NBCU Gets Exclusive Apple News Ad Deal; Acxiom Reports A Solid Q2

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.

Repping Apple’s Ads

Apple has struck a deal with NBCU to handle ad sales on Apple News, Mike Shields reports for The Wall Street Journal. It’s the first time Apple has relinquished control of its news inventory. Publishers can still sell ads alongside their own content, but NBCU will also be able to sell inventory next to those ads, between stories and in mobile search. Publishers keep 70% of revenue from ads sold adjacent to their stories in the app. The remaining 30% will be split between Apple and NBCU. For ads bought through NBCU, targeting will be limited to news verticals rather than specific publications. “This deal will enable us to aggregate premium audiences at a scale that isn’t replicated in the marketplace,” said Linda Yaccarino, chairwoman of advertising sales and client partnerships at NBCU. More.

Acxiom Up

Things are looking fine for Acxiom, as the company had a solid Q2 (total rev of $217 million, up 5% YoY). The sweet spots this year were Connectivity (the LiveRamp business) and Audience Solutions (the data selling business). View the presentation slide deck and the press release. A couple of things stuck out during the call. Acxiom is really emphasizing its deterministic ID matching solution IdentityLink (AdExchanger coverage). Connectivity GM Travis May describes the product as “the biggest bet we made since we launched the LiveRamp business.” Acxiom plans to build specialized versions of IdentityLink for agencies, publishers and data providers. Meanwhile, the Audience Solutions business is reviving. As part of that revival, the unit’s digital data revenue grew to the tune of $13 million in Q2. That’s up 100% YoY.

A Captive Audience

Eighty-four percent of the world’s airports have tested or are testing mobile location proximity sensors (primarily beacons), per a Unacast report. “This is a completely new revenue stream for the airport which hasn’t been possible before. It is already happening, as some airports that have deployed sensors enable concessioners, advertisers and sponsors to tap into the infrastructure,” CEO and co-founder Thomas Walle tells Kate Kaye at Ad Age. American airports and sports stadiums are the most thoroughly beaconed places in the world. Which shouldn’t really surprise anyone who’s ever purchased food or products at either. More.

Riding The Wave

Digital-focused agencies were the winners of Forrester’s “Lead Agencies Q4 2016” report. Forrester analyzed eight agencies against a set of three criteria: current offering, strategy and market presence. VML, 360i and R/GA came out on top due to their investments in and focus on data, collaboration and customer experience. Also named were Barkley, Publicis NA, Havas Worldwide, McGarryBowen and Hill Holliday. Forrester chose agencies by their ability to guide marketers through a “post-digital” world that connects the entire brand experience. Read it.

Good Tidings

“Hundreds of fake retail and product apps have popped up in Apple’s App Store in recent weeks – just in time to deceive holiday shoppers,” Vindu Goel writes for The New York Times. The fake apps originate in China and slip through Apple’s app monitoring service, a well-marketed point of pride for Apple compared to Google’s Play Store, because it focuses on detecting malicious software and not so much the creative and content of every app submitted to iTunes. It’s a large security hole, since users who give their credit card information could expose themselves to fraud (not to mention the copyright fraud against the brands). More.