Platforms

Even before ex-Googler Marissa Mayer became Yahoo’s latest CEO two months ago, rumors were circulating that the company had been planning on selling off its Right Media Exchange. And as much of the attention around Yahoo’s programmatic ad platform strategy swirled around its “big data” offering Genome, the idea of jettisoning Right Media, the ad […]

Reddit seems to be in the news a lot lately as users flock to the platform in search of communities related to events or interests of the day, such as a “subreddit” on politics – or President Obama’s “Ask Me Anything” appearance – or how about cute cat pictures? The community site has few ads […]

A job description for Gokul Rajaram might look like this: “Lead ad product strategy for the world’s dominant social media platform. Scale world of mouth marketing in a way that’s relevant to a billion or so users with myriad devices, nationalities, languages, and cultural reference points. Do it in a way that unlocks the spending […]

It was 17 years ago that he founded the pioneering Internet advertising company, DoubleClick – and over four years since he helped sell it. But, original DoubleClick founder Kevin O’Connor can’t get the entrepreneurial bug out of his system and has targeted “recommendations” with a 60-person firm he co-founded in 2009 called FindTheBest. Like the self-explanatory […]

Facebook’s new Sponsored Results search ads became official last week, and early data from Nanigans suggests they may hold a good deal of appeal for performance-driven marketers. Since going live, the sponsored results ads have delivered Nanigans customers 23x higher click rates while costing 78% less than the average cost-per-click commanded by Marketplace Ads. In […]

Although internet radio streamer Pandora continued to post a loss a year after going public, signs of progress on driving mobile revenue was enough to give investors confidence following the company’s Q2 earnings on Wednesday, as shares were up 12 percent. Ad spending on Pandora in the quarter grew 53 percent and makes up the […]

Is Twitter’s new “Certified Products” program analogous to Facebook’s Preferred Marketing Developer directory, which has become such an important entry point for advertiser demand? Yes and no. Yes, in that both programs aim to create an “approved” list of vendors that can help businesses leverage its platform for marketing, CRM, and other purposes. Also, both offer […]

In contrast to the recent stumbles by Facebook, LinkedIn has done fairly well since filing its IPO (the stock was even up slightly on Tuesday, closing at $107 a share). But that doesn’t mean LinkedIn doesn’t have the same pressures to show a diversified source of revenues. And from the looks of things right now, […]

When online video first started catching fire with viewers and advertisers, a number of companies were vying for something of a “new TV” experience. Most have fallen short. But as users get more acclimated to viewing all screens equally, video startups have a greater chance than ever before of creating a scalable business with web-based […]

Yesterday, “Facebook Performance Advertising” company, Nanigans, announced the hiring of former Yahoo! sales executive Marc Grabowski as it’s Chief Operating Officer. Given his sales and marketing responsibilities, Nanigans appears to be looking to grow its “feet on the street” and revenues as well as leverage Grabowski’s experience in the data-driven display world. See the release. […]

Taykey does real-time advertising, but not the kind you think. The company builds media plans for its large brand ad clients based on what their target audiences are buzzing about right this instant. Those media plans are executed on Facebook, Google, YouTube, and as of this summer, Twitter. Founded in Israel three years ago, Taykey […]

It was three months ago that Jack Bamberger joined GroupM agency MEC as president, digital for North America. He was in some ways an unusual choice, having far more experience on the media than the agency side. Of his last 20 years, 13 were spent at Time Inc., Meredith Corporation, and Ashton Kutcher’s Katalyst Media. […]

Facebook now holds a secure place behind YouTube as a video content property as online streaming continues to grow, according to the latest comScore rankings. Read the release. A year ago, comScore’s July 2011 video rankings had Facebook in the number three spot, behind video music site Vevo. Google Sites, as comScore identifies YouTube along […]

Facebook’s nascent real-time bidding marketplace is steadily ramping up. The Facebook Exchange continues to add new RTB partners and may be close to publishing a list of approved Facebook Exchange vendors to its Preferred Marketing Developers directory. The list of approved Exchange RTB partners now includes 14 firms, up from 9 in late June – […]

Facebook is trying out a new ad placement that lets advertisers build the reach of ads in the news feed – the most visible real estate for its sponsored ad units. In what’s being called “a very small test,” Page owners will be able to promote posts to Facebook users who are not fans of […]

Demand Media’s Q2 earnings beat Wall St.’s expectations last week, as the content aggregator (don’t call them a “content farm,” okay?) and owner of eHow, Livestrong and Cracked posted its first, albeit slight, profit since issuing its IPO over a year ago. The company has attributed much of its growth to social media, something that traditional […]

Display ad retargeter TellApart continues to grow its footprint among ecommerce publishers. CEO Josh McFarland recently discussed his company’s momentum and industry trends. Though he demurred on the subject of revenues, McFarland offered an optimistic outlook on his company and the industry at large in a Q&A with AdExchanger. AdExchanger: Can you talk a bit […]

Internet radio player Pandora has had some ups and downs since going public a year ago. For example, in the past month, streaming music service Spotify began directly competing against Pandora with its own internet radio offering. A month before, Pandora unveiled an advertiser-friendly update to its mobile apps – to withering reviews from users […]

Dentsu-owned 360i is well known for “earned” and social media strategies, but about half its revenue comes from paid media billings, search, and analytics. The agency has solved complex data problems for the likes of Capital One, J.C. Penney, and NBC Universal, and it’s positioning for a future of ballooning analytics requirements. EVP Jared Belsky […]

In addition to running several vertical blog networks around subjects from tech to food to health, Federated Media has built up its tech side in the past year. The first anniversary of its acquisition of ad net operator and supply side platform Lijit is approaching and FM is preparing to start offering private exchanges to […]

App marketing is often about incentivizing downloads, with little thought given to post-installation engagement. For obvious reasons that’s not workable for free or “freemium” app developers who make their money after the install. Apsalar is trying to address this. The two-year-old firm began with a mobile analytics platform that later became the foundation for a […]

Media companies aren’t what they used to be as distinct technology companies and agencies may percolate within. Think Hearst/iCrossing, Gannett and its cadre of digital tools and services, The New York Times, Conde Nast – and Washington Post Company and SocialCode. As CEO Laura O’Shaughnessy tells it, SocialCode is “the biggest player in the paid […]

Facebook has certified DoubleClick for ad impression tracking, ending an unofficial policy against Google technologies on its platform. Sources tell AdExchanger Facebook’s decision went into effect in the last two weeks. It’s undoubtedly good news for DoubleClick and its customers, who will now be able to track and attribute Facebook campaign impressions alongside their other […]

Socially persistent Google will buy Wildfire Interactive for approximately $25o million. The deal comes just a few months after Google reportedly sniffed around Wildfire competitor Buddy Media, before Buddy sold to Salesforce. (Read Google’s blog post) The deal hasn’t closed  but sources tell AdExchanger that Google doesn’t expect the need for regulatory review and hopes to finalize things […]

Early engagement with a new Facebook app, RedPlum Social Savings, suggests a possible path forward for traditional coupon marketers eager to break into social. The three-month-old app is offered by Valassis, the coupons giant behind the RedPlum brand, famous for newspaper inserts and direct mail coupons. Valassis says RedPlum and its other channels reach 100 […]

Free text and calling app Pinger is the biggest mobile app you’ve never heard of. In December 2011, ComScore rated it third in daily usage minutes among iOS apps, ahead of Facebook and Twitter, and fifth in device installs. It’s backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which has a knack for picking winners with […]

Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are still riding above the fray. For all the talk about Facebook’s new Wall Street masters, about its inevitable kowtowing to advertisers, about its bummer of an IPO and its withering stock price, the overall impression made by its first earnings call (story) was  of a company largely indifferent to […]

Facebook disclosed Q2 ad revenues of $992 million in its first quarterly earnings report, with cash from ads making up 84% of its total haul. Revenue growth was 28% year over year, a deceleration from Q1 when revenue grew 45%. Facebook is darn close to the billion user mark, with Monthly Active Users at 955 […]

CPX Interactive was founded and long run as a traditional ad network business, but it wants to be known for multi-channel advertising — a la ValueClick. So it’s breaking out its channel offerings into branded divisions, starting with mobile and affiliate ads. Its new mobile network, Moversa, is three months old but already contributes 5% […]

In Q2, as it has for the past year, AOL’s third party network revenue rose by double digits, while U.S. display dollars remained flat. Read the earnings release. During the earnings call with investors, who once again saw their low expectations exceeded by AOL’s performance, CEO Tim Armstrong batted back questions about the advertising challenge […]