Kerv.ai
AI ad-tech company powering WBD's scene-level contextual ad targeting on Max and discovery+.
Last refreshed: 17 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
How does Kerv.ai make TV ads match what is actually happening on screen?
Timeline for Kerv.ai
Provided scene-level contextual ad insertion technology for WBD's Max platform
Media's AI Pivot: WBD ships agentic ads on its last upfront- What does Kerv.ai do and how does it work?
- Kerv.ai uses AI computer vision and NLP to analyse individual scenes in video content and match ads to the precise context of each scene, enabling advertisers to buy contextual TV inventory at scene-level rather than programme-level granularity.Source: Kerv.ai / WBD
- What is WBD Scene-Level Moments and who powers it?
- Scene-Level Moments is Warner Bros. Discovery's contextual ad product that serves ads matched to the specific content of individual scenes in WBD programmes. It is powered by Kerv.ai's scene-intelligence technology and runs across Max and discovery+.Source: WBD / Kerv.ai
- Why is scene-level ad targeting better than traditional contextual advertising?
- Traditional contextual targeting matches ads to a programme or genre. Scene-level targeting matches to the precise content of a specific scene — an activity, product category or mood — giving advertisers much tighter brand-safety and relevance controls.Source: WBD Upfront announcement
Background
Kerv.ai is an AI-powered advertising technology company that partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to power Scene-Level Moments, WBD's contextual scene-level ad targeting product unveiled at the company's 2026 Upfront on 13 May at Madison Square Garden. The technology analyses individual scenes within a TV programme or film and matches advertisements to the content of that specific scene in real time — for example, serving a travel ad during a beach resort scene in a WBD drama.
Kerv.ai specialises in interactive and contextual video intelligence, using computer vision and natural language processing to understand what is happening in a frame rather than relying on blunt keyword or genre tags. The company's technology enables advertisers to buy against precise contextual signals — a product category, an activity, an emotion within a scene — at a granularity that traditional contextual targeting cannot achieve. WBD's adoption of Kerv for Scene-Level Moments represents one of the highest-profile deployments of scene-level AI ad tech by a major US broadcaster.
The partnership with WBD is significant for Kerv because it extends Scene-Level Moments across not just HBO Max but the full WBD Stream footprint, including discovery+, giving Kerv's technology access to one of the largest premium video catalogues in US streaming.
