Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.
WPP Picks Verification Partners
MediaPost’s Joe Mandese notes that GroupM is “all in” when it comes to verification/validation technology as the media buying juggernaut looks to make sure their ads are running where they should be. AdSafe Media and DoubleVerify are the apparent winners as John Montgomery, COO of GroupM Interaction, tells MediaPost, “Just think of the staggering number of impressions we are delivered — there is no way of knowing that we are getting what we paid for.” Hence the deal.
NY Times Syndicates Video
Steve Smith reports on MinOnline that the NY Times is looking to make a pretty penny from its web video as it looks to license it to potential partners. Christine Topalian, director, online strategy and U.S. sales, at the Times tells Smith, “We have an archive with about three years of video and also New York Times TV and events, so we thought we had enough of an actual collection to move forward.” Hello Screaming Media 2.0. Syndicate now. Come on now, you remember Screaming Media, don’t you?
Certified Ad Networks For All
The Google AdSense blog made it official: the Certified Ad Networks are here to stay and available to all publishers – presumably meaning that any publisher impression is subject to being bought by an ad network/bid manager/DSP if the publisher has not opted-out of any ad network. Atul Bhandari, an AdSense Product Manager, offers a friendly reminder that some of the networks may be using behavioral data, too. Read about it.
Yesterday’s Acquisition News
Yahoo! has bought a sports social network called “Citizen Gamer” according to The Business Insider. Read about it. In fact, All Things D’s Kara Swisher had predicted the acqusition earlier in the week here. The company specializes in fantasy sports and “estimates put its price at about $40 to $50 million.”
Loneliness And The CEO
CEO coach and former Flatiron Partners’ VC Jerry Colonna offers his weekly(ish) missive on the CEO predicament with an installment titled: “Loneliness and the CEO.” He writes, “The best way to overcome the inevitable loneliness of life at the top may be to connect and mindfully attend to the process that’s already underway…” Read more.
Microsoft Researching Rich TV
Microsoft can really crank out the research and thought leadership when it wants to. Mark Kroese, GM of the Advertising Business Group, Entertainment & Devices Division (or GMABGEDD), looks to digital TV with “The Rise of Rich TV.” Kroese says, “Rich TV is being defined at the juncture of TV as we know it, and TV as we want it to be. Rich TV, and the advertising experience that goes with it, has five key attributes…” Read the 5 attributes.
Does Brand Matter?
Marketing Charts captures a new finding by trendwatching.com. that “although consumer demand for quality brands and products remains strong, consumers generally do not strongly identify with brands.” For example, the study using research from video interviews with consumers that indicate most consumers can’t identify their cellphone’s brand name. Hmm.. for better or worse, these must not be iPhone owners. Read more.
PointRoll And Discovery Diggin’ It
PointRoll and Discovery Communications are partnering to create something called Dig@torial which it calls a “solution that combines the impact of PointRoll rich media and video with the quality of publisher online editorial content and video.” Has advertising become content? Read about it.
Transparency In Leads
The TARGUSinfo blog highlights a recent article by Lead Critic which dissects what transparency means in the lead generation world for both buyers and sellers. From the sellers point of view, transparency means “conversion data (contact rates, app rates, conversion rates, etc) knowing what the Lead management process is.” Read it.
Local Ads On The Fly
Erica Naone writes in the MIT Technology review about startups which are looking to offer new solutions in local online advertising. Among the companies is PaperG, whose COO Roger Lee says that with the company’s PlaceLocal technology, “The sales rep can have a beautiful ad designed for every lead sheet, which makes a real difference in the conversation.” Read more.
DOOH Audience Measurement
Adspace Digital Mall Network is looking to count better when it comes to its digital-out-of-home audience measurement and has adopted “new audience metrics by using Scarborough Research’s mall visit estimates as its base. Scarborough reports the number of people visiting malls and frequency of visits, giving media buyers reach and frequency estimates to help evaluate mall advertising.” Read more.
