Viant announced a $20 million acquisition of Waymark, a generative AI video ad platform, AdExchanger reported. Media companies including Comcast, Fox, NBCU, Spectrum Reach and Gray Television have used Waymark to generate more than a million ads over the past year for local advertisers.
Waymark joins Viant's earlier purchases of Iris.TV, which supplies content signals, and TVision, which tracks attention. AdExchanger describes Viant's pitch as a loop: Iris matches ads to content, TVision shows whether viewers are paying attention, and Waymark produces new versions when creative wears out. COO Chris Vanderhook said Meta's model of handling optimization and targeting while brands produce as much creative as possible is "something we're looking to replicate."
CEO Tim Vanderhook told AdExchanger that the mid-market and DTC brands Viant wants spend tens of millions a month on Meta, and that winning them for TV requires generating the spot for them. He said backlash to AI ads comes mainly from undisclosed AI use and AI-generated humans, and that disclosure will matter more as the tools improve. Asked about grading its own homework, he said everything Viant does is auditable.