profitable for the past two years and has tripled revenue between 2014 and 2015.

The new metric aims to help web advertisers and publishers gauge whether people pay attention to digital ads and are impacted by them, reports the Journal. However, Goodhart stresses that his company sees the like of Nielsen and Google as potential partners - it has already teamed up with the former, 15 months ago.

The company was founded in 2010 and employs 125 people - a number it will look to double this year with the new investment, led by Insight Venture Partners.

Web site: www.moat.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.