CEO McDermott Exits SAP; GDPR Gives Rise To 'Consent Fraud'

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McDermott Out

Bill McDermott is stepping down as CEO of SAP after nine years leading the company. He will be succeeded by board members and longtime SAP execs Jennifer Morgan and Christian Klein, and he will remain as an adviser until the end of the year, CNBC reports. McDermott is responsible for pushing SAP into new markets with the acquisitions of software platforms like Qualtrics, Gigya and Concur. But the company has struggled to adapt to cloud computing, and revenue growth has been stuck in the mid-single digits for the past three years. “I am excited, and I will do something at some point, and that will be discussed at a future date and on a future occasion,” McDermott said on a call with investors. “Today is SAP’s day.” More.

Summer Of Our Missed Consent

One form of ad fraud that’s cropped up since GDPR came into effect last year is consent string fraud. The IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) relies on signals provided by publishers in their bid string, but an unscrupulous publisher or intermediary could simply lie and mark the impression as carrying consent for targeted advertising. The tactic has been identified among ad tech vendors, particular ad networks that don’t have direct contracts with publishers (the same as with Ads.txt or other forms of fraud), Digiday reports. More. The IAB Europe has upped its auditing practices to prevent basic consent string manipulation. Earlier this year, the trade group raised the annual price to register as a consent management platform (CMP) – companies that collect and manage consent for GDPR on behalf of publishers – from about $400 to $1,350. The IAB Europe had underestimated the oversight costs for the CMP program, and its protracted back-and-forth with Google over joining the TCF was a drag on legal costs, IAB Europe technical director Patrick Verdon told AdExchanger at the time.

Family Feuds

While Netflix has grown as a children’s entertainment giant over the years, it now faces its biggest existential threat yet with the launch of Disney+, which will boast 7,500 episodes of Disney TV shows, 25 original series, Marvel movies, Nat Geo specials, “The Simpsons” and the Disney-Pixar-Lucasfilm movies, The New York Times reports. Netflix is fighting back by hiring Disney producers and animators behind iconic moves such as “Moana” and the “Despicable Me” franchise and shelling out big bucks to produce tons of kid-friendly content. Family viewing is key for streaming platforms, as families are less likely to churn and offer lucrative licensing opportunities. About 60% of Netflix’s audience watches children’s content monthly, according to head of animation Melissa Cobb. But the streaming giant will need to tread carefully on quality as it moves to quickly grow its children’s content library. More.

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