Retailers Are Big Spenders; Device ID Regulation

CPGs And Retailers FTW

Retailers are slated to spend more than other sectors on digital advertising this year, shelling out $12.9 billion, or 20% of a $58.6 billion pie, according to eMarketer. Financial, telecom and CPG will take third, fourth and fifth place, respectively. Read more. CPGs are big adopters of programmatic, with 63% of display ads forecast to be purchased programmatically this year.

No Cookie, No Cry

The Network Advertising Initiative, the trade org for ad networks, has issued some guidelines for non-cookie tracking technologies – such as probabilistic device IDs from companies like Drawbridge and Tapad. “Members must tell their publishing partners – that is, the operators of Web sites where data is collected – to notify consumers about non-cookie tracking technology,” Mediapost reports. Read it.

Pandora Intel

Pandora is acquiring Next Big Sound, a firm that offers online music analytics, for an undisclosed sum. Next Big Sound’s tech will benefit brands advertising on Pandora by identifying artists to partner with, and measuring the impact of those partnerships. The buy will build on Pandora’s current data efforts, like its Artist Marketing Platform and Artist Audio Messaging. The data it brings will also be rolled into Pandora’s insights on music preferences, patterns and trends generated by its 80 million monthly active users. Read the release.

Apple, With A Grain Of Salt

It seems the well-hashed rumors of Apple’s potential – some even thought inevitable – entrance into the home TV market can be put to rest (even as its TV service plans remain on track). Quartz rounded up some reports and predictions, including one Piper Jaffray analyst who says “we no longer expect a television to launch indefinitely.” Carl Icahn, a vocal Apple shareholder, evidently was expecting an expansion into TV devices. Related: Gene Munster, another analyst who’s been forecasting an eventual an Apple TV set, now sees Apple as being five years off from a virtual reality breakthrough.

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