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.
comScore is making a foray into the world of inventory quality analysis. The measurement company, known for its validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) product and Media Metrix planning tool, announced Thursday that it’s going to make viewability, non-human traffic certifications and publisher rankings available via programmatic trading platforms with the launch of what it’s calling “Trust […]
Local search and advertising company YP launched a cross-device solution that aims to capitalize on the first-party search behavior of the more than 80 million users that tap into its network of search sites every month. YP teamed up with cross-device ad targeting player Tapad to power the tech. Luke Edson, YP’s SVP of National […]
Facebook’s Atlas is mapping a course for cross-device world domination – one agency holding company relationship at a time. In a move reminiscent of its partnership with Omnicom, Atlas unveiled Wednesday a three-year global hook-up with Havas Media Group. Omnicom was an Atlas launch partner back in September when the rebooted ad server rose from Microsoft’s ashes […]
A tracking mechanism that won’t die, even when a user actively opts out? That’s one tough cookie. Privacy advocates are turning up the heat on Verizon Wireless again with a flurry of reports decrying what’s become popularly known as the “zombie cookie,” a unique ID header developed by Precision Market Insights, the carrier’s data-driven and […]
Justin Bieber’s bulge. Those are three words you probably didn’t expect to see – but that’s exactly what was trending the most among college-age girls after images were released from the Bieb’s photoshoot for Calvin Klein underwear last week. For brands targeting girls 18-24, the question is at what point they should be all over that bulge, […]
Native app or mobile web? The debate continues – but the answer isn’t necessarily black-and-white. “Big branded publishers need an app – but they also need a definitive mobile web strategy,” said Daniel Meehan, founder and CEO of PadSquad, a mobile publishing company that specializes in mobilizing content for its network of mid-tier independent publishers like […]
While the majority of Alibaba’s revenue comes from advertising, most is direct-response or performance-based. Now the Chinese ecom juggernaut has its eye on brand dollars and is looking to digital ad company AdChina to get the ball rolling. Alibaba announced Wednesday that it’s claimed a majority stake in the company. Brands are part of AdChina’s DNA, […]
Most mobile devices have 14 or more sensors – and they’re all continually gathering mountains of raw sensory information. Eli Portnoy, the founder and former CEO of Telenav-owned Thinknear, has a new venture on the horizon that intends to help make that data accessible to app developers. That’s the idea behind Sense360, which raised $2.75 […]
China is a market on the programmatic verge – Magna predicts that China and Japan will surpass the UK programmatic ad market by 2017 – and Alibaba seems more than ready to embrace it. The Chinese ecommerce giant revealed Wednesday that it’s become a majority shareholder in AdChina, a Shanghai-based digital ad platform that combines supply- and demand-side […]
The singles ad would read like this: Mobile native inventory seeks demand. In an effort to act as matchmaker, global mobile ad platform Opera Mediaworks launched Tuesday a private marketplace native extension of its mobile ad exchange, Opera Mediaworks Ad Exchange (OMAX), which until now had just focused on programmatic display and video. Because the […]
“Stores as we knew them are over,” said Lee Peterson, EVP of brand strategy and design at retail consultancy WD Partners at the 2015 National Retail Federation Big Show in New York City on Monday. For this, we can blame – or credit – the mobile device. According to research by WD Partners, in-store visits have fallen […]
There’s a world outside of app stores and it’s App Annie’s goal to help developers capitalize on it. On Tuesday, the app analytics company announced $55 million in Series D funding and launched a tool that analyzes the usage data around popular apps, including active users (daily, weekly and monthly), the number of sessions, time […]
Data is a bit like a little black dress – it goes with everything. That’s especially true for women’s apparel brand Cache, which maintains an active ecommerce site and more than 230 brick-and-mortar stores in malls across the US. The data collection potential is huge. “In-store transactional data, online behavior, CRM data, offline purchases down […]
Most would argue that Yahoo’s de facto policy on the Right Media Exchange had been “do not resuscitate” for quite some time – but now RMX is officially off life support. Several sources tell AdExchanger that Yahoo is finally shutting down the exchange for all non-Yahoo owned and operated networks and publishers. Depending on your […]
Hear that? It’s the sound of Google quietly mentioning that it plans to report on audibility for video ads at some point later this year. The audibility reference was buried as a footnote toward the end of a larger update on Google’s intention to roll out viewability reporting across all of its ad platforms, including […]
Mobile isn’t desktop. That might seem like an obvious statement – but just because something’s obvious, doesn’t mean it’s being put into practice. “Some people don’t get it, and for a time, that was us,” said Michael Cukyne, SVP of digital media at Meredith Corporation, where he and his team focus on broadcast stations in local […]
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 […]
