Trada operates a crowdsourced marketplace that connects advertisers and agencies with paid-search (SEM) and Facebook advertising experts to build and manage campaigns. Advertisers set budgets, choose platforms (the site supports Bing, Yahoo, and Google), and specify pay-per-click or per-acquisition terms; Trada’s community of SEM experts then selects keywords and writes ad copy. In November Trada launched a Facebook ad marketplace where optimizers and creatives build hyper-targeted profiles and ad creative combinations and earn on a performance basis. Trada coordinates payments between advertisers and experts and takes a small cut of each transaction. Since launch nearly two years earlier, Trada has helped more than 500 advertisers and created income opportunities for thousands of paid-search and Facebook experts. Top marketplace earners rose from $4,500 in January 2011 to $14,500 most recently, and the company’s largest advertiser budget grew from about $35,000 per month to $500,000. Founder and CEO Niel Robertson says the new funding will be used to expand the paid-search and Facebook marketplaces and aims for profitability by the end of 2012 while exploring retargeting, display, and mobile ads. Trada operates a crowdsourced ad-management platform where businesses set budgets, choose advertising platforms (currently Google, Bing, and Yahoo), and specify CPC/CPA while a community of vetted experts selects keywords and writes ad copy. Experts must be AdWords certified and pass Trada’s 45-minute exam, and each campaign typically has multiple contributors (an average campaign has over 6,500 keywords and 110 ads). Experts are rewarded for clicks or acquisitions and Trada takes a 25% cut of those rewards; users can view experts' track records. The company launched in March and was founded two years ago; its CEO is Niel Robertson. Trada plans to use new funding to grow internationally and to add support for display ads, including outsourcing placement and creative. Google Ventures' involvement has drawn scrutiny, and GV partner Rich Miner will join Trada’s board. Trada is a marketplace that connects small and medium businesses and agencies with certified SEM experts who submit keywords, ad copy and bid prices and manage campaigns across search engines. The service supports Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing and requires experts to be AdWords or SEMPO certified and pass Trada certification. Trada coordinates payments between advertisers and experts and takes a small cut of each transaction. Advertisers reportedly receive 25 qualified experts to work on their campaigns, and participants in the private beta saw successful results. The company entered private beta in January 2009 and, at the time of reporting, had 70 advertisers and 280 experts. Trada was founded by Niel Robertson and competes with firms such as Kenshoo and Conductor.

Total raised

$17M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series D

Latest activity

Jan 2012