Bluefin Labs

Bluefin Labs was a social television analytics company founded in 2008 by Deb Roy and Michael Fleischman and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company developed software that connected publicly visible social-media commentary with the television programs and advertisements that prompted it. Its work addressed a problem faced by broadcasters, advertisers, agencies, and researchers: television viewing was increasingly accompanied by online conversation, but the scale, speed, ambiguity, and fragmented context of that conversation made it difficult to measure systematically. The company emerged from research at the MIT Media Lab, particularly work associated with Roy's Human Speechome Project and the Cognitive Machines group. The Speechome project used extensive audio and video records of a child's early life to study language acquisition computationally. Fleischman adapted related ideas from language and machine-learning research to broadcast video and social-media data. Rather than treating an isolated post as self-explanatory, Bluefin's systems attempted to interpret a comment in context and associate it with a particular televised event, program, advertisement, person, product, or subject. Bluefin's principal commercial product was Bluefin Signals, a subscription software platform for brands, advertising agencies, and television networks. The service organized and analyzed conversations from sources including Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. Its uses included audience research, social-TV measurement, media planning and buying, advertising-sales discussions, and the development and optimization of television creative. The platform incorporated electronic-programming-guide information and closed-caption data to improve the precision of its program- and airing-level analysis. A Network Edition was marketed to broadcasters and cable networks, while a Brand Edition was designed for advertisers and marketers. The company's technology combined temporal analysis, semantic analysis, and machine learning. Timing helped determine which televised content was likely to have prompted a post; language analysis helped identify the subject and meaning of the post; and ongoing model training improved the matching process. Bluefin also applied proprietary methods for sentiment and gender analysis. The resulting data model was described by the company as a television-oriented map of cause and effect, linking social reactions to televised stimuli. Bluefin called this conceptual framework the TV Genome. Bluefin built a business around the idea that social conversation could serve as a complementary signal of television engagement rather than merely as a collection of unstructured comments. Its customers could use the resulting measurements to compare programs, evaluate advertising response, understand audience interests, and inform decisions about content and campaigns. The company reported processing billions of public-facing social-media comments each month and maintaining a large archive of television and commercial fingerprints, although these operating figures belong to the period before its acquisition. Bluefin obtained early support from a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grant and later attracted venture investment. Redpoint Ventures provided Series A funding. In January 2012, the company announced a $12 million Series B financing led by Time Warner Investments, with participation from SoftBank Capital, Redpoint Ventures, and Lerer Ventures. It also developed partnerships with media and advertising organizations, including Starcom MediaVest Group and ABC News. ABC News used Bluefin-related social-data analysis in planned coverage of major events during the 2012 presidential campaign. In 2012, advertising-industry executive JP Maheu joined Bluefin as chief executive. On February 6, 2013, Twitter announced that it had acquired the company for approximately $100 million. Following the acquisition, Bluefin Labs ceased operating as an independent company and its technology and expertise became part of Twitter's efforts in data, advertising, and television-related analytics. Bluefin therefore survives primarily as an important predecessor in the development of social-TV measurement rather than as an active standalone brand.

Bluefin Labs originated in research at the MIT Media Lab and was incorporated in 2008 by Deb Roy and Michael Fleischman. Roy led the Cognitive Machines group and had directed the Human Speechome Project, an effort to create and computationally analyze an unusually extensive record of a child's early home life. That work required machine-learning methods capable of finding patterns and meaning in large, multimodal datasets. Fleischman, working as a student in Roy's group, applied related data-driven and contextual techniques to broadcast video and the social comments surrounding it. The founders' central insight was that television-related social conversation could be made more useful if individual comments were connected to the programs, advertisements, and events that stimulated them. Bluefin's systems therefore did more than count mentions. They considered when a comment appeared, what it said, and how the system could improve its interpretation through repeated machine-learning training. The company also used electronic-programming-guide data, closed captions, and video fingerprints to associate social posts with particular telecasts and televised content. A National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grant helped support the transition from academic research to a commercial venture. In its early development, Roy and Fleischman worked with technology and media figures including Frank Moss and Brian Bedol to turn research prototypes into a scalable product for the media industry. Redpoint Ventures supplied Series A investment, and Bluefin later raised a $12 million Series B round announced in January 2012. Time Warner Investments led that financing, joined by SoftBank Capital and existing investors Redpoint Ventures and Lerer Ventures. A wider group of technology, media, entertainment, and sports investors also supported the company. The resulting platform, Bluefin Signals, was offered as subscription software to television networks, brands, and agencies. Its Network Edition was used by more than 40 leading United States broadcast and cable networks according to company-era descriptions, while the Brand Edition targeted advertisers. The service supported audience research, program and advertising analysis, media planning, television advertising sales, and creative optimization. Bluefin's technical model included temporal matching, semantic interpretation, machine learning, and proprietary sentiment and gender analysis. The company referred to its continuously expanding map of links between social commentary and televised stimuli as the TV Genome. Bluefin expanded through commercial partnerships. In December 2011, it announced an arrangement with Starcom MediaVest Group focused on improving media planning and buying. In February 2012, it announced a collaboration with ABC News for social-data analysis during important nights in the United States presidential campaign, including debates, party conventions, election coverage, and the inauguration. The company also received industry recognition in 2011 and 2012, including an ad:tech innovation award and inclusion in technology and emerging-entertainment rankings. Advertising executive JP Maheu became Bluefin's chief executive in 2012. On February 6, 2013, Twitter announced that it was acquiring Bluefin Labs for approximately $100 million. The transaction brought Bluefin's social-TV analytics capabilities into Twitter and ended the company's independent corporate life. Because Bluefin was absorbed by Twitter, no standalone current management, product availability, or operating market should be inferred after the acquisition.

• 2013

  Acquired by Twitter

  [1]Bluefin Labsen.wikipedia.org

  Twitter announced the acquisition of Bluefin Labs for approximately $100 million.

• 2012

  Series B financing

  [1]Bluefin Labsen.wikipedia.org

  The company announced a $12 million Series B round led by Time Warner Investments, with participation from SoftBank Capital, Redpoint Ventures, and Lerer Ventures.

• 2012

  ABC News collaboration

  [1]Bluefin Labsen.wikipedia.org

  Bluefin partnered with ABC News on social-TV analysis and visualizations for major events in the 2012 presidential campaign.

• 2011

  Starcom MediaVest partnership

  [1]Bluefin Labsen.wikipedia.org

  Bluefin announced a partnership intended to support social-data-informed media planning and buying.

• 2008

  Bluefin Labs is founded

  [1]Bluefin Labsen.wikipedia.org

  Deb Roy and Michael Fleischman founded the company to commercialize machine-learning approaches for connecting social-media conversation with broadcast television.

A machine-learning and cognitive-science platform for translating large-scale social-media conversation into actionable television, advertising, and audience insights.

• Social television analytics platform

  Bluefin Signals

  Bluefin Signals was a subscription software platform that collected and interpreted public social-media discussion related to television programs and advertisements. It combined timing, semantic interpretation, programming data, closed captions, and machine learning to associate online comments with particular televised content. Brands, agencies, and networks used it for audience research, media planning, advertising-sales analysis, and creative development.

• Television network analytics

  Bluefin Signals Network Edition

  The Network Edition was tailored to broadcasters and cable networks seeking to measure and understand social conversation around their programming. It supported program-level and airing-level analysis and was described as being used by more than 40 major United States broadcast and cable networks during Bluefin's independent operating period.

• Brand and advertising analytics

  Bluefin Signals Brand Edition

  The Brand Edition was designed for advertisers and marketers. It provided a way to examine how audiences discussed television advertising and programming, helping users evaluate campaign response, compare placements, inform media decisions, and develop or optimize creative work.

• Data and analytical framework

  TV Genome

  TV Genome was Bluefin's term for the large-scale mapping of social-media reactions to the televised programs, advertisements, and events that prompted them. It represented the company's broader data architecture and analytical approach rather than a separately documented consumer product.

• 2012ABC News 2012 election coverage collaboration

  United States

  Bluefin Labs supplied social-TV insights, analytics, and data visualizations for ABC News coverage of selected events in the 2012 presidential campaign, including conventions, debates, Election Night, and the inauguration.

  Outcome. The collaboration positioned social-media analysis as an additional layer of television news coverage and audience interpretation.

  Source

• 2013

  Twitter acquisitionM&A

  Background

  Bluefin had developed a specialized position in social-TV measurement and had commercial relationships with media, advertising, and news organizations.

  Action taken

  Twitter announced that it would acquire Bluefin Labs for approximately $100 million.

  Aftermath

  Bluefin ceased to operate as an independent company, and its technology and personnel became part of Twitter's broader data and advertising activities.

  Announced acquisition value. Approximately $100 million (2013 acquisition announcement)

  Source

1. 1Bluefin Labsen.wikipedia.org