Do Not Track Is Back; Advance/Newhouse Buys Big Data Firm

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Don’t Call It A Comeback

After nearly a decade, it’s official: Do Not Track (DNT) is supported by all major browsers. But just because DNT exists across browsers doesn’t mean it’s being honored. As such, the EFF, Disconnect and several other organizations are working to publish a new DNT standard. “The failure of the ad industry and privacy groups to reach a compromise on DNT has led to a viral surge in ad blocking, massive losses for Internet companies dependent on ad revenue, and increasingly malicious methods of tracking users and surfacing advertisements online,” said Disconnect CEO Casey Oppenheim. With the new approach, the coalition hopes to pave a path “that allows privacy and advertising to coexist,” he added. Threatpost has the story.

Big Media Meets Big Data

Advance/Newhouse snapped up big-data firm 1010data for $500 million. Advance/Newhouse is an affiliate of Advance Publications, the media group that runs Bright House Networks and Condé Nast. 1010data offers a cloud-based analytics platform that crunches big data, and Bright House President Nomi Bergman is joining the firm’s board. Speaking to the WSJ, Bergman explained that 1010data offers “a quick ramp up for companies [onto a big data platform]. … My experience in the cable industry is that it takes years for companies to get up and running.” But for now it’s unclear how Advance/Newhouse will apply the data it’s buying. Read more.

Playing Politics

With the first political debate among presidential hopefuls coming this Thursday, The NYT dives into the Rand Paul campaign’s digital media nerve center to get a sense of how political spenders are approaching social media. Twitter, for instance, is allowing campaigns to embed code on the candidate’s site(s) and then promote tweets to those visitors on Twitter. Google/YouTube’s election team is prepping for the keywords and trends that will be valuable to political advertisers. For instance, who will get to own ad rights for the search, “who won the debate?” or “best debate line?” Read on.

A Little (Blue) Birdy Told Me

Twitter’s stock price has plummeted in the wake of an executive transition and a period of unsteady growth. Bloomberg reports that Twitter’s slump is setting up a near-perfect acquisition scenario. Google has long been considered a potential Twitter buyer, and Twitter has recently integrated more deeply with Google on display initiatives and receives significant internal search traffic. Some portfolio managers think a Google or Facebook acquisition makes so much sense that they’re holding Twitter’s stock with that presumed outcome in mind. Read more.

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AI-Powered Astroturfing; ‘Vote’ Is A Four-Letter Word

Interactive audio ad firm XAPPmedia released its Q2 Internet Radio Ad Load Report, which found that Internet radio ad load is 22% that of terrestrial radio. According to XAPPmedia CEO Pat Higbie, this is about audience competition. “Internet radio publishers cannot run higher ad loads than competitors and risk inhibiting audience growth, and terrestrial broadcasters can’t take the economic hit of reducing their ad loads,” Higbie told AdExchanger. For ad loads to increase on Internet radio, consolidation would be key. “That is likely to take years given the number of players in the market.” Get the report.

Imgur Courts Advertisers

Advertisers are doing a double take on Imgur, Adweek reports. The photo, GIF and meme aggregation site will soon widely release a promoted post product. The secret to successful advertising on Imgur could be akin to Reddit: Do not ruffle the community’s feathers. “We worked with Imgur for several months to research the types of themes and items that were popular on site, and we worked with some Imgurians to source imagery that helped us tell the best stories,” said Johnna Hoff, eBay’s head of communications. Imgur hosts 150 million monthly active users. Read it.

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