Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
Consolidation: ADISN Sold
Battery Ventures-funded ADISN has been sold to community forums owner, CrowdGather, for $5.5 million in stock according to PaidContent’s Joseph Tartikoff. See last year’s AdExchanger.com Q&A with ADISN here when the company was positioned as a creative optimization technology company. Read more on PC. Read the release.
Audience Targeting In The UK
UK publisher Trinity Mirror Group is moving to an audience-driven advertising model on its Mirror.co.uk and Mirrorfootball.co.uk properties thanks to a partnership with VisualDNA (AdExchanger.com Q&A). According to NetImperative, by using VisualDNA’s audience profiling technology which is implemented via personality quizzes, Mirror Group’s Matt Kelly says that his company can go “way beyond traditional behavioural targeting. It’s a rich, engaging experience the user actually enjoys and benefits from.” Read more.
Mobile Wars: Apple Vs. Google
In today’s edition of mobile wars, AdMob’s founder Omar Hamoui leads the charge and says on the AdMob blog, “Apple proposed new developer terms on Monday that, if enforced as written, would prohibit app developers from using AdMob and Google’s advertising solutions on the iPhone.” And that ain’t good says Hamoui. Read more. Meanwhile, over on Forbes, Michael Liedtke covers the story but notes the bright side, “On the flip side, Apple’s restrictions could be an advantage for smaller, independent ad networks that would still have all the usual data needed to place ads on iPhones and iPads.” Read more.
Former Tacoda and current Simulmedia CEO Dave Morgan asks in his MediaPost column, “Who Will Reap The Quarter-Trillion Dollars Of TV & Online Ad Spend In 2015?” Morgan won’t say exactly who will win – though one would assume that Simulmedia would be in the mix if Morgan has his way – but he will say what their skillsets will look like such as: “Excellence in media packaging, sales & yield management.” Read more.
Deliver Video Cross-Channel
Mediaweek’s Mike Shields looks at FreeWheel’s announcement that it now supports every online video ad format under the sun as part of its video monetization platform. FreeWheel’s Doug Knopper tells Shields, “The goal is, if you are a content company, you can used our technology anywhere. Everywhere your content can run, we’ll make sure that ads can go with it.” Read more.
Transparency Breeds Scarcity, Higher CPMs
On iMedia Connection, Tom Hespos where he looks into his crystal ball and gives agencies his thoughts on what’s next – transparency. Hespos writes, “In short, we’re going to see scarcity start to drive prices up if advertisers and their agencies are willing to peek under the hood of their transactional buys.” Read more.
On DSPs Calling Shots
Microsoft Advertising Platform evangelist Ian Thomas provides is take on the demand-side platform world with a post on his personal blog titled, “Online Advertising Business 101, Part VII: Demand-side Platforms (DSPs).” Thomas writes, “The balance of power in the industry is shifting, and right now it seems like the DSPs are calling the shots {…]” Read more.
Automating Planners
Centro has release a new study which it says shows the media team needs help… desperately. “85 Percent of Media Planners Inundated with Administrative Tasks; Want More Time to Devote to Strategy.” Of course they do! But are they ready? Read more. And, download Centro’s Workforce Automation Study (PDF).
Mediaweek Editor Leaves
According to Mike Taylor of MediaBistro, Mediaweek editor Michael Burgi is leaving his position for a new role with Canoe Ventures – “a joint venture among U.S. cable operators” – where he’ll be the new VP of communications. Read more.
Omnicom Not Building DSP
Quoting Omnicom CFO Randall Weisenburger at BMO Capital Markets’ Advertising and Marketing Services Conference in NYC, ClickZ’s Anna Maria Virzi says that Omnicom won’t be building an in-house demand-side platform. According to Virzi, Weisenberg said, “We don’t view ourselves as a technology platform developer,” Read more.
How’s That MSM TV Biz Doing?
Brian Steinberg reports on Ad Age that the big five networks have managed a slight gain in upfront commitments by advertisers for the coming television season. Steinberg says this year came in between $8.1-$8.7 billion; last year was $7.8-$8.1 billion. Read more.
Glam Media On Ad Serving
Glam Media is returns to the news with GlamAdapt – what it calls “The Industry’s First Third-Generation Ad Serving Platform Built for Brands.” The SaaS business is already live according to the release and “deployed by over 1,000 Publishers with more than 500 of the Top brand advertisers.” Read the release.
How To Take Down Dart And Atlas
Darren Herman throws a dart at DART and Atlas and suggests, among other ideas, that agencies take back their ad serving: “If agencies controlled their ad server, they could build custom integrations wit certain (not all) publishers that provide opportunities beyond where the market is today.” Jonathan Mendez adds in the comments, “Google has built an empire as an opaque market conduit. It is helpful to look at how they have done this in Search and because it has worked so well it is hard not to believe they will not mirror this in Display.” Read more.
Targeting Video And Autos
Firefly Video, an offshoot of Exponential Interactive, Inc. and Tribal Fusion, announced that its ready for automotive advertisers with its new platform which it says complements TV and online, pre-roll video ads. A campaign from with the 2011 Hyundai Sonata through advertising agency Initiative is featured. Read the release.
