The player: Matt Freeman, CEO of Betawave Corp., a network of Web publishers in gaming, virtual worlds and social and entertainment categories targeting kids, moms and the 18-to-34 demographic.
The play: Betawave connects mom-friendly and kid-friendly sites in its publishing network with advertisers looking to reach their audiences. Betawave, which grew out of a company formerly known as GoFish, recently launched Betawave TV, focusing on selling brands into “family-friendly” syndicated Web programming. The company makes money on revenue-sharing against ads on sites in its portfolio, including Miniclip, Shutterfly, IMVU, Cartoon Doll Emporium, Minyanland, Hallpass, GameGecko and Meez.
The pitch: Rather than sell reach, Betawave sells based on engagement and consumer attention, Mr. Freeman said. The company boasts that its users spend an average of about 54 minutes in its network of sites each month. “Our theory is an impression is not an impression if it doesn’t make one,” he said.
In the mix: Competitors include a broad range of online ad networks such as Broadband Enterprises, Tremor Media and Brightroll. Betawave also competes with portals because of their ability to attract brand advertisers. Betawave’s portfolio of casual gaming, virtual world and entertainment publishers reaches 30 million users in the United States each month. Betawave is targeting Fortune 500 advertisers and has worked with Nintendo, Kellogg’s, Sears, Pepsi and others.
The money guys: Betawave raised $22.5 million in December from Panorama Capital, Rustic Canyon and Rembrandt Partners.
The pros: In its favor are strong engagement figures, a sought-after metric by advertisers.
The cons: Making money on revenue-sharing is tougher in this climate, with ad budgets shrinking.
Background: Mr. Freeman earned a bachelor’s degree in English and art history from Dartmouth College. He was the founder and CEO of Omnicom Group’s Tribal DDB Worldwide and ran that ad agency for a decade. He also has worked for MTV and taught high school English. He lives in New Jersey.