Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Another IPO
The ad tech IPOs keep rolling out. This time it’s Integral Ad Science Holding. The New York-based ad verification and measurement company announced the terms of its IPO on Monday, saying that it plans to raise $240 million by offering 15 million shares at a price range of $15 to $17 when it begins trading on the Nasdaq. That price would put Integral Ad Science’s market value of $2.5 billion, and an enterprise value of $2.6 billion. By comparison, competitor DoubleVerify went public in April – one of the biggest ad tech IPOs in recent memory – and is currently valued at $5.4 billion. IAS is riding a wave of ad tech resurgence and is aiming to mimic DoubleVerify’s successful IPO, in which the company’s stock rose 33% on its first day and last closed 43% above issue. Read the release. [Related in AdExchanger: Investing In Measurement, With DoubleVerify Bull David Blumberg]
Targeting Apple
Apple, you’re next. Germany’s competition authority, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO), has set its sights on the iPhone maker to determine whether Apple’s business practices in its App Store and iOS software are anticompetitive under a recently updated competition law. The new law enables regulators to intervene proactively against anticompetitive practices of large digital companies. The FCO investigation will focus on the App Store because it “enables Apple in many ways to influence the business activities of third parties,” TechCrunch reports. Apple joins Amazon, Facebook and Google on the list of companies that the FCO is looking at this year. The FCO also noted that it has received a number of complaints against Apple “relating to potentially anti-competitive practices” — such as one from the advertising and media industry against Apple restricting user tracking with the introduction of its iOS 14.5 operating system; and a complaint against the exclusive pre-installation of the company’s own applications as a possible type of self-preferencing.
Join the Club
Seems like everyone is jumping on the Clubhouse bandwagon these days. Facebook’s rival audio chat app Live Audio Rooms launched in the United States on Monday. Per The Verge, anyone can be invited as a speaker with up to 50 people able to speak at once. Not one to be outdone, Facebook said there’s no cap on the number of listeners allowed in — a major shot at Clubhouse, which imposes room size limitations. There are other nifty features, such as notifications when your friends or followers join a room, as well as live captions. Live Audio Rooms’ key differentiator from Clubhouse is that it allows admins to control who’s allowed to create a room within a group. Spotify launched its Clubhouse rival called Greenroom last week, and Twitter launched its version of Clubhouse, called Spaces, in April.
But Wait, There’s More!
GroupM: Top 25 media suppliers now control two-thirds of all ad spending. [MediaPost]
After a synchronized surge last year, so-called FAANG stocks are peeling away as investors look beyond pandemic – Facebook and Alphabet keep rising, while Apple and Netflix are fading. [WSJ]
Amazon sellers say the supply-chain crisis might limit their Prime Day inventory. [Business Insider]
Amazon, Apple and Google are the most valuable global brands, according to the Kantar BrandZ 2021 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking. [Ad Age]
According to a new study from The Drum/YouGov, 75% of US consumers say they plan on using QR codes after a surge in use during the COVID-19 pandemic. [The Drum]
Google and YouTube are rolling out several tools for small and midsized businesses as part of the first-ever YouTube Small Biz Day on June 24. [Adweek]
View TV group has tapped CommScope’s advertising Technology as part of its broadcast-grade connected TV solution. [release]
Even as platform audiences continue to swell, their ad products mature and advertisers continue to pour money into them, publishers today consider most platforms neither a valuable source of revenue nor an important channel for brand-building. [Digiday]
You’re Hired
Live-stream shopping app Ntwrk has hired Jason Brown as its first chief marketing officer. [WSJ]
