Pandora First Digital Publisher to Offer e-Business Advertising Integration into Media Buying Platforms

Ad-tech solution simplifies and speeds-up buying and billing process

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May 15, 2013, 08:30 ET

OAKLAND Calif., May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Pandora (NYSE: P), the leading internet radio service, announced today a new e-Business advertising technology solution that will allow for frictionless planning and buying for media buyers. The new platform seamlessly integrates the largest media buying software platforms, Mediaocean and STRATA, with proprietary software built by Pandora's engineering team in conjunction with Pandora's ad operations and billing teams. This advancement makes Pandora the first and only digital publisher to integrate the planning, buying and billing phases of the buying process of digital advertising.

The move brings the audience insights of Pandora's more than 70 million active listeners to life for the media-buying community. The proprietary engineering solution marks an important step for what has been a largely manual process for the digital advertising industry, as it automates the transactional process between media buyers and digital publishers. Pandora is initially offering this solution to capitalize on its unique advantage among digital properties to sell cross-platform audio advertising.

"We are excited that Pandora is the first digital publisher in-market to engineer this frictionless planning and buying solution for media buyers," said John Trimble, Chief Revenue Officer at Pandora. "With this new solution, we are combining the ease of buying traditional radio with the accountability of digital by enabling a more seamless, end-to-end platform from planning through the final billing transaction."

This marks the launch of the final stage of Pandora's plans to fully integrate Pandora into media buying platforms. The first step, announced in May 2012, was the launch of Triton Digital's measurement of Pandora in traditional radio metrics such as AQH and Cume. The second phase, announced in March 2013, integrated Pandora audience data via Triton ratings into the Mediaocean and STRATA media buying platforms. This final stage offers the full-cycle solution from planning to buying to billing for multi-platform audio campaigns on Pandora.

"The manual process of handling business documents contributes dramatically to the 14 percent operational cost of executing a digital marketing campaign. In comparison, the operational cost of executing a broadcast ad campaign sits at around 2.5 percent," said Steve Sullivan, VP Advertising Technology at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). "One major goal of the IAB is to improve operational efficiency through the electronic transfer of digital advertising business documents. We applaud Pandora for being the first digital publisher to go to market with this solution. This move will demonstrate the value of a common e-Business standard for the entire campaign planning and execution process across the interactive industry."

ABOUT PANDORA
Pandora (NYSE: P) gives people music and comedy they love anytime, anywhere, through connected devices. Personalized stations launch instantly with the input of a single "seed" - a favorite artist, song, or genre. The Music Genome Project^®, a deeply detailed hand-built musical taxonomy, powers the personalization of Pandora^® internet radio by using musicological "DNA" and constant listener feedback to craft personalized stations from a growing collection of more than one million tracks. Tens of millions of people turn on Pandora every month to hear music they love. www.pandora.com

SOURCE Pandora