Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
AOL Officially Spun
As David Kaplan of PaidContent said from this twitter account, it was “not an auspicious day for AOL’s stock: ended down 0.68 percent at $23.51” in its opening day of trading. Erik Sherman of Bnet reviews recent analysis of the newly-minted AOL (or Aol.) and says things don’t look so hot. Read it.
Using Your Competitor’s Trademark
MediaPost’s Laurie Sullivan looks at the use of trademarked terms in PPC text ads and finds that the legal boundaries are not cut and dry. Looking at a case involving Experian and Fair Isaac, it would appear that using a competitor’s trademarked terms in an ad may be O.K. Are there implications for display and using images of trademarked products, logos, etc.? Read more.
Greystripe Does Droid
Mobile display ad network, Greystripe, took the wraps off of its display ads for Android mobile phones. According to Leena Rao, “Greystripe’s Android SDK supports pre-roll, interstitial and post-roll inventory.” Read about the Droid implementation here.
Publicis Freezing
The AdExchanger.com job board might be chock full of available jobs, but over at Publicis its a different story as Publicis CFO Jean-Michel Etienne told the audience at the UBS Media Conference that a hiring freeze remains in place according to AdWeek. Read more. (Hey, wait a second, Publicis has jobs available on the AdExchanger.com job board!).
Publishers Pushing Audience
Audience buying is reaching publishers through the Rubicon Project’s REVV marketplace according to a story by MediaPost’s Gavin O’Malley. O’Malley says audience targeted buys have doubled to 10% through the platform. Read more.
Engagement Metrics Heating Up
Microsoft and IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative agency provided results from recent research “comparing advertising impact and engagement on Xbox LIVE to traditional video, including TV” for automakers Kia Motors America and Hyundai Motor America. Not surprisingly, more engagement was shown with Xbox LIVE than traditional video. Read the release.
AdWeek Sold
Among 7 other brands, AdWeek/Mediaweek/Brandweek has been sold to Pluribus & Guggenheim by Nielsen. Lucia Moses of AdWeek writes about the good news coming from the lips of the new owners who said, “in addition to adding significant editorial resources to each of the brands across print, Web and mobile platforms, the new company would add paid content portions to each brand’s Web site.” Read more.
Bizo Grabs Second
According to Xconomy, Amazon Web Services awarded second prize in its annual Amazon Web Services Start-up Challenge to San Francisco-based Bizo which received $25k in AWS credits. GoodData, a BI and analytics firm took first. Read about it.
Publishers Need Tools
Jerry Neumann burrows into the meaty topic of information and markets on his Reaction Wheel blog and comes out with the conclusion that “the sellers, the publishers, have let themselves be isolated from the information they would need to link quality and price on any inventory they sell through markets. It shouldn’t be surprising that the prices they get are rock bottom.” Read the meat.
To Arb, Or Not To Arb
Cory Treffiletti gives his take on demand-side platforms and argues against arbitrage with the use of technology as a key agency revenue stream. Treffiletti suggests in his OnlineSpin column on MediaPost that agencies are there to provide and effect strategies for clients – and not gamble with arb. Read it.
Enhancing Memory
On the Hill Holliday blog, designer Jessica Holt Jessica discusses how interface design choices affect the user’s memory and builds on a recent tip list by Jakob Nielssen. Holt adds more ideas including using text and graphics to instruct, avoiding repetition and adding multimedia. Read more.
Greylock Keeps Churning
The Wall Street Journal’s Venture Capital blog says that Greylock Partners has not lost any momentum even though the firm is reaching “middle age” – 44 years old. In a profile, the blog notes recent aggressive and progressive investments in Facebook, LinkedIn and Digg as proof. Read more.
Morgan On Video
Simulmedia and former Tacoda chief, Dave Morgan, spills the beans on his new company and its focus on optimizing the delivery of promotional spots. Morgan is adamant that the TV is a much better experience than watching video through the PC. See the video interviews on Weisler Media.
