HIRO is a technology company that offers video-based marketing solutions and products for publishers and advertisers. ExchangeWire caught up with Ariel Napchi (pictured below), CEO and founder, HIRO Media, to discuss their programmatic offering.

ExchangeWire: Can you give us some insights into the programmatic market in Israel?

Ariel Napchi, CEO & Founder, HIRO

Ariel Napchi: We are an international company operating across the globe, so I can’t really speak in depth about the competition in the Israeli programmatic market. However, Israel is becoming a leader in programmatic advertising, and boasts a strong tech sector overall with giants like Facebook and startups alike having offices here and calling Israel home. A lot of emerging technologies, such as AI and blockchain development, are taking place here. It’s an exciting time for business; and there are lot of innovative people and companies in close vicinity. And, off course, amazing weather.

How does your programmatic offering fit into the market, what are your challenges, and how does your 'safe SSP' address them?

To understand HIRO’s role in the market, one must understand the context of where we are in this ever-programmatic world. Publishers quickly understood that they have to be a part of the programmatic zone, especially as this is where most advertising budgets are headed. At the same time, publishers must be able to take care of user experience and create a welcoming environment. This balancing act between advertising and users is not easy, and was a challenge we wished to address.

As a result, HIRO was born. We protect publishers through our Safe SSP – which allows publishers to control the quality of advertisements on their page, as well as through removing programmatic hazards such as malware, unapproved sound, expendable ads, and more. Now, publishers can run programmatic video campaigns without exposing their audience to all of these unwanted behaviours. The benefits go both ways – by using HIRO, publishers are presented only video ads that comply with their guidelines and do not have adware. Advertisers using HIRO receive control over brand-safe, quality traffic.

How does your solution differ from other SSPs?

Our unique, real-time publisher protection platform includes all of the benefits for publishers to improve their monetisation and video-ad-related intelligence, while protecting themselves from any unwanted ad behaviour. We provide real-time ad filtering to ensure malware-free and brand-safe ad delivery where user experience is held to CBA standard. We also provide in-depth reporting.

How do you help publishers?

We help take care of publishers by helping improve their users' experience, while also assisting with high-end revenue and demand. One of the main challenges publishers face is that programmatic video ads often create a bad user experience. Many users dislike the often too-high sound of these advertisements, that the page often crashes, and the creative goes out of the screen, among a host of annoyances. Multiple bad experiences often lead to a decrease in customers – a big problem for most.

HIRO helps overcome these issues with our Safe SSP – a platform that is the first to offer real-time filtering of suspected creatives which provides control over the amount of ad calls. In other words, publishers have the ability to provide high-quality, low-stress advertising on their pages to enhance the user’s experience while still hosting advertisements – a win for all.

What about brands and agencies?

While we focus on publishers, we also work to make life easier for brands and publishers. Our system, Brands Campaigns Control, is the world’s first solution for advertisers to have a full control over their campaigns. This unique tool provides brands with an authentic and transparent map of where your video ads are playing – and full, precise control over tag management via our platform.

When it comes to transparency and control, brands are granted unique, exclusive, and unprecedented access to their programmatic video advertising activity, enabling better monitoring, supply-path optimisation, and more full control. Features that include advertising path mapping, supply-path optimising, comparison tools, and advanced analytics, let brands know that their dollars are being effective.