Sky and Virgin team up to take on Google

Sky and Virgin Media have joined forces in a landmark advertising deal to take the fight to tech giants Google and Facebook.

Customers of the pay-TV businesses will get ads tailored for them as part of the tie-up, which will use technology from Virgin Media’s parent company, Liberty Global, and Sky’s AdSmart platform.

They said the deal would be safe for brands in a nod to recent online issues faced by Google, whose YouTube video channel has displayed ads from well-known consumer firms next to hate and terrorist content.

“Addressable TV is the high-quality, brand-safe and transparent medium that leading brands have already been adopting in their thousands,” Sky’s chief operating officer Andrew Griffith said.

“Today’s partnership takes that to the next level with the extension of AdSmart to millions more homes.”