Using blockchain to cut out the advertising middlemen, Angelo Dodaro, AdBank

Last week I interviewed Angelo Dodaro, CMO & Co-Founder of AdBank, who are planning to use Blockchain technology to get rid of expensive Advertising Networks.

What is Adbank all about?

Adbank is a powerful online ad platform built on the Ethereum blockchain to remove middlemen that take up to 60% of all ad revenue & dramatically reduce the $50 billion problems of ad fraud using advanced AI technology.

By using the Adbank platform, publishers can get paid more for their content while charging advertisers less and creating a transparent ecosystem that benefits all key stakeholders in the industry.

How did it all begin?

Jon, our CEO and founder, was riding his bike along the route he normally rides every day – but on this day happened to be catching a podcast on Blockchain. That’s when it hit him. He stopped in the middle of the path when he realized what Blockchain could do his biggest pain…ad networks.

He knew the plight of both advertisers and publishers all too well and realized that there was no good reason for the middlemen in this industry to exist with Blockchain.

What milestones/ Objectives have you accomplished so far?

Raised $3M in private pre-sale and partnerships announced with major advertisers and publishers including The Beard Club, North America’s fastest growing company focused on men’s grooming products, J-Swipe, the #1 dating app for the Jewish community and Influencive, an entrepreneur-focused publisher site with over 200M hits monthly.

How did your pre-ICO go?

It was a short private round with no marketing and generated $3M.

Why an ICO?

Having direct access to capital without equity allows us to do something truly disruptive without venture capital adjusting course from the original vision.

What are the plans with the funds you will receive from the ICO?

A large majority of the funds will be used to acquire existing ad networks that are profitable and migrating them to the Adbank tech.

How are the tokens going to be used?

A token-based economy makes sense for the digital advertising industry, especially in the context of an ad network focused on fighting fraud.

By using a token instead of fiat, or even Bitcoin and Ethereum, we’re able to reduce the noise of non-advertising based transactions to give our anti-fraud AI better data then has ever been possible previously to differentiate between human and non-human traffic.

Any specific conditions the buyers need to know before they buy?

There is a 0.25 ETH minimum to cover the cost of our KYC process.

Where you guys based?

We are based in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada.

More about the business model and the company itself, can you elaborate more on it?

Our business model is not to profit on the ad network itself – we run the network close to 0% net profit – but to leverage the tools and products we create around it for revenue. As large holders of the token ourselves, this keeps our incentives aligned with ADB token holders by driving growth and volume while maintaining a value proposition that existing networks simply cannot compete with.

Big data is the new gold and Adbank is creating what will be the most reliable, transparent and data-rich advertising platform on the planet.

One example of a product that Adbank will offer in a for-profit model is a service to peg the token value to the US dollar to stabilize volatility for risk adverse advertisers and publishers (similar to the difference between a fixed rate and variable mortgage). There will be a small fee to do this that will provide additional revenue for Adbank while still delivering compelling value above traditional options.

What is your Value Proposition?

Adbank can pay publishers more for the same amount of traffic while charging advertisers less and dramatically reduce ad fraud, a problem that will cost advertisers nearly $17B this year alone.

Where are you with your MVP?

Alpha preview out this month. Phase 1 of platform released March 2018.

What are your main objectives for the next year?

Post ICO we will be acquiring an existing profitable digital ad network and converting them to the Adbank platform as the first early adopters. The team will expand and bring on seasoned executives to accelerate the process of on-boarding major publishers and advertisers.

For anyone who wants to start a Blockchain business, what is the key advice would you give them?

Don’t use the blockchain for the sake of Blockchain alone. Make sure every use makes sense because the networks are still in early stages so be conscious of the load your solution requires and how that will work in tandem with Blockchain.

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at Simon@IrishTechNews.ie or on Twitter: @SimonCocking