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.
The banner ad was born in 1994 – and some people would be more than happy to see “2014” as the date of death on its tombstone. “Since the banner is digital advertising’s legacy, it’s what most people defer to when considering creative, ad serving and measurement,” said Jeremy Sadwith, VP of engineering at mobile ad […]
Target. eBay. The Home Depot. Neiman Marcus. Michaels Stores. Sony Pictures Entertainment. Even Chick-fil-A. Data breaches, hacks and questionable cybersecurity became par for the course in 2014, removing the illusion that companies can easily protect themselves or their customers. According to Pew Research, 91% of consumers aren’t comfortable about how companies collect and use their personal […]
2014 was the year advertisers collectively asked the question, “How much?” As in, viewability aside, how much ad fraud is actually out there? Some of the numbers bandied about, often by the fraud vendors themselves, were alarming to say the least. A report released by cyber-security startup MdotLabs in October 2013 before it was acquired […]
In today’s mobile ad tech landscape, the blind lead the blind. That’s according to Forrester in a report released Monday that aims to help advertisers get some clarity into what’s become an immature and murky market of mobile vendors. Most mobile tech players aren’t clear enough about the services they provide, often using jargon and […]
CPGs are starting to spend more on digital – and that makes Snuggle Bear very happy. “It’s no secret that we’re all dealing with ongoing media fragmentation,” said Brendan O’Marra, director of digital and promotion for the fabric softener’s parent company, Sun Products Corporation, the laundry conglomerate also responsible for Wisk and Surf. “It might […]
The attribution space heated up this year. First Google snapped up Adometry, then AOL grabbed Convertro. Not to be left out, Rakuten bought DC Storm. Everybody wants a solution to the attribution problem – but attribution is more than just another shiny object. “The marketer’s world has never been more fragmented – from channels to possibilities […]
Halloween 2014 might be dead and buried, but the Zombify app is still alive and well. Zombify is just one of the many “-ify” apps created by developer Apptly, the publisher behind Wolfify, Santify, Vampify, Fatify, Oldify and a host of other face-morphing apps that allow you to apply animated effects to selfies and the […]
Adelphic has mobile programmatic on the brain – which makes sense for a mobile DSP. The company said Wednesday that it had closed its Series B to the tune of $11 million in a round led by Blue Chip Venture Co., Google Ventures and Matrix Partners, bringing its total funding to $23 million. Adelphic – which […]
Native is a bit like awkward teenager – it’s still trying to figure itself out and it just wants to fit in. Sharethrough is looking to help native advertising blend in a little better with a new unit that takes a cue from the way players like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest display third-party content on […]
“I don’t care if only a portion of my ads are actually seen,” said no advertiser ever. But 100% viewability is still a work in progress. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) issued a report Tuesday in which it emphatically stated that 100% viewability simply “isn’t possible,” setting 70% as a more realistic threshold, at least for […]
As smartphone penetration increases, especially in Asia, advertisers are looking to tap into global app audiences – and InMobi is looking to get ahead of the trend. The mobile ad network said Tuesday that advertisers and agencies will be able to buy mobile app segments in 36 countries via programmatic-direct deals on the InMobi Exchange. […]
Urban Outfitters’ target customers might be married to their phones – but it’s more of an open relationship than one might think. “The attention deficit disorder in the population we’re trying to serve is the highest of any business I’ve worked at,” said Jim Davis, the apparel retailer’s director of CRM and interactive marketing. “The question […]
It’s clear what makes a bad mobile ad – desktop banners scrunched down to smartphone size or disruptive interstitials with tiny, seemingly invisible Xs. That’s the kind of thing mobile ad startup Yieldmo is on a mission to eradicate. “We’re sitting at the intersection of ad-tech and design,” said [x+1] and Rocket Fuel vet Eric […]
There are a plethora of reasons why it makes sense for Publishers Clearing House (PCH) to double down on mobile – the biggest one being its ever-growing trove of first-party data. To that end, PCH Digital, the company’s digital and advertising arm, announced Wednesday that it has acquired mobile programmatic company Plethora Mobile as part […]
If your KPI is LTV, then you need to pay attention to more than just CPA. And now in English: If an advertiser is looking to acquire users with high lifetime value, quantity without quality is money down the drain. “Advertisers are willing to pay high prices to retain good users – it’s actually amazing […]
App-install ads are where the mobile cash is – at least for now – and Yahoo is starting to capitalize. The company said Tuesday that it’s making app-install ads available through Gemini, Yahoo’s self-serve marketplace for native and mobile search ads. Advertisers will be able to promote their apps to roughly 550 million monthly mobile users […]
The results are in – and they’re not pretty. “I’ve had my eyes opened and it’s frightening,” said Bob Liodice, president and CEO of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), which released the fruits of its anti-fraud study on Tuesday. The work was conducted in conjunction with online ad security firm White Ops as part […]
When real estate franchise Coldwell Banker conducted a consumer satisfaction survey last year, the company was presented with a few home truths. The most jarring finding was that 87% of respondents felt like there was room for improvement in the home-buying and selling process. Add to that the fact that 64% of those surveyed said […]
Nexage is the cherry on top of Millennial Media’s multiscoop technology sundae. Millennial’s acquisition of Nexage, first announced in September, officially closed on Thursday evening. “Not to sound like Jerry Maguire, but the Nexage deal completes us,” said Matt Gillis, president of platforms at Millennial Media. Millennial has been actively acquiring tech since early last […]
App developers are engaged in an eternal struggle to acquire users, keep them, and understand what the heck they’re doing. But it’s the “who” and the “why” that are the most compelling questions. On Thursday, app analytics company App Annie released an expansion of its mobile intelligence product line designed to help advertisers and app publishers […]
The merits of deep-linking are clear – considering the numbers on smartphone penetration, mobile needs direct links as much as, if not more than, the web – but deep-linking is not just a matter of embedding app links into the mobile experience and calling it a day. Not only do app developers have to consider the […]
It’s become generally accepted wisdom that brands aren’t dedicating dollars to mobile at a rate commensurate with consumer time spent. That said, certain big brands like Walmart and Heineken are embracing mobile as a key part of their advertising initiatives. “Going forward, we will always view campaigns as mobile-first,” said Ron Amram, senior media director […]
Sub-Saharan Africa is a mobile market on the verge, and Opera Mediaworks is looking to take advantage. The global mobile ad platform acquired South African mobile ad network AdVine in an effort to expand its footprint into Africa, a region now home to more than 600 million mobile phone subscriptions. Ericsson predicts that number will push […]
Monetizing an app is never child’s play, but it becomes even more difficult if the app in question is aimed at children. Clark Stacey, CEO of game publisher WildWorks, knows about those challenges firsthand. Wildworks, which recently rebranded from Smart Bomb Interactive, has been working in close collaboration with the National Geographic Society since 2010 […]
While Apple arguably can do whatever it puts its hand to, its recent move to bring programmatic to iAd doesn’t have everyone impressed. JUICE Mobile president and CEO Neil Sweeney didn’t mince words: “They should have done this five years ago.” And that, Sweeney said, begs two related questions. One, Is Apple going to be […]
Following on the heels of its buy button announcement and its recent CardSpring acquisition, Twitter announced the introduction of what it’s calling Twitter Offers – another step by the social network to add more commerce functionality to its offering. Twitter bought CardSpring back in July. The platform enables the creation of payment applications, a clear complement […]
Mobile carrier data is rich data – it’s deterministic, it’s first-party and it has cross-screen potential. Berlin-based data company zeotap is looking to help mobile carriers capitalize on that richness. Founded earlier this year, zeotap has secured $1.3 million in seed funding from HitFox Group and several angel investors, which it plans to use to […]
PocketMath cofounder and CRO Casey Grooms just started making a salary in July. The Singapore-based mobile DSP, which began life as AdMunch back in 2011, had been completely bootstrapped until now. On Monday, PocketMath announced the close of its first funding round, $10 million in Series A cash from the VC arm of Japanese ecommerce […]
Apple CEO Tim Cook might have called iAd a “very small part” of the company’s business in the past, but Apple is starting to take programmatic seriously and the partners are piling up. Following Wednesday’s announcement of Rubicon partnering with iAd on the demand side, seven more names are officially on the list: Tapsense, The Trade Desk, […]
Drawbridge sees itself as the democratizer of cross-device identity. “We’re the folks that provide cross-device connectivity for inventory that isn’t on Facebook and we do it without PII,” said Nimeshh Patel, Drawbridge’s VP of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., Drawbridge – whose technology analyzes various non-personally identifiable data points, […]
