YieldBuild offers software that lets a web publisher optimize text advertisement placement and formatting, so the ads will receive the maximum number of click-throughs. In other words, it helps publishers make more money.
Optimizing text ads without this type of software typically involves a lot of manual effort -- compiling data from across ad networks on a site, running tests on format changes, etc. And, even after optimization, readers may stop clicking once they get used to the new setup.
Instead, YieldBuild's algorithms automatically gauge ads’ performances and make constant adjustments to their color, placement, and positioning. VentureBeat's Dan Kaplan came away impressed by YieldBuild's results (and its private list of clients) when he took a look at the company last fall.
Text-ad optimization generally seems to be showing promising results, judging by the investment dollars being pumped into startups offering this service.
San Francisco-based YieldBuild has just raised $6 million in a round led by Storm Ventures, with existing investor Hummer Winblad Venture Partners participating. Meanwhile, rival Pubmatic raised an $8 million round at the beginning of this year (our coverage) while rival Rubicon Project raised $15 million a month ago (our coverage).
In a classic case of entrepreneurial iteration, YieldBuild actually started life as HubPages, a service that offers hosted pages where people can write and share their own stories. YieldBuild grew out of the company's efforts to optimize Hubpages' ads.
It previously raised $2 million from Hummer Winblad.