Conversant As Takeover Target; Millennial Expands Exchange

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Takeover Target

An article in Bloomberg explores the possibilities that ad tech firm Conversant (was ValueClick Media) may be an attractive takeover target. Bloomberg’s Laura Lorenzetti paraphrases Wedbush analyst Shyam Patil, who says, “Conversant could struggle to find a buyer for the whole business since its collection of assets covers a broad range of services[.] Prospective purchasers may only want specific pieces of the company, such as the higher-margin affiliate business or proprietary media technologies.” Read more. At yesterday’s market close, Conversant was valued at $1.7 billion.

Programmatic Mobile Abroad

Millennial Media is expanding its mobile ad exchange, MMX, internationally to more than 20 countries. Along with the expansion, Millennial is also offering up what it says is more robust targeting, including cross-device campaign opportunities through its partnership with AppNexus. Read the release.

Cultural Trading Desk

A new trading desk from agency The Cipher Group will focus entirely on the multicultural market, according to an article in Ad Age. Although the audience would be available through open exchanges, it would take a lot more work on the advertisers part to find it – hence the need for specialization. “The question is, do multicultural agencies want to do all of this work themselves?” Charles Cantu, CEO of Huddled Masses, told Ad Age. “Usually the answer is no.” Read more. Huddled Masses will partner with Cipher and use its MediaMath technology to implement the trading desk.

Self-RTB

When consumers block ads websites lose out on advertiser dollars, but consumers who are opposed to ads still want great content. Nicholas Kruchten, head of product engineering at Datacratic, has worked up a complicated but potentially effective solution that allows both parties to win. The basic idea would be to have the user pay for their impression and instead of seeing an ad they will see the picture of their choice. Considering most ad impressions cost a few cents per person, this wouldn’t cost the consumer very much. Read on.

Profit Margins

China online media company Sina’s Q4 earnings far surpassed analysts’ expectations, thanks in part to its microblogging service Weibo – and ads! – according to Businessweek. “Sina reported a solid set” of results, wrote Alicia Yap, an analyst at Barclays, in a report. “The margin improvement was mainly attributed to the enhanced ability of Sina to scale its advertising business profitably.” Read more.

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Mobile Beyond Facebook

HasOffers wants its customers to know there is a world of mobile advertising outside of Facebook, which alone accounts for 25% of mobile ad spend. The company, which was recently dropped from Facebook’s mobile measurement program, called out 25 companies that it thinks are doing big things for mobile advertising. Read the rest.

Video Reach

Ooyala will help Univision distribute its online video content cross-platform to grow the reach of UVideos and Univision Deportes Network. Ooyala is integrated with multiple platforms, including Adobe Pass and Freewheel. Read more.

Mobile SEM

AdGooroo, a Kantar Media company, added mobile search data to its SEM tool, according to a press release. “The addition of mobile search data provides AdGooroo clients with a complete picture of the search marketing landscape,” said Richard Stokes, founder and CEO of AdGooroo. Read more.

GRP Argument

TubeMogul’s managing director in Europe, Nick Reid, echoes the GRP argument for extending TV spend to online video in a piece in The Drum. Gross rating points (GRPs) allow planners and buyers to think of online video the same as TV, and he adds, “The consumer doesn’t look at engaging with video specifically through the media channels of TV or desktop, they think about video as video.” Read on.

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