In an e-mail message to paidContent, Gernert said, “Other forms of targeting, such as behavioral and contextual, certainly have their place. Unfortunately, these approaches also have their drawbacks, including data quality, and inherently limited inventory. Our research-based methodology and sophisticated algorithms allow us to not just reach the 10 percent who consume online content related to a contextual topic, such as ‘green’ content, but also to reach the other 90 percent of the environmentally-conscious audience who don’t.”

SEE ALSO: Political Ad Network Resonate Launches, Raises $2 Million

Whether that alone makes it stand out among other forms of targeting that have emerged—such as Media6Degrees, which focuses on targeting data related to users’ connections in the “social graph”—advertisers will ultimately make that distinction.

In either case, Resonate’s attempt to position itself beyond the usual forms of targeting shows how marketers’ demands for targeting are evolving. The concentration of offering “attitudinal” based ads also marks an evolution for Resonate. When it raised $2 million in a first round last year, the company was organized around politics, offering ad targeting on users’ views on key public-policy issues. Its initial backers were Beltway veterans Alexander Gage, who led former President George W. Bush’s voter targeting initiative during the ‘04 campaign, and Democratic strategist Harold Ickes.

This time out the company’s funding was led by VC firms Greycroft Partners and iNovia Capital. “We have seen so many ‘me too’ targeting companies that use browsing behavior as a substitute for intent,” said iNovia Capital’s John Elton. “The results are in and that methodology doesn’t work. There are no shortcuts. You have to do the research if you want to find consumers with a propensity to buy your product.”