RadiumOne's CEO Swap; AOL And Microsoft's Video Inventory

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Chahal Out As RadiumOne CEO

Re/code’s Kara Swisher broke the news Sunday that the board of ad tech platform company RadiumOne decided to remove CEO Gurbaksh Chahal after he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for battery and domestic violence related to an incident with his girlfriend. Read more. It was later confirmed by the company that COO Bill Lonergan (LinkedIn), formerly of OfferPal and Chahal’s BlueLithium ad network, is the new CEO, according to RadiumOne’s “Leadership” page and a press release. The firing followed a lengthy explanation from Chahal on his personal blog on Saturday explaining his POV on what happened. Read that one.

Making Video Inventory

On Friday AOL and Microsoft announced a video distribution deal scheduled to begin this summer. The agreement will extend content from AOL brands such as HuffPo and TechCrunch, as well as partner site like ESPN and TMZ, to MSN and Bing Apps for Windows. AOL video President Ran Harnevo commented, “AOL has seen tremendous audience growth over the last few years — views for our content are up nearly 75% in the last year alone — and the sheer scale of Microsoft’s network will help us reach a massive new audience and continue our climb.” Read the release.

VOD Advertising Ticks

After watching ads problematically replay on video on demand, AdWeek’s Mike Shields singles out the ticks of programmatic and blames the consortium of cable operators for the ad mishap. Despite Comcast’s purchase of ad tech company FreeWheel, ad frequency remains an issue. “It’s hard not to draw the conclusion that they don’t care much about VOD,” writes Shields, “Because either the money or audience isn’t that big. Let’s hope that FreeWheel, assuming that Comcast implements its technology for all of NBCU’s networks, can make VOD a more viable, dynamic ad market.” Read more via WSJ.

Ad Network Update

TechCrunch’s Josh Constine gets wind of the name for the mobile ad network that Facebook is expected to launch on Wednesday at the F8 developer conference. FAN (no, not Fox Audience Network) is Facebook Audience Network and Constine says standard mobile ad units and custom units will be part of the mix. About one “Custom” use case: “A lockscreen or homescreen replacement for Android could show ‘suggested apps’ that are essentially app install ads.” Read more. Couldn’t this network still be used for PC-based display, too? Is FB really going to be sniffing for a smartphone? More details may come Wednesday. AdWords vs. FAN. Get ready.

Turner Seeking Agency

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The Collusion Boogeyman; Can Performance AI Resist Rage Bait?

TV marketers are starting to show an interest in real-time advertising in social media. AdAge reports that Turner Broadcasting will use its upfront talks to scout out an agency or major marketer for “Real Time Now,” part of Turner’s “Now Media” pitch to advertisers. Designed to plug marketers with spots on TBS and TNT, messages from brands will also appear on Turner’s social media channels such as Funny or Die. Affording marketers access to the social conversation on TV could prove to be an untapped opportunity for networks. Read more.

Native Might Shape Digital Marketing

A recent report conducted by BI Intelligence suggests that social media ad budgets are shifting to native, in-stream advertising. For the report, BI Intelligence spoke with major ad buyers within social media networks such as Pinterest to determine how native-social advertising might transform digital marketing. The study image and video centric networks like Vine and Snapchat might offer the most effective native ads in the near future, as photos remain the most shared type of content on the Web. Go here for the report in full. Business Insider has the story.

Website Card Ad

On Friday, Twitter revealed a new ad unit designed to let advertisers surface website content within a tweet and consequently redirect relevant traffic to their Web pages. Twitter has tested their new “Website Card” with brands such as Citrix and Betabrand with positive results, and the social media platform is now offering the creative unit to all marketers for both mobile and desktop. Read the release.

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