Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
MediaMath Acquires Adroit Interactive
Adroit Interactive – with multi-variate creative technology, an impressive client list and smart people – has been acquired by demand-side platform, MediaMath. Read more on ClickZ.
Birds Of Feather Featured
The Wall Street Journal’s Emily Steel looks at “birds of a feather” targeting technology and highlights 33Across, which performed well for its Sprint and eBay clients according to the report. Steel writes that 33Across reaches users through “about 20 sites, online networks and third-party application companies, which build software like games and quizzes for social-networking sites. 33Across says those sites reach a total of 100 million monthly unique U.S. visitors.” Read more. (No subscription? Try WSJ link here.)
Spec Released For Enhanced Notice Ads
From the Better Advertising blog, CEO Scott Meyer writes that “The IAB and NAI jointly announced their CLEAR (Control Links for Education and Advertising Responsibly) Ad Notice Technical Specifications, a set of common technical standards enabling enhanced notice in online ads.” Read more on Better Advertising’s blog. Get the spec here (PDF).
TellApart led by ex-Googlers Josh McFarland and Mark Ayzenshtat came out of stealth mode and announced a $4.75 million round in funding led by Greylock Partners – as well as launched a new website. In an interview with TechCrunch’s Mike Arrington, CEO McFarland balked at providing a valuation for his company, but outlined the strategy for his company’s CPA-driven platform which looks to add incremental revenue for e-commerce companies. See the interview.
TellApart Unstealths; Gets $4.75 Million
TellApart led by ex-Googlers Josh McFarland and Mark Ayzenshtat came out of stealth mode and announced a $4.75 million round in funding led by Greylock Partners – as well as launched a new website. In an interview with TechCrunch’s Mike Arrington, CEO McFarland balked at providing a valuation for his company, but outlined the strategy for his company’s CPA-driven platform which looks to add incremental revenue for e-commerce companies. See the interview.
Valuing Fans
AdWeek’s Brian Morrissey looks at a recent study about the value of Facebook fans by Vitrue. Facebook fandom has been a bit of an obsession for brands who all want to build a fan base for and about themselves says Morrissey. He writes, “The firm (Vitrue) has determined that, on average, a fan base of 1 million translates into at least $3.6 million in equivalent media over a year.” That’s $3.60 per fan – write it down. Read more.
Mobile Ad Network Suspense
VentureBeat’s Paul Boutin notes that recent “changes to the latest version of Apple’s legal agreement for developers of iPhone and iPad apps have two kinds of businesses in limbo: Ad networks and app analytics.” Steve Jobs may decide that he wants all the mobile ad business running through an iPhone for his Quattro Wireless acquisition. Read more about the suspense.
Joost Video Ad Network Rockets
Joost hasn’t been pumping very long as a video ad network – in fact, only a month – but with ad network Adconion behind it, the debut of Joost has led it take the #2 position in ComScore’s most recent video ad network rankings. Read the Adconion release. TechCrunch notes that these numbers are a measure of the Joost online ad network’s “consumer video consumption of both content and ads across the Web” rather than just through the Joost portal alone – meaning in-banner video (which leverages the Adconion display ad network) is included.
Publisher Platform Success
Betawork’s Andrew Weissman points out why certain publishing platforms work and hearkens back to the 90s and AOL’s Rainman platform or – Remote Automated Information Manager. Weissman writes, “AOL provided the two key components every platform must deliver to create value: distribution, and monetization.” As he points out, after a while, it stopped working, but hey, it was a powerhouse for a while. Read more. (source: @cdixon)
Customer-Centric Strategy
Lots of chatter about all things “customer-centric,” but what does it mean exactly? Ranjay Gulati looks “Inside Best Buy’s Customer-Centric Strategy” and defines what he thinks it means: “Becoming customer-centric means looking at an enterprise from the outside-in rather than the inside-out — that is, through the lens of the customer rather than the producer.” Read more on Harvard Business Review.
Ad Revenues And Commoditization
Triggit advisor Ross Mayfield talks about how ad revenue is changing and identifies concerns some (especially publishers) may have about the current economic recovery. Mayfield writes, “Ad commoditization is moving far beyond text ads into other formats. The display ad market has moved to Real Time Ad Exchanges. Conversion rates always decline as the audience becomes sensitized, with the recent exception to newer formats like video ads.” Is it all bad news? Not for Mayfield. Read more on Enterprise Irregulars.
Twitter Stats Slideshow
The Business Insider offers statistics courtesy of the Twitter Developer Conference and a slideshow presentation. Did you know Twitter has 105,779,710 registered users. You do now. And you’ll be able to target some of them with ads shortly. See the show.
Real-Time Agency
Starcom MediaVest Group President and Chief Digital Officer Sean Finnegan delivered a keynote to an ad:tech Sydney audience this week and bemoaned those in the agency world who can’t respond in real-time. According to Digital Media, Finnegan said, “We cant wait for 6 months for an creative agency to get back to us with a 30-second spot. If a customer puts up their hand to say they are interested in our brand and we cant deliver on the message in real-time, then shame on us.” Read more on Digital Media.
More Panelists Fixing Advertising
Dapper has added another panelist for its April 28 “Fixing Advertising” event as marketer Hope Gurion of Career Builder will join 6 other panelists including moderator Tim Hanlon. Register here for the event on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Center in Chicago.
Get Your Daily Deal
Research company BIA Kelsey looks at the “daily deals” trend (companies such as GroupOn) and calls it “one of the hottest new areas for local advertising and promotions.” Is their a fit for real-time targeting of audience with deals? Would seem so. Read more. (source:@ingridsan)
