Commerce

“On TV & Video” is a column exploring opportunities and challenges in advanced TV and video.  Today’s column is by Paul Gubbins, VP, CTV Strategy, Publica. While definitions of what actually constitutes a connected TV (CTV) impression are still being widely debated, brand safety companies discover new cases of fraud in streaming on a regular […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Instacart Exit Seth Dallaire, out! Instacart’s ad chief is jumping over to Walmart as chief revenue officer amid a shakeup in the grocery delivery service’s executive ranks, Business Insider reports. Dallaire will work to scale Walmart Connect, the retail giant’s ad platform unit – […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Kii To Success? As the ad industry struggles to come up with solutions to its identity crisis, Kinesso, IPG’s data and technology unit, claims it has the key … ahem, the Kii. That’s what Kinesso is calling its new identity offering. In a world […]

Inmar Intelligence is adding mobile to its cart. On Thursday, the retailer-focused tech and data platform reached an agreement to acquire mobile ad platform Aki Technologies to take advantage of the high-growth retail media category. Aaron Kechley, Inmar’s GM of media and SVP of strategy, declined to share a deal price. But he did elaborate […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. The OOH F.U. ROI Macy’s is suing its landlord, the Kaufman Organization, to prevent the building owner from placing an Amazon billboard above the department chain’s flagship Herald Square location in New York City. Macy’s has had its own brand on the billboard for […]

“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. Rakuten Rewards, formerly Ebates, is an 800-pound gorilla in the affiliate marketing business. But what’s the point of being biggest if nobody wants to be in the affiliate business? Since its acquisition by the Japanese ecommerce giant Rakuten and […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. AVOD FTW When people think of Amazon video assets, it’s Amazon Prime, Twitch and Fire TV. But IMDb TV, formerly Freedive, has quietly become an important piece of Amazon’s video strategy, and may even be a golden goose of its own someday, VideoWeek reports. […]

From Instacart to Uber, a wide variety of digital businesses are realizing that they can spin up advertising businesses. Their inspiration? Amazon’s “other” revenue category. Composed mostly of advertising revenue, it’s proven to a slew of digital companies that they can gain profitability by pursuing the sky-high margins in advertising. On this week’s Big Story, […]

One of the most important trends in advertising right now is the rapid growth of ad businesses stood up by non-advertising companies. The OG of this category is Amazon. The online retailer has shown ads can be a high-margin addition to the bottom line, boosting profit without heavy upfront investments for any business with valuable […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Buy What You Know Shopify and Roku announced a partnership to bring a Roku app for CTV ad creation and campaign management to the dashboard of all Shopify merchants. The idea is to crack into the $16.4 billion that small and medium-sized businesses spend […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Gotta Spend Money To Spend Money Amazon’s ad business is blowing up. You probably knew that already. But that growth for Amazon isn’t a win for many sellers, particularly the early power users on the platform. There is heavy demand for Amazon inventory, with […]

You know you’ve won the lottery as a brand when you go viral on TikTok (for a good reason). Last year, it was Ocean Spray, and this year it’s Gap, whose vintage logo sweatshirts – the brown one, in particular – made a comeback on TikTok as an unexpected fashion trend of 2021. Gap capitalized on […]

A weekly comic strip from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem…

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Tale Of Two Internets Apple’s and Google’s user privacy rules have caused distress among advertisers and might reshape the internet itself, The New York Times reports. Audience-targeting tech (i.e., site tags and third-party cookies) helped morph many ad tech and social media platforms into […]

The country’s largest grocers are adapting to new shopping habits with a hybrid model that combines their brick-and-mortar footprint with online advertising platforms. Although Amazon paved the way with its ad platform and 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods, grocery giants, including Kroger and Walmart, are also investing heavily in sponsored search and programmatic. And now […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. The Party Line The Washington DC Attorney General’s office expanded its antitrust suit against Amazon. The complaint initially targeted Amazon’s third-party seller policies and now also encompasses first-party seller deals. The crux of the AG’s case against Amazon’s first-party seller policies is the “Minimum […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Podcast Talk Podcasting has heated up, with big M&A deals in recent years, including Amazon’s acquisition of Wondery for $300 million and Spotify’s $235 million deal for Megaphone. Podcast advertising is forecasted to exceed $2 billion by 2023, according to emarketer, which revised up […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Is The Cart Half Full Or Half Empty? Instacart’s grocery delivery business has slowed, or at best is showing zero sales growth from this time last year. That’s largely because quarantines forced people to order online, and many have returned to in-store shopping. Frankly, […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. The TV Prize Amazon plans to introduce its own line of smart TVs in the United States, perhaps as early as October, Business Insider reports. On the one hand, it’s surprising Amazon hasn’t released its own television, since it would be a natural extension […]

Facebook’s org chart is changing. Several of its most longstanding and recognizable advertising and media executives left big blue for greener (or at least other) pastures this summer. Just this week, Mark D’Arcy, Facebook’s chief creative officer and VP of global business marketing, said he’ll be stepping down after more than a decade with the […]

There is a distinct Amazon approach to advertising, and it’s taking over the rest of retail media. To be successful within the walled garden platform, brands must be sharply focused on search. They also become accustomed to seeing ad costs factored as an incremental part of overall sales. Spectrum Brands honed its advertising approach on […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. They See Me Rollin’ Uber tapped former Sizmek CEO and Amazon ad exec Mark Grether to lead its advertising business, Business Insider reports. Poaching Grether is a big deal for Uber as it stands up a global advertising strategy. Though Uber’s ad revenue isn’t […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. SPAC’s All Folks Vice Media officially nixed plans to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), at least for now, The Information reports. However, Vice did raise an additional $85 million from existing investors. A portion of those funds are earmarked for […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. A Shot Across The Bows Comscore is capitalizing on Nielsen’s latest stumble. The company told AdExchanger in an email that it asked to be audited by the MRC for both national and local TV measurement accreditation – a clear dig at Nielsen’s MRC disaccreditation […]

The first era of online shopping was independent merchants setting up their own sites. And the second era simply belonged to Amazon. But now we’re in a third era, which could be known as the social commerce age.  Put differently: the age of Shopify. The ecommerce tech company announced an integration with TikTok on Tuesday, […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Ecomm Dollar Signs The pandemic fueled a massive shift to online buying, and investors are following the money. Tiger Global, the investment firm that led investments in DoubleVerify and Moloco, among other ad tech startups, put a $50 million round behind Nacelle, which provides […]

Erik Huberman, CEO and founder of marketing consultancy Hawke Media, has some pretty strong – if not outright harsh – words for most media agencies out there: “They’re full of [expletive].” Before founding the Los Angeles-based company in 2014, Huberman launched and sold two commerce companies – Swag of the Month and Ellie – and […]

“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s Q&A is with Michael Schuh, VP of media strategy Kroger Precision Marketing’s 84.51°. Kroger, the largest grocery chain in the United States, is capitalizing on major swings in shopping patterns since the COVID-19 pandemic as it expands its retail […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Everything Store Adds More Audio Amazon is new to podcasting but it’s moving fast, borrowing from Spotify’s playbook. After scooping up podcast publisher Wondery eight months ago, it’s now signing exclusive distribution and ad deals with buzzy podcasts like SmartLess (hosted by Jason Bateman, […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Booming Biz The DSP Viant reported a year-over-year revenue increase of 66% to $50.4 million. Viant IPOed in February, part of a recent boom in programmatic companies on the public market. As with most of those companies, Viant is going big on CTV, which […]