Month: March 2018

AppLovin is one of the most well-funded indie ad platforms out there – and it’s growing like a weed. The mobile ad network last year received $841 million in debt financing from Chinese private equity firm Orient Hontai Capital. In 2014, AppLovin raised just $4 million in seed funding. Originally, Orient Hontai had intended to acquire a majority… Continue reading »

The post AppLovin To Hit A $1 Billion Run Rate Within The Year – But It’s Still Business As Usual appeared first on AdExchanger.

“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Jeremy Hlavacek, head of global automated monetization at IBM Watson Advertising. Jeremy will speak at AdExchanger’s PROGRAMMATIC I/O conference on April 10-11 at the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco. If you’ve watched a publisher panel… Continue reading »

The post Publishers, Stop Saying You’re ‘Sitting On A Pile Of Data’ appeared first on AdExchanger.

A weekly comic strip from AdExchanger that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem… AdExchanger: Origins AdExchanger: Crisis In Ad City (Part I) AdExchanger: Crisis In Ad City (Part II) AdExchanger: Enter Malware (Part I) AdExchanger: Enter Malware (Part II) AdExchanger: Enter Malware (Part III) AdExchanger: Enter Malware (The Conclusion) AdExchanger: Angels And Startups AdExchanger: Rumble In Arbitrage Plaza… Continue reading »

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Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Snap Crackle Cut Snap on Thursday cut 100 employees, with this downsizing focused on the advertising team. The layoffs are the final step in a restructuring that began late last year, Bloomberg reports. Snap let go 120 engineers earlier this month and about two… Continue reading »

The post Snap Downsizes Ad Team; Render Media Closes Shop appeared first on AdExchanger.

by Tom Shields, Chief Strategy Officer, AppNexus

Why is transparency important in the programmatic supply chain? I get this question a lot.

Recently, I delivered a keynote on radical transparency at the Programmatic Summit in Sydney. The session went well—until my chosen subject was quickly dismissed by the very next speaker.

The session that followed questioned the emphasis on transparency in the programmatic supply chain. In summary, the speaker said: “We don’t have transparency into the cost of sugar in a can of soda, so why should we care about how much the end publisher gets when we buy an ad campaign?”

On the surface, this may seem like a reasonable question. That being said, buying a can of soda is not the same as buying a programmatic ad campaign. Here are five reasons why transparency is more important in the programmatic supply chain than the other.

Variable value

Generally speaking, cans of soda are the same and sell for a similar price. Advertising impressions, however, are not the same, and the price and value varies dramatically across the board. This variation in value makes it easier for intermediaries to insert themselves into the supply chain, or to simply increase their costs unseen. Fee transparency can shine a light on exactly where the fees are going, so buyers and sellers can make sure each intermediary is adding value. This creates a more efficient supply chain.

Multiple paths

An impression can take many paths between the publisher and the buyer—via different SSPs, DSPs, networks, and exchanges—while a can of soda typically has only one distributor in a region. These multiple paths make it easy for impressions to leak as they are passed from system to system, enabling bad actors to hide in the chain. This leakage reduces purchasing power for buyers, can disrupt demand for content producers, and constrains the true market valuation of publisher inventory. Transparency can help root out this kind of fraud: A simple first step would be to get on board with Ads.txt.

Auction Rules

Programmatic impressions are often sold in an auction where the rules—such as first or second price, and soft or hard floors—aren’t well defined. Any auction where buyers don’t know what type of auction they’re participating in is problematic. Imagine if your local convenience store sold soda this way! Transparent auctions make sure buyers and sellers both know the rules. When buyers know the rules, they get better return on ad spend, achieve higher win rates, and can more easily find the optimal route to their preferred supply.

Fair trade

Across various sectors there is a growing awareness about the importance of considered purchase choices. Fair trade practices are becoming important in food, clothing, electronics, and other products—including some soda brands. Marketers and publishers are beginning to realize that they too have the power to choose partners based on fair trade practices, rather than just on the lowest cost or best parties.

Maturity and trust

Ultimately, a healthy ecosystem requires trust in the supply chain, and new and rapidly changing industries like programmatic advertising need time to develop it. Transparency is a strong option to ensure efficiency and engender good behavior.

As the programmatic industry matures, it may get to a point where it is so well established that transparency is no longer a challenge—but for the moment, the transparency bear is coming fast.

AppNexus is firmly committed to transparency to help build that trust, and other ad tech providers should be taking steps to bring transparency to their practices, including:

• Exposing all fees charged to buyers and sellers
• Examining each aspect of the business to ensure the value provided is worth the actual cost of what is being charged
• Writing and updating contracts to enable transparency
• Making sure policies regarding foreign exchange, discrepancies, and other payment terms are transparent and reasonable
• Integrating with third parties that can audit the supply chain, such as Amino Payments
• Briefing the board and investors on the financial impact of transparency and take-rate compression

When ad tech partners do not take clear steps towards transparency, it’s time to question if they are acting not only in the best interest of their clients, but in the best interest of the industry as a whole.

The post Why supply chain transparency is vital to programmatic success appeared first on Digiday.

Agencies and marketers are scrambling to make sense of the latest Facebook move to drop third-party data.

“It’s been a busy 12 hours,” said Donnie Williams, chief digital officer at Horizon Media, which has had been fielding clients’ questions such as: “Is this a big deal?” “How prepared are we?” “We have campaigns running — what happens to that?”

This week, Facebook pulled back on its ad-targeting offerings, shutting down its Partner Categories program that lets brands use third-party data to deliver ads. Partner Categories, which came about through partnerships from data companies like Epsilon and Acxiom, let advertisers target customers based on behavior that happened outside Facebook.

The move doesn’t affect use of Facebook’s own user data or brands’ own user data — Facebook said it still has good user data, and on that strength, advertisers will stick around. Since the news, Acxiom’s stock plunged 27 percent on March 29, losing more than a third of its market value.

At Horizon, which has drafted a manual on the move’s impact across marketing, Williams said based on his calculations, a significant amount of investment from marketers has gone toward these data aggregators. Facebook has been relatively “conservative” in conversations, estimating that media investment has been somewhere between 10 and 15 percent, he said. In reality, it’s more.

Marketers of all stripes and across business categories primarily use third-party data to get in front of new potential customers. Prospecting is the lion’s share of marketing spend. The change is clearly not good news for data brokers like Acxiom, which saw its stock price tumble 19 percent on a day when the overall market was up. The thinking: Facebook is setting a new standard that will ripple across the industry.

Buyers believe some categories are likelier to be affected by Facebook’s move. Entertainment marketers, said multiple agencies, are likeliest to be hit. Studios and companies like Netflix usually use third-party data heavily to market new offerings. Studios often don’t have a lot of first-party data because it’s simply not a priority for them, Williams said.

In the last couple of years, giant packaged goods companies like Procter & Gamble have changed tack to focus less on highly targeted ads and more on mass reach. Buying ads for a narrow set of precisely targeted customers is more expensive, and P&G found it was getting the same results from mass ad buys.

That’s not to say CPG companies don’t use third-party data at all. A top ad buyer who asked not to be named said CPG as well as retail clients all rely on third-party data because their products are ultimately sold at retail. Often, these companies use third-party data to fortify targeting efforts. For example, one might ask to layer shopper data on top of video completion data to target a specific demographic. These marketers don’t have that shopper data themselves.

Another thing to note is that P&G and others that sought to minimize precision targeting weren’t saying they would stop using third-party data completely, said a third buyer. “These companies are saying to not go into your marketing with a one-to-one consumer approach,” said this buyer. “They’re thinking about a sequential customer journey — which often includes layering on this kind of data.”

Another category likely to be affected is auto. Manufacturers are less reliant on third-party data, but dealerships often are. One buyer said in cases like auto, Facebook doesn’t have, for example, lease data. “The big thing is, what data does Facebook have on you? In some categories, they just don’t.”

“The question is how this influences the total volume of investment in Facebook,” said Williams. “My sense is, near-term investment is impacted, as brands portion off dollars to figure out whether performance is gonna be jeopardized.” In the long term, Williams said the shift will be positive for Facebook overall, and brands will figure out how to work with a portfolio of Facebook platforms.

Another buyer said clients will now seek to do more with their first-party data or build more resources to gather it. He also added that there are gray areas. What if a publisher with first-party data is working with a brand and then amplifies the messaging by sharing with the brand on Facebook an audience created using third-party data? This buyer said he’s asked Facebook that question, but hasn’t gotten a clear answer yet.

Related is what happens to what Facebook calls “managed Custom Audiences.” These are audience segments that are uploaded by data providers and shared with advertisers and agencies. According to a note sent to agencies by Facebook, it will now require those uploading managed audiences to confirm the audience was built using only first-party data provided by the brand, not by the data provider.

There is also the question of whether Facebook’s move puts more pressure on Twitter, Snap or other platforms to make similar ones. Speaking to The Guardian, Pivotal analyst Brian Wieser said this could be a way to show up Google, since use of third-party data is de rigueur in advertising, and this just makes Facebook look better. At Snap, a spokesperson said that the company stands behind its audience data partners and that it offers privacy-compliant data. 

As for Facebook, this move is clearly tied to its recent string of bad press, including the Cambridge Analytica scandal. (At one agency, a client specifically asked if these two were related and if there was more to the story.)

The Partner Categories shutdown is intended to improve privacy, although some ad buyers think this is a way to potentially pass the buck on any issues of improper data collection — even if Facebook is not implicated — especially as the May 25 enforcement deadline for the General Data Protection Regulation looms. “Their point of view is, even if the courts don’t say anything, the court of public opinion will still implicate [Facebook],” said a buyer.

The post How Facebook’s shutdown of third-party data affects advertisers appeared first on Digiday.

At the Digiday Publishing Summit Europe event last month in Monaco, we sat down with over 80 European publishing executives to learn how important expanding internationally is to their businesses. Check out our earlier research on media buyers’ fear of consulting firms here. Learn more about our upcoming events here.

Quick takeaways:

• Roughly half of the publishers in Digiday’s survey from the event said expanding internationally is extremely or very important to their business strategy.
• Only 29 percent said international expansion is not at all or not very important.
• Expanding internationally could become more difficult if publishers can no longer use Facebook to build massive, loyal followings in their desired markets.

Making money in media is no simple task. Simply amassing huge audiences isn’t enough to result in a profitable business. As publishers chase audiences and diversify their revenue streams, one strategy for publishers is to expand to new international markets. Forty-eight percent of the 84 European publisher executives Digiday surveyed said international expansion was at least a very important business strategy.

The post Digiday Research: Half of European publishers believe international expansion is important appeared first on Digiday.

As influencer contracts become more convoluted and extensive, the need for legal counsel is increasing.

Enter Hashtag Legal, a law firm that represents influencers, influencer agencies, platforms and brands as they navigate the evolving world of influencer marketing. Lawyer Jamie Lieberman launched the firm with co-founder Danielle Liss in 2016 because they saw a need in the industry for attorneys who understand the business.

This is what a typical day looks like for Lieberman, lightly edited.

7 a.m.: I wake up, and then check my emails and Facebook. Many of my clients are influencers and like to communicate through Facebook Messenger. I respond to any emails or messages that I can handle quickly and flag the rest for later.

7:15 a.m.: By now, my kids are getting up and ready to go, so it is time for mom mode. The kids eat breakfast and get dressed, while I pack lunches and get backpacks ready. We are out the door by 8 a.m. to walk to school.

8:30 a.m.: After I drop off the kids, I head to the gym for a workout, which I try to do every morning. Typically, my days are heavily scheduled, so this is the one hour of the day that is just for me. After my workout, I grab a coffee at my favorite local coffee shop and send my business partner, Danielle, an update while I head to work.

9:45 a.m.: I have my first client call of the day, on Skype. We talk about negotiating an employment agreement. My law practice is virtual and I work from home, so we frequently rely on Skype, Zoom and Google Hangouts.

10 a.m.: I turn to my email and start to respond to ones that came in overnight and in the morning. I realize I haven’t eaten anything yet, so I grab a bowl of oatmeal.

11 a.m.: I receive an email from a client about an emergent contract review. The client has a deal to create sponsored content for a brand, and they need an agreement that will detail the arrangement, including deliverables, ownership of deliverables, timing and payment. I review the contract, make revisions and send it back to the client. My paralegal then flags an issue, which turns into a phone call and a complete redraft.

12:30 p.m.: The contract is finished, so I grab a quick salad at Trader Joe’s. Then, I check out Facebook and respond to a few messages while sneaking in a few looks at cat memes. Can you ever look at enough cat memes?

1:15 p.m.: My client calls to confirm they are happy with the contract. I celebrate with a snack — a clementine — and then sneak in a few more emails before my next appointment.

2 p.m.: I appear on a Facebook Live with Danielle to talk for a digital information initiative called Agency in Your Inbox, where 18 experts provide information for entrepreneurs about growing and protecting their businesses. We speak about how to work with and hire an attorney, some of the common pitfalls that entrepreneurs face, and common trademark, copyright and contract issues we see in our practice.

2:30 p.m.: I review research from my associate for a client project about the new European Union privacy laws. Research makes me hungry, so I grab some pretzels.

4 p.m.: I have another Facebook Live appointment. I speak with the director of education for BlogPaws, a conference that focuses on pet bloggers. I’m speaking at their annual event in April about trademarks and copyright, and this Facebook Live is to promote the session. I tell the viewers why legal is awesome and definitely not scary. Seriously, it’s not.

5 p.m.: The kids get home from school, and I come out of my office to talk about their days. We have an amazing babysitter who picks them up from school, and I chat with her a bit, too. My older son starts his homework, while my younger son shows me the prize he picked from the treasure box because he had a good day.

5:30 p.m.: I finish up a few emails and start to prepare dinner, while the kids get their 30 minutes of screen time. On the menu tonight: chicken fried rice.

6 p.m.: I sit with the kids while they eat dinner, and we discuss Pokémon and “Madden” football. After dinner, we read books and hang out until bath time. This is my favorite time of the day because I get to spend time with my kids with no distractions. We don’t use technology during this hour unless one of the kids asks a question that only Siri can answer, like the diameter of Pluto.

7 p.m.: My husband gets home from work, and the kids are so excited that their dad is home, I am quickly abandoned. He handles baths and bed, so I clean up dinner and their path of destruction. While cleaning, I call Danielle to talk about a copyright question we received from a client on whether the use of certain images would constitute fair use.

7:30 p.m.: My kids are in bed, and it’s time to exhale. I eat the rest of the fried rice — there’s always leftovers! — and try to unwind with the HBO show “Barry.”

9 p.m.: I finish an outstanding client project, file a trademark for another client and respond to more emails. I also write up my schedule for tomorrow, so I can hit the ground running once I get to my desk.

Midnight: I lie down to sleep with a small prayer that no one wakes up before 7 a.m.

Image courtesy of Jaime Lieberman 

The post A day in the life of Hashtag Legal influencer lawyer Jamie Lieberman appeared first on Digiday.

Dotdash rebranded in 2017 after nearly two decades as About.com, breaking into a stable of vertical-focused properties such as The Balance, which focuses on finance, and health-centric Verywell. It took an axe to tens of thousands of articles, rebuilt its sites to focus on speed and optimizing to serve advertisers’ programmatic needs. And as a result, traffic and revenue both surged: Its first quarter revenues were up 70 percent, year over year, and direct-sold advertising in the quarter is on pace to outdo direct-sold advertising in the fourth quarter. For this, Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year at the Digiday Publishing Awards on March 29.

Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel discussed the end of a year dominated by Facebook, what publishers will fret about most in 2018 and data. The conversation has been condensed.

You’ve said before that Facebook doesn’t care about publishers. Have publishers finally accepted this in 2018, and do they need to do more to change their behavior?
I think if publishers elect not to change their behavior, they’re not going to be publishers for very long. It’s very dangerous to chase the shiny thing. Our Facebook traffic hasn’t changed at all because of how we get it. We’re not dependent on them putting us in the news feed. If you’re a publisher, you have to be honest. You have to have a thesis and really stick to it.

It was very hard for us to go into meetings with people, and they would say, “What is your strategy for off-platform video?” And we’d be like, “We don’t have one.” We don’t believe that’s how we bring value to our users, and we don’t believe it’s going to drive value for our entities. It was common sense, and we’re getting a lot of press for being visionary, but we were just the opposite of that. We were just going to be very sensible about what we do.

What will the defining stories or themes of 2018 be?
Data is going to be a major theme of the year. Being very, very respectful with data. Using data for good, not evil. The line between good and evil is very, very hard to define. Data has made the internet a much better place. Sites knowing what you like when you come, without having to guess or start from zero every time, leads to a way better experience.

But we’ve crossed the line. Ad tech has crossed the line. Publishers who are desperate to make money have crossed the line. Content marketers have crossed the line. It’s either going to come back, or there’s going to be a reckoning that’s pretty ugly.

Can publishers turn this heightened sensitivity around data into an opportunity?
One hundred percent. Privacy and first-party data really went crazy because Facebook and Google had so much data, so that very publisher and ad tech company decided they needed all the data in the world so they could target people. We’ve figured out that contextual targeting is better than trying to get 800 data points on somebody and trying to prove what they want. If you’re on our site trying to figure out if your child has a fever, that’s all we need to know. This is how magazines used to do it. People, in their moment of intent, are very easy to understand. You don’t need 8,000 ad tech vendors to retarget that person to deliver value to them.

Will ad tech struggle most with this increased focus on privacy?
It’s hard to say. I think the ad tech guys that can play ball with the Googles and the Amazons will be in pretty good shape.

What will publishers have to be especially vigilant about?
Quality. The sources of traffic that delivered for doing low-quality things are evaporating. Ultimately, there isn’t really a place on the internet for mediocre and crappy content. It’s a real, old-fashioned thing: Do quality work. If it’s not, or not trying to be, then I don’t know what your future’s going to be. I think the whole middle is in danger right now because of how the world is shaking out.

The post ‘It’s dangerous to chase the shiny thing’: Q&A with Neil Vogel, CEO of Dotdash, the Digiday Publisher of the Year appeared first on Digiday.

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