Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
MySpace Simplifies Privacy
In a battle of privacy policies, MySpace has simplified its privacy setting that enable users to control what is tracked and what isn’t of their online MySpace experience. The Wall Street Journal’s Emily Steel writes, “The new MySpace privacy controls, which will take effect in the coming weeks, give users the option to select one privacy setting for all information in their profiles.” Read more.
Big Data, Big Hardware
Netezza has sold more big computer hardware. This time its to BlueKai who says that they will use “Netezza’s TwinFin data warehouse appliance to power their customer-facing reporting and to support their advanced analytics capabilities.” Read more.
Time Turning Digital
MediaWeek’s Lucia Moses provides a feature story on “Time’s Survival Strategy” as the popular magazine looks to prosper in a digital world. She notes “10 percent of revenue comes from digital sources.” Peter Gardiner of creative agency Deutsch says “I think they’ve done the best job in making themselves a multimedia property.” Read more.
Exchange Wire’s Ciaran O’Kane interviews Yann Le Roux of French exchange trading specialist, Matiro, which says it’s the first display ad exchange specialist in France. Le Roux tells Exchange Wire that Matiro will be working with clients rather than digital agencies: “In France the majority of e-commerce or online direct response advertisers do not work with multi-media or digital agencies.” Read more.
Information Inefficiency Must Exist
On his Tumblr blog, entrepreneur Scott Rafer notes that successful startups Gilt Groupe and GroupOn are not using any search engine optimization techniques to drive traffic. He notes, “Unless you’re Google, efficient pricing is the antithesis of profit. Instant, free, ubiquitous, constant, direct comparisons to the competition drives prices towards marginal cost (i.e. profit = zero) quickly. To escape this race to the bottom, information inefficiency must exist.” Read it. Business writer Rob Hof isn’t buying it and says in a tweet, “Not sure manufactured information inefficiency is a great long-term strategy. Amazon’s the opposite. They get my $.”
The Multitouch-Point DSP
In “DSP Focus: A Multitude of Possibilities,” [x+1] CEO John Nardone argues that the demand-side platform needs to evolve: “The multitouch-point DSP is the next logical step for our industry. We need a DSP that connects all the points of digital demand creation – not just display ads. Digital agencies need such a platform if they are to ascend to preeminence in the overall marketing process.” Read more in OMMA Magazine.
Newspapers For Free
Alan Pearlstein ruminates on his Cross Targeting blog that newspapers which once gave away display banners on their websites as a value-add, will likely see the reverse happen soon where the newspaper ads are the value-add. Pearlstein writes, “I think this is inevitable, but it probably won’t happen on a major scale for a while. When print becomes a value ad it will be the final confirmation of the end of newspapers as a print advertising medium and few newspaper owners are willing to accept this fate, even if they know it is coming.” Read more.
Tweaking The Algo
In the fourth (or “Pork Chop”) installment of a series of posts on Information and Markets, Jerry Neumann says that compared to the inefficient search costs for the consumer that are usually covered by sellers in the offline world, “…online, the search cost is the expense of tweaking the buying algorithm… unlike many traditional markets, online markets should supply more information that can be used to determine quality and less commoditization.” Read more.
P&G Targeting On The Fly
Ad Age’s Jack Neff says that advertisers are increasingly using the pulse of social media to inform split-second decisions on media campaigns and its creative. Joan Lewis, SVP of consumer and market knowledge at P&G, tells Neff that “such on-the-fly changes are also a model for what P&G wants to do more of in the future.” Read more.
Australian Ad Market Strong
IPG’s MAGNAGlobal has released its Australian Media Advertising Revenue Forecast. With digital, TV and outdoor leading the way, the research company has upgraded its outlook: “We now expect 2010 advertising revenues to grow by 6.2% in 2010, compared to prior expectations of 5.1% growth.” Read the release. And, download here from MAGNA’s site (signup required).
Search Re-Targeting
On MediaPost, Magnetic CEO Josh Shatkin-Margolis wonders allowed, “Can Search Advertisers Play in Display’s Backyard?” Shatkin-Margolis offers some interesting tips to SEM advertisers including something called “Conquesting”: “Many advertisers would like to target users searching for a competitor (Verizon Wireless would probably like to reach iPhone users, for example), but SEM platforms have limits to this kind of competitive targeting.” But, not in display he says. Read more.
Tweeting In Display Ads
Twitter is now IN ads. According to ClickZ’s Christopher Heine, a rich media ad for Mountain Hardwear not only provided links to a video on a backpack product, but allowed users to tweet to enter a contest. Over 10,000 tweets were registered during the 30-day campaign. Read more.
AdWords Display Webinar
Katrina Kurnit of the Inside AdWords crew says that this Thursday, May 20, Google will be offering “a webinar about our recent innovations in display advertising and how marketers are incorporating it into their strategies.” Register here.
Still Fixing Advertising
In addition to making audio podcasts available of its recent, popular Fixing Advertising events, Dapper announced that it has added Victoria Treyger, CMO of Travelocity, and Ramsey McGory of Yahoo! among others for its June 8 panel during Internet Week In New York City. Request an invite.
Sears Moves Digital Biz
Ad Age’s Jeremy Mullman writes that Havas’ Media Contacts has lost the Sears digital business to media buying agency Digitas. The account was worth $29 million of ad spend last year. Read more.
