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140 Proof Inc. is an advertising company that makes use of social data from many sources to target relevant ads based on customers’ interests as indicated by their internet and social activities across networks—established in 2009 by Jon Elvekrog and John Manoogian III, the company partners with several apps and social media networks to use people’s public social network activities to target relevant ads with a blended interest graph.
Although 140 Proof began as an app-based network, its name references the 140-character limit on Twitter. And even though 140 Proof does not serve ads on the Twitter website itself; instead, its API is used by third-party apps to display targeted ads appearing on apps, social sites, and mobile networks. Additionally, the 140 Proof service allows advertisers to run campaigns on blogging platforms like WordPress and Tumblr successfully.
While 140 Proof’s market is primarily domiciled in the United States, it also boasts of serving customers on a global scale. Among brands and companies that are advertising via the 140 Proof’s API include UPS, Victoria’s Secret, AT&T, Nike, Levi’s, Microsoft, and General Motors.
In 2012, 140 Proof launched a platform to help big media brands monetize their content. With this new platform, media brands could offer their advertisers social ads and access to their audience in settings beyond their home website. Additionally, media brands began to use 140 Proof’s targeted advertising algorithms to reach people with interests that are similar to their existing audience.
During the 2012 U.S. elections, 140 Proof provided social advertising to political campaigns and candidates. The campaigns could custom-build the target audience for their ads or choose from 140 Proof’s pre-built voter data or personas, which included “Tea-Partiers” and “Swing Votes.” The election ad service worked best for candidates campaigning at the state level or higher because its technology is more effective with larger audiences.
In 2014, the company took a giant step towards cementing its place as a tech giant when it was granted a patent for targeting users based on personal data. The patented method includes the steps of receiving advertisement request from a third-party environment with associated content, and in turn, identifies a content stream that consists of any form of reference to the third-party content, identifying a persona based on the user associated with the content stream that had been identified and lastly serving advertisement to the third-party environment based on the identified persona.
Another major turning point in the growth of 140 Proof was in 2012 when the company began to offer video on any app running 140 Proof ads. The first video ad content on the platform was for Chevrolet during the Super Bowl. The ads generated 50 million impressions in 2 days and resulted in 120,000 downloads of Chevy’s “Chevy Game Time” app, which was a spike, considering the download count before the ads.
In August 2016, 140 Proof was acquired by AcuityAds for up to $20 million in cash, making it an impressive acquisition, especially for a company that had barely been in existence for half a decade.
Indeed, 140 Proof is a tech giant in its own right because it came on board with the right strategy and formula, coupled with the right team of best minds.
Learn more about 140 Proof Inc. here.
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