Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
More Private Exchanges
They’re calling the new exchange “Q”. According to Ad Age’s Edmund Lee, “The New York Times Co., Hearst, Tribune and Gannett will start selling the bulk of ad inventory for its newspapers and local TV stations in a closed system to be administered through the consortium’s joint venture, called QuadrantOne.” It’s the private exchange model, for the win! Is Google watching this? Oh yeah – somebody’s gonna get bought soon. Tick tick tick tick…. But, will certain publishers stay in a Google-owned private exchange? Read more. The new exchange is powered by AdMeld –read the release.
The 100
Personalized retargeting tech company Criteo has put out a new press release saying “it is recruiting for over one hundred new positions for its research and development centre in Paris” as the company looks to expand its operations. Read it. It appears Criteo may be readying for the ad version of the Battle of Thermopylae.
Selling Anonymous Audience
PubMatic has released the first part of a two-part white paper that looks at “Audience Selling for Publishers” as real-time bidding remains a hot topic for publishers considering strategy for the indirect sales channel. The paper incorporates the results of a study generated with Knowledge Networks and includes findings such as, “When the survey participants were asked if they knew the online data collected about them for the purpose of advertising was anonymous, only 40% understood it was anonymous.” Lots of stats in this one which could be used in PowerPoints by sellers who want to win over clients nervous about online behavioral ads. Read the release. Download the white paper (sign-up required) and learn more about “Anonymous Andy.”
Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney gives his take on the eCommerce landscape after attending the eTail West 2011 Conference. He notes the eCommerce momentum: “Attendance exceeded 2008 levels with several sessions being standing room only. (…) Mobile Commerce Could Redefine 2011 Shopping Season. (…) Social Commerce Now an Increasingly Large Focus For Retailers — We came across several retailers that have moved beyond the experimentation and ROI recognition phase of Social Media marketing, and now into direct monetization thru Social Media. (…) OmniChannel Is The New Paradigm For Multi-Channel Retailers – During a panel discussion between execs from brick & mortar retailers, there was a consensus that the optimum goal for retailers is to achieve a singular brand experience for customers, regardless of the technology or medium.”
Multi Platform World
Hill Holliday’s Adam Cahill talks “Multi-Platform” in an opinion piece on ClickZ. He says, “I’m intentionally not tackling the subject of whether or not it makes sense for buyers to use one or many core DSPs. I think that really is a decision buyers need to make for themselves, based on their own pilots and points of view about service and technology.” Read what he is talking about.
Listening To The Street
Twitter is worth $4 Billion – so says JP Morgan which may take a minority stake in the company according to the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ’s Rolfe Winkler quotes eMarketer data which says, “Twitter reaches far fewer users than most realize. The site boasts over 200 million registered accounts, but after excluding inactive, duplicate and nonhuman accounts, the number of monthly users is just 16 million in the U.S.” Nonhuman? Aliens are on Twitter????!!! Read more.
DDS Vs. MediaBank
Media transaction systems MediaBank and Donovan Data Systems are locked in a grueling, no-holds barred bidding process for a “$27 billion prize: the North American business of Publicis Groupe’s VivaKi.” And if MediaBank and DDS enjoy this battle, they’re gonna love another “global initiative being conducted by VivaKi to put in place a single system across its global footprint by 2012.” Read more in AdWeek from Steve McClellan.
You’re Hired!
SpotXchange announced that it has done what everyone media and ad tech company would like to do and contracted with Procter & Gamble. Kinda. They’ve hired former P&G exec Bob Dees as SVP of Strategy. According to the release, “Bob was pivotal in creating an internal ad network and DSP for P&G brands using proprietary data for targeting consumers.” Read the release. Former Aol and Magnetic exec, Mike Peralta, has moved to demand-side platform MediaMath. Among other responsibilities, “Peralta will be spearheading MediaMath’s aggressive international expansion.” Read more.
Copy Testing Comes To Digital
Did you know?: “P&G’s widely acclaimed creative of recent years — TV and digital Old Spice ads from Wieden & Kennedy — weren’t copy tested before production or, in the case of the ‘Responses’ social-media campaign, at all.” Time are a-changing according to Ad Age’s Jack Neff. Read more.
From Intern To Star
Former Rapleaf intern Calvin Papas has taken the data-driven knowledge sewn at Rapleaf and turned it into an enterprise focused on online privacy says The WSJ’s Emily Steel. Read more. Pappas has started “a website, www.selectout.org, to educate consumers about online privacy issues and give them a one-stop-shop where they could opt out of the tracking,” according to Steel. Seems like he has a few competitors, but good luck!
Real-Time Buzz
You can provide analytics.. but can you do it in real-time. Kontangent says it can for Facebook apps which has implications for mobile advertisers as TechCrunch says, “Social application developers can gain real-time insights into the behavior and activities of their social applications.” The company claims its tracking over 100 million monthly users. Read more.
Chicago Valley
Chicago may not be Silicon Valley but Chicago technetizens are not worrying as more tech startups are appearing in the Windy City according to Crain’s Chicago Business. Read more. Data management platform BrightTag and its COO, former Orbitz Chief Operating Officer Mike Sands, are featured as proof points.
RTBing From Israel
TechCrunch’s Robin Wauters reports that ContextIn is joining the real-time bidding world as the company has has raised ‘a few million dollars’ from Spark Capital and Pitango for “an algorithmic approach to the optimization of media buying across the various display ad exchanges.” Read more. Spark Capital can’t get enough of real-time bidding and data-driven media buying as it has already invested in AdMeld and Triggit among others.
What The Billboard Knows
Yes, even billboards are tracking people says Emily Steel of The Wall Street Journal. She quotes Omnicom Digital CEO Jonathan Nelson thusly: “The technology ‘actually recognizes faces. If you raise your eyebrow, it can track tha. (…) We’re exploring the applications, and they are endless.” Read about it.
Break Media To Be Sold?
Video ad network/publisher Break Media may be sold (or part of it) as its principal investor – Lionsgate – may look to unlock value in the hot tech space. The New York Post writes, “A spin-off could value Lionsgate’s Web and TV assets at around $800 million — about equal to Lionsgate’s current market cap, according to executives familiar with the matter. Break Media alone could net a valuation of between $500 million and $600 million, said one executive.” Read more.
But Wait. There’s More!
- How Do You Slice and Dice Your Target Audience When Buying an Ad? – Ad Age
- Plan to Create a Digital Works Institute Wins Ad Contest – The New York Times
- New Opportunities In Display Advertising – iMedia Connection
- Strata’s New Gambit: All-In-One-Place Metrics System Dubbed ‘Ambit’ – MediaPost
