There aren't many solo players left delivering TV content recommendation engines, so maybe it's no surprise that one of the big ones is now looking to expand into new markets. Jinni announced this week that it's getting into the ad tech business.

The move by Jinni Media Ltd. doesn't deviate very far from the company's technology roots. Jinni said it will use the same Entertainment Genome powering its recommendation engine to help TV and movie studios target advertising on the web and mobile platforms. The proprietary semantic technology matches content inventory with individual user tastes. Repurposed for the ad business, the technology will provide a Demand Side Platform (DSP) for entertainment advertisers that want to carry their promotions over to an online environment.

Want to learn about targeted advertising in the multiscreen world? Light Reading is hosting a special breakfast seminar, "Targeting Ads in the On-Demand Multiscreen World," at the INTX show on May 5 in Chicago.

In addition to TV and movie studios, Jinni's new solution is designed for programmers looking to promote content in video-on-demand libraries. Jinni said the product has already been tested in commercial pilots with major Hollywood studios, and that the results showed significant improvement over traditional demographic-based ad targeting.

“When it comes to entertainment," declared Jinni Co-Founder and CEO Yosi Glick, "the truth is that totally different demographics often share the same tastes in movies and TV shows. Therefore, online advertising of movies and TV shows needs a fresh approach. With our proprietary moviegoer and TV viewer database and our mature semantic technology to understand user tastes, we can now provide entertainment brands with a much more efficient way to buy their media and target their relevant audiences.”

In the service provider world, Jinni already has an impressive line-up of customers. Big names from the list include AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC). (See AT&T Jumps On Board With Jinni.)

— Mari Silbey, special to Light Reading