Apple Plans Native Ad Formats; Fox Networks Rolls Out A Buying Suite

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

Apple Picking

Apple’s ad initiatives in the past have been… let’s say lukewarm. The company’s stringent privacy protocols meant data feedback and targeting was a no-go for iAD [AdExchanger coverage], which led to that team being disbanded. There are also no paid media levers to elevate content within the Apple App Store. But in keeping with the publisher zeitgeist, Apple News will be adding native ad formats, interstitials, banner options and pre-roll video for the Apple News app, per specifications the company just released. Currently, “there is almost no sponsored content on Apple News today, perhaps because publishers are unclear on how to monetize it,” according to Business Insider.

Fox Hunt

Fox Networks rolled out an ad buying suite with advanced data-driven targeting. Sales chief Toby Byrne says the offering will “enable brands to transcend traditional industry metrics to better target their audience and deliver their message.” It supports advertiser-supplied data for a premium tCPM (targeted cost per thousand) and a linear programmatic private marketplace where – if you establish the targeting segments ahead of time – you can programmatically buy national broadcast inventory against specific audience targets. More at MediaPost.

Facebook Takes Asia

Facebook is adding more users and advertisers in Asia than anywhere else in the world, reports The Wall Street Journal. The company’s user base in Asia grows at a rate of 20% annually (compared to a global growth rate of 14%), while Southeast Asia is its fastest-growing region for ad spend. “The potential is greater in Asia-Pacific than it is in any other region because we’ve got two-thirds of the world’s population, and it’s all mobile,” said Facebook VP for Asia Pacific Dan Neary. In terms of monetization, Facebook makes almost nine times as much revenue per person in the United States as it does in Asia, but Asia offers tens of million of new users coming online every year. More.

Sweating The Fever

Some see the downturn in VC funding as an indictment of the ad tech industry. Writing for TechCrunch, Taptica CEO Hagai Tal argues, “Ad tech is healthy, not because investors are taking wild bets, but because we’re seeing an accurate and dispassionate appraisal of the winners and losers from the previous funding round.” Consolidation in the past year or two has been tough for many startups, particularly the ad network layer. The consolidation has been good for the likes of Facebook and Google, but M&A is also a sign of innovation at work. If the industry was supporting too many ad nets that weren’t contributing unique value, then why is it a bad thing that less money is going into early-round funding?

But Wait, There’s More!