Twitter And Facebook Unveil Political Ad Fixes; Netflix Market Cap Surpasses Disney

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Cleaning The Nest

Twitter debuted a set of political advertising policies it will have in place for the 2018 US midterm elections. Read the blog post. Political advertisers will have to verify their identities and that they are based in the US, either by providing their Federal Election Commission ID number or a notarized form, The New York Times reports. Political accounts must include a link to a valid website and a profile photo and description consistent with the campaign. Any promoted content from political advertisers will include a label detailing the office, state or district the politician is running for. And Twitter will no longer allow foreign governments to target people in the US with political ads. More. Facebook also introduced its political transparency program to the US on Thursday. AdExchanger has more on that.

The Media Baton

Netflix shares jumped by almost $40 in the past month, boosting the company past both Comcast and Disney as the world’s most valuable media company. That depends on one’s definition of a “media company,” though, since Google, Amazon or AT&T, pending its Time Warner media acquisition, would outstrip both companies. Disney’s market cap is down 5% this year and Comcast is down 21%, Bloomberg reports. More. Perhaps the largest difference between Netflix and the rest of the pack? No ads.

Bonjour, Marcel

Publicis Groupe has introduced Marcel, an enterprise AI and machine learning platform accessible to all 80,000 employees. Read the release. The platform aims to enhance work across the group by making it easy for staff to connect with experts on certain topics and accounts, dig back through relevant case studies and track communications and productivity. Staffers can also apply for interesting briefs through the platform depending on their availability. Publicis will launch a beta version of Marcel in June for 1,000 of its employees and put it out for general use in January. “Our KPI is not about time spent on the platform,” Dawn Winchester, chief digital officer for Publicis NA, told AdExchanger. “It’s is the work getting better? Are people feeling more connected and able to advance in their careers?”

Zuck Follows Up

After failing to answer numerous questions during Mark Zuckerberg’s (mild) grilling by European parliamentarians in Brussels on Tuesday and promises to follow up, Facebook sent its first set of written replies on Thursday. But if you think Zuckerberg had a hand in penning any of the answers himself, we’ve got an Eiffel Tower to sell you. On the subject of shadow profiles: We only collect data on non-Facebook users for security purposes. On the question of compensating European data subjects affected by Cambridge Analytica: Nope. On the matter of whether Facebook needs to be broken up: “People have many choices about how they spend time online.” Regulators had their chance to question Zuckerberg and they squandered it. The Brussels meeting was just another missed opportunity to get beyond Facebook’s talking points. Read Facebook’s full responses here. Related in AdExchanger: more coverage of the testimony.

But Wait, There’s More!