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.
Apple’s first contribution to the wearables market may not be about advertising today or ever – but it could be a step on the way to closing the online/offline gap. The Apple Watch, which fans had previously been referring to as the iWatch, was unveiled to the world Tuesday at Apple’s product launch in Cupertino, […]
Berlin-based app attribution provider adjust is planning to use half of its new $7.6 million Series C infusion to expand into US, China and Asia. The round, led by Active Ventures, also included existing investors Target Partners, Iris Capital and Capnamic Ventures, who collectively sank $4.5 million into adjust during a previous funding event. Although […]
This is the sixth in a series of interviews with vendors combating the problem of ad fraud. Other companies participating in this series include Moat, Telemetry, Sizmek, comScore, Dstillery and Asia RTB. Read previous interviews with DoubleVerify, Forensiq, Integral Ad Science, PubChecker and Videology. When it comes to catching bots, higher walls and better locks […]
Who cares where a video runs? As long as an advertiser can accurately measure that video’s reach, the question itself becomes somewhat moot. And now that video demand-side platform (DSP) TubeMogul is, as of Friday, in the fold as a certified Nielsen mobile Online Campaign Ratings (OCR) partner, that question also becomes less relevant for […]
Following a $50 million infusion of cash Thursday, mobile location vendor xAd appears to be sitting pretty. The money is a combination of equity and debt financing. XAd is not publicly disclosing the split. According to CEO Dipanshu Sharma, the company doesn’t “have any immediate plans for the funding,” which came courtesy of Institutional Venture Partners, […]
No rest for LiveRamp. The Acxiom-owned data onboarding company announced a new partnership Thursday with enterprise tag-management provider Ensighten – the third such alliance in just a little over a week. Prior to the Ensighten deal, LiveRamp joined up with video firm Eyeview and location-focused mobile ad company xAd, both examples, said LiveRamp CEO Auren […]
When the privacy app Disconnect, designed to let consumers control what information other apps can access, was kicked out of the Play store last week, Google charged it with unauthorized interference with other apps, a violation of Google’s developer agreement. From Google’s perspective, Disconnect damages the functionality and health of other apps in the Play […]
If cross-device tracking is a room, then Facebook and Google are the elephants – except Google is the only elephant that isn’t talking. Facebook hasn’t been shy about its cross-device intentions. At the time of the Atlas acquisition in 2013, its ads product director, Gokul Rajaram, noted that Facebook’s goal is to “be able to measure […]
This is the fifth in a series of interviews with vendors combating the problem of ad fraud. Other companies participating in this series include White Ops, Moat, Telemetry, Sizmek, comScore, Dstillery and Asia RTB. Read previous interviews with Forensiq, Integral Ad Science, PubChecker and Videology. DoubleVerify is not new to the ad fraud game. When […]
Full-service comms agency Hill Holliday has two types of clients – those who have embraced mobile and those who just aren’t really there yet. The split is about 50/50, said Crystal Snee, Hill Holliday’s platform media manager. But for the majority of those clients, regardless of their mobile acumen, cross-screen activations are just starting to bleep […]
CPG brands are starting to shell out more on mobile programmatic and the second quarter of 2014 seems to be the burgeoning proof. Mobile ad exchanges Smaato, Millennial Media and Nexage all saw noteworthy upticks in CPG mobile spend in Q2. A report released Tuesday based on global data gleaned from the Smaato exchange found […]
Merkle’s been busy. Since 2011, the privately held CRM and database marketing agency has been on an acquisition roll: Brilig (data exchange); 5th Finger (responsive design); Social Amp (social commerce); IMPAQT (search engine marketing); New Control (digital and direct marketing agency services); and, most recently in July, RKG (search). It’s all part of what Merkle […]
It’s a bit of a three-way Catch-22: SnapChat needs to monetize, advertisers need to see solid engagement metrics and ROI and SnapChat users need to feel like they’re not being blasted by irrelevant advertising. Therein lies the rub for several of the agencies AdExchanger spoke with following The Wall Street Journal’s report on a new […]
No one would disagree that smartphone users are spending a ton of time in apps, and here are some more numbers to prove it. A report released Thursday by comScore found that apps now account for more than 50% of all digital media time spent, though it’s interesting to note that mobile growth isn’t vampirically […]
Fitness app RunKeeper is trying to monetize for the first time via a partnership with mobile rewards ad network Kiip to embark on a subtle version of advertising – but don’t call it advertising. Kiip founder and CEO Brian Wong doesn’t really like the word, mainly because for many people mobile advertising is synonymous with […]
Movies have trailers, so why shouldn’t apps? That’s the thinking behind the playable ad unit from Voxel. But the app monetization startup, which works with King.com, Electronic Arts and GSN, takes it one step further. “It’s not just a trailer, it’s a completely interactive experience,” said Voxel CEO and co-founder David Zhao. “Whatever you can […]
This is the third in a series of interviews with vendors combating the problem of ad fraud. Other companies participating in this series include White Ops, DoubleVerify, Moat, PubChecker, Telemetry, Asia RTB and Integral Ad Science. Read previous interviews with Integral Ad Science and Videology. There’s fraudulent inventory out there. That’s just a fact of […]
While it would be wrong to say that advertisers aren’t spending on mobile — they are, to the tune of $7.1 billion in 2013, a 110% year-over-year increase, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau — it wouldn’t be wrong to say that they are spending at a rate not commensurate with mobile consumption. Mary Meeker and […]
Facebook wants to be the answer to your cross-device measurement problem and it’s in a pretty good position to do it. Enter cross-device reporting for ads, courtesy of Facebook. The new measurement solution, unleashed Wednesday, is available within Facebook’s campaign back end and is designed to allow advertisers to track customers as they move across […]
In what IgnitionOne claims to be more than just an acqui-hire, the search and display tech company has snapped up mobile demand-side and data-management platform Human Demand. The deal, which officially went down Wednesday, was completed for somewhere between high seven to low eight figures, according to an industry source close to the matter. IgnitionOne […]
When asked what the mobile exchange environment looks like in China right now, PapayaMobile co-founder and CEO Si Shen said, “I haven’t seen too many private exchanges. … Then again, I don’t see much in the way of open exchanges, either.” But that’s because RTB is still brand spanking new. PapayaMobile subsidiary AppFlood — whose top […]
It ain’t easy being a standalone mobile ad network/exchange these days, especially with Facebook, Google and Twitter breathing down your neck — and Millennial Media is feeling the burn. While Millennial reported $67.3 million in revenue in Q2, up 18% from the same time last year, the number needs to be taken with a grain of […]
App developers are on an increasingly complex journey to understand what the heck users are doing — and, ultimately, figure out how to get them to do it more…or less. Mobile exchange Nexage is hoping to help by making its premium monetization solution available to the app developer community, as of Wednesday. It’s a move […]
Tweak the phrase “water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink,” and you have the situation facing advertisers considering what to do with their mobile spend. Smartphone users are highly engaged but ad spend doesn’t match. Whether or not you agree with the scope of Mary Meeker’s now infamous report on the gap between […]
After a $25 million Series E injection, mobile ad exchange Smaato — a play on the word “smart” in Japanese — plans to focus on mobile acquisition and building out the self-service side of its automation platform. Smaato began rolling out its self-serve functionality about a year and a half ago. “Too many players are […]
You can’t blame Acxiom for trying, but the data management firm still has a ways to go before it achieves its goal of becoming the data management company to end all data management companies. Revenue for the first quarter of 2015 (Acxiom’s fiscal year ends in March) was $242.2 million, down roughly 6% year-over-year from $257.2 […]
This year started out a bit rocky for Tune (née HasOffers), but the app attribution company seems to be moving on with Monday’s acquisition of MobileDevHQ. The purchase is part of Tune’s bid to build out its user acquisition attribution capabilities. The move comes a little more than a month after the company’s rebrand from […]
Cookies are notoriously useless on mobile, but they’re the bread and butter of the Internet. If you go to diapers.com and then hit up Buy Buy Baby’s site, it’s likely you have a new baby in the house. If you use your phone in an airport in Miami and then check in to a restaurant […]
Inventory is where it’s at for RockYou. The company, which recently pivoted away from game publishing to focus on becoming a programmatic in-game video ad network, has raised $10 million in funding from FastPay, a sort of anti-VC that extends credit lines to digital media companies. It plans to use the money to buy up […]
You’re browsing the web and you see a retargeted web banner from eBay for a pair of shoes. You were on the fence before, but…those shoes really are nice. OK. You decide to buy. You click on the banner with credit card in hand and it takes you to — the eBay homepage? That would […]
