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PointRoll and Ford Deliver In-Banner Video Ads That Exceed Interaction Rates by 74 Percent

PointRoll, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) and the leading provider of digital marketing solutions, and Ford today announced results of their contextually-relevant in-banner video ads for Ford's Drive One campaign. In comparing these ads to industry benchmarks, interaction rates rose 74 percent for expandable video ad units and nearly doubled for non-expandable video ad units.

The campaign included both non-expanding ad units, in which the video plays within the banner, and expandable ad units, where the video expands outside of the banner when a user rolls over it. The ads were served on contextually relevant sites, where the ads' subject matter relates directly to the content the consumer is already viewing on a webpage. Both formats achieved interaction rates that far exceed traditional benchmarks.

"As part of our latest rebranding efforts, we chose to work with PointRoll to test the potential for contextual in-banner video ads with our Drive One launch and the results speak for themselves," said Scott Kelly, Digital Marketing Manager, Ford. "We are looking forward to working with PointRoll on future campaigns as we continue to innovate and expand our use of contextually relevant ads."

Campaign results included:

• On average: Users spent forty percent more time with the Ford brand in comparison to traditional industry benchmarks developed by PointRoll.
• Non-expandable video ads: Typically, 4.5 percent of consumers click, rollover or take some sort of action with a video ad. This almost doubled for the non-expanding video ads in this Ford campaign, with 8 percent of users engaging with the ad and taking action.
• Expandable video ads: Additionally, 15 out of every 100 users that expanded a panel actually started a video, and the percentage of users that completed the video in full topped PointRoll benchmarks by more than 10 percent.

"We worked closely with PointRoll to come up with the idea for this extremely effective campaign," said Todd Huntley, SVP, Group Account Director Ford Brand Digital, FLM Online Advertising, Team Detroit. "Having the ability to create effective contextual targeting and sequencing that stays true to the art of advertising is a huge step forward."

Jason Tafler, CEO of PointRoll, said, "We've built our business on creating dynamic ads that are relevant, engaging and respectful to the user. These ads enhance, rather than take away from the user experience, as they fit exactly into the context of what they're already doing online."

About PointRoll
PointRoll, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), is the leading provider of digital marketing services and technology. PointRoll enables advertisers, agencies and Web publishers to create, deliver and measure interactive and action-inspiring online video, rich media display, mobile, and social campaigns. Delivering both the art and science of the digital engagement, PointRoll provides the creative tools, analytics, distributed content, and expertise marketers need to effectively engage consumers and make a memorable and measurable impression. Evolving beyond the banner, PointRoll allows marketers to find consumers wherever they are across any digital platform and deliver a relevant and engaging brand or direct response experience, dramatically improving ad effectiveness. Serving more than 350 billion impressions for more than two-thirds of the Fortune 500 brands, PointRoll delivers measurable online advertising campaign results. For more information, visit www.pointroll.com.