Bolloré Group Wants More; YouTube Losing To Facebook

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.

Moré For Bolloré

Bolloré Group wants to increase its stake in Havas Group from 36% to more than 50%. Adweek reports, “Havas described the offer as ‘friendly,’ but said its board had appointed an independent expert to assess the terms.” Earlier this year, Bolloré Group scion Yannick Bolloré stepped in as CEO of Havas, and there has been talk of a merger between the agency company and Vivendi, where Bolloré also has a position – but Yannick doesn’t love bloat. “We don’t think bigger and fatter is always better,” he said onstage during Advertising Week. Read AdExchanger’s coverage.

YouTube Vs. Facebook

Social marketers are moving their video over to Facebook, according to research from social analytics company Socialbakers. “As Facebook has consistently outperformed YouTube in terms of driving views and engagement, content marketers have reacted and have switched to natively published Facebook videos. The subsequent result: YouTube is steadily losing a key distribution platform as content marketers are shifting to Facebook.” But Marketing Land reporter Amy Gesenhues writes, “The question remains whether or not Facebook offers the same engagement as YouTube when it comes to marketing videos.” Socialbakers CEO Jan Rezab spoke with AdExchanger recently. Read that.

Courting The Video Publisher

Video syndication network AirMedia added $2 million in funding to attract premium publishers. Already, the 10-month-old platform has signed up NBC Universal Sports and Cinesport. TechCrunch reports that AirMedia hopes to solve distribution, syndication and quality-control headaches for high-end sellers. Writes TechCrunch reporter Ryan Lawler, “For video owners, the platform provides a way to reach new audiences, but also provides the ability to do all their own promotion and ad sales.” More.

Spies Like Us

Security researchers at security software vendor Invincea uncovered a new breed of malvertising. Code delivered via ad network placements is behind hacking attempts against three military contractors, according to Invincea. Reuters reports, “The goal of the intrusions appeared to be the theft of military secrets or intellectual property rather than click-fraud or bank account phishing. They noted that some of these companies are producing technology for use in combat zones.” Read more.

B2B, Meet B2C

At its Masters of Marketing Conference in Orlando, the Association of National Advertisers unveiled plans to absorb the Business Marketing Association. It’s the ANA’s second trade group purchase this year; in May it nabbed the Brand Activation Association. In a statement ANA CEO Bob Liodice explained, “The purpose of the business combination is to bring substantial attention and focus to the B-to-B marketing community.” Ad Age has more.

But Wait. There’s More!