AppNexus, Rubi And PubMatic Form A Consortium; Apple Ramps Up Its Devices

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Best Frenemies

AppNexus, Rubicon Project and PubMatic have launched a joint open-source initiative called Prebid.org to establish header bidding standards and processes, which will ultimately benefit premium publishers. “We’re starting to see the need for header bidding to go everywhere,” AppNexus product line manager Michael Richardson, initial chairman of Prebid.org, tells Ronan Shields of The Drum. “And it doesn’t make sense for us all [i.e., every different ad tech player] to make disparate efforts whenever we can all work together.” Separately, AppNexus is also part of a consortium to pool identities across different ad tech players [AdExchanger coverage]. Both cases are an attempt to challenge Google’s and Facebook’s dominance. More.

Are You Ready?

Apple had a string of software and hardware updates that kept it atop the smartphone category without taking its product to the next level. Until today, when the company unveils its iOS 11 operating system and the new iPhone, which retails above $1,000 and includes dramatic updates to the camera system and 3-D imaging capabilities. Snapchat takes flak for prioritizing iOS users, but Apple’s augmented reality updates could make that video experience gap even wider, according to The Wall Street Journal. Furniture and home goods stores see it as the first chance to see mass-market applications of how AR could shorten the purchase funnel. More.

Throw The ’Book At Them

Facebook was fined 1.2 million euros (about $1.4 million) by Spanish regulators on Monday for collecting, without proper opt-ins, data for advertising. “Facebook’s privacy policy contains generic and unclear terms,” wrote the country’s data watchdog authority in a statement. It’s a pittance for Facebook and the charges are familiar: tracking non-users through “like” buttons on publisher pages, retaining information past 17 months and failing to get expressed consent for advertising. But the fine could be a prelude to the heavy charges for violating the EU’s upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) next May. More at Reuters.

GDPRep

Speaking of GDPR, some premium publishers are optimistic about it. Those with loyal readers could benefit if users are served annoying consent pop-ups every time they open a new site, and advertisers may stray away from programmatic in favor of direct buys on well-known media properties [AdExchanger coverage]. But for smaller pubs, GDPR could make it harder to target users programmatically and cause CPMs to fall. More at Digiday. Related: In a note to investors on Monday, Pivotal analyst Brian Wieser pointed out that GDPR could also put pressure on Facebook and Google to open more inventory. “If under GDPR the publisher secures consent that only allows the data to be used in a less targeted way, perhaps it takes twice as much inventory to find the same audience,” he wrote.

But Wait, There’s More!