Publishers

An Axe To Grindr Norway’s data protection authority (DPA) fined Grindr $7 million for GDPR violations. The Norwegian watchdog says Grindr passed data to third parties without consent, and that it shared data on sexual orientation, which is prohibited regardless. The full text is worth reading.  Grindr, an LGBTQ dating app, objected on the grounds […]

The Vox Media/Group Nine deal is only the most recent example of the consolidation trend in digital media. Publishers have been turning to M&A as a method to grow their audiences and increase their ad revenue, in addition to boosting their valuation for further deals down the road.

The Last Place You Search ​​Mozilla, which reported its earnings on Monday, expects to generate more than $500M in revenue this year. That’s up from roughly $465 million last year and around the same the year before. Where’s the money coming from? Historically, Mozilla’s revenue has been very reliant on its Google search licensing deal […]

Future PLC wrapped up a strong year for its advertising business that was fueled largely by the growth of its ecommerce offerings, its first-party data innovations and some recent acquisitions. Hoping to continue its momentum in the new year, Future announced Horizon, a new video ad unit for mobile platforms, on Monday. Jason Webby, Future’s […]

BuzzFeed’s debut on the public market disappointed, but its advertising business is growing (and it’s planning more acquisitions). Plus, digital advertising in 2021 grew faster than it has in the history of advertising. We explain why.

Gannett’s current president of sales development, Kelly Andresen, has been promoted to president of USA TODAY, national sales. Andresen will assume her new role at the start of 2022. Andresen will lead Gannett’s national sales division, including the USA TODAY network, which encompasses the company’s inventory across its portfolio of local and national sites. She […]

Amazon The Impervious Google and Facebook are reeling from data privacy changes. Tim Cook warned investors that Apple underestimated part shortages and would not meet demand until next year. Macy’s slimmed its store inventory. Disney’s production schedules are delayed by months and even years. And Amazon is – doing great. The ongoing supply-chain drama, COVID-19 fallout […]

Ad management solutions provider Freestar announced Wednesday that it acquired UK-based Google AMP monetization company Triple13. Terms of the deal were not made public. However, in a conversation with AdExchanger, Freestar CEO Kurt Donnell disclosed that the deal was fully funded from Freestar’s balance sheet. Freestar will be adding all 15 of Triple13’s employees to […]

Content recommendation doesn’t have the best reputation. It’s primarily known for spammy clickbait around the web. But it doesn’t have to be that way, said Alon Rosenthal, CEO and founder of WhizzCo, a startup that allows multiple content recommendation vendors to compete for native inventory so publishers can maximize their yield. Typically, publishers only work […]

Blocklists are still a big problem for publishers, says Scott Gatz, CEO and founder of LGBTQ publisher Q.Digital. Way back in 2019, Gatz wrote a provocative column for AdExchanger with the headline, “Marketers, Do You Know What’s On Your Block Lists?” Unfortunately, the answer to that question is still … no. “I really wish I […]

Programmatic and privacy don’t have to be mutually exclusive, even though they’re often treated that way, according to Joe Root, CEO and co-founder of London-based publisher technology startup Permutive. “A privacy-first web is about removing the data leakage that’s inherent in programmatic,” Root said. Permutive aims to stop that leakage with technology infrastructure to preserve […]

“On TV & Video” is a column exploring opportunities and challenges in advanced TV and video.  Today’s column is by Willard Simmons, VP, Product Management, Ad Platform, Roku. A mentor of mine used to say, “Money flows to certainty and flows away from uncertainty.” The reach and effectiveness of TV streaming is certain: The sight, […]

Like a good marketer, insurance brand State Farm is looking to reach people where they are – and, increasingly, that’s in games. Gaming is an effective way to get in front of younger audiences, of course. But it’s also about tapping into the enthusiasm that players have for games and gaming-related experiences, said Patty Morris, […]

On Friday, a New York judge unsealed most of the Texas-led antitrust lawsuit against Google – and the devil is in the unredacted details. According to the judge, P. Kevin Castel, Google’s argument that the filing needed to be redacted for privacy reasons didn’t hold water. The multistate suit alleges anticompetitive ad tech policies and […]

A Stitcher In Time Kargo Global has acquired the online retail advertising company StitcherAds for $64 million. StitcherAds, an Irish startup, specializes in selling on social platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, whereas Kargo’s main business is placing ads on the mobile web or within a network of app publishers. “We realized we were […]

In the wake of Nielsen losing its National and Local TV accreditation from the Media Rating Council, networks are eyeing alternative measurement companies. Sitting within many of these data sets is automated content recognition (ACR) tech. ACR tech captures and interprets audio and video snippets on a TV, helping data companies understand the totality of […]

Data clean rooms are secure – that’s the whole point. But they’re not always flexible or scalable, said Jason Manninghan, CEO of advanced TV data platform Blockgraph, which is jointly owned by Comcast, Charter and ViacomCBS. TV advertisers in particular need a wide range of capabilities in order to tie media spend with viewing and campaign […]

“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. After this exclusive first look for subscribers, the story by AdExchanger’s Allison Schiff will be published in full on AdExchanger.com tomorrow. Driving downloads is important. But Ben Webley, CMO of game developer Scopely, is looking for users who want to stick around. “We’re […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Deliver Or Delay The global supply chain crunch is hitting the ad industry, even before the Q4 holiday shopping season moves into high gear. Brands and their creative and media agencies plan campaigns months or a year ahead. But those campaign rollouts are being […]

“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Lior Shvo, Managing Director at Sellers.guide. It’s not rocket science: Advertisers want to reach the right audience, at the right time, at the right price. Here’s the thing, though: Doing that is waaaay too […]

There’s no denying climate change – on YouTube and in Google ads, at least. On Thursday, a week after banning anti-vaccine activists and accounts from YouTube, Google announced a new policy to prohibit the monetization of content that denies the existence of or effects related to climate change as agreed upon by authoritative scientific consensus. Think […]

First-price auctions are coming to Google AdSense. The change will go into effect later this year, Google shared in a blog post on Thursday. Google Ad Manager and AdMob have already switched to a first-price auction. Though not nearly as momentous as when Google flipped the switch for Ad Manager, the AdSense change signals that […]

“On TV & Video” is a column exploring opportunities and challenges in advanced TV and video. Outside Inc. CEO Robin Thurston is very aware of subscription fatigue. At a time when streaming platforms are working to boost their subscriber numbers with bundled ad-free and ad-supported channel packages, Outside TV is being used in part as a vehicle to entice […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Creative Galaxy Snap is fending off competitors with new money-making tools for creators, Variety reports. Next month, Snapchat will launch Spotlight Challenges, cash bonuses ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 for accounts with top views in categories like “Best Trick Shot.” The tool is a […]

Sustainable digital media business models exist – just look at Dotdash. Dotdash acquired Meredith at a $2.7 billion valuation Wednesday to form a new media business to be called Dotdash Meredith. At first glance, the two entities coming together feels like a marriage of opposites: a century-old magazine media company and a digital native. But […]

“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Andrew Frank, VP distinguished analyst at Gartner. As yesterday’s cross-domain tracking methods fade into history, the entire digital ad community is casting around for a suitable replacement – and marketers trying to navigate through the […]

Advertisers are ready to buy TV like they buy digital, says Dave Clark, general manager of Comcast-owned FreeWheel, on this week’s episode of AdExchanger Talks. As digital-like capabilities rapidly come online in the TV space – like buying across fragmented audiences, managing frequency, better targeting and understanding lower-funnel metrics – the demand is proving quick to follow, […]

“On TV & Video” is a column exploring opportunities and challenges in advanced TV and video.  Today’s column is by Paul Gubbins, VP, CTV Strategy, Publica. While definitions of what actually constitutes a connected TV (CTV) impression are still being widely debated, brand safety companies discover new cases of fraud in streaming on a regular […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Instacart Exit Seth Dallaire, out! Instacart’s ad chief is jumping over to Walmart as chief revenue officer amid a shakeup in the grocery delivery service’s executive ranks, Business Insider reports. Dallaire will work to scale Walmart Connect, the retail giant’s ad platform unit – […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. The OOH F.U. ROI Macy’s is suing its landlord, the Kaufman Organization, to prevent the building owner from placing an Amazon billboard above the department chain’s flagship Herald Square location in New York City. Macy’s has had its own brand on the billboard for […]