When it comes to the massive acquisitions making headlines in the video game industry, the implications run much deeper than what titles gamers can play exclusively on which systems. In Microsoft’s case, we’re talking about a sleeping giant in the ad industry with an incredibly strong subscription-based first-party data operation, Xbox Game Pass, at its disposal.
Amazon’s acquisition of Sizmek’s ad server and dynamic creative optimization (DCO) platform Friday puts it in a better position to compete with Google for advertiser budgets. Amazon will likely gain new clients from Sizmek who don’t want to deal with switching ad servers, as well as some advertisers who don’t like the idea of working […]
Facebook is again tackling cross-device measurement and attribution. Although its Atlas product struggled as an ad server in the marketplace, Atlas could successfully use Facebook IDs to measure across devices and help marketers assess campaign performance. Now Facebook is making those features available to marketers through its Business Manager, in a tool dubbed Advanced Measurement. […]
Although Neustar’s marketing services division saw 54% Q3 revenue growth YoY to $63.3 million, CEO Lisa Hook noted Thursday that new client wins in its marketing analytics business, MarketShare, had fallen short. As a result, the company lowered MarketShare’s full-year revenue guidance for 2016 from $70 million to $55 million-$60 million. “Our overall results for […]
This year, Facebook appeared to abandon its plan to develop an ad tech stack to rival Google’s DoubleClick. It shut down its SSP (LiveRail), closed the Facebook Exchange and threw away its DSP before it got off the ground. All that remains is Atlas, a former ad server repurposed as a measurement tool, and the […]
Facebook’s Atlas ad server promises to deliver marketers a superior way to measure campaigns compared to DoubleClick, which commands the lion’s share of the market. But measurement is just one part of ad serving. And in the one and a half years since Atlas was rushed to market, marketers and agencies that have tested Atlas […]
Facebook is taking the next logical step in its evolution toward a full-stack ad tech offering, rolling out a demand-side platform (DSP) capable of executing programmatic buys using the company’s “people-based” advertising methodology. In recent weeks Facebook’s Atlas team has pitched the DSP product to agency partners, including Omnicom Group, Havas, Merkle and others, according […]
Attribution companies Adometry and Convertro are frequently linked because they were acquired in quick succession (by Google and AOL, respectively). And the functionality they provide is increasingly important, as marketers want to justify their digital ad spend across channels and devices. Buyers are wary when attribution technologies – which should be agnostic – are integrated […]
Performance marketing agency Merkle is one of the first agencies to use Google’s cross-device measurement platform, as well as an early strategic partner with Facebook’s Atlas cross-device product. As such, it has unique insights into what company CSO John Lee refers to as Facebook’s and Google’s “distinct pros and cons,” with the caveat that it’s […]
Facebook’s introduction of a cross-device ID last fall was a big deal in marketing circles. Based on the company’s direct relationships with its 1.4 billion users, it offered a viable alternative to the broken cookie. Since then, Facebook has been on a communications and sales blitz, driving awareness and adoption of its “people-based marketing” product […]
Sizmek’s earnings story quarter by quarter seems to be on perpetual repeat, but the company exceeded the pessimistic predictions of Wall Street analysts, posting Q4 2014 revenue of $48.9 million, a 3% YoY increase, and FY 2014 revenue of $170.8 million, a 6% YoY increase. The company suffered more expected declines in Flash-based rich media, which spiraled […]
Facebook’s Atlas is mapping a course for cross-device world domination – one agency holding company relationship at a time. In a move reminiscent of its partnership with Omnicom, Atlas unveiled Wednesday a three-year global hook-up with Havas Media Group. Omnicom was an Atlas launch partner back in September when the rebooted ad server rose from Microsoft’s ashes […]
SHIFT is among the first Facebook marketing partners to integrate with the newly rebuilt Atlas ad platform. CEO James Borow said the company’s customers will soon be able to leverage Facebook’s data within SHIFT’s new platform to reach people in mobile apps outside of Facebook-owned mobile apps. “The inventory is not just locked within the […]
Facebook’s Atlas ad server allows advertisers to target Facebook users not just on Facebook.com, but across the web and app ecosystem. Once a user has logged into Facebook on a device, Atlas can find the user and serve ads just for that person. When he or she acts on the ad, Atlas ties that back to […]
No one’s going to say that walled gardens don’t have their perks. Just look at Facebook and the new and improved Atlas. Facebook’s long-awaited announcement of a cross-device user ID solution, made Monday as part of Advertising Week in New York City, invites advertisers into a putative Eden that gives them access to what could […]
Facebook has done something big with the relaunch of its Atlas ad server, acquired from Microsoft 16 months ago, but that something has little to do with serving ads. Rather it’s about replacing the beleaguered cookie with a new, more reliable ad-tracking mechanism for the mobile age. The new Atlas – expected to be unveiled […]
Interactive video ad tech startup Innovid has changed significantly since its beginnings in 2007, when it had nothing to do with advertising. Though it has since helped companies like Toyota, Chrysler and Sony Pictures serve up dynamic and interactive pre-, mid- and post-roll video ads, and has worked with both Roku and Sony Playstation to […]
Facebook’s purchase of video supply-side platform (SSP) LiveRail for $500 million underpins its deeper foray into video advertising and positions the social network as a major force in premium publisher monetization. While some experts argue the purchase is a direct response to Google’s recent launch of its programmatic video marketplace Google Partner Select, the sum […]
UPDATE: Facebook has confirmed that David Jakubowski will be joining the company, and that he will have a role that extends beyond Atlas. UPDATE 8:15PM ET: Jakubowski, through Neustar’s public relations agency, released the following comment via email: “I have been presented with an opportunity that I simply couldn’t refuse. I can assure you that Neustar has […]
Facebook’s Atlas Advertiser Suite is laying the groundwork to support “programmatic direct” buys for Microsoft inventory. Beginning in early 2015, Atlas will begin supporting programmatic purchases of Microsoft ads directly through the Atlas interface. Atlas customers will be able to query avails in Microsoft’s ad serving system and reserve guaranteed buys programmatically. Over time the […]
Facebook hasn’t said much about Atlas since buying it a year ago, but it has been making incremental tweaks to the product. On Wednesday it took a bigger step, launching a creative partner program (blog post) with rich media vendors Innovid and Flite. The deal will let Atlas’s agency customers more easily integrate rich media into […]
Facebook has confirmed its agreement to buy Atlas from Microsoft, paving the way for a more robust demand-side offering from the company. In an interview with AdExchanger, Ads Product Director Gokul Rajaram said the primary aim is to help advertisers compare their Facebook ads with all online, and eventually offline, placements. An ad network is not […]
Jason Ramsey is Director of Program Management at Microsoft and helps guide the ongoing development of Microsoft’s advertiser-side ad serving technology known as Atlas. Ramsey helped drive development at Atlas prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of aQuantive in May 2007. As part of AdExchanger’s “State of” series, we spoke to Ramsey last Monday about the state […]
