Vox Media To License Publishing Software; Data Privacy Suit Dismissed

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SaaSy Publisher

Vox Media will license its digital publishing software Chorus to other publishers, The Wall Street Journal reports. Twenty media companies are in talks to license Chorus already, which allows publishers to create, monetize and distribute articles for a recurring fee. In the age of revenue diversification, Vox Media hopes to capitalize on publishers’ need for a low-cost software. Eventually, Vox Media wants to scale the platform to brands and marketers. “We’re not providing blogging software here,” said Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff. “This is different. We’re providing a suite of enterprise-grade services that combine to create a large platform for brands that need strong tools to manage everything from content creation to monetization.” More.

Data’s Day In Court

A federal judge dismissed a class-action case against NaviStone, a retail prospecting and retargeting company, and the ecommerce brands Casper, Moosejaw and Tyrwhitt. The suit claimed the companies violated user privacy by “de-anonymizing” web visitors using hardware and browser signals like IP addresses or even by tracking keystrokes to connect to profiles based on real-world data like home address and phone numbers, MediaPost reports. The decision demonstrates the gulf between US law and GDPR standards. NaviStone, for instance, doesn’t need consent from users because it has permission from the retailers. “Here, the only alleged injury is a general invasion of privacy ‘through the exposure of personal and private information,'” wrote the District Court judge in his decision. More.

Suspicious Minds

Marketers have always placed strong demands on agencies, but since the transparency and rebate controversy flared up in 2016 those demands have ratcheted up. Some clients are asking agencies to forgo their base fee and get paid only on campaign performance, anonymous agency execs tell Digiday. Others are shifting to project-based work to avoid expensive agency retainers. And a flurry of new RFPs is grinding agencies down on price to the point where they’re more like suppliers than strategic partners. “Not enough advertisers know what value means beyond pricing and therefore can’t understand how media can drive growth in their business,” one agency exec said. More.

But Wait, There’s More!