Platforms

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Brace For Streaming Just as NBCU plans to reorg to accommodate streaming, so too will WarnerMedia. The Information reports that the AT&T-owned entertainment company will soon unveil a “major reorganization” that will result in layoffs and the promotion of Andy Forssell, a streaming exec, […]

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. On The Clock Microsoft’s acquisition offer for TikTok has expanded to the app’s entire global business outside of China, including its operations in India and Europe, Financial Times reported. Previously, the takeover bid just covered TikTok’s business in the United States, Canada, Australia and […]

Did you hear the one about Microsoft maybe buying TikTok? No, really, there’s a potential deal in the works. Amid ongoing drama over TikTok’s Chinese ownership and threats from the Trump administration of a ban on the app in the United States, the technology company most associated with office software could become the owner of […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. A Reel Good Try Instagram launched its TikTok competitor, Reels, on Wednesday in 50 markets. It’s yet another example of parent company Facebook’s typical “if you can’t buy it, copy it” strategy. The creator-focused tool, which lives within Instagram’s Explore tab, is designed to […]

  Microsoft hasn’t had a rosy history in advertising. The tech giant’s ad business dates back to its failed aQuantive acquisition in 2007, which it wrote down by $6.2 billion in 2012 after failing to monetize display advertising. Microsoft then outsourced its display business to AOL in 2015. Today, Microsoft holds roughly 1.4% of the […]

Jam City is jamming, despite COVID-19. The LA-based casual mobile game studio plans to hire artists, producers, data analysts and people focused on creative strategy. Gaming is one of the few verticals that’s growing during the ongoing health crisis. People started playing more games when stay-at-home orders were announced in March, and the behavior has […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Let Us Track A who’s-who of industry trade groups, advertisers, ad tech companies, agencies and publishers has banded together to form the Partnership for Responsible Addressable Media. The group wants to preserve methods of targeting and measuring consumers, which browsers and platforms have been […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. TikTok Flip Flop In the latest chapter of the TikTok saga, Trump said Microsoft can pursue an acquisition of the app – granted that the US Treasury Department receives “a lot of money” for the deal. It’s unclear how the government would get paid, […]

“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 Allison Schiff, senior editor at AdExchanger. It’s part of a series of perspectives from AdExchanger’s editorial team. A lot of people in the ad industry probably don’t know exactly what Google’s […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Microsoft Returns?  Microsoft has been in talks to acquire TikTok from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, The New York Times reported Friday. And then those talks were placed on hold after President Trump signalled opposition, The Wall Street Journal reported. Regardless of outcome, the […]

Despite a healthy second quarter that shrugged off the economic downturn, Facebook CFO Dave Wehner warned investors on Thursday that Apple’s IDFA changes coming in iOS 14 could “prove to be a challenging headwind.” “We’re still trying to understand what these changes will look like and how they impact us and the rest of the […]

The coronavirus pandemic slashed Alphabet’s growth rate from 22% last year down to zero in Q2 2020. Revenues totaled $38.3 billion vs. $38.9 billion the year prior – a 2% year-over-year decline, or 0% once constant currency is taken into account. Like many of its advertising revenue-dependent peers, Google reported steady improvement throughout the quarter. […]

Big tech CEOs – collect ’em all. Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos (making his first appearance before Congress) convened virtually on Wednesday for a historic hearing hosted by the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust delving into the market power of online platforms. The hearing (which was ironically livestreamed on Google-owned YouTube) is […]

After experiencing a slowdown in Q1, ad spend began to rebound at Spotify in June as some markets exited pandemic lockdowns, the company said Wednesday on its Q2 earnings call. Ad spend in April and May were down 25% before inching up to a 10% decline in June. For the quarter, ad-supported revenue increased 11% […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Re-Unified The Trade Desk is updating its Unified ID solution, a shared third-party cookie pool for advertisers and ad tech companies, to function in post-cookie advertising, Adweek reports. The project will be open source, so anyone can use the currency, though The Trade Desk’s […]

Ad management firm Freestar said Tuesday it has acquired Chocolate’s app mediation platform so it can serve more mobile app publishers. Terms were not disclosed. Freestar is largely a services company that performs tasks such as setting up header bidding and optimizing yield for about 400 desktop and mobile web publishers. But the fast-growing company […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Bot-And-Mouse Game The low-hanging fruit of ad fraud is mostly gone. But more sophisticated bad actors are still active. Protected Media identified an in-app bot fraud network, dubbed “Hydra,” that siphoned off an estimated $100 million, Business Insider reports. “It’s the most disciplined operation […]

Once Apple’s IDFA becomes opt-in for consumers, its utility to advertisers will be greatly limited. But what does this new policy mean for Facebook and its powerful, lucrative Audience Network? As one source told senior editor Allison Schiff, targeting on Audience Network is all but dead. But does that mean it’s the end? In this […]

The direct response advertising that’s proven itself to be a resilient mainstay for other platforms during COVID-19 remains elusive for Twitter. But that’s not for a lack of trying. Twitter completed the long-promised rebuild of its ad server in the second quarter and is making progress on accelerating its performance ads road map, CEO Jack […]

OpenX has turned the growing number of log-level data requests from buyers into a product that simplifies the process, called Bidding Intelligence Data Set (BIDS). “Our intent was to make what used to be a wonky and difficult process into as streamlined, productized and standardized a process as possible, to make our customers’ lives easier,” […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Viva La Pérsonalization The French government will loosen archaic laws this month that have undercut French broadcasters for years. The biggest change will be to repeal a 1993 law that says all French households must receive the same broadcast stream. So French TV stations […]

Snap had an all right Q2 but warned that the ongoing pandemic could impact Q3 ad demand. Similar to last quarter, Snap did not provide guidance for Q3, although it did give investors some comfort by sharing its year-over-year revenue growth of 32% through July 19. Snap is “cautiously optimistic” that the trend could sustain […]

The formal Facebook advertising boycott didn’t kick off until the beginning of July – but advertisers in the United States were already starting to pull back in June. Ad spend decreased by 31.6% across North America during the last two weeks of June, according to data released Tuesday by social media metrics company Socialbakers. That means […]

Nielsen plans to overhaul its digital measurement methodology to prepare for a future without cookies or mobile ad IDs. The first phase of the overhaul will happen in early 2021, with more stages to follow. Because its product is used as currency in some global markets, the measurement company is giving its customers a heads […]

“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 Chris Peterson, managing partner at Rain the Growth Agency. Pausing advertising on Facebook can look risky. Facebook has become the marketing lifeblood of a long tail of small businesses while serving […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Anti-Antitrust What happens when companies being investigated by the FTC or the DOJ poach staffers for their own defense? Unfortunately, it’s not a hypothetical, writes antitrust economist Hal Singer at The American Prospect. Amazon and Facebook both recently hired staffers from the Senate Judiciary […]

As COVID-19 cases spike across America, the joyous reopening is on pause. (Unless you’re Disney World, because apparently the virus has no effect on the land of enchantment and childhood dreams.) But having gone through the initial shutdown in March, brands are more prepared this time around. They’re pulling back on some of the more […]

During times of crisis, advertisers want to connect with people reading local journalism. Michigan-based healthcare company McLaren Greater Lansing used Gannett’s sponsored content offering to share critical messages during the pandemic with a more nuanced, responsive approach than it could achieve with just banner ads. For example, the health care company noticed many patients were […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Called To Account Snapchat users may finally start to see brands posting organic content. There are 30 brands testing account pages, including Ben & Jerry’s, Target, Tim Hortons and Gucci. The new brand landing pages feature videos, custom AR lenses and a native storefront […]