WSJ Profiles MediaCrossing; Taking A Stance On Data Brokers

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

Exchange Meets The Street

The WSJ profiles MediaCrossing and its Wall Street pedigree as the ad business starts to echo financial markets. The WSJ’s William Launder discusses what’s behind the trend: “Though in its infancy, … ‘programmatic buying’ of ads is changing the industry. It already has pushed down online ad rates by exposing the vast inventory of available Internet ad space. The question is whether, long term, it will fully marginalize humans from the advertising business.” Read more (subscription).

Data Brokering

In Adweek, Acxiom CEO Scott Howe takes on his company’s critics. He tells Adweek’s Katy Bachman, “It’s always a great story to have a villain with a black hat. One of the reasons we’re the poster child is we’ve taken a stance. … The conversation we should be having around data brokers should not be about the companies, it should be around the collection…” Read more.

Addressing DOOH

In a refresh of the QR code, the FT’s Robert Cookson profiles how digital out-of-home (DOOH) initiatives from Clear Channel will bring addressable advertising to consumers. He writes, “Clear Channel is betting that consumers will want to interact with ads by scanning their smartphones over special tags on the billboards. These allow advertisers to deliver targeted messages; for instance a cinema could offer discounted tickets through a poster at a local bus stop.” Read it (subscription). And read more about so-called programmatic facial-recognition ads at gas stations in Australia in AdNews.

LinkingIn Mobile

Former Dstillery and Google exec Penry Price is interviewed in Ad Age and discusses his new role at LinkedIn as well as that company’s strategy ahead. About mobile advertising at his new company, he says, “What we’re going to be doing is thinking much more about that user experience. You will not see us running big display ads. We’re not going to be doing takeovers. [We’re] going to try to utilize the feeds in a smart way and think about what do we make as a differentiated ad product for LinkedIn and its members.” Read more.

Was Direct, Now Brand

In Forbes, Rob Hof provides a summary of some of the highlights of AdExchanger’s recent PROGRAMMATIC I/O conference. He notes Google’s positioning around brand and programmatic, quoting Google’s Neal Mohan: “Programmatic is going to be just as important to brand advertisers as it has been for direct advertisers. Programmatic is really going to reinvent the way awareness- and consideration-based marketing is done.” Read it.

Preeemium

Responding to a recent op-ed on AdExchanger by PubMatic’s Bob Walczak, mobile ad tech firm Kargo’s CEO, Harry Kargman, says, “What Walczak defines as premium may in fact be premium when compared to the banner buys that are too often being transacted by large ad networks on the open exchange. But, for the most recognized brand advertisers, the quality of content and ad experience is the real meaning of premium in mobile.” Read more.

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