GumGum

GumGum is a context analysis intelligence firm, and its proprietary AI system “Verity” can carry out visual and natural language processing on content published on the web, social media, and television. The system can scan content and discern its context to identify suitable ad placements while avoiding risky, unsuitable content. In March 2021, GumGum launched a video ad unit for overlaying ad placements in streaming TV and in June 2022, the firm was granted two patents for automating the ad-insertion process.

GumGum’s Verity system considers a variety of mediums (text, video, image, and audio information) in determining the context of published content and, therefore, is believed to be more comprehensive, giving it an edge over its peers. This is reflected in GumGum becoming the first independent ad tech firm to receive accreditation for its system by the Media Ratings Council (MRC), a media accreditation institute, in July 2021. In February 2023, GumGum also received MRC accreditation for brand safety and contextual targeting for CTV. In November 2022, in partnership with Playground xyz, GumGum planned to integrate attention measurement across all its contextual ad campaign solutions beginning in early 2023, which would result in a complete contextual advertising solution which it claims to be the first-of-its-kind. In March 2023, the company integrated its Verity system into all impressions running on its ad exchange, providing enhanced brand safety protection to its clients. In November 2023, the firm launched Mindset Index, which is designed to help brands understand audience engagement with specific content. In April 2024, GumGum launched a mobile ad format called "Hang Time" in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

According to a study by GumGum & Dentsu Aegis Network (in September 2020), GumGum’s system is 1.7x more accurate than other contextual intelligence providers, while a study done by Forrester (in March 2020) found that GumGum’s clients experienced on average a 279% Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS). 

Key customers and partnerships

GumGum partners with close to 1,200 leading publishers with a global viewership reach of 550 million to deliver contextual ads across a variety of mediums and formats. By March 2022, the firm had 700 brands using its service including Vodafone, Canon, Nasdaq, and TIME. 

GumGum has entered into a number of partnerships to broaden the use case of its Verity system including with Xandr , a demand-side ad platform owned by Microsoft as well as with Invincible Entertainment , an over-the-top (OTT) and connected TV (CTV) streaming service provider to expand its presence in the CTV space. In June 2022, GumGum also partnered with the social microblogging site Tumblr as well as with in-game advertising (IGA) platform Frameplay , to bring contextual analysis to social media and video games respectively. In May 2023, the firm partnered with socialcontext, a contextual platform that classifies diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) news segments, to enable advertisers to access DEI-related news content that would otherwise be blocked.

Funding and financials

GumGum raised USD 75 million in Series E funding in April 2021, which was led by Goldman Sachs Growth and was valued at USD 700 million. The purpose of the fundraising was to fuel its global expansion. In line with this, the firm acquired JustPremium; a marketplace for rich media display and video content based in the Netherlands. Subsequently, in March 2022 the firm launched operations in 7 European markets, increasing its presence to 19 markets worldwide. The firm stated that in 2021, it added 400 new clients and experienced a 40% YoY revenue growth. 

The firm was also reportedly seeking to list in early 2022 and was valued at USD 700 million as of April 2021. In October 2022, the firm stated that had reached USD 1 billion in ad spend by users of its contextual advertising solutions and had achieved a CAGR of 88% since the inception of its platform in 2008.