Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
TikTok For Targeting
Expect TikTok to start getting more aggressive about ad targeting starting on April 15, Recode reports. For on that very specific date, TikTok’s ads policy is set to change and users will have fewer opt-out options. “You’ll no longer be able to opt out of personalized ads based on the data TikTok collects from your actions on the app, though you will be able to opt out of ads based on data TikTok gets from its ‘advertising partners,’” according to Recode. The only exception is EU users who are shielded by Europe’s GDPR. Before people freak out, though, TikTok notes that this new policy is very much in line with that of its social media competitors, including Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter. Those three companies provide no way to opt out of being targeted based on what you do within their respective apps. Recode notes, however, that users can manually delete whatever interests Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter have assigned to them if they want to minimize targeting. TikTok currently does not give users the ability to do this.
Operative Nabs STAQ
Ad management company Operative has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire STAQ. The two companies are a bit like peanut butter and jelly, but specialize in different types of publishers. Operative sells software that helps big media companies manage all the ads running on their properties, with a big footprint in linear TV. STAQ’s tech normalizes all the data coming in from programmatic sources of demand and provides data visualizations, making it a favorite among programmatic-heavy digital media companies. Together, the new duo will combine their products to create a single solution for publishers. Read more.
Cookieless Breakdown
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it shouldn’t come as a shock that Google will phase out third-party cookies in its Chrome browser by early next year. That has caused concern among advertisers when it comes to targeting users, of course – but privacy concerns are trumping those of dollar signs. Although marketers had expected to still be able to send ads to desirable individual consumers, Google broke those dreams earlier this month with the news that it won’t provide or use alternatives that uniquely identify people. (Many out there said this should have come as no surprise.) The Wall Street Journal breaks down what the changes mean for advertisers beyond still being able to use their own data to buy targeted ads on Google properties, such as YouTube, Gmail and Search. But outside of Google’s walls? No chance. Advertisers will no longer be able to use third-party data to target ads through Google’s technology, including DV360. Going forward, they’ll need to rely on the approaches currently being hashed out in the Privacy Sandox, including the FLoC approach, which will enable the targeting of ads to groups of people with similar characteristics.
But Wait, There’s More!
Amazon has unseated Walmart to become the top apparel retailer in the US. [CNBC]
Tinuiti has acquired Amazon specialist Ortega Group and has added new board members, including former TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer , as the digital marketing agency makes a push for growth under its new majority owner New Mountain Capital. [WSJ]
Hudson MX has launched an omnichannel media accounting platform called FinanceAssist to help replace outdated legacy systems. [release]
Google will lower some payment fees for app developers as regulatory pressure mounts. [Adweek]
Amobee has teamed up with InfoSum to bring alternative, privacy-compliant identity solutions to advertiser and broadcaster clients. [release]
Dentsu-owned iProspect has repositioned as an end-to-end global media agency. [Campaign US]
Coming to a smart-TV near you: ad fraud that costs marketers millions. [Forbes]
Kargo and clean.io are partnering to combat malvertising for the mobile ad ecosystem. [MarTech Series]
You’re Hired!
Audience Town has hired former Pubmatic exec Andrew Green as vice president of sales. [Yahoo! Finance]
