Reacting To Apple Alarmism; VC Sours On Media Companies Posing As Ad Tech

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.

Simmer Down Now

Enough with the Apple alarmism, Chris Pedigo of Digital Content Next says in a rebuttal to an AdExchanger column by Alan Chapell. And no, he’s not talking about the headphone jack. Pedigo writes that Chapell’s piece unnecessarily raised fears about Apple’s expanded Limit Ad Tracking feature. “The ads aren’t being blocked – they can still be served. What’s more the advertiser can still know that the ad has been served, where it was served and how it performed.” And he adds Apple is only giving the people what they want. “Consumers have been looking for ways to limit third-party tracking for years.” Read on. Related in AdExchanger: Vendors mull the impact.

Ad Tech VC: Not Dead

Venture capital has reportedly soured on ad tech, but that’s because investors “really don’t want to invest in media businesses that are hiding as ad tech,” says Ari Paparo, CEO of Beeswax. Paparo’s firm just raised an $11 million Series A round from Foundry Group and RRE Ventures. Beeswax sells bidders to ad networks and direct marketers at bargain bin rates of $7,500-$10,000 per month [AdExchanger coverage]. Its seed-round backers include a who’s who of founders/CEOs (DoubleClick, Right Media, Moat, MoPub, Freewheel, MediaMath and LiveRamp). More at TechCrunch.

Another Day, Another Vertical

A new Google ad format called “Shop The Look” will showcase a carousel of relevant buyable images promoted by retailers. Shop The Look will live above the sponsored links section in search results. “Consumers can now turn to Google search as a one stop shop for finding and buying products, and brands and advertisers will want to join the Shop the Look program to create an additional channel to reach consumers,” claims BI Intelligence (though this is Google’s umpteenth attempt at a more direct online shopping platform).

Survival Of The Fittest

What will happen to legacy cable networks when skinny streaming bundles, OTT and VOD render the set-top box irrelevant? Turner CEO John Martin says his cable empire will eventually start selling streaming subscription services, effectively competing with its biggest customers: cable distributors. “Our frustration with them has been that their ability to innovate quickly enough, to provide consumers with great experiences, has been disappointing,” Martin said. As for the rest of the network cable universe, “The strong brands will survive and get stronger, and the marginal and the weaker brands are going to get weaker and disappear,” he tells Peter Kafka at Recode. Read it.

Court Hearing

Law firm Edelson PC filed a federal case in San Francisco against the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and its mobile tech vendors. “The app turns on the microphone (listening and recording) any time the app is running,” allege Edelson lawyers. “No matter if a consumer is actively using the app or if it is merely running in the background: the app is listening.” The beacon-based location firm Signal360, one of the vendors named as a defendant in the suit, said in a statement, “We have been made aware of the suit and it appears there is a misunderstanding about how our technology works.” More at Sporting News.

But Wait, There’s More!