I’m excited to share some very big news with you: video intelligence is delighted to be joining the Outbrain family.

In the unlikely event that you’re not familiar with them, Outbrain powers recommendations for the world’s leading publishers, including Le Monde, Washington Post, and CNN. And as you’re no doubt aware, vi powers contextual video moments on web, mobile, and on CTV.

Together, we’ll create new possibilities for our customers. Envision a more holistic solution for publishers and advertisers alike, a solution that improves user’s internet experience, and becomes a one-stop-shop for both media buyers and sellers. 

On many great publishers our two brands already live side-by-side – recommendation-powered content feeds and video platform. Now, together, we’ll provide a destination for brilliant user experiences, exceptionally relevant video, and super-charged recommendations. 

Needless to say, we’re excited about what’s in store. Let me share a little more detail with you: 

The journey so far

For vi this marks a change in the pace of our ongoing journey. We began with contextual video technology back in 2017. Since then, we’ve been committed to building great user experiences, empowering publishers editorial and revenue teams, stretching content creator’s reach, and delivering unique inventory for advertisers 

With the current revolution in the way internet privacy is managed, we’ve found more and more demand for our contextual matching solutions. We’ve doubled our business annually over the last two years, opening offices in new markets, and developing new products such as our CTV, header bidding, and in-app offering.

Enter: Outbrain

We want to continue to grow and offer more publishers the opportunity to deliver engaging video moments. To do this requires a partner who shares our goals, and has the existing reach, unfettered ambition, expertise, and muscle to help us. In Outbrain, that’s exactly what we found.

Outbrain provides vi with broader and taller shoulders to stand on; they will empower us to further enable our goal to create more great video experiences for the web.

As my counterpart, David Kostman, Co-CEO of Outbrain put it “vi fits perfectly into Outbrain’s core strategy of providing media owners with the tools to enhance user engagement and monetization through contextually relevant ads.”

What’s more, as we’ve gotten to know the Outbrain team, we realised that our cultures were a great fit; we share the same values in the way we work and have each built diverse, passionate teams. And so working together has seemed increasingly like it makes perfect sense. 

What’s next?

vi will become Outbrain’s video centre of excellence, powering video growth, with our leading technology and premium instream placements. We’ll be the central pillar in Outbrain’s continued growth in video. 

With Outbrain’s programmatic platform – and subsequent direct access to DSPs and agencies – we’ll become a direct source of inventory, increasing reach for advertisers, and content creators, and ultimately improving CPMs for publishers.

Publishers will immediately notice more direct demand, and advertisers will expect better reach. Outbrain and vi both see a huge opportunity in CTV, and will build on our existing contextual CTV product, as the likes of Samsung and Pluto.tv are already experiencing. 

The deal will close at the start of 2022 when vi will formally become a part of the Outbrain family. 

For our valued existing customers – whether you’re a publisher, an advertiser, or a content creator – we’ll continue to provide the products and services that you’ve come to expect from us. Nothing will change on that front. This new partnership will see everyone benefit from greater resources, ultimately delivering better value to you, our customers.

If you have any questions about how this change will affect your relationships with vi, please contact your local representative. You can read more about the announcement in the press.

Thanks for being a part of the journey so far, the next chapter looks very exciting indeed.

Kai