Facebook buys video ad company LiveRail

Menlo Park, Calif. – Facebook has agreed to acquire LiveRail, an advertising technology company that helps companies serve better ads in the videos that appear on their websites and apps. LiveRail, founded in 2007, also provides marketers with access to premium video inventory and data to help decide where to show their ads.



In a press release, Facebook said that LiveRail’s video supply-side platform (SSP) “ultimately offers is a complete advertising solution for video publishers,” and that it is excited for the future of video advertising.



Facebook has been active with digital display ads, including recent forays into a mobile ad network and ads targeted by user browsing history. But although Facebook has done some video advertising in its news feeds, purchasing LiveRail demonstrates a much wider interest in video ads moving forward. Rival Google has been heavily involved in video advertising. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.