Hitplay Media and Akamai Technologies Forge Strategic Technology Alliance for Ad Insertion
Hitplay and Akamai together will provide Hitplay's revenue-generating solutions to Akamai's streaming customers, which include many of the leading media and entertainment sites on the Internet. In turn, Hitplay also announced that the company will offer Akamai's FreeFlow Streaming service to Hitplay's customers. By combining best-of-breed advertising insertion technology from Hitplay with Akamai's global fault-tolerant delivery network, customers can provide highly reliable ad delivery, better end user experiences, and increased ROI by developing additional rich media revenue streams.
Hitplay has optimized its end-to-end targeted advertising application services for Akamai's MediaPlus Advertising solution, the industry's first open streaming ad insertion delivery platform announced today by Akamai in a separate press release. Working with Akamai, Hitplay will enable Akamai's customers to insert targeted video messages before and after their on-demand video streams. Hitplay's Cupid ADTM provides the industry's first end-to-end digital video ad insertion service, from scalable video delivery to real-time reporting and campaign management. Akamai's FreeFlow Streaming service will provide high-performance, reliable delivery of the video advertising streams.
"We're proud to support Akamai's marquee customers with Hitplay's breakthrough Cupid Targeted Technology platform," said Todd Harris, president and CEO, Hitplay. "It's a great boost for Internet video advertising and a vote of confidence in our targeted video solutions. Media buyers should recognize that the Internet now offers the brand-building power of television with the interactivity and targeting capabilities afforded by the Web."
Hitplay offers complete support services to supplement its cutting-edge insertion technology. Cupid AD clients are equipped with ArrowTrackTM web-based ad booking and reporting tools, ADvertising sales, comprehensive ClientCare, and Media Services for video-content creation.
With the Cupid solution, Hitplay clients operating on Akamai's global delivery network can fully realize the benefits of dynamically inserting targeted advertising messages seamlessly into their video streams. In addition to revenue generation, Cupid AD enables websites to expand their brand reach and develop cross-promotional initiatives within and across related sites. To help drive rapid adoption of this lucrative delivery model, the two companies will collaborate on developing joint marketing and promotional programs.
"Akamai is excited to use Hitplay's Cupid Targeted Video ad insertion solution with its new MediaPlus Advertising platform," said Paul Campbell, vice president, streaming media services, Akamai. "By integrating its world-class delivery network with best-of-breed technology and services from Hitplay, Akamai is helping content providers monetize streams through dynamic business models like advertising."
Streaming video has entered the mainstream; the industry analyst group Jupiter reports that 68 percent of all popular consumer websites currently offer streaming media, including 85 percent of all entertainment sites. DFC Intelligence estimates that more than 420 million streams will be served in 2000. Anticipating the tremendous growth of the streaming media market, Hitplay's Cupid AD technology was engineered to extend across all platforms, including hosting networks, player formats, service providers and third-party databases. Cupid uses advanced database and content delivery technology from Akamai to ensure dynamic and consistent ad insertion delivery.
About Hitplay Media
Hitplay Media (www.hitplay.com) is the market leader in advanced, targeted video solutions that link websites to viewers, advertisers to consumers, and corporations to employees. As a next-generation ASP, Hitplay offers cutting-edge streaming video applications and services built on its proprietary Cupid Targeted Technology platform. Hitplay's Cupid AD product offers the only fully integrated, dynamic, and platform-independent video advertising solution that meets the needs of media-rich websites, corporations, and marketers. Hitplay's investors and strategic partners include IBM, Akamai Technologies, Samsung, and Garage.com. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif.
About Akamai
Akamai is the leading Content Delivery Service Provider serving over 2,800 customers worldwide. Akamai has the broadest deployment of servers for content, streaming media, and applications delivery with more than 6,000 servers in 54 countries directly connected within 335 different telecommunications networks.
Akamai's FreeFlow Streaming service is built upon the Company's EdgeAdvantageSM platform, which uses sophisticated algorithms to monitor the Internet on a real-time basis, understand the location of the requesting user, and make intelligent decisions about the best and most efficient Akamai edge server from which to deliver content to the end user. Akamai's MediaPlus Advertising is a full-service solution for content providers to deliver targeted streaming media advertising to end users.
Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, the reliability of on Akamai's FreeFlow Streaming service, any failure of its network infrastructure, changes in the market for or laws and regulations relating to Internet advertising, the complexity of its service and the networks on which the service is deployed, the failure to obtain access to transmission capacity and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.
| Contacts: |
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| Amanda Bardin Hitplay Media 310-996-6670 amanda.bardin@hitplay.com |
--or-- | Meelad Sadat Bender/Helper Impact 310-473-4147 meelad_sadat@bhimpact.com |
| Caryn Converse Akamai Technologies 617-250-4661 converse@akamai.com |
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Hitplay's Cupid Targeted TechnologyTM Integrated with Akamai's FreeFlowSM Streaming Network to Enable Customers to Monetize Their Streaming Businesses
Streaming Media West, San Jose, CA - December 12, 2000 - Hitplay Media, the leading provider of targeted streaming video solutions for websites and corporations, and Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leading Content Delivery Service Provider (CDSP), today announced that they have entered into a strategic marketing and technology alliance for targeted video advertising.Hitplay and Akamai together will provide Hitplay's revenue-generating solutions to Akamai's streaming customers, which include many of the leading media and entertainment sites on the Internet. In turn, Hitplay also announced that the company will offer Akamai's FreeFlow Streaming service to Hitplay's customers. By combining best-of-breed advertising insertion technology from Hitplay with Akamai's global fault-tolerant delivery network, customers can provide highly reliable ad delivery, better end user experiences, and increased ROI by developing additional rich media revenue streams.
Hitplay has optimized its end-to-end targeted advertising application services for Akamai's MediaPlus Advertising solution, the industry's first open streaming ad insertion delivery platform announced today by Akamai in a separate press release. Working with Akamai, Hitplay will enable Akamai's customers to insert targeted video messages before and after their on-demand video streams. Hitplay's Cupid ADTM provides the industry's first end-to-end digital video ad insertion service, from scalable video delivery to real-time reporting and campaign management. Akamai's FreeFlow Streaming service will provide high-performance, reliable delivery of the video advertising streams.
"We're proud to support Akamai's marquee customers with Hitplay's breakthrough Cupid Targeted Technology platform," said Todd Harris, president and CEO, Hitplay. "It's a great boost for Internet video advertising and a vote of confidence in our targeted video solutions. Media buyers should recognize that the Internet now offers the brand-building power of television with the interactivity and targeting capabilities afforded by the Web."
Hitplay offers complete support services to supplement its cutting-edge insertion technology. Cupid AD clients are equipped with ArrowTrackTM web-based ad booking and reporting tools, ADvertising sales, comprehensive ClientCare, and Media Services for video-content creation.
With the Cupid solution, Hitplay clients operating on Akamai's global delivery network can fully realize the benefits of dynamically inserting targeted advertising messages seamlessly into their video streams. In addition to revenue generation, Cupid AD enables websites to expand their brand reach and develop cross-promotional initiatives within and across related sites. To help drive rapid adoption of this lucrative delivery model, the two companies will collaborate on developing joint marketing and promotional programs.
"Akamai is excited to use Hitplay's Cupid Targeted Video ad insertion solution with its new MediaPlus Advertising platform," said Paul Campbell, vice president, streaming media services, Akamai. "By integrating its world-class delivery network with best-of-breed technology and services from Hitplay, Akamai is helping content providers monetize streams through dynamic business models like advertising."
Streaming video has entered the mainstream; the industry analyst group Jupiter reports that 68 percent of all popular consumer websites currently offer streaming media, including 85 percent of all entertainment sites. DFC Intelligence estimates that more than 420 million streams will be served in 2000. Anticipating the tremendous growth of the streaming media market, Hitplay's Cupid AD technology was engineered to extend across all platforms, including hosting networks, player formats, service providers and third-party databases. Cupid uses advanced database and content delivery technology from Akamai to ensure dynamic and consistent ad insertion delivery.
About Hitplay Media
Hitplay Media (www.hitplay.com) is the market leader in advanced, targeted video solutions that link websites to viewers, advertisers to consumers, and corporations to employees. As a next-generation ASP, Hitplay offers cutting-edge streaming video applications and services built on its proprietary Cupid Targeted Technology platform. Hitplay's Cupid AD product offers the only fully integrated, dynamic, and platform-independent video advertising solution that meets the needs of media-rich websites, corporations, and marketers. Hitplay's investors and strategic partners include IBM, Akamai Technologies, Samsung, and Garage.com. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif.
About Akamai
Akamai is the leading Content Delivery Service Provider serving over 2,800 customers worldwide. Akamai has the broadest deployment of servers for content, streaming media, and applications delivery with more than 6,000 servers in 54 countries directly connected within 335 different telecommunications networks.
Akamai's FreeFlow Streaming service is built upon the Company's EdgeAdvantageSM platform, which uses sophisticated algorithms to monitor the Internet on a real-time basis, understand the location of the requesting user, and make intelligent decisions about the best and most efficient Akamai edge server from which to deliver content to the end user. Akamai's MediaPlus Advertising is a full-service solution for content providers to deliver targeted streaming media advertising to end users.
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Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, the reliability of on Akamai's FreeFlow Streaming service, any failure of its network infrastructure, changes in the market for or laws and regulations relating to Internet advertising, the complexity of its service and the networks on which the service is deployed, the failure to obtain access to transmission capacity and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.
