Moving Away From The Trading Desk; Cheetah Mobile Acquires MobPartner

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Publicis Undesked

The decentralization of Publicis Group’s programmatic buying activities away from its VivaKi trading desk hub to embed within operating agencies is a natural progression, SMG’s programmatic SVP, Mac Delaney, tells Beet.TV. “The operators … within AOD [will be] there to help inform what an audience strategist should be, before an RFP is even created. In a very good way, it’s going to disrupt the way the staffing and resourcing, the skill sets of those resources, have been aligned to agencies’ account teams.” Watch it.

Acquisition, Mon Amour

Chinese software company Cheetah Mobile shelled out $58 million to buy French mobile ad tech player MobPartner. The deal will help Cheetah, known for its anti-virus solution and battery saver app, get a slice of mobile ad revenue. Founded in 2009, MobPartner’s tech revolves around driving traffic and installs. “We have very complementary footprints: Cheetah Mobile has built an extraordinarily large and engaged audience on mission-critical mobile apps around the world, and we have built a solid global mobile monetization engine,” MobPartner CEO Djamel Agaoua told AdExchanger. More in VentureBeat. MobPartner isn’t the only French ad tech player to get snapped up in recent weeks. MakeMeReach, SocialMoov and Appsfire were all acquired in February. (AdExchanger coverage.)

Forbes, Adorbs

Forbes Media acquired the photo sharing mobile app Camerama, calling it a strategic acquisition that will enable it to build online communities and its mobile presence. What types of communities might Forbes build? “We’re focused on the under-30, investing and other professional audiences,” Chief Product Officer Lewis D’Vorkin told AdExchanger, adding Forbes will “[use] the underlying technology” of Camerama. The founder of the company, Salah Akram Zalatimo, will join Forbes as VP of mobile products. Zalatimo is the only member of the team joining Forbes. Read the release.

In-House Down Under

The shift to bring programmatic in-house is just as prevalent in Australia as it is in the US, Google group product manager Payam Shodjai told The Australian, and that’s hitting media agencies hard. According to The Australian, the trend is doubly bad for media agencies as cloud software firms release more programmatic ad-buying products. “Already, large advertisers William Hill and Lenovo are using parts of Adobe’s Marketing Cloud platform in Australia in their programmatic trading operations, which can bid for large, highly targeted audiences online and match ads to them at the click of a button,” writes online media editor Lara Sinclair. Read on.

3Q Digital Exits

Marketing firm Harte Hanks bought independent digital marketing shop 3Q Digital for an undisclosed sum. Prior to the exit, the 120-strong shop worked with clients like Symantec, SurveyMonkey, Wine.com and California Closets. 3Q Digital chief David Rodnitzky said in a press release. “We look forward to expanding [our] expertise as a part of Harte Hanks and bridging the interactions that occur from traditional marketing to digital marketing.” Read an AdExchanger interview with Rodnitzky from March 2014, at which time the firm was managing roughly $300 million in spend.

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