Visa And Mastercard Ready To Target Adds; WPP Buys Stake In Chinese Analyitics Firm

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.

Credit Cards Target Ads

Credit card companies want to get into the data-driven ad game as The Wall Street Journal’s Emily Steel looks at recent efforts by Visa and MasterCard to leverage buying data the companies see everyday. There are even patent applications in the mix: “According a Visa patent application published in April, the company sees potential to use a wide array of personal details to create profiles that could be used for ad targeting well beyond shopping details.” The power of first-party data. Read more. Cardlytics is dong some interesting things in this area, too. (Read the AdExchanger.com July 2011 Q&A here.)

Brand Marketer Spotlight

DataXu CEO Mike Baker targets the brand marketer with his latest missive on ClickZ. “Can digital tell a story? Can it connect the right content with the right audience? And most consequentially, can it be measured?” Baker thinks brand folks don’t ask these questions and it’s time that changed. Read more.

RMX For Mobile

Uncertainty in the C-suite hasn’t stopped Yahoo!’s Right Media Exchange from launching a new product. The RMX blog says that mobile ads are now pulsing through the exchange and features for seat holders include the ability to “traffic ads into mobile smartphone and tablet browsers, leveraging Right Media’s prediction algorithm.” Read more.

Screening For RTB

Casale Media CEO Joe Casale is dealing with what he sees as concerns for buyers with real-time bidding in a piece on iMedia Connection. He writes, “Buyers need to screen supply sources up front, regardless of the buying model, to ensure the efficiency of their buy and that brand association is never compromised.” And then he gives 10 “screening” tips. Read them.

Analyzing The Moment

Agency holding company WPP Group remains an active investor in the Far East as Chinese analytics firm Moment Systems has received a new $20 million round of investment from WPP and VC firms Kleiner Perkins and Redpoint Ventures among others. WPP announced its intent to acquire a stake in D.A. Consortium in Japan in late August. According to yesterday’s press release, Moment describes itself as offering “measurement and optimization of digital advertising through reach/frequency, iGRP (internet gross rating points) and demographies of target consumers with core concept of ROI.” The company provides a very healthy client list, too, which includes P&G, Microsoft, KFC, Adidas, Kraft and others. Read the release. How could you not like a company who’s motto is “Data Is Wonderful!” See the site.

Future Display

A futures market for mobile advertising? Gamasutra reports that a startup called Chartboost has raised $2M in investment. From the article, the company “offers a platform that allows game developers to directly sell advertising space in their games, rather than relying on an ad network to populate the space.” Read more.

The Internet Grows

Akamai issued its quarterly “State of the Internet” report and it showed that the Web has not stopped spreading by a longshot. From a press release on the study: “In the second quarter of 2011, more than 604 million unique IP addresses from 238 countries and regions connected to the Akamai Intelligent Platform. This represents 3.4 percent more IP addresses than connected in the first quarter of 2011, and an increase of 21 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago.” Read the release. And, download the report (pay with some PII).

CTR For Mobile

Mobile advertising network Jumptap isn’t backing away from the click as the company announced results of its latest study of company, mobile campaign data. From a release that claims to show the improved performance of rich media, mobile creative: “One major retailer saw a 337 percent lift in CTR over their standard mobile banner campaign; A popular luxury auto manufacturer saw a 357 percent lift in CTR.; An advertiser for a new theatrical release picked-up a 340 percent lift in CTR.” Clickthrough here.

But Wait. There’s More!