Komli Media Adds $39 Million For Platform; Yahoo And CNBC Parnter; IAB Aims At Mobile Creative

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Komli Adds Millions

Ad tech and ad network company Komli Media has gone to the bank as the company announced yesterday $39 million have been added to its venture capital-infused coffers. Crunchbase says Komli has raised $60 million all-time. This latest “inside round” was led by previous investor Norwest Venture Partners. Read the release. The release’s boilerplate suggests momentum, “Komli Media has grown 150% annually since 2009 (and) responds to over 38 billion monthly impressions, up from 10 billion 12 months ago.” Komli’s Chairman is Amar Goel who is also chairman of sell-side platform PubMatic and brother to its CEO Rajeev Goel. PubMatic added $45 million last week. More irony: Norwest was an investor in Admeld.

Now Partnering

Yahoo! has chosen to partner with finance TV network CNBC. Yahoo! gets some premium financial news content. CNBC gets some hefty online reach. The release announces, “Together, CNBC and Yahoo! Finance will bring an unmatched depth and breadth of content to a combined and unduplicated online audience of more than 40 million people in the U.S. each month (which is twice as big as the next competitor) and share Yahoo! Finance’s content with the nearly 100 million households that CNBC reaches in the U.S…” Read more. Yahoo! the media company continues to take shape.

IAB Goes Mobile At Cannes

Instead of figuring out a way to replicate measurements and creative that would reflect the lucrative branding campaigns that are the hallmark of traditional media, online is still primarily a (relatively cheap) direct response media. Well, Randall Rothenberg, the head of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, does not want to make that mistake, now that mobile is coming into its own. So he’s going to Cannes next week to host a mobile forum designed to educate ad executives and “show a great blowout example of great mobile creativity and what makes it fantastic,” he tells Adweek’s Mike Shields.

Media Pros, Fear Not Automatons

The human element in the digital media equation ain’t going away. In a Q&A with Havas Digital SVP Michael Kaushansky, ClickZ columnist Jessica Richards asks if the rise of programmatic buying means media pro’s days are numbered. Kauchansky: “Judgment day is not upon us. The human element is very important to mine true insights from the data being collected on the consumer and media placement. It is also very important that as professionals we recommend testing and new programs or our campaigns will ‘implode.'” The chat also touches on privacy and the speed with which budgets are funneling to exchange buckets. Read more.

Hyperlocal Goes Hyper Speed

Analyst Greg Sterling, writing on his Screenwerk blog, breaks down hyperlocal audience targeting by two vendors: PlaceIQ and Skyhook Wireless. In both cases, the point is not only to pinpoint mobile audiences, but to layer attributes onto their locations using data from myriad sources. Key point: this new breed of hyperlocal targeting may be a branding as much as a performance play. Read More.

Targeting Stress

A blog post on Retail Consumer Experience says that in order to get a true measure of someone, see how they act when they’re distressed. Extrapolating from a March Financial Times piece (registration required) about British shoppers, Dale Furtwengler suggests that at a time when most consumers are experiencing higher degrees of economic insecurity and declining purchasing power, people’s true interests can be seen much more clearly. “Pay attention to what your customers are buying during difficult times and you’ll quickly discover what’s ‘essential’ vs. what’s ‘nice-to-have,’” the post advises targeters.

Data Scientist Dearth

Australia’s Financial Review covers the rush to find data scientists in a feature piece. Brian Corrigan reports, “Cambridge University graduate Richard McLaren moved into the newly created role of chief data officer for ninemsn’s parent company Mi9 about six months ago. He came into the business a year earlier as its technology chief but says the title change reflected a shift in how the business viewed its huge stores of information. “‘The acquisition and use of data is essential in a media business,” he said. “We treat it as an asset to be protected and exploited to its maximum potential.'” Read more.

The DMP Is

New Visual IQ exec Josh Dreller opens the data management platform (DMP) kimono and finds what he thinks is the future of the DMP: “Companies will be able to use their DMP to warehouse and leverage huge amounts of data coming from many different sources — CRM, web analytics tools, ad servers, search marketing efforts, mobile apps, Facebook pages, census data, and offline data.” It’s not just retargeting cookies. Read more.

Sharing The Data

Verizon Wireless is shifting the way it thinks about data usage by its customers. Knowing that many users are multi-device, you can now get a data plan that can power up to 10 devices. Imagine if Verizon Wireless started using the access data it has for targeting? Verizon Wireless’s CMO Erwin Tami Erwin says in the release, “[The new plans] cover every device Verizon Wireless offers, from basic phones to smartphones, from tablets to Jetpacks and more. Share Everything Plans represent a tremendous shift in how customers think about wireless service.” George Jetson would approve.

Mobilizing