Monetizing Free Traffic That Refuses To Convert To Premium: SocialVibe CEO Jay Samit, Los Angeles (Part 4)

Sramana: How much business does Zynga do with you?

Jay Samit: I can’t discuss financial numbers since they have filed to go public. I think we are a key revenue stream. We started with PetVille, and because it was so successful they expanded us into CityVille, FarmVille, and FrontierVille. They have expanded anywhere and everywhere they could. It has been a very good partnership.

Sramana: Is gaming a top publisher category for you?

Jay Samit: Correct. We are also working with Huffington Post. Charity and music are also great categories for us. You will see announcements from us in the next few months about sports, which is becoming a huge category for us.

Sramana: What about B2B?

Jay Samit: One of the interesting things is that we have a company called JiWire in our portfolio. They offer WiFi services in airports. You can either pay for Internet service or you can watch some ads to get time free. We get the business traveler that way. We have another site called Docstoc, which has legal documents, and that is a great B2B place.

Sramana: Let’s say I am a publisher and I want to work with you. Who does the ad sales?

Jay Samit: We do the advertising sales. This is pure incremental profit for the publisher. We are not taking up any of your real estate. There is no display inventory. There is no account management for you. All we do is send you money every month.

Sramana: In terms of your target market, publishers and advertisers, what thresholds are you working with? What are the traffic levels are requires for publishers, and what kind of budgets are required of advertiers?

Jay Samit: Most of our advertisers are in the six figures per insertion order, and some are moving toward seven figures. All our publishers are massive. Brands want to be at the leading sites that they know and trust. For certain niche demographics, we will work with the smaller publisher that can really zero in on that specific niche.

Sramana: What is the competitive landscape around you?

Jay Samit: Right now, there is really nobody else who can deliver engagement to scale for brand advertisement. There are some mom-and-pop shops trying to do one-offs that look the same from the outside. From the back side, where they are giving transparency to the advertising agency and their clients, there is really nobody that has the reach we do.

This segment is part 4 in the series : Monetizing Free Traffic That Refuses To Convert To Premium: SocialVibe CEO Jay Samit, Los Angeles
1 2 3 4 5 6 7