Time’s Subscriber Data; Under The Yahoo Microscope

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Time’s Subscriber Data

After a successful run with Toyota, Time Inc. hopes to capture more brands with its Engage product, which already counts Johnson & Johnson as a customer. According to Ad Age, Time Engage takes subscriber data and applies it to Web and print ads, while using data from the brand as well. “It had the overlay of much deeper lifestyle information than just general demographics,” said John Lisko, executive communications director at Saatchi LA. Read more.

Under The Yahoo Microscope

Marissa Mayer gets a lot of attention, but what about Yahoo COO Henrique de Castro, who should be helping to bolster Yahoo’s ad product given the relative strength of the market? As Adweek points out, it could be trouble for the former Googler, with rumors swirling that he could be let go at the end of the year if performance doesn’t pick up. A lack of a programmatic strategy is cited as a possible cause by an anonymous analyst. Read more.

Problematic Video

AOL’s acquisition of Adap.tv came at a time when online video was heating up, and as programmatic becomes a norm in advertising, but that doesn’t mean it’s problem-free. The Guardian notes there is always the risk of bogus traffic, as is the case with any automated buying in the marketplace. “I’d say that the report does AOL a favour because they now know there is an issue,” Alan King says. “They can plug the holes and add an extra layer of protection to the platform.” Read more.

New Facebook Policy

After a lawsuit settlement, Facebook has outlined the ways it collects and uses data on its site in an update to its Site Governance document. Search Engine Watch grabbed an excerpt of some of the changes to the policy and a screenshot of user reactions, which are predictably pretty negative. Facebook is giving users a few days to respond to the changes before they go into effect, at which point it will be unequivocally clear that Facebook owns everything posted to its site or gathered from a third party. Read more.

Unrecommend

Taboola is employing users to actively clean out bad recomendations from its platform with its new “Taboola Choices” option. An “X” will appear in the right corner of a video or article and, if the user choses to close it, a list of reasons pops up to give editors a better understanding of why it was blocked. As Videonuze points out, this is especially important for video because it often has a higher production cost, making ROI more difficult. Read more.

Interactive Answers

Answers (a.k.a. Answers.com) continues to make acquisitions, according to AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka. Software company Easy2 Technologies is the latest purchase. The company’s tech allows brands and retailers to create interactive features for product listings. No official word was given on the price, but Kafka estimates it at less than $20 million. Read more. Automating the custom ad buy…

31.2 Million Mobile Video Ads

As part of its quarterly reporting efforts, TubeMogul examined the way users interact with mobile devices and found that users are on their phones and tablets during primetime, even more than they are on desktops. Although there are small differences in iOS and Android users, they are pretty much on par with each other in terms of consumption habits. TubeMogul estimates there are 31.2 million mobile video ads available for programmatic buying in the US. Read more.

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