Kiran Gopinath is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of internet advertising network Ozone Media Solutions Private Limited, which completed 6 years of operations recently. Kiran has over 12 years experience in internet advertising and in 2000 he co-founded Webshastra Private Limited, an internet advertising firm, with Warburg Pincus as investors. Subsequently, he started Ozone Media in February 2006. In an exclusive interview with India Digital Review, Gopinath discusses the journey of Ozone and the ad network space in India.

Ozone Media has just completed six years of existence in India. How do you see the core branding spend taking off on the internet in India lately?

Branding spends are growing  of late compared to the spends a few years ago, with many branding campaigns being successful on the digital media, though the adoption is still slow compared to performance spends.

Ozone Media was in the news for shifting its focus in the SME segment. What was the objective behind that? What are the verticals you are focussing right now?

Well, we added the SME focus since we believe that the spends from SMEs are growing and we are excited to help SMEs use digital media to grow their businesses; the global reach that the digital media gives especially to SMEs from non metros, is changing the ambitions of the SMEs.

Ozone had raised $4 million from IDG Ventures India in 2008. Are you looking at raising more rounds now?

We are well capitalized at this point of time.

How has been the revenue growth for Ozone over the years? What are your expectations this fiscal?

The revenue growth has been phenomenal for Ozone Media for the past two years and we expect this growth to be higher this fiscal and in the next few years.

With new form of content like videos and apps coming up, how is Ozone Media leveraging this opportunity?

We have just launched our mobile ad network to help our clients use the mobile platform as well; video and apps will be ways in which we will help advertisers reach and communicate with their audiences.

In the ad network business, it is said that the publisher takes it all with a little left for the network. What is your take on this?

Our mission is to create great value for our publishers and advertisers, and we have been doing so for the past six years without any cause for concern about what is left for us!

How do you see marketers' demands changing from online as a medium in the recent years?

Marketers have begun to use the digital media much more efficiently and smartly over the past few years; we are beginning to see multimillion dollar contracts and spends from marketers and this will continue as long as we add value and help marketers use technology more smartly for example, as in retargeting and dynamic creative optimization etc.

Traditional media like TV, print and radio is never sold on impressions. Why do you think the same doesn't happen for online?

Well , that is the way the medium has been sold for some years now; going forward, advertisers and marketers will be able to target their audiences more effectively online, the pricing models being what they maybe (CPM, CPC, CPA, Cost Per Day/Time-based).

Speaking about the current year, which sectors, according to you, have increased their media spends on internet?

We are seeing growth overall, with FMCG, Consumer durables, and Auto sectors increasing their spends this year.

Where do you see the digital marketing and advertising industry move two years down the line?

The digital marketing and ad industry is growing by leaps and bounds, I expect the industry to grow by over 150 per cent in terms of spends over the next two years from current levels, given that the internet user base will be at least around 300 million by then.