Location intelligence startup Urbanoid of Montreal and Concordia University’s Applied AI Institute have developed new technology to allow marketers to target web, mobile, and digital out-of-home (DOOH) ads without relying on cookies. Photo courtesy Urbanoid
Location intelligence startup Urbanoid of Montreal and Concordia University’s Applied AI Institute have developed new technology to allow marketers to target web, mobile, and digital out-of-home (DOOH) ads without relying on cookies.
The artificial intelligence (AI)-based solution, known as CTX, responds to the concern in the advertising industry about the withdrawal and ban of third-party cookies by companies such as Google and Apple. This new technology will enable advertisers to bid intelligently for ad spaces without relying on the browsing history of desired users.
CTX’s AI-trained model analyzes variables surrounding users such as weather, transit schedules, public events, offers, and points-of-sale, providing advertisers with a real-life contextual Adscore. The service will be available for all digital advertising channels. A beta version is currently being tested by select platforms, and a commercial version will be available to the advertising industry in 2024.
The pending patent for CTX (System and Method for Contextualized Selection of Objects in Mixed Reality) was co-invented by Hafsa Ennajari and Akinlolu Ojo—both PhD students specializing in machine learning and attached to the Applied AI Institute—as well as Leonid Reinoso, Urbanoid’s chief technology officer (CTO).
“The ban on cookies in 2024 has provided us with an unprecedented opportunity to develop an innovative and highly accurate solution that will allow the advertising industry to replace cookies through the use of location intelligence, while respecting user data, which is a key consideration for us,” says Pascal Maeder, founder of Urbanoid. “We are delighted to have worked closely with Concordia University’s Applied AI Institute to develop the CTX technology.”
