DoubleVerify ($DV), an advertising verification platform for some of the world's largest brands, made a strong public debut Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, popping 28 percent at the open and bringing its market cap to more than $5 billion.
CEO Mark Zagorski said a combination of "internal financial momentum" and high demand for its product amid a spike in digital advertising spurred the decision to go public.
"The combination of great internal metrics plus an environment that's just really ripe for our solution came together at the right time, and it was just a great opportunity for us to go out and tap into the public markets for additional capital to grow the business," he told Cheddar.
DoubleVerify sells software to companies allowing them to track their digital advertisements. This includes everything from basic analytics to fraud-tracking.
The ad-tech company made $244 million in revenue in 2020, up 34 percent growth from the previous year, according to Zagorski. He added that the past year has really proven the "resiliency" of the business model, which he stressed stands apart from other publicly listed ad-tech companies.
"Even as ad dollars fluctuate, where we sit in that kind of stack is we're a utility," he said. "When advertisers have less dollars to spend, every dollar they spend becomes that much more important. So, solutions like ours, which ensure that an ad isn't wasted on fraud or an impression that's not viewable or that goes to a bot, becomes that much more important."
To the regular internet user, DoubleVerify's presence is basically invisible. But for the advertiser, the verification software is crucial to make sure an ad is reaching its intended audience.
"When we do our job right, this is a seamless operation," Zagorski said.
With 15 global markets under its belt, DoubleVerify plans to continue expanding around the world. "Our solution is global in nature. Fraud doesn't have a regional home," he explained.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
