Product: Content Discovery Platform Company: Outbrain Start of Development: 2006
Until only a few years ago, internet advertising was synonymous with an industry that tried to stand out by using colorful banners and advertisements which popped up onto the screen. Advertisers did everything they could to attract the potential client’s attention, and in so doing, transformed the advertisements into something that interferes with the internet experience.
In 2006, two savvy Israeli entrepreneurs, Yaron Galai and Ori Lahav, had an idea that changed the world of digital advertising and the manner in which we consume content. Everyone in the industry today is familiar with the growing market of discovery platforms. Outbrain, the start-up founded by Galai and Lahav, was the first company in the fields and has since become a global company, leading the way in this new market.
The average internet user doesn’t always notice Outbrain’s orange logo displayed above the recommendations for other relevant articles we should read, but it hides a sophisticated mechanism. Outbrain has developed a content discovery platform that ‘sits’ on premium publisher sites and suggests additional personalized recommendations for each user by means of smart algorithms that identify the user’s fields of interest.
Everyone wins in Outbrain’s world: the publishers, the advertisers, and the end users for whom Outbrain attempts to discover exactly where their interests lie – all while taking responsibility for the content and maintaining a scrupulous code of ethics.
Since its establishment, the content-based advertising industry has grown and expanded and increasingly more companies are expressing an active interest. Outbrain alone has hitherto raised approximately 145 million dollars from investors, including some prominent funds.
