Data Privacy

New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a bipartisan investigation into whether Facebook engages in anticompetitive behavior to drive up ad prices. James, a Democrat, is being joined in her work, which will also look into whether Facebook’s actions have endangered consumer data and reduced the quality of consumer choice, by eight other state […]

By Allison Schiff and James Hercher Are Google’s cookie syncing capabilities a violation of consumer privacy or are they common industry practice? The answer to both could be “yes.” This new data debate, which fired up the ad tech industry, was sparked Wednesday when ad browser Brave’s chief policy officer, Johnny Ryan, asserted that Google’s […]

Cookies: Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. Well, that depends on who you ask, and the experts disagree. This week on The Big Story, the team examines both sides of the heated debate on the value, or lack thereof, of third-party cookie tracking. On one side of the fence, a study from May […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. An Endless Conquest  Google’s allowance of aggressive conquesting on search results is becoming a headache for companies relying on organic search. Jason Fried, CEO of Basecamp, sounded off about the practice on Twitter this week after his company showed up below four paid ads […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Divesting Ad Tech  News Corp has hired bankers to oversee the potential sale of Unruly, a video SSP the news company acquired four years ago for about $140 million, Sky News reports. Terms of the potential deal are still unknown, but News Corp’s decision […]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is researching the privacy practices of AppNexus, Oath and other advertising subsidiaries owned by broadband companies. The agency is in the midst of examining the privacy policies, procedures and practices of broadband providers as part of an overarching study into how telecom companies are morphing into vertically integrated behemoths that […]

After more than a year of tinkering, Facebook is rolling out a long-promised tool that lets users see the data about them that third-party apps and websites pass to Facebook, and then decouple that data from their Facebook account. Starting Tuesday, users in Ireland, South Korea and Spain will be able to access the feature, […]

Apple shed light on its policy on cross-site tracking prevention last week and, if you read between the lines (and use a magnifying glass), it’s leaving the door slightly cracked on a potential workaround for certain tracking-related use cases. The document, posted on Wednesday, is designed to make plain, if it wasn’t already, Apple’s intentions […]

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) could disrupt audience-based TV advertising before it really has a chance to take off. The law, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020 – less than 140 days from now – is chock full of language and requirements that TV broadcasters and their data partners need to pay attention to. […]

Every state in the United States, plus Washington, DC, has an attorney general tasked with regulating, investigating and enforcing against noncompliant marketing practices. They’re known colloquially as “baby FTCs” – but don’t be fooled. They’ve got teeth. “Think of state attorneys general as the top cops in their respective state; they’ve got active consumer protection agendas […]

Twitter is planning to eliminate third-party customer data sources from its ad-buying system, a shift that’s strikingly similar to the action Facebook took following Cambridge Analytica. Advertisers will still be able to use third-party data, they’ll just have to buy it themselves and Twitter reserves the right to approve the data sources. Twitter told The […]

In May, during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee about the impact of data privacy and competition policy on the digital ad ecosystem, former AppNexus CEO Brian O’Kelley told lawmakers that Google and Facebook deserve to be broken up. “Let’s apply some common sense to the regulatory process just by acknowledging that consumers pay […]

It’s a cliche to say that data is fuel but, in GasBuddy’s case, that’s literally true. The GasBuddy app, which helps drivers crowdsource information about cheap fuel prices, has access to opted-in location data from more than 15 million monthly active users. Users are more than willing to share their data, because they’re receiving a utility […]

Real-time bidding (RTB) is a flashpoint in the debate over the future of programmatic advertising. But whether the practice of using personal data in a real-time ad auction is lurching toward its deathbed in Europe, thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or whether companies will just need to update how they collect consent […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Spoiled For Choice Vestager strikes again. Starting next year, Google will show a new “choice screen” to Android smartphone owners in Europe that prompts them to choose a default search service from a set of four companies – initially Google, Yahoo, Qwant, a French […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Without Peer Sizmek offloaded its contextual advertising company Peer39 to private equity firm O3 Industries for $18 million, Business Insider’s Lauren Johnson reports. O3 reportedly beat out other bidders including The Trade Desk and Zefr. So what’s the future of Peer39? Mario Diez, whose […]

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Gary Kibel, a partner in the digital media, technology and privacy practice group at Davis & Gilbert. If the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) were a private business, it would be having […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Pulling The Plug Companies that use a plug-in to display Facebook’s ‘like’ button on their websites are jointly liable for any customer data transferred through the widget under GDPR, the EU’s top court ruled on Monday. The court was looking at the case of […]

Facebook is getting poked by both the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, but that doesn’t mean it’s facing two separate antitrust probes in the United States. “It would be unprecedented, not to mention duplicative, for the DOJ and the FTC to be investigating the same company for essentially the same conduct,” said […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Not Quite Settled  The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a prominent public research interest group, filed a complaint against the FTC’s $5 billion settlement with Facebook, arguing the deal is an unjustified victory for Facebook that fails to protect consumer privacy. The group is […]

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Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here WhoTube? As Google prepares to report second quarter earnings Thursday, investors and analysts are fed up with the company’s secrecy around YouTube. The streaming hub, which generates an estimated $16 billion to $25 billion in annual revenue, would be a Fortune 500 business on […]

Facebook’s stock dipped slightly on Wednesday morning after the Federal Trade Commission formally announced its $5 billion dollar fine over privacy violations. But by the time Facebook reported its second quarter earnings after the bell, the stock had recovered and then some. Facebook is up 3.2% after beating expectations and raking in the ad revenue. […]

It’s a big day for the big blue app. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) formally announced Wednesday it will fine Facebook $5 billion over Cambridge Analytica-related privacy violations and install oversight procedures to prioritize privacy and ensure enforcement at the company. In addition, a more than $100 million fine is expected from the Securities and Exchange […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Asking About Acxiom IPG outperformed its peers in Q2 with organic revenue growth of 3% to $2.1 billion. While the group will continue to face headwinds from client losses through the rest of the year, it was able to offset losses in the […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. No Mo’ CMO Silvia Lagnado, McDonald’s global CMO since 2015, will leave the company in October, Ad Age reports. McDonald’s plans to scrap the global CMO role in favor of two marketing SVPs: Bob Rupczynski will oversee marketing tech and Colin Mitchell will focus […]

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Kelly Anderson, vice president of data protection and privacy at Ericsson Emodo. Just as 5G is coming into view on the horizon, there’s a trainload of new privacy regulations and […]

“Brand Aware” explores the data-driven digital ad ecosystem from the marketer’s point of view. Today’s column is written by Emily Ketchen, head of Americas marketing at HP. Despite criticism that it is just a marketing gimmick, brand transparency is more relevant and meaningful than ever. It is becoming fundamental to how companies engage with customers. By […]

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Rachel Gantz, SVP, commercial, at Comscore. Time’s up. #MeToo. Equal pay. This is the world many of us proudly live in. Gender identity and norms have become more fluid and […]

Firefox is starting to block third-party tracking by default, which will throw a wrench into the business model of any company that relies on cookies. But that doesn’t mean Firefox doesn’t care about how this change affects the bottom line – especially its own. Beyond the normal usability testing done before rolling out a new […]