Criteo
Encyclopedia
Criteo describes itself as a 'personalized retargeting company' that works with Internet
retailers to serve personalized online display advertisements
to consumers that have previously visited the advertiser's website
. The company currently operates in several countries around the world and is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. On April 7, 2011, Criteo announced that it hired Greg Coleman as president. Previously, Coleman served as president and chief revenue officer of The Huffington Post and executive vice president of global sales for Yahoo!.
Criteo enables online businesses to follow up visitors who have left their website without making a purchase using personalized banners which aim to drive potential customers back to the business website.
, France in 2005 and spent the first four years focused on R&D, and launched its first product in April 2008.
In 2010, Criteo relocated its headquarters to Silicon Valley in an effort to enhance its profile in the USA. The move took place four months after launching the 'PPC Retargeting Solution'.
At the time of its move, the company had 120 employees, with offices in Italy, The Netherlands, and the U.K. Almost one year later, Criteo has 350 employees with offices in 20 countries including US, Europe and Asia.
. Their personalized retargeting solution displays interactive banner advertisements
, generated based on the online retail browsing preferences and products for each customer. The solution operates on a pay per click
(PPC) / cost per click (CPC) basis, meaning that advertisers pay only for those consumers that click on the banner and return to their website. Additional retargeting solutions operate on a cost per thousand (CPM) or cost per engagement (CPE).
The most common, and simple form of retargeting is basic static retargeting , where a single static banner is shown to all viewers who have left a particular website. Retargeting specialists then introduced a slightly more complex form of segmented retargeting This second generation of retargeting enables to display one of a few pre-created messages to lost visitors based on a particular browsing category they fall into.
In September 2010, Criteo debuted its self-service cost-per-click (CPC) bidding platform that lets advertisers place bids on display retargeting campaigns and see changes and optimize campaigns in real-time.
The Criteo Performance Optimization Platform allowed display advertisers and agencies to set retargeting campaigns based on category, and allow advertisers to bid a different CPC per product category. This is similar to Google AdWords
, but for display retargeting ads.
Criteo’s platform allowed for cost-per-click bids to be set down to the individual product level . For example, if a retargeted ad displays three products the consumer had browsed on the site, a different cost can be assigned to each product displayed within the single ad.
and Elaia Partners, and 9M euros in a second round in January 2008 led by Index Ventures. The company displays over 4 billion banners per month but does not disclose the geographical breakdown for those banners.
In May 2010, Criteo raised a further $7 million of funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, bringing the total to $24 million.
and data-driven marketing tactics.
The company denies it relies on personally identifiable information
(PII) and doesn’t track identifiable information, no data is shared with advertisers or publishers and no third-party data used for targeting purposes. Retargeting only uses anonymous information from the merchant’s site.
Criteo’s client Boden won the ClickZ Connected Marketing Award for ‘Best Use of Display Advertising’ for its personalized retargeting campaign implemented by Criteo.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
retailers to serve personalized online display advertisements
Display advertising
Display advertising is a type of advertising that typically contains text , logos, photographs or other images, location maps, and similar items. In periodicals, display advertising can appear on the same page as, or on the page adjacent to, general editorial content...
to consumers that have previously visited the advertiser's website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
. The company currently operates in several countries around the world and is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. On April 7, 2011, Criteo announced that it hired Greg Coleman as president. Previously, Coleman served as president and chief revenue officer of The Huffington Post and executive vice president of global sales for Yahoo!.
Criteo enables online businesses to follow up visitors who have left their website without making a purchase using personalized banners which aim to drive potential customers back to the business website.
History
Criteo was founded in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France in 2005 and spent the first four years focused on R&D, and launched its first product in April 2008.
In 2010, Criteo relocated its headquarters to Silicon Valley in an effort to enhance its profile in the USA. The move took place four months after launching the 'PPC Retargeting Solution'.
At the time of its move, the company had 120 employees, with offices in Italy, The Netherlands, and the U.K. Almost one year later, Criteo has 350 employees with offices in 20 countries including US, Europe and Asia.
Product
Criteo’s product is a form of display advertisingDisplay advertising
Display advertising is a type of advertising that typically contains text , logos, photographs or other images, location maps, and similar items. In periodicals, display advertising can appear on the same page as, or on the page adjacent to, general editorial content...
. Their personalized retargeting solution displays interactive banner advertisements
Web banner
A web banner or banner ad is a form of advertising on the World Wide Web delivered by an ad server. This form of online advertising entails embedding an advertisement into a web page. It is intended to attract traffic to a website by linking to the website of the advertiser...
, generated based on the online retail browsing preferences and products for each customer. The solution operates on a pay per click
Pay per click
Pay per click is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the publisher when the ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market...
(PPC) / cost per click (CPC) basis, meaning that advertisers pay only for those consumers that click on the banner and return to their website. Additional retargeting solutions operate on a cost per thousand (CPM) or cost per engagement (CPE).
The most common, and simple form of retargeting is basic static retargeting , where a single static banner is shown to all viewers who have left a particular website. Retargeting specialists then introduced a slightly more complex form of segmented retargeting This second generation of retargeting enables to display one of a few pre-created messages to lost visitors based on a particular browsing category they fall into.
In September 2010, Criteo debuted its self-service cost-per-click (CPC) bidding platform that lets advertisers place bids on display retargeting campaigns and see changes and optimize campaigns in real-time.
The Criteo Performance Optimization Platform allowed display advertisers and agencies to set retargeting campaigns based on category, and allow advertisers to bid a different CPC per product category. This is similar to Google AdWords
AdWords
Google AdWords is Google's main advertising product and main source of revenue. Google's total advertising revenues were USD$28 billion in 2010. AdWords offers pay-per-click advertising, cost-per-thousand advertising, and site-targeted advertising for text, banner, and rich-media ads. The AdWords...
, but for display retargeting ads.
Criteo’s platform allowed for cost-per-click bids to be set down to the individual product level . For example, if a retargeted ad displays three products the consumer had browsed on the site, a different cost can be assigned to each product displayed within the single ad.
Funding
Criteo has secured a total of $17 million in funding, with 3M euros in a first institutional round in March 2006 coming from French private equity firm AGFAGF (company)
AGF is a French insurance company, headquartered in Rue de Richelieu, Paris. The holding company is called Assurances Générales de France, but the company only refers to itself as AGF. Having held a majority stake in AGF since 1998, Allianz SE of Germany achieved 100% ownership of the company in...
and Elaia Partners, and 9M euros in a second round in January 2008 led by Index Ventures. The company displays over 4 billion banners per month but does not disclose the geographical breakdown for those banners.
In May 2010, Criteo raised a further $7 million of funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, bringing the total to $24 million.
Competitors
According to the VentureBeat article, some of Criteo's competitors include MediaFORGE, which is priced on a CPA basis, Fetchback, which has a more flexible pricing model, and Retargeter, which charges a flat monthly feePrivacy
In September 2010, Criteo began a campaign regarding the use of the popular retargeting and its impact on consumer privacy. The campaign aimed to reassure consumers about personalized retargetingPersonalized retargeting
Personalized retargeting is a display advertising technique used by online advertisers to recapture consumers who visit a retailer’s site and leave without making a purchase...
and data-driven marketing tactics.
The company denies it relies on personally identifiable information
Personally identifiable information
Personally Identifiable Information , as used in information security, is information that can be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate a single person or can be used with other sources to uniquely identify a single individual...
(PII) and doesn’t track identifiable information, no data is shared with advertisers or publishers and no third-party data used for targeting purposes. Retargeting only uses anonymous information from the merchant’s site.
Achievements
Criteo wins 2010 Web Award for Outstanding Achievement in Web Development – September 2010Criteo’s client Boden won the ClickZ Connected Marketing Award for ‘Best Use of Display Advertising’ for its personalized retargeting campaign implemented by Criteo.