DoubleVerify (DV), a measurement and verification firm, has announced it will acquire Scibids Technology SAS, an AI-powered campaign optimisation business, in a cash and stock transaction valued at $125 million.
The acquisition, expected to close in Q3 2023, will bring Scibids’ real-time optimisation capabilities into DV’s tools for measuring ad viewability and invalid traffic. DV said the joint offering enables it to monitor the end-to-end media transaction, from activation to measurement.
Scibids uses AI to automate and optimise advertisers’ programmatic buying in a cookieless manner. Using DSP impression-level data feeds, first-party data and measurement data provided by brands and agencies, the AI generates custom bidding algorithms for clients, aligned with their KPIs. It has integrations with DSPs such as The Trade Desk, Google DV360 and Microsoft’s Xandr.
“The acquisition of Scibids is a decisive step in our journey to power superior campaign outcomes that started with developing and delivering the industry standard in media quality insights and has evolved into putting that data to work for advertisers,” said DV CEO Mark Zagorski. “The combination marries DV’s proprietary data with Scibids’ AI-powered optimisation technology, letting us empower brands with unparalleled insights and control over their advertising performance.”
DV also revealed its earnings for Q2 2023, reporting quarterly revenues of $133.7 million, up 22 percent YoY. The company forecast Q3 revenues of $135-141 million, representing a 23 percent increase. And it projected full-year earnings of $557-569 million, marking a 24 percent rise on last year. The acquisition announcement sent DV shares down 7.4 percent.
Doubling up
The deal is the latest in a recent flurry of AI-based announcements, as ad tech firms position themselves as leaders in the emerging technology – although many companies have already been quietly using AI for a number of years.
The two parties previously collaborated on DV’s Algorithmic Optimiser, which integrated AI into the verification company’s attention metrics. The business said the tool yielded an average 63 percent increase in attention levels, noting the performance uplift AI can deliver when third-party cookies are finally eradicated next year.
Scibids meanwhile has raised $7.2 million in venture funding since it was founded in 2016. Based in Paris, the firm has around 70 employees, including 20 AI engineers and data scientists, all expected to move to DV under the terms of the transaction.
“We are excited to welcome Scibids’ talented global team, with expertise across data science, product, engineering, sales and customer service,” said Zagorski. “We anticipate opportunities for increased product innovation, access to shared resources, and acceleration of our vision to power media quality and performance everywhere.”
“DoubleVerify is a company that shares our commitment to independence, innovation and maximising media performance, and we’re thrilled to take our partnership to the next level,” added Scibids CEO Remi Lemonnier. “This partnership will amplify the capabilities of our customisable AI technology and expand its impact across the digital advertising ecosystem to strengthen the open web. We look forward to working with the entire DV team to deliver new opportunities and maximise campaign outcomes for our global advertisers and partners.”
