FreeCast, a leading streaming aggregator, has announced the upcoming launch of its Zer0Gap programmatic platform, set for January 20th. This innovative "Zero Gap" platform promises 100% ad fill rates, aiming to maximize content monetization and deliver highly targeted advertisements.

1. Hyper-Targeted Advertising Through First-Party Data

   • Utilizes proprietary first-party audience data to gain insights into consumer media behavior.
   • Enables household-level ad targeting, moving beyond traditional impressions-based advertising.
   • Connects businesses with likely customers, enhancing engagement and conversion rates.

2. Benefits for Programmers and Marketers

   • For programmers:
     • Enhances revenue from ad-supported content through precision targeting.
     • Ensures 100% ad fill rates, eliminating gaps or "dead air" common on other platforms.
   • For marketers:
     • Provides access to highly targeted and valuable ad placements.
     • Leverages data-driven insights for more effective advertising campaigns.

3. Strategic Relationships and Investment

   • FreeCast's investors include several large national advertisers, providing access to substantial ad spend transitioning from traditional TV to streaming.
   • These relationships support the platform's ability to offer 100% ad fill rates and high-value ad placements.

4. CEO Insights on Advertising Evolution

   • William Mobley, CEO of FreeCast, highlights a paradigm shift from traditional impressions-based advertising to precise household-level targeting.
   • Emphasizes the value to advertisers in reaching ideal customers directly, enhancing the overall audience experience.

FreeCast's Zer0Gap programmatic platform represents a significant advancement in streaming advertising. By leveraging proprietary data and offering 100% ad fill rates, it provides a valuable solution for both programmers and marketers. The official launch on January 20th is poised to set a new standard in targeted advertising within the streaming industry.

Advantech, a global leader in embedded and IoT solutions, is set to highlight its partnership with Intel at NRF's Big Show 2025, from January 12–14 in New York City. At Booth 1812, attendees can witness how Advantech and Intel are transforming retail with cutting-edge technologies designed to tackle challenges such as rising costs, labor shortages, and evolving customer demands.

The Retail Landscape: Challenges and Tech-Driven Solutions

• Retailers are navigating challenges like increasing costs, workforce shortages, and high customer expectations.
• Advantech offers innovative technologies to optimize retail operations and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Advantech’s USC-300 Series POS Terminal: 2024 Taiwan Excellence Award Winner

• Equipped with Intel's powerful processors, ensuring top-notch performance and energy efficiency.
• Modular design enables flexible operations, enhancing order processing, payments, and customer personalization.
• Ideal for modern retailers aiming to combine cost-efficiency with advanced computing capabilities.

Retail Solutions Showcased at NRF 2025

1. POS Terminals:

   • USC-300 Series: Combines reliability, intuitive operation, and seamless retail management integration.
   • USC-513RB Series: Offers robust performance for diverse retail environments.

2. Box PC Solutions:

   • UBX Series: Designed for dynamic applications such as digital signage and AI servers.
   • Enhances brand messaging and customer engagement through advanced computing power.

3. All-in-One Touch Computers:

   • UTC Series: Delivers actionable insights and streamlines retail operations.
   • Improves customer experiences with interactive, data-driven solutions.

4. Self-Service Kiosks:

   • UTK-7000 Series: Enables self-service ordering, payments, and analytics.
   • Boosts customer satisfaction while empowering data-driven decision-making.

Discover Innovation at Booth 1812

Visitors to Booth 1812 can engage with Advantech’s technology experts and experience live demonstrations of these solutions.

Advantech’s collaboration with Intel at NRF 2025 underscores their commitment to transforming retail through technology. From award-winning POS terminals to advanced self-service kiosks, Advantech provides innovative tools for overcoming industry challenges and elevating customer experiences.

Locafy Limited, a leading SaaS technology company specializing in entity-based SEO, has announced its ambitious 2025 product roadmap. This roadmap introduces innovative, AI-powered publishing solutions designed to streamline SEO content production, enhance scalability, and drive measurable results for businesses in local and organic search.

Traction: Early Success Stories

Locafy has already laid the foundation for its 2025 vision, achieving key milestones:

• Niche Content Site Launch: Partnered with a top media group to successfully debut its first niche content site.
• Landing Page Automation POCs: Proof-of-concept programs underway to automate scalable landing page production.
• Listing Syndication Testing: Collaborating with a U.S.-based reputation management company for final testing of its business listing syndication solution.

These accomplishments demonstrate Locafy’s ability to simplify complex SEO tasks while preparing for broader product rollouts in 2025.

AI-Driven Publishing Products: Transforming SEO

Locafy’s publishing solutions combine cutting-edge AI with proven strategies to meet the rising demand for scalable, high-quality SEO content:

1. Business Listing Syndication:

   • Publishes accurate business profiles across 60+ trusted platforms.
   • Enhances credibility and consistency across search engines.

2. SEO-Optimized Landing Pages:

   • Targets specific keywords for improved organic search rankings.
   • Delivers high-performing, ready-to-go pages at scale.

3. Google Business Profile Boosting:

   • Optimizes profiles to secure visibility in Google’s Local Pack, which captures 44% of local search clicks.

4. SEO-Driven Articles:

   • Publishes keyword-focused content on Locafy-owned platforms or client subdomains to bolster search authority.

2025 Product Roadmap Highlights

Locafy’s 2025 strategy is built on three core pillars:

1. End-to-End AI Automation:

   • Integrates AI-powered workflows to accelerate SEO publishing while maintaining quality.

2. Market Expansion:

   • Strengthens partnerships with marketing agencies, media groups, and associations to expand globally.

3. Scalable Content Solutions:

   • Leverages proprietary SEO frameworks and AI to generate impactful content faster and more efficiently.

Why It Matters: Solving SEO Challenges

Achieving prominent search rankings is crucial yet challenging for businesses. Traditional SEO methods are often costly and time-consuming. Locafy’s solutions address these challenges by:

• Generating content that increases search relevance and authority.
• Streamlining workflows with AI automation to reduce costs.
• Delivering measurable outcomes through advanced analytics to track impressions, clicks, and performance.

Locafy’s 2025 roadmap represents a significant leap forward in SEO publishing. By combining AI-driven automation with proven strategies, Locafy is empowering businesses to achieve Page 1 visibility, scale their online presence, and connect with more customers in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.

ZoomInfo, the go-to-market intelligence platform, has been ranked No. 55 on Newsweek’s 2025 Excellence 1000 Index. This prestigious recognition, in collaboration with Best Practice Institute (BPI), celebrates U.S. companies that excel in business performance, ethical practices, and corporate social responsibility.

Why It Matters: Recognizing Business Excellence

The Excellence 1000 Index is more than a ranking; it’s a benchmark for sustainable success. The evaluation process analyzed over 500,000 data points, using a proprietary scoring system that factored in:

• Financial Practices: Sustained growth and stability.
• Customer Feedback: High-quality service and satisfaction.
• ESG Commitments: Ethical and environmentally conscious practices.

This comprehensive approach highlights companies that demonstrate resilience, leadership, and a forward-thinking ethos in today’s complex business environment.

ZoomInfo’s Commitment to Excellence

ZoomInfo’s inclusion in this index reflects its dedication to innovation and stakeholder value. Founder and CEO Henry Schuck remarked:

“This recognition underscores our mission to provide a world-class intelligence platform for customers while fostering an outstanding workplace for our global employees.”

The Bigger Picture: Redefining Corporate Success

The Excellence 1000 Index acknowledges organizations that balance strategic growth with ethics and sustainability. According to Newsweek’s Global Editor in Chief Nancy Cooper:

“Corporate success today goes beyond financial performance. The Excellence 1000 Index honors companies redefining leadership through ethics, social responsibility, and sustainable practices.”

Louis Carter, CEO of Best Practice Institute, added:

“This year’s honorees exemplify prioritizing innovation, sustainability, and stakeholder value. By celebrating these trailblazers, we aim to inspire a new standard for corporate success.”

ZoomInfo’s recognition on Newsweek’s 2025 Excellence 1000 Index underscores its unwavering commitment to innovation, ethics, and sustainability. As businesses increasingly strive to align profitability with purpose, ZoomInfo stands out as a model for balancing corporate growth with meaningful social impact.

Verndale, a top-tier digital experience agency, has been honored with the prestigious Customer Choice Partner of the Year award by Optimizely at the 2025 Opticon conference in San Antonio. This accolade recognizes Verndale’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge digital solutions that drive measurable client success.

Why Verndale Stood Out

Selected from a global network of Optimizely partners, Verndale demonstrated unparalleled expertise and dedication to accelerating digital transformation. Key achievements include:

• Specializations: Excellence in Content Management Systems (CMS), Configured Commerce, and Commerce Connect.
• Industry Recognition: Previously named Optimizely’s Solution Partner of the Year in 2023 and 2021.
• Exceptional Credentials: 9 agency MVP awards, 60 certifications, and 30 global accreditations in 2024.

Driving Digital Excellence

As a Premier Platinum Optimizely Partner, Verndale continues to deliver exceptional value to businesses through tailored strategies, seamless implementation, and customer-focused service. Jim King, Vice President of Partnerships & Alliances at Verndale, highlighted the agency’s mission:

“This recognition reflects our team's relentless focus on delivering high-quality solutions tailored to our clients' unique needs. We're proud to partner with Optimizely to help businesses achieve meaningful digital transformation.”

Verndale’s Role in Innovation

Winning the Customer Choice Partner of the Year award underscores Verndale’s leadership in the digital experience space, empowering clients to:

• Optimize their digital strategies.
• Drive customer engagement and satisfaction.
• Achieve sustainable growth through advanced technology solutions.

Verndale’s continued recognition by Optimizely cements its status as a leading force in digital transformation. By blending strategic vision with technical expertise, Verndale is helping businesses across industries unlock new opportunities and achieve digital success.

Chatmeter, the leader in customer intelligence, is transforming reputation management for multi-location brands with its groundbreaking AI-powered platform, Pulse AI. In 2024, Chatmeter achieved significant milestones with an impressive growth in user engagement and feature innovations, solidifying its position as the most advanced platform in the industry.

The Power of Pulse AI

Pulse AI's capabilities have dramatically improved how businesses interact with customer feedback and manage their online presence. Key developments include:

• Signals: A real-time tool that surfaces actionable insights from customer feedback across reviews, surveys, and social media, helping brands make informed decisions.
• Risk Monitoring: AI-driven technology that flags potential risks from over 300,000 reviews, allowing brands to proactively manage their reputation and prevent viral crises.
• Review Responder: Increased brand responsiveness by 38%, enabling multi-location brands to address more customer reviews faster than manual processes.

Key Features of Pulse AI

Chatmeter's Pulse AI offers several groundbreaking features that are transforming customer intelligence for brands:

• Signals: Real-time customer feedback analysis using natural language prompts, providing insights into customer experience and performance across locations.
• Risk Monitoring: Pinpoints risks such as safety issues or negative sentiment with unmatched precision, helping brands protect their reputation before crises escalate.
• Surveys 2.0: The first generative AI-powered self-service tool that continuously analyzes survey data, reviews, and social posts to uncover key insights that traditional tools miss.
• Local Pages 2.0: Optimizes local pages to help brands dominate local search results, driving increased traffic and visibility. One customer saw a 25% boost in local search traffic.

Impressive Results and Growth

Chatmeter’s platform has already driven significant results:

• Supported over 9.8 billion Google search impressions and 857 million interactions for multi-location brands in 2024.
• Boosted local search visibility for clients, with one business reporting a 25% increase in local search traffic after adopting Local Pages 2.0.

Client Testimonials

Brian Bisges, Senior Director of Marketing Technology at Driven Brands, shared:

“Pulse AI presents a new way to understand the voice of the customer with actionable insights to improve customer experience. Chatmeter has already helped us dramatically improve the online visibility of our locations, and I’m excited to see how AI will supercharge our performance.”

Chatmeter continues to lead the industry in AI-powered reputation management for multi-location brands. With Pulse AI, businesses are able to gain deep, actionable insights in real-time, manage risks more effectively, and optimize their digital presence to stay ahead in competitive local markets.

Newline Interactive, a global leader in interactive display solutions, has launched Newline Signage Pro, a groundbreaking digital signage software that promises to streamline content management and elevate digital display operations. Designed for organizations of all sizes, this all-in-one platform combines powerful features with ease of use, allowing businesses to manage their signage more efficiently than ever before.

Key Features of Newline Signage Pro

Newline Signage Pro is packed with features aimed at simplifying and enhancing digital signage management:

• Streamlined Registration Process: Effortlessly register devices individually or in bulk using serial numbers, QR codes, or Excel files.
• Efficient Device Grouping: Easily organize and manage multiple devices for seamless content deployment across locations.
• Versatile Pre-defined Layouts: Choose from six professional layouts designed for various display setups.
• User-Friendly Content Creation: The intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes crafting stunning content simple and accessible.
• Rich Content Support: Integrate images, videos, live feeds, weather updates, QR codes, and more into displays.
• Live Feed Integration: Keep audiences engaged with real-time updates from YouTube Live and Twitch.
• Simple Scheduling: Effortlessly schedule content to ensure timely and targeted messaging for any occasion.
• Seamless Integrations: Sync events and presentations with Google Slides and Calendar, and enhance creativity with Canva (coming soon).
• Fully Integrated System: Preloaded features designed for Newline’s Q Pro & STV+ displays, with plans to support more devices.

A Solution Designed with the Customer in Mind

Newline's President, Chris Bradford, emphasized the company’s commitment to user-friendliness, stating:

“We designed Newline Signage Pro with the needs of our customers in mind. This software offers robust features while remaining intuitive and accessible, ensuring that anyone can create impactful digital signage without a steep learning curve.”

Impact Across Industries

Whether for education, retail, corporate, or healthcare environments, Newline Signage Pro provides the flexibility and tools needed to create engaging and visually compelling digital signage. The software aims to save time and resources, enabling organizations to deliver timely and effective messaging.

With Newline Signage Pro, businesses now have access to a powerful yet user-friendly digital signage solution that enhances content management and simplifies scheduling, ensuring organizations can communicate with their audiences more effectively and efficiently than ever before.

Perion Network Ltd., a technology pioneer in connecting advertisers to consumers across major digital channels, has announced a significant enhancement to its advertising solutions. The integration of Experian’s identity graph into Perion’s proprietary technology strengthens its cross-channel and cross-device targeting and attribution capabilities.

This strategic move enriches Perion's advertising ecosystem, enabling advertisers to deliver advanced tools and foster seamless user experiences across devices.

1. Key Features of the Integration

• Experian’s identity graph enhances Perion’s ability to connect advertisers with consumers effectively.
• Offers improved cross-channel and cross-device attribution for precision targeting.
• Provides advertisers with tools to create more personalized campaigns for higher engagement.

2. Enhancements to Perion’s AI-Powered SORT Platform

• SORT leverages privacy-safe data signals for better campaign performance.
• Optimizes advertising across Connected TV (CTV) and the web.
• Delivers a comprehensive view of the customer journey.

3. Benefits for Advertisers

• Higher match rates and improved addressability through privacy-friendly digital identifiers.
• Persistent understanding of household and individual identifiers and devices.
• Enables accurate targeting and consistent measurement over time.

4. Strategic Importance of Collaboration

• Strengthens Perion’s market position with advanced tools for advertisers.
• Empowers personalized marketing strategies to drive engagement and conversions.
• Highlights the shared commitment of Experian and Perion to delivering data-driven insights.

5. Industry Perspectives

• Tal Jacobson, CEO of Perion: “This collaboration empowers advertisers to optimize campaigns and create effective marketing strategies.”
• Ali Mack, VP at Experian: “The integration reflects our commitment to precision and performance in digital advertising.”

The integration of Experian’s identity graph into Perion’s advertising solutions is a landmark step toward redefining precision and personalization in digital advertising. With advanced targeting capabilities, enhanced cross-device performance, and a commitment to privacy, this partnership positions Perion as a leader in delivering transformative advertising solutions across digital platforms.