Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
Kicking Tires
With reports continuing to swirl of Amazon building a significant display advertising business, Kunur Patel says in Ad Age that the acquisition of a mobile ad network may be next. Patel thinks Amazon’s ecommerce data could be a powerful bottom-of-the-funnel solution for ads. Hells yeah. She writes, “Amazon also owns massive mobile traffic. About half of all U.S. adult smartphone subscribers visited Amazon sites and apps in March, according to ComScore. That makes Amazon the fourth-most-visited property on smartphones.” Mobile ad network Jumptap is rumored to be among the acquisition candidates. Read more. By all accounts, Amazon has kicked a whole lotta tires in the industry.
Mobile Private Marketplace (Exchange!)
On Friday, mobile ad serving company MoPub said it would begin offering private marketplace (or exchange!) technology to clients. MoPub CEO Jim Payne tells TechCrunch’s Anthony Ha that “the private market is similar to marketplaces for desktop ad impressions, but it’s dealing with the specific data points that are interesting to mobile advertisers, like latitude/longitude coordinates.” Read more.
Facebook Device Data
On The NY Times Bits blog, writer Nick Bilton sees an ad-supported Facebook phone on the horizon. Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi sees Facebook going after the lower-priced phone market competing against Google’s Android phone, not the Apple iPhone. Milanesi adds that “at a mass market level, both companies could take the same approach as Amazon, offering low-cost hardware, like the Kindle, and subsidizing some of the costs through advertising.” Read more. If Google or Facebook can “own” the device, they get better (first-party) data for targeting. With a thoughtful opt-in, users could provide personally-identifiable info in exchange for a free phone. For now, Apple appears to have a strong hold on an attractive, higher-income audience (that is willing to pay top dollar for phones and plans). The company could play the free, ad-supported phone game, of course. But, Apple may not care as it’s on the verge of the connected trifecta where computer, phone and TV merge in the cloud. Read the rumor on Apple Insider.
The Business Insider says it has its fingers on interim CEO Ross Levinsohn’s plan for Yahoo!: “Medium Term: Calm Everyone Down, Sell Stuff, Hoard Cash” and “Long Term: Find A Way To Re-Engage Users.” There’s a lot more explanation here. TBI’s Nicholas Carlson adds, “We understand he will invest most heavily in Yahoo Sports and Yahoo Finance, with an eye toward video content, which garners much higher ad rates than text-based content.” Yahoo! needs to target lean-back, longer form video, not just video. An effective strategy could be transformational for Yahoo! as it looks to capture TV dollars.
Display Myths
In a round up of industry reaction, Digiday’s Brian Morrissey asks industry execs what’s the biggest myth of online display advertising. Say Media president Troy Young says, “The biggest myth is this: ‘The problem is the banner.’ The problem is not the banner. It’s two other things. It’s the relationship between the banner and the rest of the content on the page. Faced with low yields and CPM pricing, publishers have littered pages with banners that no one sees.” Read more.
Social Commerce Buys Data
Design etailer Fab.com is featured in an article in The New York Times and online marketing data is front and center. This time – it’s social signal data specifically as Fab.com’s CEO Jason Goldberg discusses yield strategy, “On typical e-commerce sites, every single piece of real estate is calculated to measure the return on investment of each pixel. But social media marketing needs to be measured differently than traditional marketing. We need different ways to measure sharing.” Read more.
Clickin’ Mobile Ads
On Adotas, reporter Brian LaRue covers a new survey from mobile ad serving and network company Mojiva. A question asks what experience consumers want after clicking a mobile ad. Novel! The multiple choice answers: “57 percent said they would be inclined to browse a website or play a game, 44 percent said they’d listen to music, 43 percent said they’d download an app, 38 percent said they’d request more information, 36 percent said they’d watch a video, 35 percent said they’d redeem or download a coupon, 24 percent said they’d make a purchase, and 12 percent said they’d tap to call.” Read more.
Mobile RTB
On eConsultancy, Right Media’s EMEA director Sue Hunt says that mobile advertising is picking up speed, but doesn’t quite say how real-time biddable it is during an interview. Hunt answers, “As we release new mobile targeting capabilities this month – giving us the ability to target devices (smartphones and tablets), browser, operating system, connection and carrier – we expect to see an increase in demand for mobile advertising. We already have many supply partners keen to trade mobile inventory through the Right Media exchange.” Perhaps the EU privacy directive has people ducking for cover. Read more.
But Wait. There’s More!
- UK ‘cookie law’ takes effect: What you need to know – ZDnet
- Dentsu Picks Up 15% Stake in Price Comparison Engine Kakaku – Techinasia
- April 2012 – Top U.S. Online Brands and Travel Websites – Nielsen Wire
- For Tech Start-Ups, New York Has Increasing Allure – The New York Times
- Why Twitter Is an Important Weapon for Startup CEOs – Jeff Richards
