CaptchaAd wants to use an annoying online mechanism as an advertising space. The Munich-based startup has now filed for bankruptcy.
The Munich-based startup CaptchaAd was founded in 2009. The idea of using so-called captchas as advertising space sounds simple and plausible. Captchas are small mechanisms that ensure that users are actually human and not software bots. We know them in various forms: To complete a process in the browser, for example, users have to type in photographed house numbers or click on photos of cars. This can, in the best case, prevent computers from automatically sending countless requests.
Advertising as spam protection
CaptchaAd replaces these images with video ads. Users must watch the video and then answer a related question to proceed on the website. This allows advertisers to guarantee their customers that the ad has been seen and understood.
At the beginning of August, co-founder Jan Philipp Hinrichs according to information from German startups but now insolvency Hinrichs told the portal:
“Since an interim financing round was unsuccessful, we unfortunately had to file for insolvency to protect the company.”
The startup is now seeking a "strategic investor to take over the business operations and the engine." According to German startups, discussions are already underway.
