France Telecom’s Orange, mad-keen on building a web advertising network, is expanding its Orange Advertising Network out of Europe and in to Latin America.
It’s assembled more than 20 Hispanic publishers (including Orange-owned starMedia, 20minutos.es, elMundo.es, Marca.com and Peru.com), with a claimed US/LatAm monthly audience of 21 million uniques, for whom it will sell ads.
The move is surprising since – apart from Orange operating mobile and broadband in Dominican Republic and the Caribbean, and France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) offering U.S. enterprise services and Starmedia – FT doesn’t really have an Americas footprint.
Didn’t know Orange had an ad network… ?
The network grew out of Orange’s business making and selling ads on its own properties for French clients like Air France and EDF.
Orange beefed up it up in France earlier this year, selling ads on the “three screens” (Orange’s favourite term for its strategy) of mobile, web and IPTV. Then it bought UK digital ads agency Unanimis this summer before striking a deal that effectively brings former ad-funded MVNO Blyk aboard to form a joint ad sales operation.
Orange reckons its network now reaches 55 percent of European internet users (comScore (NSDQ: SCOR) data).