Euro Round Up: Criteo To Hit $400 Million In Revenue This Year; StrikeAd Informs On Mobile Ad Tracking; Hi-Media UK Inks New Deal With Thomas Cook

Criteo To Hit $400 Million In Revenue This Year

Criteo has become a colossus in the European ad tech space. The French company, founded by Jean-Baptiste Rudelle in 2005, has a client list which includes some of the biggest names in e-commerce (Office.co.uk, Zoopla, Glasses Direct, Boden, among others).
Last year the company generated $200m in turnover, compared with $60m in 2010 and $9m in 2009. If the trend continues, Criteo could double its revenues in 2012. There are already plans to hire 250 people this year, bringing the workforce to 750 employees. At this rate, Criteo could possibly become the largest Internet company in France.
Criteo is committed to continuing its big innovation push. Gazagne Gregory, General Manager for France, Southern Europe and Latin America explains: “We have been profitable since July 2009 and reinvest all our profits in R&D. Our offices in Paris are the second largest algorithmic research centre on advertising in Europe behind Google in Zurich.” R&D doubled last year and engineers represent 40% of the total workforce. Criteo now has over 2,000 customers in 30 countries and has 15 offices around the world. More on the Criteo growth story here.
StrikeAd Releases White Paper On Conversion Tracking In Mobile Advertising

London and New York-based mobile advertising DSP, StrikeAd, released its new white paper on ad tracking in mobile. The white paper looks to provide a guide for agencies seeking to understand how to track mobile ads and conversions in a transparent and safe way.
The report examines in detail the problems surrounding device identifiers (UDIDs) when it comes to tracking mobile app downloads. It goes on to explain how cookies can be the key to tying an ad impression to a particular download and consequently yielding better results for agencies in mobile ad campaigns. Although it is necessary for the process to be adopted by the triumvirate of advertiser, agency and media in order to utilise them to best effect.
Alex Rahaman, CEO of StrikeAd, explains why they are releasing this report now: “Since StrikeAd launched we’ve had many agencies ask for help with their tracking across phone and tablet ad campaigns. In direct response to this, we wrote this white paper based on our tools to try to clear up any confusion and clarify for agencies how to track mobile ads and conversions in a privacy-safe way.”
You can download the white paper in full here.
Thomas Cook Joins Hi-Media’s Premium Network In The UK

Thomas Cook, one of the best-known names in travel, has partnered with Hi-Media in the UK to increase its online advertising revenues from the market, it announced in a press release last week. Hi-Media, a European leader in monetising Internet audiences, will work with leading advertisers and their agencies to develop bespoke advertising solutions to reach Thomas Cook’s audience of travel intenders.
ThomasCook.com has millions of unique visitors per month. Stuart Adamson, Head of Media Solutions, Europe at Thomas Cook Online, explains their value: “We have a large and loyal customer base across Europe visiting our sites to research and book their travel options. We know this is a highly valuable audience, so partnering with Hi-Media helps us gain traction with major brands looking to reach purchase decision-makers. We selected Hi-Media as a partner because of their understanding of quality brands and online consumer behavior.”
Mathieu Roche, Managing Director of Hi-Media UK, is equally happy with the partnership: “Thomas Cook is a brand with an incredible heritage, delivering a highly engaged audience who visit the site with purchase intent. We will work with advertisers and their agencies to offer them a wide variety of branding and performance advertising solutions to reach this premium audience.”