B2B Data Trending; Programmatic Dialogue

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About The (B2B) Data

Business insights giant Dun & Bradstreet has dropped $125 million in cash on B2B data marketing and analytics company NetProspex. “This acquisition fills a growing need for marketers by providing an actionable view of companies and the people who run them, putting quality relationship insight at the center of their marketing data strategy,” said Bob Carrigan, CEO of D&B. The deal comes only weeks after Oracle swooped in on Datalogix and months after LinkedIn bought B2B data platform Bizo. B2B data: the new black. Read the release.

Les Moonves Eyes Programmatic

Speaking at the CES Brand Matters Keynote Panel, MediaLink CEO Michael Kassan asked CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves how programmatic is changing the dialogue between networks and advertisers. “In terms of programmatic ways of selling advertising, obviously we have more and more inventory as each day goes by, as our audiences grow and as our interactive groups grow,” responded Moonves. “So programmatic becomes more and more a part of the dialogue. I know we’re working with some of the various groups that are doing that and I think that’s only going to continue.” Though he added, “Data is spectacular. Having said that, research only becomes part of your decision-making. … There still has to be the human element that says, ‘This is damn good.'” Watch the video.

Flying Solo

Writing for MediaPost, Adaptly President Sean O’Neal says media is barreling toward autonomy. “We may soon see a tipping point of brands bringing their digital media buying in-house,” writes O’Neal. P&G, Netflix, Kellogg’s, Experian, Thrillist, Allstate, Fidelity, StubHub, 1-800-Flowers and Amazon are already there. But O’Neal says agencies won’t evaporate. “There will be an explosion of new in-house agencies which will have access to all the same tools, talent, and technology,” he adds. “While individual brands won’t have the ‘consolidating buying power’ that the big agency groups do, the intuitive sense of their own marketing combined with their ability to move with speed will all lead to strong ROI.”

App-tropolis

2014 was a rock-solid year for Apple’s app store. Billings rose 50% to total $10 billion in revenue for developers. “This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the App Store and our developer community,” commented Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue in a press release. “The developer community has now earned over $25 billion.” And, where there’s app money there’s marketing dollars.

Google Shrinks An Inch

Following the swapping of Google for Yahoo as Firefox’s default search engine, Yahoo Search use in the US has quadrupled, according to data from Irish analytics firm StatCounter. On Jan. 6, Yahoo Search’s share of usage on Mozilla was 32.2%, up from just 7.5% on the same day one year ago. And during that time frame, Google’s search share fell from 86.1% to 60.8%. Google’s overall U.S. search share dropped from 79.3% to 75.2%. A slightly shorter giant. Computerworld has more.

Children’s Privacy Predictions

The FTC and regulators are cracking down on sites and apps made for children, but Allison Fitzpatrick, a partner at the Davis & Gilbert law firm, cautions the ad industry at large. Writing for Ad Age, Fitzpatrick offers six predictions for how COPPA regulations will heat up in 2015. Mobile apps and social networking sites will face increased scrutiny, according to Fitzpatrick, and ad targeting may be challenged. “In announcing new-COPPA, former FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz noted the agency’s concerns about tracking children to build massive profiles for behavioral advertising purposes,” she writes. “We can expect to see at least one of the next FTC COPPA actions involving behavioral advertising to children.” Read it.

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