Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
Consolidation: AdKnowledge At It Again
AdKnowledge has acquired CPA network Hydra Group for an unknown amount Having previously purchased MIVA and Lookery’s media business among other acquisitions, the company is looking to become the biggest player in the affiliate world. In the release, Adknowledge CEO Scott Lynn claims, “Adknowledge is the largest marketplace for advertisers seeking a one-stop-shop for all of their marketing outside of Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Facebook.” Read it.
AOL And IPG To Track In-Store
IPG’s Mediabrands and AOL are partnering to “re-invent digital retail advertising” according to a release. The two initial phases of the partnership include a completed study which – no surprise – shows among other things “Shoppers seek comparative pricing and feature comparison options, coupon integration, store locations, and more from their pre-shopping research.” The second phase is where the retail-meets-the-road as Mediabrands’ Geomentum will track ad effectiveness as it relates to in-store purchases resulting from ad campaigns on AOL. Read more.
Infographic Tuesday
Robert Andrews of PaidContent has some exclusive infographics from an upcoming IAB Europe report/data dump that shows – among other data points – U.S. ad spend is the only ad spend which decreased in 2009. See the pretty charts.
Mobile Targeter Gets $10 Million
Apptera which has already raised $19 million in previous rounds has added $10 million more in a round led by New World Ventures and including existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alloy Ventures, and Walden International. Apptera “inserts voice ads into calls which can be targeted based on a caller’s location, mobile carrier, interests and behavior” according to MocoNews. Read more.
Email Marketing Transaction Data
Experian has been data mining its CheetahMail email service provider. Experian released a new report showing that “almost half (47 percent) of transactions and three-quarters of opens and clicks occur within one day of the email receipt.” More interesting data: “Companies in the Business Products and Services vertical tend to have the quickest customer response, with 52 percent of transactions and 79 percent of revenue received in the first day. In comparison to all other industries, Travel was the slowest with only 13 percent of transactions and 11 percent of revenue occurring on day one.” Read the release.
What Is MediaMath?
In a short video, The Business Insider gets MediaMath CEO Joe Zawadzki to provide a 30-second “elevator pitch” for what his company does. Zawadzki pitches the company in less than 19 seconds. See the result.
In-Text Kontera Expands
Kontera announced a “significant workforce” in the UK according to a press release which added, “During the second quarter [of 2010] Kontera significantly expanded its agency-facing workforce through the addition of Peter White to lead agency relationships, and through the hiring and on-boarding of multiple account managers to meet market demand.” Read it.
More Search Re-targeting
WebMynd which was originally started by Y Combinator and then added angel investment from others such as Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller is on the verge of yet another round according to VentureBeat. WebMynd CEO Amir Nathoo tells VentureBeat that its original toolbar strategy which delivers customized search results (and ads) according to a user’s favorite sites is now being customized for specific publishers. Read more.
AP Axed By CNN
Sign of the times? CNN announced that it was not renewing its agreement with news service The Associated Press and will instead rely on its own reporting capabilities. Read it.
Semantic Fever
ad pepper media announced that it will license the ad serving technology behind its iSense ad network which is known as “Crystal Semantics.” Ulrich Schmidt, Chairman and CEO for ad pepper media said in a release, “We recognized the market’s need for superior forms of content analysis and brand protection technology and have decided to make the most of the opportunity by leveraging Crystal Semantics’ technology beyond the confines of the ad pepper media network.” Read more.
Unlock Your Inner Creative
Toronto-based creative Jason Theodor describes creativity in a 171-slide presentation called “The Creative Method and Systems,” which is now available on SlideShare. He believe there are two approaches to understanding creativity – namely, the scientific method and the creative method. See it. (@marciikeler)
Facebook Sued For Privacy Breach
Fire in the hole! Facebook has been sued by a former (?) Facebook user who “alleges that Facebook violated its privacy policy by sharing users’ names with advertisers via referrer headers.” The user also alleges that Facebook broke U.S. federal wiretap laws. Class action may be on the way according to MediaPost.
