Facebook Opens Ads API; Limelight Networks May Be Up For Grabs; Adobe On HTML5

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.

Facebook Opens Ads API

There is no longer an exclusive club which gets access to the Facebook Ads API. ClickZ’s Christopher Heine says the API open and to all and, “[Facebook] is touting a trio of case studies that it says showcases how the platform lets developers build tools that provide greater ad targeting, improved analytics, and custom like-gating, among other examples.” Here come more offerings in the social advertising business. Read it. And, see the API.

Your Mobile Ad Plumbing

In Ad Age, Kunur Patel reports on the mobile advertising space which sounds a lot like the PC-based display ad space: everyone has a piece of the ad “plumbing.” She quotes Martin Lange of OgilvyOne who notes, “Consolidation hasn’t yet happened yet. With mobile, it’s a lot of startups knocking on our door and whether they have 150 or 10 people they’ve all got something valid.” Read more.

Rumor Mill Heating Up

Dan Rayburn of StreamingMedia.com has his finger on the pulse of Limelight Networks which he thinks is on its way to getting acquired. He writes, “Within the past 2-3 weeks, Limelight has basically stopped talking to Wall Street and the company has yet to say when they plan to announce earnings. (…) Limelight has been stalling as long as they can and while I’m hearing that a deal for the company is not done and no letter of intent has been signed, it sounds as if Limelight is close to a deal.” Limelight Networks owns rich media company Eyewonder in addition to content distribution network (CDN) infrastructure and mobile ad platform (AdExchanger.com Q&A) offerings. Read more.

Adobe On HTML5, Display

In an article in AdWeek, Adobe’s Paul Gubbay and Mark Anders tell the trade publication that Flash may no longer be a format of choice for display with its commitment to the success of the HTML5 file format. Adweek’s Anthony Ha writes, “Both [Gubbay and Anders] said Flash is still the best format for gaming, media, and data-driven apps, but they acknowledged that HTML5—which is usually touted as being more lightweight and mobile-friendly—can make sense for things like display ads.” Read it.

Yahoo! VP Exits

The Business Insider (TBI) reports that Yahoo’s VP of North American account management, Wendi Sturgis, has left the company to join local ad plumber, Yext. TBI’s Nick Carlson wonders aloud if recent poor Yahoo! display results may have forced her ouster. Allegedly, it wasn’t the reason. Read it.

About Those Seed Stage Investors

Angel investor Jerry Neumann breaks down early-stage investment data in digital and learns to expect the unexpected. He writes, “The one thing these graphs don’t do is support my original thesis: VCs are not slowing down their funding of early-stage companies. Interestingly, I found that even the VCs who have flat-out told me they are slowing down their investing are not really doing so: while there’s fear in the market, VCs are also clearly seeing opportunities they can’t turn down.” Read more.

Infographic Tuesday

Here’s a cool infographic from the MarketingSherpa peeps who look at how B2B marketers are optimizing their sales funnels.

Online Privacy