Verizon Gives Its Data To AOL; Moat Raises $50M

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Sharing Is Caring

Verizon made its Precision Marketing Insights (PMI) data set available to AOL, giving the digital company’s customers access to cellular data linking locations visited by the same person. PMI data will be ingested into the AOL platform team’s existing algorithms to better optimize and measure campaigns for advertisers, reports Kate Kaye of Ad Age. “It’s not one line of data integrations, it’s 37 lines of different data integrations,” said AOL Platforms CTO Seth Demsey. But privacy hurdles remain a concern regarding the FCC’s broadband privacy proposal issued earlier this month, which may limit data sharing between Verizon and AOL.

Building Its Moat

Moat raised a $50 million Series C in pursuit of a more effective digital advertising currency. “Most stuff is bought offline,” said Moat co-founder and CEO Jonah Goodhart. “We’re trying to connect those dots. If you look at TV, it has a currency [with Nielsen data]. It may be flawed, but the point is, everyone is on the same page.” Moat has pushed for new digital metrics based on ad viewability, user engagement or audience impacts. “I do think the industry needs to evolve beyond the metrics we have today,” said Accuen CEO Megan Pagliuca to The Wall Street Journal’s Mike Shields about the deal. “Ad serving data is clearly not enough.” More.

Telco Discovery

The TV news blog TV Predictions picked up on a new Amazon page selling cable TV, Internet and phone plans. The only network partner listed is Comcast’s Xfinity, though Amazon’s language on the page implies there is more to come. This development isn’t Amazon stepping into the ring with telcos, as Google has done with Fiber. Instead, it’s a new, Amazon-scaled funnel for new subscribers (with Amazon getting a nice fee for its leads, of course).

ABA Or BS?

In a LinkedIn post, iProspect UK head of programmatic Wayne Blodwell looks at young talent in the marketing industry, who tend to have data science or engineering skills rather than a traditional marketing pedigree. To keep marketing degrees relevant, he says universities need to update their courses with topics like numerical reasoning, statistical modeling, coding and artificial intelligence. Students are asking about programmatic (they can read a job board as well as anybody), but can’t find the resources they need in the marketing curriculums available. More.

iPrivacy

Some pundits were less than impressed with the 4-inch iPhone that came out of Apple’s “let us loop you in” event on Monday. Overshadowing the reveal was CEO Tim Cook’s reiterated stance on privacy, coming on the heels of Apple’s high-profile bout with the FBI over unlocking the iPhone of one of the shooters in the December attacks in San Bernardino, Calif. Cook kicked off the festivities with a somber face and strong words: “We need to decide, as a nation, how much power the government should have over our data and our privacy. This is an issue that affects all of us and we will not shrink from this responsibility.”