Technology

2014 was the year advertisers collectively asked the question, “How much?” As in, viewability aside, how much ad fraud is actually out there? Some of the numbers bandied about, often by the fraud vendors themselves, were alarming to say the least. A report released by cyber-security startup MdotLabs in October 2013 before it was acquired […]

The ad tech industry isn’t going anywhere, but 2014 exhibited some of the financial shakiness that dogged public ad tech stocks through much of 2013, especially for companies that went public in the last 12 to 15 months. “The only slight surprise for me and many others [in 2014] was the sudden switch in sentiment […]

If you’re an Oracle competitor, the Datalogix acquisition looks formidable indeed. It adds considerable power to its data-as-a-service offering, which to this point had mostly online data. But if you’re a marketer using Oracle’s technologies – or using Datalogix data to link online advertising to offline sales – what additional benefits can you expect? While, […]

The mad dash for offline-to-online data connections has been one of the top trends of 2014. Enterprise giant Oracle was the latest to close the loop between the online and offline worlds when it revealed Monday its intent to acquire data solutions company Datalogix. “This deal is about championing commerce,” said Ray Wang, principal analyst at […]

Oracle has agreed to acquire Datalogix, a data solutions company that shopped itself around in recent weeks, as AdExchanger has reported. As we previously reported, Facebook, Nielsen and Adobe have also shown interest in the business. Although the deal price was undisclosed, Oracle paid about 6.25x for BlueKai. If Datalogix had revenue of $125 million, that means […]

Google spent the year branding YouTube as the de facto video partner for brand advertisers. 2014 was certainly active for Google’s video properties. Its ads and commerce chief, Susan Wojcicki, took the reins at YouTube as senior vice president, Google packaged the top 5% performing YouTube videos for brand buys in a program called Google […]

The attribution space heated up this year. First Google snapped up Adometry, then AOL grabbed Convertro. Not to be left out, Rakuten bought DC Storm. Everybody wants a solution to the attribution problem – but attribution is more than just another shiny object. “The marketer’s world has never been more fragmented – from channels to possibilities […]

If banner advertising has peaked, native advertising is still on its way up. Proponents of native cite better consumer engagement and higher rates for publishers. London-based market research firm Mintel pegged the current native advertising market at $1.8 billion, predicting it will rise to $9.4 billion by 2018. Of course, “native” is a broad term […]

The Trade Desk made headlines this week when it raked in $45 million in debt financing and brought on Microsoft, RGM Group and Delivery Agent alum Gabe Greenberg to manage its Advanced TV division. The company positions itself as both a DSP and a DMP, and its leaders have longstanding roots in automation, according to […]

Gartner Research’s first-ever Magic Quadrant for Digital Marketing Hubs, released Wednesday, assumes that ad tech, marketing tech and CRM will naturally converge. As such, it pits enterprise platforms like Salesforce.com against ad tech regulars like Rocket Fuel [x+1] and Turn. No doubt many in the industry will debate whether or not this is fair, or […]

One week after completing its $2.3 billion acquisition of ad tech company Conversant on behalf of its Epsilon subsidiary, Alliance Data Systems has made some C-level org changes. Epsilon President Andy Frawley has become Epsilon’s CEO, reporting to Bryan Kennedy, the former Epsilon CEO who has been placed in charge of a joint Conversant-Epsilon unit. His title? That’s right. […]

Adelphic has mobile programmatic on the brain – which makes sense for a mobile DSP. The company said Wednesday that it had closed its Series B to the tune of $11 million in a round led by Blue Chip Venture Co., Google Ventures and Matrix Partners, bringing its total funding to $23 million. Adelphic – which […]

Native is a bit like awkward teenager – it’s still trying to figure itself out and it just wants to fit in. Sharethrough is looking to help native advertising blend in a little better with a new unit that takes a cue from the way players like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest display third-party content on […]

“The Sell Sider” is a column written for the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Andrew Casale, vice president of strategy at Index Exchange, by Casale Media. Commonly and with little difficulty, bad actors are defrauding the digital marketplace. They’re playing tricks to make exchanges think they’re selling inventory […]

“I don’t care if only a portion of my ads are actually seen,” said no advertiser ever. But 100% viewability is still a work in progress. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) issued a report Tuesday in which it emphatically stated that 100% viewability simply “isn’t possible,” setting 70% as a more realistic threshold, at least for […]

“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 Eric Berry, co-founder and CEO at TripleLift. Risk–reward analysis is studied heavily in modern portfolio theory. There are two important questions that pervade this discipline: How can an individual’s portfolio […]

  The rise of automation has made the ad-buying and selling process more informed and efficient, but it’s also provided an outlet for fraudsters to profit. After all, if machines conduct more transactions that used to take place between two humans over the phone, there’s less human oversight. Additionally, ad ops teams, excited by the […]

Adobe Systems posted strong growth in its fiscal year ($4.15 billion in annual revenue). Adobe Marketing Cloud also did well in terms of revenue, bookings and customer adoption. Revenue for the Marketing Cloud in Q4 was $330 million and more than $1.1 billion for the fiscal year, an annual record that occurred because the company exceeded its annual bookings […]

Marketing software and media services provider Integrate raised $5 million on Tuesday, led by Trinity Capital Investment, bringing its total raised funds to $40 million. Integrate, which started in 2010, provides an integration pipeline to enable lead-gen automation. For example, a client looking to acquire customers within a particular demographic would use Integrate to find […]

Goodreads’ 30 million members save books to their “want to read” shelves, write reviews and share recommendations with friends. Started as a place to help readers find books through real-life friends, it’s since become a social destination for people connecting with online and offline friends, attracting 45 million unique visitors a month. The trove of […]

A new report from Interpublic Group’s MAGNA Global media research and buying arm reinforces earlier predictions that consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands would invest as much as $7 billion in digital advertising by 2018. According to MAGNA’s 2015 Global Advertising Revenue Forecast, released Monday, verticals like CPG and pharmaceuticals, which once invested more heavily in […]

“The Sell Sider” is a column written for the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Heather Menery, vice president of emerging solutions at PubMatic.  There are many debates today surrounding mobile and display: Are they now one and the same? Should we still have dedicated, separate budgets or simply […]

Nexage is the cherry on top of Millennial Media’s multiscoop technology sundae. Millennial’s acquisition of Nexage, first announced in September, officially closed on Thursday evening. “Not to sound like Jerry Maguire, but the Nexage deal completes us,” said Matt Gillis, president of platforms at Millennial Media. Millennial has been actively acquiring tech since early last […]

Intel dove deep into content marketing to connect with millennials. For two and a half years, it’s used the IQ website to reach consumers through articles connecting technology to everyday life. In addition to using homegrown pieces, Intel places articles on sites like BuzzFeed and Mashable. All receive extra pushes to drive traffic. That’s where […]

Data solutions of the sort that Datalogix provides are hot right now, and the company hopes that fact will drive up its eventual sale price. As it reached out to would-be buyers this fall, Datalogix hoped to get as much as $1 billion, sources say. Factoring in estimated 2014 revenues of $125 million, that figure […]

Google revealed on Wednesday key insight on how consumers see ads online, pooling data from its advertising platforms over June and July. The company compiled the results in a study called “The Importance of Being Seen: Viewability Insights for Digital Marketers and Publishers.” Get the PDF here. “We’ve had Active View available on the Google Display […]

Is the old ad network model truly dead? When Apple’s ad platform iAd went programmatic, some executives hinted it might be time to start shoveling dirt onto its carcass. “If there weren’t enough nails in the old ad network model, having Apple make the switch to programmatic is one more,” said Michael Collins, CEO of […]

As more advertising happens programmatically, it’s increasingly difficult to blend automation and creative design. And though Brooklyn-based digital agency Huge doesn’t buy media, it feels the influence of automation in advertising and doesn’t necessarily feel it’s for the better, at least from a creative standpoint. With roughly 1,000 employees, Huge operates offices in Atlanta, Washington, […]

Monetizing an app is never child’s play, but it becomes even more difficult if the app in question is aimed at children. Clark Stacey, CEO of game publisher WildWorks, knows about those challenges firsthand. Wildworks, which recently rebranded from Smart Bomb Interactive, has been working in close collaboration with the National Geographic Society since 2010 […]

As more networks like HBO and WWE Network develop a la carte streaming services, competing streaming video or TV providers (and some e-commerce companies, for that matter) are pressed to develop good content that resonates with subscribers. Hulu, which pulled in about $1 billion in revenue in 2013 and has over 6 million Hulu Plus members, airs […]