As Executive Editor, Sarah oversees AdExchanger’s news and feature coverage and event content. Sarah has written extensively about publishers, sell-side technology and Google. Understanding and explaining the business implications of technically complex topics is her forte. Over her years at AdExchanger, she’s documented the rise and maturity of programmatic tech, as data-driven advertising has spread far and wide in its marketing applications.
The push for ad tech fee transparency is in full swing. Last week, Rubicon Project got rid of its buy-side fees, which will cut its take rate in half. While removing buy-side fees will help Rubicon’s reputation with publishers (The Guardian sued Rubicon over the fees) and buyers, the real drive for transparency comes from […]
The complexity of programmatic and the media supply chain can stump even the most sophisticated marketer. So, in September, Bayer hired Josh Palau to the new role of VP of digital and omnichannel marketing to figure out how to connect consumer touchpoints in a fragmented world. His remit is to figure out how Bayer can […]
Rubicon Project eliminated its buy-side fees Wednesday. “This ties directly to the commitment I made when I joined the company earlier this year to normalize our pricing and bring a higher level of transparency to everything we do,” CEO Michael Barrett said in a blog post released just prior to Rubicon’s Q3 earnings Thursday. Removing […]
The ad buyers who will be hurt by the adoption of Ads.txt aren’t giving up without a fight. Publishers are being deluged with emails from “agencies” and “digital marketing solutions” companies threatening to stop buying inventory unless they’re added to the Ads.txt file. The New York Times, Wenner Media, Intermarkets and LittleThings all confirmed to […]
With high demand and short supply of pre-roll video ads, many publishers are creating more video content that can be monetized with pre-roll ads. But not Bleacher Report. “Pre-roll is not the future of online advertising,” said Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Marketing Officer Howard Mittman, who joined the sports publication from Condé Nast in […]
Purch, publisher of LiveScience and TopTenReviews, added three layers of defense to its anti-fraud system in October. In addition to pre-screening for bots twice, Purch now detects bots, malware and ad quality in real time. “Better-quality traffic means higher ad performance and higher CPMs,” said Purch CTO John Potter. “This is a trend. Demand sources […]
Even as many advertisers embrace audience-based buying, context remains a key performance driver in many verticals. Take finance, a category in which advertisers often sell sophisticated products to niche audiences. Third-party data can be expensive, with iffy quality, so it’s often better to reach audiences while they’re reading about finance and business. Dianomi, a profitable […]
This is the second in a series on demystifying the best practices in media today. Read the first on audience suppression. Frequency management, which first emerged when advertisers tried to calculate reach and media impact of their traditional TV buys, is tricky even for the most sophisticated marketers. And it’s gotten trickier with the advent […]
As print publishers figure out how to remake themselves for digital, Time Out has come up with an unusual solution: Borrow the revenue model – and former CMO and president – of TripAdvisor. Time Out once recommended events, hotels and restaurants to readers, but it no longer stops there. Now the publisher allows readers to […]
The idea of accomplishing more together than apart sounds like a tagline for a social justice organization, but that’s what Upworthy and Good say happened after they merged 10 months ago to form Good Worldwide. The two publications cater to corporations and nonprofits that want to align their brands with social causes and change. Good […]
As Facebook grabs more mobile and video dollars from the ecosystem, premium publishers are looking for viable ways to compete. For storied publisher Time Inc., one solution is to bring its own mobile-optimized video solutions to market. Using Google’s native framework, Time created a mobile, in-feed video solution dubbed Adapt that is customized to its […]
Santander Bank is using content marketing to become relevant to millennials, which is why it launched its Prosper and Thrive website – designed to provide financial guidance – last November. Prosper and Thrive’s articles cover small decisions, like how much to spend on a wedding gift, as well as big ones, like tips for first-time […]
Texting and messaging friends tends to bring out our inner foodies, and the Food Network has used a Facebook Messenger bot to join that conversation. Food Network has invested in its chatbot since it first launched in November 2016, even after the initial hype dropped off. While other brands and publishers had difficulties being conversational […]
Agency holding company stocks are down. Many of the biggest advertisers are struggling. Omnicom agency Hearts & Science thinks it’s found the solution to serve clients in an era of disruption. “It’s a highly commoditized media marketplace, and will only get more so because of automation,” said Frances Ralston-Good, UK CEO of Hearts & Science. […]
With header bidding enabled, the open marketplace works just fine for Advance Local. While many publishers and buyers are moving to closed, curated programmatic environments due to brand safety, fraud and viewability concerns, Advance Local is focused on driving yield in the open marketplace. That strategy means improving viewability and giving buyers transparent URL information […]
Programmatic is suffering from a crisis in confidence from marketers. And that crisis affects premium publishers like CBS Interactive. But there are solutions on the horizon, according to Jason White, SVP and GM of global programmatic revenue at CBS Interactive. Header bidding, for example, will boost transparency in the marketplace and even the playing field […]
Dentsu Aegis wants to be a 100% digital-economy business by 2020. To get there, the agency appointed Nigel Morris to serve as the company’s chief strategy and innovation officer in June. Morris will focus on the “important, not the urgent,” in the new role, an upgrade from his previous position as head of Americas. Over […]
Direct-to-consumer, digitally native startups like Mack Weldon own their own data and don’t rely on middlemen. Those two huge advantages enable them to track marketing effectiveness with greater precision than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. But to do so, they need platforms that allow them to use every piece of information they can collect about their customers. […]
Programmatic has been going through its awkward period. Brands are rethinking their investments in the wake of concerns about brand safety, viewability, fraud and a murky supply chain. But where other agencies and trading desks are pulling back on the open marketplace, WPP’s Essence is staying neck-deep, relying on its use of machine learning, optimization […]
OpenX acquired two publisher tools, Mezzobit and PubNation, on Monday. By bringing these point solutions in-house, the SSP plans to strengthen its overall offering for publishers. The tools don’t boost yield for publishers, which is how publishers typically grade SSPs, but rather help them track down slow or suspicious advertiser tags and monitor overall ad […]
To be a modern broadcaster, CNN believes it has to distribute content everywhere and be a launch partner when platforms like Snapchat Discover, Apple News and Facebook Messenger roll out publisher products. In the past two years, CNN has added roughly 20 platforms to its distribution list and, in the past year, it spent $20 […]
Demographic targeting and behavioral targeting have both been around since internet advertising’s early days, but big CPG brands now say behavioral targeting drives the biggest results online. Instead of trying to hit in-target demos, they’re looking for more creative ways to connect with consumers based on purchase history or interests. At Dmexco, Johnson & Johnson CMO […]
WPP’s stock is down. And the company’s longstanding chief, Martin Sorrell, isn’t sure if the holding company can do anything about the factors putting pressure on its business. “I don’t know whether anything is within our control or not,” Sorrell said. “Some people say it’s the rise of the digital giants. No. Some people say […]
Axel Springer joined the Coalition for Better Ads on Wednesday partially because it didn’t want Google, a member of the coalition, to have an outsize say in what counted as a better ad experience. Despite being a dominant European publisher, Axel Springer is worried about US platforms like Google dictating industry standards or positioning to […]
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will become law next May, is stressing out the marketing industry. “I have a feeling that people are just scared,” Acxiom’s European privacy officer, Sachiko Scheuing, told AdExchanger at Dmexco in Cologne, Germany. That fear may be preventing many advertisers from speaking up in the debate over […]
Slideshows have been hurt by growing demand for viewable inventory, as readers rarely scroll down and often click to the next slide before ads load. Topix, which buys traffic to slideshows that rack up tons of page views, was affected by this shift. Four months ago, the site’s viewability hovered around 40%, so programmatic buyers […]
The IAB Tech Lab wants to change its OpenRTB 3.0 programmatic auction standard so that it authenticates basic details of the transaction, like the identity of the seller. The current OpenRTB standard assumes buyers and sellers honestly identify themselves and their intentions – but some shady players took advantage of that honor system. One problem […]
Despite rising content marketing budgets, the logistics of briefing multiple publishers, approving content and measuring results makes it difficult to scale investments. To help brands and agencies address this logistical pain point, Pressboard designed a platform to automate, standardize and scale sponsored content. The company has helped clients such as GE, Ford, General Mills and […]
Taste of Home amassed almost 6 million followers on its Facebook pages, where readers actively commented and shared posts – without ever hiring anyone to run audience development. That raw engagement attracted Kari Hodes to join in January as Trusted Media Brands’ (which owns Taste of Home) VP of digital content and audience development. Hodes […]
The publication that shunned banner ads reversed course last week when BuzzFeed added programmatic ads. The decision came down to two factors: increased advertiser demand for programmatic and a better user experience, said Ken Blom, BuzzFeed’s VP of branded distribution, who leads the 30-person team that will handle the programmatic logistics. “We don’t want to […]
