Category: Media and Marketing

Research News and Market Data on DRCT

October 31, 2024 9:00 am EDT

The strategic merger of its buy-side businesses combines expertise and resources to expand capabilities and better serve Mid-Market & SMBs navigating the digital landscape

HOUSTON, Oct. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Direct Digital Holdings (DDH) (Nasdaq: DRCT) today announced the unification of its buy-side businesses, Orange 142 and Huddled Masses, to better serve the surging number of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) learning to leverage modern digital advertising. Unifying two similar companies under the Orange 142 brand allows them to share resources and operate more efficiently, providing current and future clients with a more comprehensive and integrated approach to digital marketing.

Clients increasingly allocate their marketing budgets to digital channels, turning to digital media channels to support their business’s awareness and growth goals. Utilizing a data-driven approach to buying and selling digital ads across channels offers businesses crucial benefits such as streamlined ad-buying processes, targeted audience reach, and real-time campaign adjustments, allowing for more efficient spending and effective results.

However, as SMBs delve deeper into the many channels and tactics available, they often need help navigating the complexities and maximizing their potential. To overcome these challenges, businesses require a strategic partner to provide expert guidance, support data-driven decision-making, facilitate technology adoption, and ensure accountability. By leveraging the combined strengths of Orange 142 and Huddled Masses, clients will be better equipped to harness advertising investment to drive growth, improve efficiency, and achieve their marketing goals.

As a unified team, Orange 142 is the essential technical and marketing partner for mid-market and SMBs navigating the modern digital landscape. Clients will benefit from expanded resources that enhance its digital offerings and support across critical areas, including influencer marketing and organic social media strategies. The merger also streamlines the company’s marketing solutions and digital sales services channels—from website refreshes to CRM implementations—to deliver a comprehensive suite of tools that drive business growth. Integrating digital marketing with technical services to enhance sales channels enables Orange 142’s clients to maximize their media budgets, making them work harder and more efficiently. As clients explore opportunities in emerging channels like OTT/CTV, video, social media, and retail media, Orange 142 is dedicated to empowering their success in the evolving advertising landscape.

“Our clients are often operating with limited budgets in local or regional markets and need a partner that can maximize their ROI and support their ability to test and learn with new digital channels,” said Mark Walker, CEO, Co-Founder, & Chairman of Direct Digital Holdings. “By unifying Orange 142 and Huddled Masses, we’ve expanded our team and resources, enhancing our digital offerings and support. This combined strength enables us to deliver on key growth opportunities like CTV. We’re building a buy-side business that optimizes client investments in the digital era and levels the playing field with larger competitors.”

The newly unified Orange 142 now serves hundreds of small- [TP1] and mid-sized clients, managing over 2,000 campaigns annually. Operating across all leading demand-side platforms (DSP), the company drives increased advertising ROI and reduced client acquisition costs while helping DSPs tap into previously unattained SMB revenue.

Orange 142, acquired by DDH in 2020, offers end-to-end media solutions and marketing services. Huddled Masses, acquired in 2018, advises agencies and marketers on thriving in the digital ecosystem. DDH’s two-sided business model provides a unique advantage, offering front-end, buy-side planning alongside its proprietary Colossus SSP, curating Publishers and content to deliver higher ROI execution.

Direct Digital Holdings is one of the few publicly traded Black-owned companies on Nasdaq and the only Black-owned publicly traded advertising technology firm.

About Direct Digital Holdings

Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT) brings state-of-the-art sell- and buy-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell-side platform, Colossus SSP, offers advertisers of all sizes extensive reach within the general market and multicultural media properties. The Company’s buy-side platform, Orange 142, delivers significant ROI for middle-market advertisers by providing data-optimized programmatic solutions for businesses in sectors ranging from energy to healthcare to travel to financial services. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell- and buy-side solutions generate billions of impressions per month across display, CTV, in-app, and other media channels.

About Orange 142

Orange 142 is a digital marketing and advertising company with offices across the US. We service marketers and agencies. We are part of Direct Digital Holding, the ninth Black-owned company to go public.

We help marketers of all sizes grow their reach and revenue through data-driven media strategies. We also partner with agencies and execute campaigns on behalf of their clients.

Our team of experts has a deep understanding of the digital landscape and the latest advertising and marketing technologies. We work closely with our clients to develop and execute custom advertising and marketing campaigns that meet specific goals.

We are committed to providing our clients with the highest level of service and transparency. We believe that open communication and collaboration are essential to the success of every advertising and marketing initiative.

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SOURCE Direct Digital Holdings

Released October 31, 2024

Research News and Market Data on DRCT

October 21, 2024 9:00 am EDT Download as PDF

HOUSTON, Oct. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRCT) (“Direct Digital Holdings” or the “Company”), a leading advertising and marketing technology platform operating through its companies Colossus Media, LLC (“Colossus SSP”), Orange142, LLC (“Orange 142”) and Huddled Masses LLC (“Huddled Masses”), today announced the Company has entered into a $20 million Equity Reserve Facility (“ERF”) with New Circle Principal Investments LLC, an affiliate of New Circle Capital LLC (“New Circle”).

Mark D. Walker, CEO and Co-Founder of Direct Digital Holdings, commented, “We are very pleased to announce this $20 million Equity Reserve Facility with New Circle. The funding will enable the expansion of our technology and strategic capabilities, benefiting both publishers and advertisers. It also opens the door to new growth opportunities and strengthens our commitment to increasing shareholder value.”

Under the agreement, at our sole election, New Circle will purchase, from time to time, shares of our Class A common stock up to an aggregate of $20 million over a period of 36 months, subject to the conditions in the agreement. The proceeds of these sales may be used for general corporate purposes. The Company anticipates using such proceeds to reduce debt obligations, strengthen the overall balance sheet, and drive key growth initiatives.  Those key initiatives extend across Direct Digital Holdings’ subsidiaries, and include specifically:

Advancing Innovation for Colossus SSP
The Company expects to make investments to drive technological advancements for Direct Digital Holdings’ supply-side platform (SSP), Colossus SSP, including the development of new segment-based products in carbon and attention. It will also support direct integrations with leading demand-side platforms (DSPs), optimizing supply path efficiency for advertisers. Additionally, the funding will expand Colossus SSP’s efforts to bring underrepresented publishers into the programmatic ecosystem, with their inventory available through the Company.

Enhancing Growth on the Demand Side
On the demand-side, the Company expects that funding will support the unification of Direct Digital Holdings’ advertising consultancy groups, Orange142 and Huddled Masses. This will enable the delivery of new capabilities, particularly in helping clients navigate emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), as well as emerging channels such as connected TV (CTV), social media and retail media.

Keith Smith, President and Co-Founder of Direct Digital Holdings, added, “We are pleased to partner with New Circle on this flexible facility which we expect will enhance our financial liquidity, strengthen our shareholder equity and support a host of growth initiatives across both our supply-side and demand-side platforms.”

BJ Arnold, Managing Partner of New Circle, commented, “New Circle is pleased to partner with Direct Digital Holdings, helping to fuel the company’s growth and support their innovative technology and industry-leading approaches to advertising.”

The Company’s right to commence sales of Class A common stock to New Circle are subject to certain conditions, including that a registration statement covering the resale of such shares is declared effective by the SEC. Actual sales of shares of Class A common stock to New Circle under the agreement will depend on a variety of factors to be determined by the Company from time to time, including, among others, market conditions, the trading price of the Common Stock and determinations by the Company as to the appropriate sources of funding and the Company’s operations.

Further information on the financing can be found in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws that are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties. We use words such as “could,” “would,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “expect,” “likely,” “believe,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project” and other similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, but not all forward-looking statements include these words. All of our forward-looking statements involve estimates and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, any such statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the information described under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10 K (the “Form 10-K”) and subsequent periodic and or current reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on assumptions that we have made in light of our industry experience and our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. As you read and consider this press release, you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve risks, uncertainties (many of which are beyond our control) and assumptions.

Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual operating and financial performance and cause our performance to differ materially from the performance expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. We believe these factors include, but are not limited to, the following: the conditions to our ability to sell Class A common stock to New Circle, including the effectiveness of the registration statement registering the resale by New Circle of the shares of Class A common stock; the restrictions and covenants imposed upon us by our credit facilities; the substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, which may hinder our ability to obtain future financing; our ability to secure additional financing to meet our capital needs; our ineligibility to file short-form registration statements on Form S-3, which may impair our ability to raise capital; our failure to satisfy applicable listing standards of the Nasdaq Capital Market resulting in a potential delisting of our common stock; failure to remedy any listing deficiencies noted in the deficiency letters from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; the risk that the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC does not accept the Company’s plan to regain compliance with applicable rules to maintain its listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market;  costs, risks and uncertainties related to the restatement of certain prior period financial statements;  any significant fluctuations caused by our high customer concentration; risks related to non-payment by our clients; reputational and other harms caused by our failure to detect advertising fraud; operational and performance issues with our platform, whether real or perceived, including a failure to respond to technological changes or to upgrade our technology systems; restrictions on the use of third-party “cookies,” mobile device IDs or other tracking technologies, which could diminish our platform’s effectiveness; unfavorable publicity and negative public perception about our industry, particularly concerns regarding data privacy and security relating to our industry’s technology and practices, and any perceived failure to comply with laws and industry self-regulation; our failure to manage our growth effectively; the difficulty in identifying and integrating any future acquisitions or strategic investments; any changes or developments in legislative, judicial, regulatory or cultural environments related to information collection, use and processing; challenges related to our buy-side clients that are destination marketing organizations and that operate as public/private partnerships; any strain on our resources or diversion of our management’s attention as a result of being a public company; the intense competition of the digital advertising industry and our ability to effectively compete against current and future competitors; any significant inadvertent disclosure or breach of confidential and/or personal information we hold, or of the security of our or our customers’, suppliers’ or other partners’ computer systems; as a holding company, we depend on distributions from Direct Digital Holdings, LLC (“DDH LLC”) to pay our taxes, expenses (including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement) and any amount of any dividends we may pay to the holders of our common stock; the fact that DDH LLC is controlled by DDM, whose interest may differ from those of our public stockholders; any failure by us to maintain or implement effective internal controls or to detect fraud; and other factors and assumptions discussed in our Form 10-K and subsequent periodic and current reports we may file with the SEC.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of these assumptions prove to be incorrect, our actual operating and financial performance may vary in material respects from the performance projected in these forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances, and we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. New factors that could cause our business not to develop as we expect emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. Further, we cannot assess the impact of each currently known or new factor on our results of operations or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

About Direct Digital Holdings
Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT), owner of operating companies Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses, and Orange 142, brings state-of-the-art sell- and buy-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell-side platform, Colossus SSP, offers advertisers of all sizes extensive reach within general market and multicultural media properties. The Company’s subsidiaries Huddled Masses and Orange142 deliver significant ROI for middle market advertisers by providing data-optimized programmatic solutions at scale for businesses in sectors that range from energy to healthcare to travel to financial services. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell- and buy-side solutions generate billions of impressions per month across display, CTV, in-app and other media channels.

Contacts:
Investors:
Brett Milotte, ICR
Brett.Milotte@icrinc.com

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SOURCE Direct Digital Holdings

Research News and Market Data on DRCT

October 16, 2024 4:01 pm EDT Download as PDF

HOUSTON, Oct. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRCT) (“Direct Digital Holdings” or the “Company”), a leading advertising and marketing technology platform operating through its companies Colossus Media, LLC (“Colossus SSP”), Orange 142, LLC (“Orange 142”) and Huddled Masses LLC (“Huddled Masses”), announced today that it received written notice from the staff of the Listing Qualifications Department (the “Staff”) of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC informing the Company that it has regained compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) regarding periodic reporting.

The regaining of compliance is a result of yesterday’s filings of Direct Digital Holdings’ Form 10-K for the full-year ended December 31, 2023, as well as its Form 10-Q for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 and its Form 10-Q for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024.

The Staff has advised the Company that the listing compliance matter is now closed.

About Direct Digital Holdings
Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT), owner of operating companies Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses, and Orange 142, brings state-of-the-art sell- and buy-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell-side platform, Colossus SSP, offers advertisers of all sizes extensive reach within general market and multicultural media properties. The Company’s subsidiaries Huddled Masses and Orange 142 deliver significant ROI for middle market advertisers by providing data-optimized programmatic solutions at scale for businesses in sectors that range from energy to healthcare to travel to financial services. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell- and buy-side solutions manage on average over 125,000 clients monthly, generating over 300 billion impressions per month across display, CTV, in-app and other media channels. 

Contacts:
Investors:
Brett Milotte, ICR
Brett.Milotte@icrinc.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/direct-digital-holdings-regains-nasdaq-compliance-302278432.html

SOURCE Direct Digital Holdings

Released October 16, 2024

Research News and Market Data on DRCT

October 09, 2024 9:00 am EDT

The participation aims to enhance industry standards while creating new opportunities for diverse digital publishers.

HOUSTON, Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Colossus Media LLC (“Colossus SSP”), the inclusive supply-side advertising platform, today announced its participation in the Media Rating Council’s (MRC) newly formed Digital Ad Auction Standards Working Group. This initiative aims to bring greater transparency, standardization, and predictability to auction dynamics in the digital advertising marketplace.

The digital advertising ecosystem has long grappled with challenges surrounding auction transparency and consistency. The Auction Standards Working Group, spearheaded by MRC in coordination with member organizations, including 4A’s and others to establish insights, metrics, and standards to enable auction users to transact with complete knowledge and confidence. By fostering an environment of open dialogue and shared expertise, the working group seeks to develop comprehensive standards that will empower advertisers, publishers, and technology providers alike.

“At Colossus SSP, we’ve always believed that a transparent and efficient marketplace is the cornerstone of effective digital advertising,” said Anu Pillai, CTO of Direct Digital Holdings. “Our participation in the Digital Ad Auction Standards Working Group aligns perfectly with our mission to drive innovation and foster trust in the programmatic ecosystem. We’re committed to leveraging our expertise to contribute to industry standards that will benefit all stakeholders.”

The Auction Standards Working Group’s objective is crucial to the industry’s evolution, focusing on key areas such as:

1. Enhancing transparency in digital ad auction rules and practices
2. Standardizing reporting of auction variables and outcomes
3. Developing a framework for independent audit and verification

Mark D. Walker, CEO, Co-Founder, & Chairman of Direct Digital Holdings, added: “As we push the boundaries of programmatic advertising, it’s crucial that we establish a common set of standards for auction transparency. This working group provides an opportunity to align innovation with industry-wide transparency goals. We’re excited to contribute our resources to making digital advertising more effective and trustworthy for all parties involved.”

“MRC greatly appreciates Colossus SSP’s participation in the Auction Standards Working Group,” stated Ron Pinelli Jr., SVP Digital Research and Standards at Media Rating Council. “We look forward to them participating in our effort to develop standards that will shape the future of transparency and reporting related to digital advertising auctions.”

As the working group begins its initial research phase, it will delve into the intricacies of various digital ad auction models, current disclosure practices, and reporting standards. This foundational work will pave the way for future phases aimed at developing and implementing industry-wide standards.

Participating in this initiative with the MRC will enhance Colossus SSP’s Momentum initiative, which supports underrepresented, diverse digital publishers with best practices, knowledge, resources, and tools. This participation positions Colossus as a conduit for these publishers to provide input into the MRC’s initiative more directly. In turn, Colossus will provide deeper insight into MRC’s accreditation framework in the area of auction transparency, allowing publishers to potentially unlock more ad dollars and opportunities.

About MRC
The Media Rating Council is a non-profit industry association established in 1963 comprised of leading television, radio, print and digital media companies, as well as advertisers, advertising agencies and trade associations, whose goal is to ensure measurement services that are valid, reliable and effective.

About Colossus SSP
Colossus SSP (Nasdaq: DRCT) owns and operates Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses, and Orange142. The company offers a unified platform that serves various clients across various sectors, managing over 326 billion monthly impressions. Colossus SSP is committed to providing innovative, data-driven advertising solutions prioritizing ROI, DEI, and sustainability.

About Direct Digital Holdings
Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT), owner of operating companies Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses, and Orange 142, brings state-of-the-art sell- and buy-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell-side platform, Colossus SSP, offers advertisers of all sizes extensive reach within general market and multicultural media properties. The Company’s subsidiaries Huddled Masses and Orange 142 deliver significant ROI for middle market advertisers by providing data-optimized programmatic solutions at scale for businesses in sectors that range from energy to healthcare to travel to financial services. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell- and buy-side solutions generate billions of impressions per month across display, CTV, in-app and other media channels.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/colossus-ssp-joins-industry-initiative-to-bring-transparency-to-digital-ad-auctions-302270961.html

SOURCE Direct Digital Holdings

Released October 9, 2024

Research News and Market Data on DRCT

October 08, 2024 10:32 am EDT

Partnership Reduces Malicious Ads and Enhances Security, Improving Ad Quality for Publishers and Advertisers Across the Digital Ecosystem

HOUSTON, Oct. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Colossus Media LLC (“Colossus SSP”), a subsidiary of the only Black-owned publicly traded advertising technology company, Direct Digital Holdings (DDH), announced today it has partnered with Confiant, a leader in cybersecurity for digital advertising, to combat criminal activity online and malicious advertising. This collaboration aims to safeguard publishers, advertisers and consumers by integrating Confiant’s advanced cybersecurity technology with the Colossus SSP platform.

The digital advertising landscape faces ongoing challenges from “malvertising,” a serious threat that encompasses various malicious activities from forced redirects to ransomware. Recent industry data highlights the severity of this issue, with 1 in every 79 ad impressions revealing significant security or quality issues, and U.S. consumers losing more than $12.5 billion to malicious ads in the past year. Recognizing these growing risks, Colossus SSP has taken a proactive approach to protect its network of over 21,000 publishers and the billions of impressions it serves monthly.

“Protecting users from online threats and malvertising is a critical priority. Thanks to our partnership with Confiant, we can offer publishers a safer platform for monetizing their inventory, while ensuring that advertisers reach real people in brand-safe environments,” said Lashawnda Goffin, Chief Executive Officer of Colossus SSP.

Colossus SSP’s new partnership addresses the industry’s security challenges by leveraging Confiant’s cutting-edge platform to monitor and block potentially malicious ads, complementing the company’s already rigorous quality control measures. This technique targets both security violations involving malicious code and quality violations such as misleading ads that lure users into scams. By enhancing overall security measures, the partnership delivers a safer, more trustworthy experience for users while ensuring advertisers’ campaigns are displayed in brand-safe environments.

The partnership between Colossus SSP and Confiant has already demonstrated impressive results. Security violations have been reduced from the industry average of 0.19% to less than 0.002%, while ad quality violations have dropped from 1.57% to 0.08%. This represents a nearly 95% reduction across both issues. As a result, ads served through Colossus SSP are now 20x safer compared to industry norms. These outcomes underscore Colossus SSP’s commitment to protecting the digital advertising ecosystem.

By providing a more secure environment for both consumers and advertisers, Colossus SSP and Confiant are working to improve user safety, enhance ad quality and implement robust security measures across the digital advertising landscape. This partnership reinforces Colossus SSP’s ongoing efforts to create a safer and more trustworthy digital advertising experience for all stakeholders. Advertisers can access Colossus SSP’s inventory directly or through leading DSPs, including Yahoo DSP, Microsoft Invest, and Zeta Global.

To read the case study. https://hubs.ly/Q02S3kRn0.

About Colossus SSP

Colossus SSP (Nasdaq: DRCT) owns and operates Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses, and Orange142. The company offers a unified platform that serves various clients across various sectors, managing over 326 billion monthly impressions. Colossus SSP is committed to providing innovative, data-driven advertising solutions prioritizing ROI, DEI, and sustainability.

About Direct Digital Holdings

Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT), owner of operating companies Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses, and Orange 142, brings state-of-the-art sell- and buy-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell-side platform, Colossus SSP, offers advertisers of all sizes extensive reach within general market and multicultural media properties. The Company’s subsidiaries Huddled Masses and Orange 142 deliver significant ROI for middle market advertisers by providing data-optimized programmatic solutions at scale for businesses in sectors that range from energy to healthcare to travel to financial services. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell- and buy-side solutions generate billions of impressions per month across display, CTV, in-app and other media channels.

About Confiant

Confiant is the cybersecurity leader in detecting and stopping Malvertising attacks. Having built hundreds of integrations directly into the web’s ad tech infrastructure, Confiant has unparalleled visibility to the malware, scams, and fraud serving through ads today. Leveraging our security expertise, we deliver complete control over ads to publishers and ad platforms, also remediating quality issues, privacy violations, and mis-categorized ads. In publishing the industry’s leading ad quality benchmark report and mapping the threat actors that use ads-as-an-attack-vector at Matrix.Confiant.com, Confiant is leading the charge in protecting users from criminals hijacking the ad tech supply chain. Trusted by customers like Microsoft, Paramount, and Magnite, we celebrate our 10th anniversary this year.

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SOURCE Direct Digital Holdings

Released October 8, 2024