Allison Schiff is the managing editor of AdExchanger, where she covers mobile, Facebook (sorry, Meta), measurement, privacy and the app economy. Allison received her M.A. in journalism from the Dublin Institute of Technology in Ireland (her favorite place), and a B.A. in history and English from Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.
There’s always fanfare when Apple releases its new iPhones every September, as the company is expected to do at its annual hardware event in Cupertino on Wednesday. But away from the pomp of its hardware launch, Apple has been working behind the scenes to boost its growing software and services business – one that market […]
As of Monday, all advertisers on Facebook will be able to see a full list of contextual placements where their ads might appear before a campaign starts and where they actually ran after a campaign ends. Facebook has been testing this capability for more than a year. As of last autumn, advertisers were already able […]
For the last four years, mobile measurement company TUNE has been “fighting with one hand tied behind its back,” said Alex Austin, CEO and co-founder of California-based deep-linking outfit Branch. In 2014, TUNE lost its Facebook marketing partner badge for allegedly retaining user data for too long. “But we’re giving TUNE both its arms back […]
Oath is attempting to deliver on its promise of becoming an alternative to the duopoly. But a question remains as to how compelling its proposition will be to buyers without the full complement of Verizon data at its disposal. On Monday, the Verizon-owned company unveiled the long-awaited fruits of a year’s worth of hard labor: […]
The robots are taking over user acquisition on Facebook and Google, and that’s (mostly) a good thing. Whenever one of the large platforms automates an aspect of UA, it means more time for focusing on strategy and creative rather than drudgery, said Jess Hasenplaugh, head of UA at Berlin-based mobile game studio Wooga. “I’m happy […]
The in-app header bidding space is gathering momentum – but not fast enough for AppLovin. The mobile ad network has acquired MAX, a startup that came out of beta just over four months ago with a solution that helps app publishers get a fair shake on the open exchange, the company announced Wednesday. “There are […]
Advertisers can drive themselves mad running prospecting and direct-response videos on YouTube. Testing and targeting video creative on YouTube isn’t easy. But performance marketers like Zipcar still need to figure out which ads work for which audiences. “Everything we do is tied to a cost per acquisition,” said Celine Francois, senior manager of member acquisition […]
When DoorDash partnered with The Cheesecake Factory in December to give away 10,000 free slices of cheesecake, the food delivery app set up a cross-functional war room to deal with the logistical complexity. Free food is always a strong customer acquisition tool, but if marketing pushes an offer and product isn’t in the loop, users […]
App demo and analytics platform AppOnboard is angling to help users avoid downloader’s remorse. On Thursday, the company released a product called app store demos that lets people try an app directly within the Google Play store without having to install it first. Apple doesn’t enable equivalent functionality within the App Store, at least for […]
YouTube, watch your back? Facebook said Wednesday that Watch, its video-on-demand service for episodic content, is now available globally. Creators in certain countries – Ireland, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, to start – will also be able to monetize their content with ad breaks, including pre-roll, mid-roll and static image ads. An additional 21 countries will […]
Generating loyalty in the casual dining space is about more than just serving up tasty food. Competition is fierce, and without a rewarding experience both online and offline, customers will just tuck in elsewhere, said Steve Flanagan, CMO at TGI Friday’s in the UK, where the brand operates 84 restaurants with three new locations in […]
Amobee just crossed the final T on its acquisition of advanced TV and video ad platform Videology. The deal, which closed on Tuesday, marks both the end of a tumultuous few years for Videology and a fresh start for a company that foundered despite solid technology and a shrewd vision. The Videology name will be […]
Scruff has a love/hate relationship with programmatic advertising. When the gay dating app, which now has more than 12 million users, first came on the scene in 2010, its monetization strategy could pretty much be summed up in one word: AdMob. But in January, the Grindr competitor decided to remove all its banner ad slots […]
Uber, Postmates, Yelp, SmartNews and other nongaming apps are scooping up growth marketing talent from the mobile gaming world – and the reasons make perfect sense. App publishers are spending more on performance marketing, and those running user acquisition at gaming companies are some of the most data-driven mobile marketers in the biz. “Gaming professionals have […]
Some apps don’t seem to be taking GDPR seriously – or maybe just don’t realize how much they’re leaving themselves exposed. Although mobile apps aren’t necessarily more at risk of GDPR violations, they do have specific and nuanced tasks they must complete in order to comply, and many are noticeably behind. Mobile apps that rely on […]
Advertisers that want to exclude people interested in “Passover,” “Native American culture” or “evangelism” from seeing a campaign on Facebook will soon be out of luck. On Tuesday, Facebook said it’s planning to remove more than 5,000 ad targeting parameters that could be used to discriminate against minority groups. The targeting options will be unavailable […]
Drawbridge is one of the cross-device OGs, but it’s in the midst of a pivot. The company revealed $15 million in new financing on Monday from existing investors Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins and Northgate. The money, which brings Drawbridge’s total funding to $70 million, will be immediately invested into a product road map focused on non-advertising-related […]
Marketing challenge: Selling your product requires getting millennials to contemplate their own mortality. That’s John Latona’s job. He oversees marketing at Haven Life, a three-year-old digitally focused subsidiary of MassMutual, which was one of the first companies in the sector to sell low-cost, medically underwritten term life insurance online, often requiring no exam, for people […]
Ad tech, where art thou? Inc. Magazine released its annual Inc. 5000 revenue survey on Wednesday, with few well-known ad tech companies hitting the ranks. The list, which tracks the three-year revenue growth of indie companies, had numerous social mar tech and mobile marketing platforms with a few newbie programmatic agencies and old-school digital ad […]
RevJet wants to be an operating system for the customer experience, and it’s using a $21 million Series A round to get there. Total funding for the four-year-old startup, which helps marketers manage, test and optimize their digital advertising across touchpoints, is now $30 million. The round, revealed Wednesday, was led by private equity firm […]
Tapping into international markets, particularly the US, is lucrative but far from easy for a mid-size game developer from Indonesia, especially one trying to replicate a viral hit. Jakarta-based game studio Alegrium saw immediate success with a series of trivia apps that have collectively racked up tens of millions of downloads since the first title, […]
Trying to convince brands to advertise in games used to feel like talking into the wind. But sentiment is starting to change in favor of games, said Alexandre Tan, VP of advertising and brand partnerships at French mobile game studio Gameloft, where he runs a division that functions like a media agency. Gameloft Advertising Solutions […]
Acxiom had a solid quarter – although it would have been a bit more solid if it still had its Facebook relationship. On Thursday, the company reported earnings for its fiscal quarter ending June 30, with total revenue clocking in at $227 million, up 7% year over year. If Partner Categories, Facebook’s now-retired feature for third-party […]
Dynamic Yield’s latest financing round is about one thing: growth. The company, which provides personalization software for ecommerce brands and publishers, raised $32 million in Series D cash on Wednesday, led by Viola Growth with participation from Union Tech Ventures. The round brings its total funding to $77 million since 2013. Dynamic Yield, whose clients […]
Disney missed its earnings expectations on Tuesday by a smidgen, causing its stock to dip about 1% in after-hours trading. But you can’t keep a good mouse down. Analysts expected $1.95 per share on revenue of $15.4 billion in the fiscal third quarter. Instead, Disney posted $1.87 per share on $15.2 billion in revenue – not […]
Bonjour, GDPR enforcement. Google and Facebook may have bullseyes on their backs in Europe, but it’s two mid-sized French startups that received the first warning shots from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – and that shouldn’t be surprising. “GDPR is not just there for the big guys,” said Ronan Tigner, an associate at Morrison […]
As Johnson & Johnson’s senior manager for shopper marketing, Kris Cevasco spends most of her day figuring out how to get people to buy more stuff from grocery stores. But ensuring that her efforts result in a mutually beneficial arrangement is a lot harder than it sounds. Retailers are looking for ways to bring in […]
Trump’s trade war is a game of high-stakes chicken that could hit advertising investment – but it’s not clear how. Escalating tariffs will affect different industries differently, but if the cost of manufacturing goods rises, CFOs are likely to shave whatever looks like a cost center. Marketing often fits that bill. On the flip side, […]
Crimson Hexagon is back in business on Facebook and Instagram – mostly. The social analytics platform, which uses AI to analyze public data across social networks, said Friday that most of its customers have had their access restored to both Facebook and Instagram data since the end of last week. The process was far swifter for […]
Google is going full-court press on universal app campaigns (UAC) through a partnership with Unity Technologies, a company that makes development tools for game creators. Starting Thursday, Unity’s more than 10 million developers have access to advertiser demand from AdMob via a direct integration. It’s the first partnership of this nature between Google and a […]
