Precise

Precise.ai Raises $7M to Audit Programmatic Decisions

Precise.ai, a startup founded by ad tech veterans Spencer Potts and Adam Helfgott, raised a $7 million seed round co-led by Blockchange Ventures and Lasagna, with participation from 3C Ventures and Click Ventures. The company built a blockchain-based provenance and consent foundation and has pivoted to apply “decisioning economics” to programmatic buying: ingesting log-level DSP and ad tech data to run contribution analyses that quantify how individual targeting, bidding and supply choices affect cost and performance. Precise.ai is running six pilots with large buyers, meeting Mediaocean’s partnership team for tests, and plans to use the seed funding to prove the model with a small set of major advertisers while making senior hires. The team is currently eight people.

Bridging the CTV Data Gap: TTD's New Strategies

The AdExchanger Friday roundup surveys the gap in granular data for connected TV and the industry responses. It highlights a Tubi-Viant partnership to provide more contextual data for streaming buys, though show-level data remains unavailable. The Trade Desk teams with Koddi to enable sponsored product ads on Gopuff, with keyword bidding on search results as part of a broader move into retail media. Gopuff is noted for delivering directly from its own warehouses, unlike DoorDash or Instacart. The piece also covers legal and policy debates around traffic rights and AI-generated content, including a Dow Jones and The New York Post lawsuit against Perplexity and commentary on fair use. Additional updates include leadership changes at Paramount, Madhive, and Zefr, and broader market commentary across the ad-tech ecosystem.

Instagram Tests Seconds-Precise Like Timing in Reels

Instagram is testing a new metric in its Insights that reveals the exact moment within a Reel when a viewer taps Like. Reported by reblmedia and Evelien Langeveld, the capability appears to surface via Threads and provides creators and brands with precise timing feedback on engaging moments. The discovery suggests potential for content optimization, enabling quicker identification of compelling segments and refinement of future videos. The article also notes Instagram is piloting a revamped Reels experience, including a Blend Feeds feature to co-create feeds with friends in DMs, and Unlockable Reels for password-protected exclusive content. Separately, Instagram's Edits video editor has released a second update, adding an audio-rhythm alignment tool to synchronize clips with the beat. Rollout is not universal yet, but the developments could influence content strategy for creators and brands on Instagram and Threads.