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Why Ad Lightning Became Boltive

Posted

December 30, 2021

When I became CEO of Ad Lightning in June of this year,  I was proud to be joining a team and business that was solving real problems for our publisher and platform partners -- business was expanding, customers were happy and our technology was monitoring over 1B impressions per day.  

It was also clear to me that Ad Lightning was uniquely positioned to make a significant difference beyond malware, changing how every player in the digital ecosystem monitors, enforces and resolves issues of privacy protection, consent management and identity tracking .

Online media is undergoing a rapid recharge--like a change in voltage--and so are we. The chief drivers for this transformation are regulatory and technological. Regulations like GDPR and ePrivacy Directive in Europe and CCPA place more power in the hands of consumers. They also place obligations on advertisers, analytics firms, data brokers and others. Gartner predicts in 2023 75% of the world's population will be under privacy regulations that include subject rights requests. 

Safari, Firefox, Brave and Tor browsers have already shaken third party cookies. Google Chrome will join them in 2023, essentially ending their existence. Already over 100 solutions are vying to replace the cookie, using email identifiers, cohorts, probabilistic methods, and so forth. These cookieless solutions have unproven track records in addressability and privacy. 

As online media transforms, the opportunity to enable a safer internet has never been  greater. Ad Lightning has served as the name of our company since we were founded in 2016. As we grow in new areas like privacy, our company name is changing to Boltive. Clients can expect the same level of exceptional service that earns us a Net Promoter Score (NPS) consistently in the top 1% of software companies. 

The root word bolt carries two meanings: tight security and lightning energy. We securely and energetically safeguard the internet from malware, offensive content, heavy ads and privacy violations. Boltive reflects our values of trust, accountability, and world class service. Ad Lightning will continue as the name of our flagship product--the most comprehensive ad quality software available. 

We will continue to invest in the Ad Lightning software. We’ve documented a 17% quarter-over-quarter increase in unique threats from bad actors. The scope of ad safety and quality continues to broaden as certain advertisers push limits around unsavory and shady images and messaging. With Ad Lightning software, publishers are able to take back control of their site experiences and protect visitors. 

Now is the right time for Boltive. According to an August KPMG survey, 62% of business leaders say their companies should do more to protect customer data, and 29% say their companies sometimes use unethical means to collect private data. 

The internet is evolving from a place that is predatory to one that is protected. A once lawless jurisdiction becomes rules-based. The once ubiquitous third party cookie machinery will go extinct.

For brands, publishers and platforms online, it’s just as important that users don’t see ads as it is that they do. New standards—regulatory and technological—are recharging the internet. The entire Boltive software, service and team will be at the forefront of this movement.

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