Rapt Unveils Inventory Management Product For Media Industry

Rapt Inventory Manager Redefines the Industry’s Approach to the Management of Advertising Assets

New York, NY — September 25, 2006 — Rapt Inc., the leading provider of pricing and profitability management solutions, today announced the release of its new product specifically designed for the interactive advertising industry, Rapt Inventory Manager.   Rapt Inventory Manager helps media companies balance supply-demand more profitably while bringing confidence and precision to the fulfillment of their advertisers’ campaign objectives. Initial customers for Rapt Inventory Manager include TACODA and Dow Jones & Company.

Analysts and industry experts are noting the growing importance of inventory management practices.  William S. Morrison, of JMP Securities, reports, “Our research suggests that branded advertisers want to move budgets online but are having difficulty finding quality audiences and available inventory.”   Media publishers and networks struggle, meanwhile, to predict and provision their advertising assets in response to dramatic shifts in overall media spend and ever-shifting dynamics in web traffic.  Greg Stuart, CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (www.IAB.net) states, “For five years, this has been the number one unresolved problem for publishers.  And it’s only getting worse as market demand grows and more sites face consistent sell-outs.  With the right toolset and effective management practices, inventory management will prove to be a point of competitive differentiation and a vehicle for growing revenue and share.”

With the release of Inventory Manager, Rapt is poised to change the fundamentals of supply-side internet advertising the same way it transformed demand-side pricing for leading media operations such as Yahoo! and MSN.  According to Rapt Founder and CEO Tom Chavez, “This challenge lands squarely in Rapt’s sweet spot, perfectly in line with Rapt’s ongoing commitment to deliver sophisticated analytic firepower to solve high-impact media business challenges.” 

Inventory Manager is the newest addition to the Rapt Media Monetization Platform, building on the continuing success of Rapt’s efforts in price optimization and yield analytics.  The product de-risks the inventory management process, providing near- and long-term supply forecasts, visibility to key inventory data via a distributed reporting model, and a planning toolset purpose-built for inventory managers and business analysts.  Through the delivery of proprietary algorithms for real-time prediction and scalable inference across intersecting segments, ad products and channels, Inventory Manager delivers tangible ROI by ensuring smooth, predictable revenue capture and by minimizing costs of over- and under-selling.  Through straightforward integration with existing order management and ad execution systems, Inventory Manager elegantly extends and enhances media companies’ existing systems infrastructure.

Both Dow Jones and Tacoda have adopted Inventory Manager as a component within a broader application of Rapt solutions.  "We selected Rapt because of their track record of success in delivering solutions for inventory management and business analysis. They have a great product and an incredibly smart and dedicated client team," said Curt Viebranz, CEO of TACODA. He added that "Rapt's experience in the media industry is unmatched."         

About Rapt

Rapt Inc. is the leading provider of pricing and profitability management solutions.  These solutions help companies achieve and sustain profit and growth objectives through the deployment of intellectual property-rich software and advisory services.  Rapt software, based on Rapt’s proprietary analytic engine technology, enables companies to optimize and manage pricing strategies, while Rapt’s advisory services help companies design and implement best-practice processes across their organization.  Rapt’s client base includes MSN, Yahoo, Seagate, NBC Universal, Tacoda, Dow Jones & Company and others.  More information about Rapt can be found at: www.rapt.com.