Technology

Now available on your mobile device: all the crummy, spammy experiences you’ve come to expect from desktop. Shady affiliate marketing tactics are a particular annoyance for publishers and users alike, especially forced redirects that unexpectedly shunt users to an app store, either by way of an intrusive popup or a mobile webpage overstuffed with display […]

As fraudsters get smarter, anti-fraud players must evolve to put up a worthy fight. To scale its fraud detection capabilities, viewability and verification measurement vendor Integral Ad Science (IAS) has acquired bot detection company Swarm. Terms of the deal, which was announced Friday, were not disclosed. “Fraud is not going away, it’s getting more sophisticated,” […]

Google’s acquisition of cloud video platform Anvato late Thursday gives the search giant serious skin in server-side ad stitching. While Anvato provides video editing and file encoding tools, it also ensures content and dynamically inserted ads are delivered properly. So if a broadcaster wishes to stream content simultaneously to Roku, Amazon Fire and iOS and […]

For many in the native space, the always-on-the-horizon prospect of the Promised Land has been a hard sell to other digital stakeholders. And though the industry has grown at a rapid clip, there’s still deep confusion over questions as basic and crucial as “What is native?” Native is “a broad term that lacks definition,” said […]

Mediaocean has acquired Invision, a software company that helps broadcasters and major media companies manage sales workflow. The financial terms of the deal, announced Thursday, were undisclosed and Mediaocean expects to add 100-plus employees as a result of the transaction. This deal represents Mediaocean’s first serious foray into sell-side tools, since it had previously focused […]

While the VC well has runneth dry for many of the middlemen of ad tech, the cash is still flowing for companies focused on the cross-device space, mar tech, artificial intelligence and mobile marketing automation. Flowing with caveats, however. “It’s not that capital has dried up, but rather that investors are being more deliberate in […]

When brands think about video advertising, sequential retargeting isn’t always top of mind. But multinational rental-car company Sixt, in its bid to capture more share in the US market (it has 50 stations across the US, after opening its first in Florida in 2011), is test-driving Facebook video coupled with expanded Custom Audiences to improve […]

It’s a tale of the haves and the have-nots. Deal values for mar tech are exploding, according to M&A activity surveys from Jordan Edmiston Group (JEGI) and Petsky Prunier, highlighting the first half of 2016. By contrast, ad tech, despite heavy consolidation speculation, is still in a slump. JEGI noted $13.3 billion in deal value […]

The out-of-home market is turning its real-world infrastructure into a tool for data-driven digital media. An OOH campaign nowadays for a CPG client may look more like a tapestry of strategic relationships. The media provider may allow some mobile tracking (in the US that probably means Outfront or Clear Channel, which together account for a […]

Let the data mingling commence! Google is going to start storing Chrome and Google app browsing history alongside an individual’s Google account information, which catalogs what you watch on YouTube and what you search for. The internet giant previously siloed those two types of information, and now that they’re coming together that data could eventually […]

It’s come to this: The hopes of an industry are pinned on two SEC filings. Both AppNexus and The Trade Desk are close to submitting S1 forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating plans to go public in the coming months and releasing key financial details. In the case of The Trade Desk, the […]

LinkedIn is launching more programmatic buying access to its historically walled arsenal of B2B inventory, just two weeks after Microsoft acquired it. Tuesday’s launch of programmatic display opens RTB access to all major demand side platforms and agency trading desks. Advertisers can either buy LinkedIn display ad inventory via the open exchange or through LinkedIn Private Auctions. The […]

After a string of court losses, Axel Springer finally landed a blow on Eyeo’s Adblock Plus (ABP). On Friday, a German court granted the German publishing giant a partial victory in its appeal of a previous decision. In question was ABP’s Acceptable Ads initiative, an open source ad-block revenue channel (meaning other ad blockers can […]

Buyers have decidedly mixed feelings about outstream video. Outstream formats are generally billed as a highly viewable alternative to scarce pre-roll because they’re embedded natively within article text and only play with the sound on when a consumer scrolls over. But some say outstream formats are difficult to discover within the exchange environment and, unsurprisingly, […]

Google is building a technology platform that will underpin two of its buy-side solutions: DoubleClick Bid Manager (DBM), a DSP and ad server for large advertisers, and Google Display Network (GDN), where search advertisers and small advertisers play. “We think there are huge opportunities to democratize programmatic for Google Display Network buyers,” said Brad Bender, […]

Are programmatic advertising and creative storytelling finally coming together in a meaningful way? It’s a good question to ask at the Cannes Lions festival, where the whole point is creativity – or it used to be, before the twin powers of data and media started elbowing in on the joint a few years back. But […]

Nielsen is looking to score more sports marketing dollars with its acquisition of Repucom, a sports research firm founded in Australia and now based out of the US. Nielsen, which closed the deal on Tuesday, did not disclose the price tag, though German sports industry trade pub Sponsors reported it to be more than $100 […]

P&G’s programmatic buying platform AudienceScience has a new CEO. Company Chairman Bill Gossman will assume the role, effective immediately, and former head Mike Peralta will become chief strategy officer. AudienceScience also made two other executive hires: David De Simone, who will serve as COO, and Patrick Reilly, its VP of enterprise sales. “We’ve gotten to […]

Microsoft and LinkedIn both have advertising businesses. But Microsoft’s $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn wasn’t about advertising. At least, that’s not the main reason. “It’s less about ad tech and more about mar tech,” said William Furlong, a former Bizo executive and current adviser and consultant. Forrester VP and principal analyst Melissa Parrish agreed. While […]

AppNexus and Taboola have connected with each other to enable buyers to purchase Taboola’s native placements programmatically. Eighty-five AppNexus buyers have already used this connection to buy on Taboola. The integration represents a step forward for programmatic native just as another huge native pool of supply disappeared: FBX, which will shut down in November. Taboola CEO Adam Singolda […]

Impact Radius is bringing fraud detection in-house with the acquisition of Forensiq. The deal, announced Tuesday, helps create what Impact Radius CEO Per Pettersen calls “a system of record with built-in fraud detection.” Forensiq and Impact Radius are keeping the terms of the transaction secret other than to note it was a mixture of cash […]

The ANA report on agency transparency erupted last week, intensifying a long-expected public dispute between brands and their media agencies. While the report focused on brands and agency holding companies, its findings could potentially affect ad tech companies. AdExchanger reached out to some leaders in the ad tech sphere to see how they viewed the […]

Updated with details from the Microsoft/LinkedIn investor call. Microsoft’s surprise $26.2 billion deal to acquire LinkedIn, among the largest digital technology acquisitions ever if it goes through, has the potential to transform the competitive dynamics in the CRM software industry. It also holds the promise of rebirth for Microsoft’s moribund, outsourced digital advertising business, via […]

The current state of the advertising value exchange often leaves a little something to be desired, which sometimes leads to ad blocking and sometimes leads to total disengagement with advertising. “Most people block ads because they don’t feel like they’re getting value out of them,” said Matt Berriman, CEO and co-founder of Unlockd, an Australian […]

While it’s still too early to assess the repercussions of the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) media transparency report issued Tuesday, industry analysts expect the dynamics between advertisers and their programmatic trading desks to bear the burden of the impact. Though the 62-page report didn’t name names, it cited instances of non-transparent practices among agency […]

Programmatic wasn’t to Apple’s taste, but advertising isn’t so bad if you’re the one driving the bus. After killing off iAd in January, Apple on Wednesday shared its plans, notably in advance of its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, to completely change the way its App Store operates – namely with the introduction of paid search […]

Another day, another acquisition of a mobile company by a Chinese conglomerate. Publisher-focused mobile ad exchange Smaato will be snapped up by (this is a mouthful) Spearhead Integrated Marketing Communications Group, a Beijing-based offline marketing service provider. Spearhead will shell out $148 million on the deal, pending the usual approvals. Getting acquired by a Chinese […]

Cross-channel marketing company Signal announced $30 million in fresh funding on Tuesday – seeming evidence that ad tech funding isn’t drying up for everyone. That brings Signal’s total funding to around $70 million since it was founded in 2009, including a $13.3 million round of venture capital in March. Raising funds hasn’t been a problem, […]

Bell Media, the broadcasting and radio subsidiary of Canadian communications company Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE), is bulking up on programmatic for its linear, streaming video and mobile platforms. Using Videology, Bell Media is building an audience indexing and delivery tool for advertisers to plan and execute cross-platform campaigns. The first phase of the integration will go […]

With additional reporting by Sarah Sluis. Mobile app marketing platform Fiksu was quietly acquired last Wednesday by an obscure holding company for an undisclosed sum. But it’s a fate that could have been avoided. Fiksu’s cautionary tale has multiple chapters. It’s the story of what happens when a company pegs its future to the dynamics […]