Senior Editor
James covers the intersection of commerce, media and advertising technology.
AUTHOR ARCHIVE FOR:
James Hercher
Articles By James
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Modi Media Vets Stake Out Addressable TV Firm For Multi-MVPD Buys
Michael Bologna and Jamie Power – both leaders from GroupM’s advanced television-buying unit Modi Media – have left the media agency and founded an addressable TV media-buying startup called one2one Media. One2one is owned by Cross MediaWorks, a consortium of media and advertising companies. One2one matches advertiser first- and third-party data to multichannel video programming […]
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Amazon Surges In The Crowded DSP Space, According To Advertiser Perceptions Survey
The demand-side platform (DSP) category underwent expected consolidation in the past year, with The Trade Desk’s IPO and formerly independent players like TubeMogul, Turn and Adelphic gobbled up by Adobe, Singtel and Time Inc., respectively. But just because the DSP space has matured doesn’t mean it can’t surprise you. This year, that surprise comes from […]
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Newspapers Begin Staking Out Affiliate Programs
Affiliate marketing is old news, but not for newspapers. Most startup and legacy lifestyle publishers, such as Refinery29 or Condé Nast, and digital-first news companies have had affiliate networks quietly churning out reliable, incremental revenue streams. Now some newspapers, built on crumbling subscription and print advertising pillars, are starting to come around to the idea. […]
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As Liberal Activists Ramp Up, Are Data And Digital Strategy Left Behind?
Since the 2016 election, liberal organizations like the ACLU, Center for American Progress (CAP) and Planned Parenthood have been sprinting like they’re on hot coals, smashing online donation precedents, flooding congressional phone lines and marshaling nationwide protests. But does that energy translate into gains for the Democratic Party’s data and digital media ecosystem? During a national […]
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Senate Kills Off FCC Privacy Regulations
The US Senate on Thursday voted down Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations that would have required internet service providers to get users to consent to be targeted by advertisers. The law would have required the providers (ISPs) to get explicit consent from users before allowing advertisers to buy or target against web browsing histories, geolocation, […]
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Discount Shopping App Ibotta Opens Its In-Store Sales Visibility To CPGs
The mobile app Ibotta, which offers users cash back on purchases from retail and brand partners, is turning its receipt verification system into an in-store attribution tool. Ibotta users can link a loyalty card account or upload a picture of a store receipt to get cash back on products for which it offers discounts. But […]
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Altice Snaps Up Teads For $307M As Telco M&A Continues
The Netherlands-based telco Altice will acquire Teads in a cash deal that values the outstream video ad tech firm at $307 million, the companies confirmed Tuesday morning. It’s the latest in a string of acquisitions for Altice. Earlier this month, the company bought the US programmatic platform Audience Partners for an undisclosed sum, and last year it closed […]
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Foursquare Adds Foot-Traffic Tracking To Its Brick-And-Mortar Suite
Foursquare debuted a foot-traffic measurement tool called Foursquare Analytics on Monday. Foursquare Analytics, which uses opted-in users to measure in-store traffic, began in private beta last year with brands like TGI Fridays, Equinox and Taco Bell. Brands that pay a monthly subscription fee to use the SaaS product. TGI Fridays matches customers from its CRM […]
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Mobile Ad Blocking Takes Off In Asia, Sparked By User Data Costs
Want to know what large-scale mobile ad blocking looks like? Go to Asia, specifically China and India, where the bulk of the world’s new smartphone users are entering the market. A PageFair report last year said mobile browsers with pre-installed ad blockers more than doubled over the previous year and now outnumber those without ad […]
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Adblock Plus Adds Brand Clout (And Gets Clouted)
Soon after Adblock Plus (ABP) developer Eyeo revealed the publisher, brand and ad tech executives on its Acceptable Ads Committee (AAC) Wednesday, many of those members’ employers swiftly distanced themselves. Dell, Condé Nast and Rocket Fuel are among eight companies with members on the committee. The panel would manage ad policies for Eyeo’s Acceptable Ads […]
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Nasdaq-Based Ads Exchange Plans To Bring Wall St. Trading To Digital Media
Along with its eponymous New York stock exchange, Nasdaq Inc. powers more than 80 transactional markets around the world. Now, its blockchain technology powers a startup advertising exchange called the New York Interactive Ad Exchange (NYIAX), which plans eventually to create a market where digital media inventory could be bought and sold like stock on […]
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CenturyLink Doubles Down On Consumer Branding As A B2B Foundation
Brand advertising is becoming a necessary ingredient for B2B success. While US telco CenturyLink sees two-thirds of revenue come from B2B services, consumer-oriented strategies like a national TV campaign and sports sponsorships are taking a larger share of CenturyLink’s budgets, said CMO Bill Hurley. Consumer branding increasingly “lays the foundation” for effective B2B sales, Hurley […]
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Fairmont Tests Facebook Travel Ads – And Is Hungry For More
Hotel and travel brands are looking to pour more performance dollars into Facebook. For years, hotel operators have used the social platform as a source of online check-ins, reviews and customer service responses, but “the next step was taking it to advertising,” said Chris Georgas, digital marketing manager for Fairmont Hotels. After debuting its Dynamic […]
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With Brands On Board Or Not, Right-Wing News Is Full Steam Ahead
In the months leading up to and following the US presidential election, publishers with right-wing and occasionally extremist views, such as Breitbart and InfoWars, have joined stalwarts like the Drudge Report and Newsmax on the Republican right. In spite of their growing audiences, monetization can be tough for these challengers. Some brands have stayed away, […]
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P&G’s Pritchard: Marketers Need More From Digital Platforms Than Audit Agreements
Speaking Thursday at the ANA Media Conference, Procter & Gamble Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard was pleased that Facebook and Google had agreed to independent MRC audits, but he emphasized that the audits are only the first steps toward improving the media supply chain. “It’s not enough to accept [audit pledges] until the audits are […]
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PebblePost Comes Knocking With $15 Million For Programmatic Direct Mail
PebblePost on Tuesday announced a $15 million Series B funding round to expand its programmatic direct mail offering. RRE Ventures joins as the startup’s lead investor. PebblePost takes in CRM data and tags a brand’s website, matching visitors to home addresses in its own database and against third-party onboarders. Seventy percent of site traffic can […]
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Last-Click Attribution Seems Unkillable
Alain Portmann and Oscar Garza will speak about last click attribution at Programmatic IO on April 5 in San Francisco. Last-click attribution may never die. Although digital multitouch attribution (MTA) pioneers like Visual IQ, Google’s Adometry and AOL’s Convertro hit the market more than a decade ago, last-click remains the prevailing measurement model. Big brands and network agencies still tend […]
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Ad Blocker Shine Shifts To Ad Targeting And Rebrands To Rainbow
The Israeli startup Shine is rebranding to Rainbow as it abandons its ad-blocking roots in favor of ad-targeting and verification services, the company revealed Friday. “We have been really trying to identify a path forward and the commercialization opportunities for the base technology,” said CRO James Collier, who joined the company last July. Shine (ahem, […]
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With Ad Tech, Nielsen Catalina Solutions Sheds Its One-Trick-Pony Reputation
Nielsen Catalina Solutions’ (NCS) original value prop focused on connecting media consumption with in-store sales for CPG brands. But in the past two years, NCS has moved beyond attribution and into building programmatic audience segments. Programmatic targeting is already almost 25% of NCS’ business, with a revenue goal this year between $20 million and $25 […]
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The Trade Desk Passes $1 Billion In Platform Spend As Non-Display Products Gain Steam
The Trade Desk broke the $1 billion mark in gross ad spend on its platform in 2016, generating $75 million in net profit, the company disclosed Thursday afternoon in its fourth quarter earnings report. The demand-side platform (DSP) touted the growth of its omnichannel offerings. In 2016, display ad campaigns made up less than half […]
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How To Drive Live Video Views? Drone Maker DJI Turns To Paid Media
Achieving reach with live video content – whether you’re a brand or a media company – can be a challenge, but there is a growing opportunity to drive audiences via Facebook, YouTube, Amazon-owned Twitch and elsewhere. “Live video amplification is one of those hot topics some would argue doesn’t have real scale,” said Michael Miraflor, […]
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ComScore's Stock Takes A Hit – And Is Delisted – Following Audit Delays
ComScore disclosed Monday evening that it’s been delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange, effective Wednesday, after failing to meet another accounting deadline. ComScore has struggled with an internal audit mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission since February 2016, when the digital measurement firm first notified the agency that it would miss a filing deadline […]
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Approaching The Bullseye: Target’s First-Party Data Play
Over the past two years, Target has activated its first-party data so that agencies and its vendor partners – brands that sell products in Target’s stores – could use it to inform media buys. Target’s data is applied through a product platform called Guest Access overseen by Kristi Argyilan, Target’s SVP of media, guest engagement […]
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Collective Names Kerry Bianchi CEO As The Ad Tech Overhaul Continues
Collective promoted its COO Kerry Bianchi to CEO Thursday, as the 12-year-old startup continues to evolve out of the traditional ad network business. Joe Apprendi, Collective’s founder and now its former CEO, will remain on the board as executive chairman. Since 2015, Collective has reshaped its business to meet what Bianchi described as the next […]
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It’s Pin A Long Time Comin’: Pinterest Adds Search Advertising
Pinterest introduced its first search ad offering Wednesday, almost seven years after the company launched. “Now we believe we’re at a place where we understand how people are leveraging the platform and using it to plan their lives,” said Michael Akkerman, head of Pinterest’s marketing partners program. The new search functionality comes via Kenshoo, an […]
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Survey: Marketers' Data Priorities Shift From 'Collection' To 'Value'
On Monday the IAB released its second “Outlook for Data” report, a survey conducted by the Winterberry Group that benchmarks data-driven marketing practices. Its responses show “a general maturity in the evolution of marketer data,” said Dennis Buchheim, SVP of data and ad effectiveness for the IAB. The number of businesses that plan to increase […]
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Alphabet Quarterly Revenue Jumps To $26 Billion, But Challenges Are Mounting
Alphabet on Thursday disclosed revenue of more than $26 billion in Q4 2016, a 22% jump over the same period last year and beating industry expectations of $25.2 billion in revenue. But despite overall revenue growth, the digital ad platform giant’s earnings were undercut by other costs, including a one-time tax charge that pushed its […]
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Button Raises $20 Million To Create More Mobile Commerce Inventory
The mobile monetization firm Button announced Wednesday it had raised a $20 million Series B round, led by Norwest Venture Partners. The investment, which brings Button’s total funding to $36.5 million, will go largely toward expanding Button’s headcount as the startup looks to tack on new products in fledgling verticals like travel booking and media […]
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Berkery Noyes Sees Sunny M&A Outlook – But US Election Adds Unpredictability
Venture capital and early-stage tech investments may be harder to come by, but M&A exits across the mobile and online industry are still heating up, investment bank Berkery Noyes reported Tuesday. The overall number of deals in 2016 ticked up 1% from the year before, while the aggregate value of those transactions jumped 12% year […]
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Why Mobile Adoption Is Punishing The Biggest Department Stores
Bellwether retailers like Macy’s, Sears and Nordstrom that once anchored US malls never fully recovered from the onset of web-driven ecommerce. Now they’re facing something new that could either be an opportunity to get back in the game or another threat entirely: mobile commerce. Consumers are spending more time on mobile, including on retail app […]