Bellevue, Wash.-based SinglePoint, which works with major networks, such as CBS, NBC and others to deliver text-message campaigns based on TV shows, said it has built an advertising platform that allows advertisers to easily place ads at the bottom of an SMS. SinglePoint’s CEO Rich Begert said: “Nothing like this has existed until we built it. We searched high-and-low, so we wouldn’t have to build it, and we looked globally for an ad insertion platform. We visited companies in Israel, Ireland and India.” Begert said building the Web portal took some investment, but “the good news is we started down the path much earlier this year, and through that process, we became much more educated about requirements for the ad marketplace. We certainly benefited by working with partners and by integrating their existing ad networks into ad inventory.”

Prior to the SinglePoint building the network, they said it was a time consuming process with advertisers and TV networks always trying to figure out what inventory was still available for sale. The system wasn’t working since the inventory expires once the TV show begins. With the new platform, called the SingleBrand Ad Maketplace, TV network can upload its inventory to the Web portal, and then advertisers can check to see if there’s anything that matches their needs and price ranges. The inventory is searchable based on demographic, geographic, behavioral and psychographic perimeters. SinglePoint has partnerships with Ringleader Digital, JumpTap, 4INFO and others, but going forward it will also be available to traditional ad agencies. In the future, SinglePoint will consider turning the network into an ad exchange, where any campaign could participate in the network, even if they aren’t using SinglePoint’s technology to send out the messages. Begert: “We believe we possess the capabilities, but whether others would want to participate is yet to be determined.”