Moat Sues ComScore; Amazon Ad Impact

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

Moat Sues ComScore

On PandoDaily, Erin Griffith reports on a counter suit by analytics firm Moat against comScore after comScore had sued Moat in July. Griffith writes, “Moat has also accused comScore of fraud. ComScore promoted a ‘viewable impression’ standardized form of measurement widely in the industry without disclosing, until now, that it holds a patent on viewable impressions. That’s kind of a problem – the entire industry is spending money and energy supporting the IAB’s Making Measurement Make Sense initiative and trying to make its products fit into that viewable impression standard.” Read more.

Search Feels Amazon’s Impact

Google’s Paid Product Listings business is showing some early growth in its new format. But Rob Schmults, SVP of strategic partnerships at Intent Media, points to some changes in the search marketing firmament that Google has long dominated. He tells Mediapost’s Laurie Sullivan that because Amazon allows advertisers to directly target product searches through a cost-per-click model, it is essentially “taking money out of Google’s pocket.” Hence, Google’s decision to ramp up PLAs. Read more.

AOL (Still) Plotting Comeback

As earnings season comes upon us, AOL is looking a little better in investors eyes thanks to stabilizing traffic, Bloomberg’s Edmund Lee reports. Read it. But revenues are still lagging. That said, AOL’s position could be worse. “AOL is further along in their turnaround than Yahoo is,” says ThinkEquity’s Ronald Josey. And, it’s stock price has more than doubled in a year.

Showrooming

When your online rivals are selling the same stuff for less, what’s a brick-and-mortar retailer to do? Best Buy thinks it can ramp sales and prevent so-called “showrooming” by matching online competitor prices this holiday season. The Wall Street Journal’s Ann Zimmerman notes the contradiction, “Aware that [traditional retailers] need to adapt aging business models to the realities of mobile- and computer-aided shopping, they don’t want to overreact or lose sight of what made them successful—that is, selection and service.” Read more (subscription).

I Was iFramed

Cross-domain iframes have thrown a wrench in the viewability debate, which already had a few toolboxes worth. Spider.io is the latest company to claim it has solved the issue, which exists because browsers don’t let scripts communicate between iframes on different domains. Read the press release. And, more on Ad Operations Online.

Big Bucks for Windows 8 Launch

Microsoft may have earmarked as much as $1.8 billion for its Windows 8 launch campaign, says Dave Einstein of the branded NetApp blog on Forbes.com. If true it’s historic money. Einstein: “That’s the biggest product launch in the history of the industry; it dwarfs the $200 million Microsoft spent to market Windows 95.” He cites Microsoft analyst Rob Enderle, who states, “the marketing effort is on a scale you don’t see outside presidential elections.” Could be a chance to show faith in audience buying and drop a pile of cash on “programmatic premium” through AppNexus. Read more.