New York, NY – May 5, 2016 – xAd, the global leader in location intelligence that drives retail sales, today announced several growth milestones, including 100 percent year-over-year revenue growth, leading to a $250 million run rate for the company. This revenue run rate places xAd as the largest player in mobile location marketing, ahead of companies such as Amazon and LinkedIn in terms of mobile ad display revenue, according to a recent report from eMarketer.1
xAd also recently appointed industry veteran Shashi Seth as its chief product officer. Seth brings over 20 years of experience as a true pioneer in product strategy and development to his new role at xAd, previously holding senior roles at both Google and Yahoo!. Overall, the company doubled its workforce since 2015, adding a number of key hires in addition to Seth, including Panos Zampetakis as regional sales VP (previously at Google) and Ori Carmel, VP of sales marketing (previously at Twitter).
“xAd is the undisputed leader in the location category, building truly innovative technology that is revolutionizing the way major brands approach advertising,” said Seth. “I’m honored to join such a smart company and to leverage my expertise in search and monetization to help xAd continue to rival the largest tech companies in the world with its forward-thinking, data-driven solutions for marketers.”
Location intelligence is an explosive growth category for marketers, with its importance increasing exponentially, in line with the growth of mobile. eMarketer predicts the amount spent on location-targeted advertising will rise significantly over the next four years, as nearly all (90%) U.S. adult smartphone owners polled last year said they have used location services, up from 74% in 2013.2
xAd’s proprietary technologies, including Blueprints™ and MarketPlace (beta), both launched within the last year, are enabling marketers to leverage location intelligence in ways that have never been possible before, driving an unprecedented lift in store foot traffic and retail sales for brands. The increasing value of location intelligence for marketers, enabled by xAd’s technology, is the force driving the company’s growth. xAd now has a presence in over ten countries and claims 70% of the world’s top QSR brands and 60% of the world’s top retail brands as customers. 3
“Location has become a category in itself and the most critical factor for brands in successfully engaging with consumers to influence buying decisions,” said Dipanshu “D” Sharma, founder and CEO at xAd. “In the last 12 months alone, we’ve seen a significant global increase of capital investment into the space and predict location buying to reach the same levels of investment that mobile did earlier in the decade.”
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1 Source: eMarketer, 2016: “Mobile StatPack 2016”
2 Source: eMarketer, 2016: Location Intelligence, H1 2016: Guidance for US Marketers on Consumer Behavior, Data Quality and Mobile Marketing Tactics
3 Percentages based on the top 25 global QSR and Retail advertisers