Yahoo Adds Another Mobile Startup; Australia's Private Exchanges

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Yahoo Loves Mobile

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer continues to acquire companies with a mobile M.O. Last week, it was mobile recommendation startup Jybe and this week it’s mobile news aggregator Summly started two years ago by 15 year-old Nick D’Aloisio. Read more in Business Insider. These two deals join three previous mobile acquisitions since Mayer joined Yahoo last July: Alike (Feb.), Stamped (Oct.), and OnTheAir (Dec).

Private Exchanges, Down Under

Australian publishers Fairfax Media, News Ltd., and Mi9 are in talks to form a joint venture with that country’s Yahoo unit to partner on a private exchange. But it’s not a done deal yet. “We are neither in nor out yet,” an unidentified executive representing one of the companies involved told AdNews’ Paul McIntyre. “Some parties are pushing it more than others…we want to see the value we will get out of it before we do it.” Mi9 CEO Mark Britt is one of those in favor, saying, “The concept of real time buying (RTB) in Australia for premium inventory will be good for advertisers. The yield impact from these exchanges is positive for publishers.” Read more.

Viewable Tea Leaves

You can’t forecast viewable impressions, but not all marketers get that, says Acceleration in a white paper. “Most vendors will correctly claim they can use multiple campaigns to create mapping or zones predicting where viewable percentages will be high or low, but the results will be inconclusive and wanting.” Cross-vendor differences in methodology further muddy the waters. More.

Asia Audience Buying

Singapore-based ad-matching platform AdzCentral recently raised S$4 million (US$3.2 million) in a series A round, reports ClickZ.asia’s Adaline Lau. But programmatic buying in Asia presents challenges. “Asia is still nascent on data collection and currently lacks data companies such as those like Bluekai or eXelate in the U.S. that allows advertisers in the region the ability to buy Asia-focused third-party data.” Read more.

Agencies On Clients

Digiday’s Jack Marshall recounts themes from the recent Digiday Agency Summit including clients holding back agency innovation. He writes, “[Agency] Iris Worldwide’s Sarah Aitken suggested (…) the ability to attract and retain talent was also affected by clients’ attitudes toward risk-taking. Ultimately, talented staffers want to work at agencies that allow them to do new and innovative things, which in turn are only possible with certain clients.” Read more.

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WaPo’s Woes; TTD’s C-Suite Turnover

IAB Factions

Writing on the Upstream blog, Doug Weaver says the Interactive Advertising Bureau is at a crisis point — divided between third-party cookie adherents and publisher members who want to leverage their direct relationships with users. “Like 16th century Christianity, the IAB has reached an existential moment where it must account for the diverging visions and interests of internal factions if it’s to avoid a schism.” Weaver urges the group to take a more neutral position on the issue. “Supporting the growth of all digital spending means not having to take a hardline position on something as specific as third party cookies.” More.

Eichmann Jumps To Criteo

Eric Eichmann, the former COO of discount deals purveyor Living Social is heading to retargeting specialist Criteo as the company’s first ever chief revenue officer. “Eric’s acumen, skill set and experience will help bring Criteo to the next level,” said Criteo head JB Rudelle. Read the release.

Spotify Advertises Itself

As competition heats up from the likes of Rdio and MOG, Spotify is unveiling an ad campaign to reach new listeners and marketers. It plans to kick off its TV ad during NBC’s The Voice “that highlights the most emotive and unifying aspects of music,” writes The Verge’s Chris Welch. Read it. Meanwhile, Business Insider’s Nicholas Carlson is hearing an old rumor that Spotify may launch a video companion service, a la Hulu or Netflix, which could be a good canvas for its display ad business — even if there are more reasons to remain dubious. Read more.

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