Criteo Gets A New CEO; Sorrell Fill-In Mark Read Speaks

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Criteo Swaps Out CEO

With the GDPR compliance deadline bearing down, Criteo has restored its former CEO to the corner office. JB Rudelle will once again take the reins at the company, as Eric Eichmann steps into an advisory role prior to transferring out of the company. “I sincerely thank Eric for his high integrity, great leadership and commitment in growing our business over the last five years,” Rudelle said in a statement. “After being away from the day to day operations of the business for two years, I am honored and excited to return to the company that I love.” The company reports earnings next week. Press release.

Read And Listen

Former Wunderman CEO Mark Read sat down for his first interview as co-COO of WPP since CEO Sir Martin Sorrell left the company earlier this month. Along with his colleague Andrew Scott, who will focus on the financial and operational aspects of the group, Read will concentrate on helping clients through the transition as WPP fights to get back to growth. So far, “Not one client has said to me that, despite being sad to see Martin go, they will make any change to how they work with WPP,” Read told the Financial Times. Still, WPP is facing a rough review period, with flagship clients like Ford, HSBC, Mars and Marriott pitching away their business. Despite the challenges ahead, Read is ready to throw his hat in the ring for the top job. “I assume I’ll be considered,” he said. “Yes, I’d like the job.” More.

Stuck In The Middle

Agencies are pushing for server-to-server header bidding integrations with top publishers, Mike Shields reports for Business Insider. Taking a page from Amazon, which launched a header bidding solution that plugs directly into publisher sites, agencies like GroupM, Dentsu and Omnicom hope to cut out ad tech middlemen and reestablish the buying clout they benefit from in the TV market. Most of these integrations so far are experimental, and not all publishers are willing to let agencies into their stacks (or believe they have the technical chops to do it). Still, caught in a battle between disruption and declining trust, agencies need to find a way to bring value to their clients. “As agencies, we need to make it clear: This is what we’re good at, this is why we’re valuable,” Steve Katelman, EVP of global digital partnerships at Annalect, said. “We’re going hard at this idea.” More.

Upvote Native

Reddit rolled out native ads in its Android Apps on Wednesday. The ads will have all the functionality of a regular Reddit post, including the ability to upvote, downvote and comment. The announcement comes a little over a month after Reddit released native ads for iOS. Regardless of the operating system, the idea is to increase engagement with promoted posts, which are vying for attention in the feed with organic content. It’s hard to compete with hilarious cats and bizarre news bites, but the early indications are good. Reddit said in a blog post that it’s seen a more than 300% increase in clickthrough rates after the launch of Promoted Posts on iOS.

FTC Finally?

And then there were five … almost. The Senate Commerce Committee gave its blessing to Democratic FTC nominee Rebecca Slaughter on Wednesday. An aid to United States Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Slaughter now joins the quartet of other Trump FTC commissioners waiting to get to work. Four nominees – Joseph Simons, Noah Phillips, Christine Wilson and Rohit Chopra – were all confirmed in February, but they’re still waiting for final confirmation through a vote by the full Senate. That should happen soon, according to committee chairman John Thune. It’s a good thing, too, because the current FTC is running on fumes. Acting chairman Maureen Ohlhausen was nominated for a judgeship, and the only other commissioner who’s still there, Terrell McSweeny, is leaving by the end of the month. More in Broadcasting & Cable.