Six months after it came to light that AppNexus has a problem with invalid inventory, the New York-based company is imposing more transparency on ad networks and websites that use its platform to sell media. AppNexus confirmed to AdExchanger that it has started inserting a new snippet of JavaScript into its ad tag in order to […]
Holding company WPP’s Data Alliance and Facebook have expanded their partnership such that WPP clients globally can use data assets from Kantar Media, media agency GroupM and Wunderman’s KBM Group to build unique audience segments to target across the Facebook ecosystem. This partnership is considerably different from what Facebook has with third-party data providers like Acxiom and Datalogix. […]
Boom and pop. One is the sound of VC money pouring into the ad tech industry. The other is the sound a bubble makes when it bursts. Ad tech has been notorious for heavyweight funding rounds and even larger, some might say bloated, valuations. And companies that were flying high before they went public – Rocket […]
Oracle is rallying behind a product called Oracle ID Graph, announced Wednesday at Oracle Modern Marketing Experience in Las Vegas. It’s not a cross-device ID – the enterprise cloud company recognizes big consumer platforms like Facebook, Google and Apple are up to the task. Instead, ID Graph is designed to make the “unique identifiers” associated […]
For a holding company, WPP is an aggressive buyer of ad tech – most of which winds up within its GroupM unit Xaxis. Since Xaxis absorbed 24/7 Media in December 2013, the programmatic media company’s investments in tech, most of which are acquisitions, have been methodical. The most recent occurred Monday, when Xaxis revealed it […]
The longtime chief of Omnicom Group’s trading desk operation is leaving the company after nearly four years. Josh Jacobs will move on to unspecified pastures after his lengthy stint as global CEO of Accuen, where he helped grow Omnicom’s revenue from programmatic buying activities to $140 million in 2014. Reached by phone, Jacobs cited personal motives, […]
Welcome to the real Facebook Exchange. Facebook is using its F8 Developer Conference in San Francisco, where it trotted out its Audience Network one year ago, to unveil an expansion of its publisher-facing ad tools. The big news is this: Facebook has extended the capabilities of its LiveRail video SSP – acquired last summer – […]
George John, co-founder of ad network/programmatic media platform Rocket Fuel, has vacated his CEO position. Board member Monte Zweben will temporarily step into his place as the company searches for John’s successor. Read the release. “The company’s evolution over the last couple of years put it in a different operating regime, which requires a different type […]
Mozilla is putting the pedal down on its foray into digital ads. In recent weeks, the provider of open-source software has met with a range of ad tech companies in a bid to do more with the audience data and ad space generated by its still popular Firefox browser. In February and March, Mozilla’s content […]
You don’t need a physical store location to try beacons on for size – but not everyone thinks that’s such a great idea. In December, fashion e-retailer Dafiti – Latin America’s answer to Zappos – started placing little Bluetooth-enabled devices in public places around São Paulo, Brazil, as part of an experiment in location-based contextual targeting. Think […]
Is traditional advertising dying in the US? Not for midsize advertisers, according to research from Kantar Media. However, while smaller and midsize advertisers are spending more on “traditional linear media,” the largest US advertisers are redirecting those budgets to digital forums. “The growth of the ad market is on two different tracks right now,” said […]
Gravity4, the ad tech firm started by Gurbaksh Chahal in the wake of his firing from RadiumOne, has acquired retargeter Triggit in a probable fire sale. Triggit’s three founders, including its red-shirted CEO Zach Coelius, are leaving the company in the wake of the sale. Its management received multiple offers, and Gravity4 was both the highest bid […]
AppNexus has acquired Yieldex, whose platform provides publishers with analytics, forecasting and sales management tools. The deal might help strengthen AppNexus’ relationships with media sellers at a time when direct deals between marketers and publishers represent a growing portion of the programmatic ad pie. The Wall Street Journal placed the deal’s value at approximately $100 million in cash and […]
It’s been 100 days – give or take a day – since Yahoo bought the video demand-side platform and exchange BrightRoll for $640 million, and BrightRoll CEO Tod Sacerdoti has been busy. BrightRoll on Wednesday revealed it’s baking Yahoo audience demographic and behavioral data into BrightRoll’s DSP, which the company claims will enrich ad-targeting capabilities […]
Advanced audience targeting is taking a seat at this year’s TV upfronts. Sellers are lining their arsenals with new products promising cross-platform reach, partially out of necessity. Viewer attention is fragmenting and advertisers want assurance that if they commit an upfront buy, there will be multiple points of execution. It’s unclear the extent to which buyers […]
In 2008, NBC Universal released a system called TAMI – the Total Audience Measurement Index. Despite the promise of its name, it did not revolutionize TV measurement. In fact, it wasn’t even a system. “It was a spreadsheet that someone updated manually,” recalled Julie DeTraglia, the network’s SVP of digital research, during a Thursday panel […]
Jet.com, the stealth upstart from Marc Lore, the man who sold vertical ecommerce company Quidsi – parent of Diapers.com, Soap.com and BeautyBar.com – to Amazon for $545 million in 2010, wants to remake the commerce model. Primed to launch in late spring, Jet.com seeks to democratize the Amazon marketplace model. Buyers who subscribe for $49.99 […]
“Marketer’s Note” is a regular column informing marketers about the rapidly evolving, digital marketing technology ecosystem. This week it is written by Melissa Parrish, Executive Director, AdExchanger Research. Last week it was reported that Facebook is building out an ad exchange platform, powered by Live Rail. If true, it’s an indication that the social networking giant continues to […]
The only certainties in life are death, taxes and multiple definitions of “viewability.” The Media Rating Council (MRC) defines a video ad as viewable if half of that ad is in-view for a minimum of two consecutive seconds, but others, like media agency GroupM, are demanding all pixels be in-view with the sound on for at least 50% […]
Major League Gaming is changing up its strategy, focusing on programmatic sales over direct. “We have consciously made the decision to focus 90% of our energies on programmatic for the year of 2015,” explained Don Reilley, EVP of MLG. “We can focus heavily on the programmatic side of things, and then layer two, three, four […]
All of La Quinta Inns & Suites’ 2015 insertion orders specify that it will pay for human traffic only. “As a brand that strives to do the most with our resources, and as a challenger brand in the space, it matters when our media dollars aren’t going to real people,” La Quinta director of media […]
For CPG companies like ConAgra, buying media using sales data from retailers like Walmart offers a way to finally close the loop between media spend and sales. But some are concerned about the lack of transparency that comes with using the Walmart Exchange. “Walmart has more data than we do,” said Fernando Arriola, VP of […]
Unilever’s open-door approach to data and technology are on display in the brand’s Foundry effort, a program that invites startups to pitch their wares and work on digital innovation with the consumer packaged-goods company. Global Marketing SVP Marc Mathieu noted today’s data-obsessed marketing landscape has little to do with the French railway advertisements he remembers […]
The next billion weigh heavily on the mind of agencies and the brands they represent. “There are roughly 1 billion people online on planet Earth. By 2017, the next billion will be there – and mobile phones are the primary means of making this happen,” said Mike Parker, McCann Worldgroup’s global chief digital officer. He was […]
Being a programmatic salesperson today means tacking between technical and personal considerations. At BBC Worldwide Americas, where programmatic sales channels comprise a full third of ad revenues, the technical end means experimenting with tactics like varying price floors per advertiser in order to maximize yield. “If an advertiser is consistently bidding $20 on our inventory, […]
Location data platform AdNear is going off-road with its data collection. The Singapore-based company is in the midst of completing a series of tests using drones to collect wireless data, a key ingredient in AdNear’s audience profiles. AdNear has been conducting its drone experiments in several key markets, including Los Angeles, since January. The […]
MEC North America’s digital president Shenan Reed is discussing the way her media agency communicates with its sisters in GroupM (“We’re all one big stock ticker symbol and it’s to nobody’s advantage to be competitive with each other”) when her Ringly vibrates. That’s the connected piece of jewelry that perks up when someone receives a call […]
BrandShop is betting that ecommerce and agency services will continue to bleed together. Publicis Groupe’s $3.7 billion SapientNitro buy is the most recent example, but earlier deals such as Accenture Interactive’s acquisition of ecommerce advisory shop Acquity Group also underscore the shift. BrandShop, a hybrid of marketing services, ecommerce technology and orders and fulfillment, draws […]
Nielsen has acquired data-management technology platform and exchange eXelate, the companies announced Wednesday. The deal is a major foray into the programmatic arena for TV-centric researcher Nielsen, which has been looking for ways to accelerate its digital audience intelligence. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but AdExchanger sources estimated the transaction price at close to $200 […]
Ad verifier Integral Ad Science has acquired video analytics startup Veenome in a deal the two companies claim will kick video measurement up a notch. Veenome’s product premise is that advertisers should know the context of the video content around their placement, not simply that they hit their demo targets. Advertisers undoubtedly want to know […]
