Apple's Exchange; Mobile RTB Expands

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The Apple Exchange

Apple is pushing its iTunes Radio inventory, according to Adweek, as it aims to compete with other ad-supported radio services. It’s also looking to create an RTB exchange for in-app ads. However, sellers are being told to focus on radio right now. “The message that came across was basically if you’re not working on iTunes Radio, you’re irrelevant,” an Apple insider said. Read more. Related: Apple’s location tracking initiatives.

Automation Up

Mobile RTB experienced huge growth this year, according to Nexage’s Analytics Report, with bid density up 200% and bid volumes growing 500%. Private exchanges are driving a lot of interest in automated mobile buying with companies like Nexage, which said revenue from private exchanges grew 569% in Q3. Read more in MediaPost.

Not Over ’Til It’s Over

Tim Armstrong hasn’t totally given up on Patch yet, despite massive layoffs and closures of aspects of the hyperlocal news project. In a New York Times profile by David Carr, Armstrong says, “The long-term vision was clear: If you get the consumer, can you get the revenue? And we have a whole bunch of Patches where the answer is yes. But we rolled it out on a national basis and we’ve had to adjust based on the investor commitments that we have made.” Read more.

Multicultural Content

Latino content-creation network MiTú has struck a short-term syndication deal with Univision to feed original and partner-produced content (en Español) to its respective digital properties. There is still a gap in supply and demand for digital video content catering to the Hispanic market, according to Charlie Echeverry, MiTú’s chief revenue officer. Advertisers are interested in video advertising, but there is still a shortage in supply. Distribution deals as such could be an answer to forward-looking monetization opportunities for media companies. Variety has more.

Sly Fox

A year-end blog post details adoption of Mozilla’s aggressive browser privacy features and its mobile OS. Firefox users have downloaded Lightbeam, a tool to visualize Internet tracking, 1 million times; and 10% of the browser’s roughly 550 million users have adopted do-not-track. Additionally, three device makers in 14 countries are supporting the new Firefox OS, and wireless carrier partners are in place. Read more. There’s no mention here of Firefox’s ad-monetization ambitions, but those are real too, as evinced by the recent hire of Darren Herman to a “content services” role.

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Defining Programmatic

Programmatic is the buzzword of the year, but not everyone knows exactly what it means. Media Life Magazine spoke to Lauren Fisher, an analyst at eMarketer, to try to define the concept. Read more. And read AdExchanger’s buy and sell-side definitions from last year.

Google Goes After Brands

Google has its eye on brand advertising dollars through a YouTube lens, according to USA Today. As the content on the video platform improves, especially in terms of brand safety, CPMs are steadily raising. Some companies are even committing to upfront deals with Google for inventory across different products, including Google+. “We work with a lot of TV-friendly brands and our activities have grown exponentially with them on YouTube in the past three years,” said David Cohen, chief investment officer at MAGNA Global. “More than 100%.” Read more.

Tablet Lag

New research from StatCounter revealed that tablet usage is lagging behind mobile (phones! – in this case), and is not growing as rapidly as it may seem. “The perception is that tablets are proliferating and replacing traditional PC and laptop machines so we developed our research platform to isolate tablet usage stats,” said StatCounter’s Aodhan Cullen in prepared remarks. “In reality we found that tablet Internet usage globally, at less than 5%, is still relatively small compared to desktop and mobile.” Read more.

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