Peer39 launches semantic ad platform

Search marketers looking for a little more punch in their campaigns may want to check a new start-up called Peer39. The company is launching a semantic advertising platform said to match content meaning within search terms.

by Kristina Knight

The information is then targeted at a page level so that ads appear on pages most relevant to the message or term. This is a way that marketings can target specific pages of content on the web, which includes social sites.

“Semantic targeting is widely seen to be the next stage of advertising technology, beyond contextual or behavioral. [These] ads are targeted to the meaning of pages rather than to pre-selected keywords,” said Amiad Solomon, Peer39 CEO. “We eliminate the errors that can plague keyword targeting and unlike other forms of online targeting, Peer39’s SemanticMatch does not set cookies or track user behavior.”

The matching technology includes news sites, advertising networks and social networks as well as blogs and forums. Marketers can target users according to their awareness level (such as a generic "auto" search), their consideration level (a more-detailed search for "SUV") or their preference (a search for "hybrid"). Ads are then targeted to pages with the most relevant content.

Peer39 has announced they have received $8 million in Series B financing with Canaan Partners.