Facebook Transaction Data; Reaching For Publishers

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Facebook Transaction Data

Is Facebook now a payment processor? Not yet, but the social platform has taken one step closer to closing the loop on mobile commerce transactions. Last month, AdExchanger covered Facebook’s foray into an “autofill” feature for beta brand JackThreads. Put simply, shoppers can use their Facebook login to populate payment info – removing one step from a sometimes less-than-stellar checkout process on mobile. Now, according to TechCrunch, Facebook has teamed up with PayPal, Stripe and Braintree to ramp things up on the processor side and product manager Deb Liu tells Josh Constine that Facebook is trying to help developers “monetize and convert.” Facebook – getting closer to transaction data. Anybody want a Facebook credit card?

Reaching For Publishers

Pinterest announced a new pin, specifically for news articles, which gives more detailed information about a story including a photo, headline, publication name and story blurb. This isn’t the first time Pinterest has tailor-made a pin — recipes, movies and products all have their own formats. With all the talk of promoted pins, this could be a play to get publishers on board. Read the blog post.

Twitter Funds

According to The Street, Twitter will list on the New York Stock Exchange when it goes public, while looking to avoid the issues Facebook had when it went public. Twitter filed its S-1 confidentially, so most information about its IPO remains speculation. The Street’s sources say Twitter will raise about $1.5 billion and have a $15 billion valuation. Read more. Facebook raised $16 billion in its May 2012 IPO and was, initially, valued at $104 billion.

Mobile Ad Lift

According to analytics/measurement firm comScore, mobile ads do work. The company has conducted hundreds of Mobile Brand Lift studies and compiled the results, with the biggest boost being purchase intent, at 28% lift. The company doesn’t have a clear answer for why this is happening, but it could be related to the on-the-go nature of mobile, or social influences. Read more. Complementary read: An IAB survey of 300 brand advertisers found mobile ad spend has increased 142% from 2011 to 2013. Press release.

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AI-Powered Astroturfing; ‘Vote’ Is A Four-Letter Word

In a feature piece on Ad Age, Michael Sebastian highlights Troy Young’s first steps toward Hearst publishing’s reinvention as president of its digital unit. Sebastien begins, “The industry is hoping that a more muscular Web presence could help it draw a larger audience and attract a greater share of digital spending, so Mr. Young’s success or failure at Hearst will be closely monitored.” Read more.

Brand Marketer Invests

Brand licenser Iconix Brand Group (owner of Candie’s, Roca Wear and other brands) has led an entire round of financing — $20 million — in media company/ad network Complex Media. Iconix CEO Neil Cole tells Business Insider that “the investment will yield strategic benefits for both Complex Media and Iconix, but not monetary. ‘We think there are so many assets we can leverage, but unfortunately we don’t own 100% of Complex,’ Cole said.” Read it. Is this the future for a company like Glam Media or Alloy Digital: selling to a marketer seeking a digital marketing — and programmatic — strategy? Like “soap operas” digitally served.

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