Testing Location Data; Facebook And The Publishers

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.

Location-Unaware

Ad Age reporter Kate Kaye lets five consumer-data-gathering firms follow her every move for three weeks and found that location trackers were generally unable to lock down an accurate profile in that timeframe. “Because our algorithm requires a high degree of certainty before it associates a device with a household, it can take more time, and we simply didn’t see your device often enough within the time frame of the test to be assured of a match,” said Kirsten McMullen, chief privacy officer for 4Info, a participating firm. More.

Reading In The Feed

Facebook has been making the rounds of publishers in a bid to help them “do a better job of servicing readers in the News Feed,” New York Times media critic David Carr notes in a column. That “help” could include hosting articles wholesale in a rev-share arrangement – an alarming prospect for many. “Publishers are worried that what has been a listening tour could become a telling tour.” More. Pair with NYT’s Ravi Somaiya on journalism’s growing dependence on Facebook.

Programmatic Remedy

Cold medicine Zicam is the latest consumer brand to embrace programmatic advertising head-on. The company opted out of TV upfronts this year, and instead quadrupled its digital budget, according to The Wall Street Journal. Because Zicam’s sales peak during cold and flu season, execs say automation is crucial. “Our go-to-market strategy over the past 15 years or so has always been pretty standard: classically trained brand managers doing what they are trained to do,” said M’Lou Arnett, CEO at Zicam parent Matrixx. “Now, we are trying to be much more responsive to the market and flexible. This is what a brand needs to do in 2014.” Zicam is channeling spend through Xaxis, across display, video, mobile and tablet-synced-to-TV ad spots. Read on.

The Cost Of iOS

New data from Fiksu shows that the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, in addition to Apple’s iOS 8 update, are driving up marketing costs for app downloads and user retention. According to the report, “The Cost per Install (CPI) Index measures the cost per app install directly attributed to advertising. September saw the CPI for iOS increase 6 percent to $1.23 – representing a 41 percent increase year-over-year.” Brands vying for app users’ attention may have to shell out a tad more cash as consumers continue to migrate to Apple’s new products. TechCrunch has more.

Amazon’s Media Ambitions, Cont.

Amazon.com shared plans to buy Internet comedy aggregator Rooftop Media. The company, which will be housed under Amazon subsidiary Audible, distributes through Yahoo and streaming services like Sirius XM, Spotify and Pandora. “Amazon is persisting in buying content to round out its service, with designs to take on Netflix and other online digital media services,” Reuters reports. Read it.