Centro Acquires Self-Serve, Real-Time Bidding Platform SiteScout

Centro to Integrate RTB Technology into its Programmatic Guaranteed Software to Deliver a Unified Media Platform for Guaranteed and Biddable Media across All Channels 

CHICAGO, IL/TORONTO, CA – November 5, 2013 – Centro (centro.net), a provider of digital media software and services, today announced the acquisition of SiteScout (www.sitescout.com), a self-serve, real-time bidding (RTB) platform.  SiteScout’s technology has seen rapid adoption, growing to more than 4,000 customers in the first three years.  The deal gives Centro a key component for delivering a unified digital advertising platform that accesses guaranteed and biddable inventory across all channels.  With Centro, for the first time, marketers will be able to use a single system to manage all of their media, campaign objectives and operations.

Based in Toronto, Canada, with 33 employees, SiteScout’s technology accesses more than 21 billion daily impressions via integrations with supply sources such as Google AdX, The Rubicon Project, OpenX, Pubmatic, and MoPub. It also provides an ad server for site-direct media buys. SiteScout gains immediate access to Centro’s sales, service and operations team of more than 370 in 33 U.S. markets, and its established relationships with more than 1,200 agencies and 5,700 marketers.

“The ad tech industry is filled with disparate point solutions that create complexity for marketers and agencies. SiteScout shares our vision in delivering self-serve technology that puts power and control in the marketers’ hands,” said Shawn Riegsecker, CEO of Centro. “Together we’ll deliver a unified stack across all media, including guaranteed and biddable, that leverages predictive data and analytics to power any campaign objective.”

Centro’s core technology streamlines guaranteed media buying between agencies and ad sellers. This year, the combined company will process more than $250 million and mark its fourth consecutive year of profitability.

According to Paul Mokbel, SiteScout’s CEO and founder, who will be joining Centro’s executive team: “SiteScout was founded on the premise of making programmatic ad buying accessible to marketers. Centro is a perfect complement as it helps us reach more marketers and agencies instantly. We benefit from Centro’s strong leadership, dedicated service culture and huge U.S. sales team. With our superior technology and Centro’s scale, we have the potential to become one of the largest RTB companies in the industry.”

“We have known that at some point, media software will need to consolidate so we can more easily track, analyze and measure performance and attribution through individual platforms end-to-end.” said Donnie Williams, Chief Digital Officer for Horizon Media. “With this in mind, Centro’s vision to develop a single platform for all inventory and channels makes a ton of sense.”

“The digital media marketplace has never been more interesting than it is today, but it has also never been more fragmented. Centro is creating a leadership position by unifying all the disparate pieces of digital media operations into a single platform,” said David Verklin, former CEO of Carat Americas, one of the largest buyers of media time and space in the world.

About SiteScout

SiteScout (www.sitescout.com) is a leading self-serve platform for buying banner ads on the web and on mobile devices. Our easy-to-use platform, transparent reporting and real-time control deliver unparalleled performance for brands, marketers and agencies. With a low minimum deposit, and the ability to sign up within minutes, SiteScout makes best-in-class real-time bidding (RTB) technology accessible to advertisers of all sizes.

About Centro
Centro (centro.net) provides unified, cloud-based software to simplify digital media operations. Our media management platform streamlines and scales ad buys across all channels, accessing both guaranteed and biddable inventory, to achieve any campaign objective. Our holistic approach gives marketers a single system of record to fulfill their research, planning, buying, optimization and reporting needs. Since 2001, Centro has successfully planned and executed more than 22,000 local and national campaigns across all digital display platforms and ad format types. Headquartered in Chicago with 33 offices in North America, Centro’s success and commitment to culture has led to many accolades, including #1 on Crain’s Best Places to Work in Chicago in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Contact:
Anthony Loredo
anthony.loredo@centro.net
646-462-4888