Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
Legislation Is Here
At long last, legislative action in the U.S. is here for online advertising – at least as it relates to consumer privacy according to numerous sources including Emily Steel of The Wall Street Journal who writes, “The draft legislation proposes regulating Internet companies’ tactics for collecting information about Web visitors and the use of that data for ad targeting.” Steel says the new legislation will be available Tuesday (today) on the websites of Rep. Rick Boucher (D., Va.) and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R., Fla.). Read more. Get ClickZ’s take, too.
The Criticism Continues
Ad Age issued an editorial criticizing Facebook for plunging too fast and too far in consumer data usage online. The editorial states: “In marketing and public relations, perception is half the battle. And the appearance is that the company is running rough-shod over the privacy of its millions of users, many of whom have no idea what’s being done with their data.”Read more.
DST, Not DSP
Russian holding company, Digital Sky Technologies and its CEO, Yuri Milner, are featured in a BusinessWeek article which looks behind the curtain of the acquisitive deep pockets of the company known as DST. The company has bought nearly 10% of Facebook stock through a $200 million placement and buying out certain existing shareholders. Read more.
Content? Sure. But Let’s Verify Audience, Too.
On the Universal-Mccann Worldwide blog, Mitchell Weinstein takes a look at the ad verification space and asks, “What’s the deal?” Weinstein’s post identifies two main pieces to be verified: audience and content. He adds, “Audience Verification can be just as important, if not more so, which is why I am going to focus on it here.” Get focused.
IAB Prime Data
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) “announced the release of ‘Data Usage & Control Primer: Best Practices & Definitions,’ a guide that explains in plain terms what data can be collected online and how that data should be collected, as well as providing a lexicon of commonly used terms.” Read the release. And, download the primer.
Adify’s Fradin On The OPA
The Online Publishers Association launched another study at the ad network business last week and this week Adify’s Russ Fradin is having none of it. Fradin writes in Ad Age, “Is choosing between premium (as the OPA defines it) and ad networks even the right debate to have?” Read more. And, download the OPA study (PDF).
Mpire Gets Partners
Mpire (makers of AdXpose) announced that it has partnered with Digital Broadcasting Group, Dedicated Media and demand-side platform, XA.net. CEO Rob Leathern is quoted in the release, “Advertisers are demanding transparency and ease of use, and we’re excited to integrate with AdXpose’s solution to give both to them. Read the release.
Google Ventures: One Year
Google Ventures marked its one year anniversary according to the Official Google Blog. The venture firm invests “in best-of-breed ventures in a wide variety of fields. Our fund’s calling is to generate a financial return while supporting entrepreneurs who are creating transformative ventures.” Ch-ching.. and they have a new website. See it.
The Art Of Attribution
Brian Tomasette discusses what he sees as the forgotten art of attribution modeling. What marketers replaced it with: “Real-time Bidding and targeting audiences essentially productized and made Demand Side Platforms able to quickly and nimbly scale the ‘stuff that works’.” No need for attribution modeling, after all?
More New Ads
Ad network, Vibrant Media, has launched a new ad division called where the new team will be “tasked solely with creating ads that aren’t really ads” according to Mike Shields of Mediaweek. Well then, what are they!? Shields says that the new ads will “provide users with some sort of utility are more appropriate than ads that simply interrupt a reader.” See what’s in store.
Broadcast Strategies Online
The WSJ looks at how certain UK political campaigns are using their broadcast TV strategy online.. but as usual, it just doesn’t work for the online audience. Antony Mayfield of iCrossing tells The WSJ, “It’s what we call: ‘It smells like social media.’ It looks like it, people are going through the motions, but effectively [the parties] are still using the mindset and communications strategy that has worked for them in broadcast.” Read more.
CPM Advertisers On Facebook
The All Facebook blog notes a letter sent out to all CPM advertisers last Friday by Facebook saying that advertisers should start thinking about their campaigns a bit more and “that their ads on the social network may soon get fewer clicks in connection with upcoming changes to the company’s performance ad system.” The company is telling advertisers to switch to CPC pricing where it make sense. Read more.
Niki Scevak, the founder of Homethinking, looks at the annual report of Tigrent Inc, “a Florida-based company that runs financial management courses and seminars based upon the ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ book.” Scevak notes the concentration around online spend as opposed to traditonal in 2009 asTigrent decided to optimize across its digital display funnel. Read more and see the numbers.
Old School VC
Chris Dixon writes on his blog that old school venture capital firms that think their pedigree should be enough to maintain their status in the startup world should think again. Why? “VC brand names do not persist. VC firms don’t accrue institutional knowledge.” Get the details.
NY Times And Facebook
PaidContent posts the entire keynote address by The NY Times’ SVP of Digital Ops Martin Nisenholtz at the Wharton School of Business’ “Future of Publishing” conference last Friday. In the speech, Nisenholtz outlines how The Times will go full-throttle into the social media world and adopt the use of Facebook technology. Read more about why social media is not lost behind a pay wall.
