Ad Operations Online

Socialbakers Appoints James Bodha as CFO

Otilia Otlacan — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:16:44 +0000

Strengthens team by bringing outstanding track record and deep expertise as a successful CFO of dynamic technology businesses

PRAGUE – Socialbakers, the global provider of analytics platforms that allows brands to measure, compare, and contrast the success of their social media campaigns, today announces the appointment of James Bodha as Chief Financial Officer.

Bodha joins Socialbakers from Myriad Group AG, a leading provider of global social messaging services listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. He will report to Jan Rezab, Socialbakers’ CEO, assuming responsibility for all financial, commercial and legal operations.

Bodha brings to Socialbakers over twelve years of experience in senior financial leadership roles within global, growth technology businesses held in public, venture capital and private equity ownership. During his time at Myriad Group, he oversaw the consolidation of three substantial businesses to create a market leader in social messaging, including the acquisition of Synchronica Plc., an AIM/ TSX dual listed mobile social platform provider.

Prior to joining Myriad Group, he was Chief Financial Officer at Aircom International, a mobile network software provider and Magic4, a mobile phone messaging software provider.

“James brings to Socialbakers an outstanding track record and deep expertise as a serially successful CFO of dynamic technology businesses,” said Rezab. “In particular, his knowledge of establishing and growing profitable and sustainable global, multi-site operations will be invaluable in helping Socialbakers accelerate its growth worldwide.”

“Socialbakers is a truly international company with a market leading social media analytics platform and an outstanding client base of the world’s biggest brands,” adds Bodha. “I am excited to be joining such an ambitious, highly talented team and look forward to helping the company scale operations to achieve its aggressive growth strategy.”

About Socialbakers:

Socialbakers.com is a user-friendly social media analytics platform, providing the only global solution that allows brands to measure, compare, and contrast the success of their social media campaigns with competitive intelligence.

Since 2009 Socialbakers has continuously developed innovative tools for companies to measure and maximize the effectiveness of their social marketing campaigns across all major social networks. With more than 160 employees located in 10 offices worldwide, Socialbakers is one of the world’s fastest growing social media and digital analytics company.

ChinaJoy to See New Wave of Mobile Advertising

Otilia Otlacan — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:00:58 +0000

ChinaJoy 2013

BEIJING - Mobile advertising saw a significant breakthrough in Q1 2013 in terms of customer acceptance and click volume of mobile advertising brands, with some industry players estimated to double their revenue at least this year.

“Clients doubted about the effect of mobile advertising in 2011; many of them were wondering how to make it in 2012; and they asked us to make it better this year”

“Clients doubted about the effect of mobile advertising in 2011; many of them were wondering how to make it in 2012; and they asked us to make it better this year,” said an industry insider.

According to statistics from IResearch Consulting Group, China’s online advertising alliances earned a commission of RMB 2.98 billion in 2010, RMB 4.64 billion in 2011 and RMB 7.58 billion in 2012. Their market share lifted from 17 percent in 2010 to 21.7 percent in 2012. The consulting group estimated the market volume of online advertising alliances will break RMB 10 billion in 2013 amid the development of mobile Internet.

E-reading, mobile game and online video were the three largest advertisement segments in the industry of mobile advertising in Q2 2012; while e-reading and mobile game held the most advertising clicks.

Mobile advertising is seeing a rational growth, but the difficulty in finding an efficient access to advertisers, media outlets has been a bottle neck for the industry players. ChinaJoy’s online business platform B To B Area holds more than 1,000 game enterprise members, sharing information and details of their projects and products and providing categorized demand-supply information retrieval services.

Clients can find potential partners through the platform, and may have opportunities to conduct one-on-one talks with them via the Online Business Matching System in the B To B Area on July 25-27. In addition, major domestic and international media outlets and investment institutions may provide analysis and credible comments on the enterprises, products and their teams using the third-party evaluation function.

ChinaJoy 2012’s B To B Area, covering an area of 12,000 square meters, attracted 253 exhibitors at home and abroad. 91 of them were overseas exhibitors from more than 20 countries and regions, including US, Canada, UK, Australia, Russia, Germany, France, Turkey, Singapore, Spain, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong. It attracted more than 20,534 professional visitors, and more than 4,000 business talks were conducted. More than 500 cooperation intentions covering over 700 products were reached, and more than 60 agreements were signed on site, with a total contract value exceeding $20.14 million and the largest single deal worth over $99.4 million.

ABC Kicks off First-Ever Nielsen Trial to Measure Ad Campaigns in Mobile Apps

Otilia Otlacan — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:00:07 +0000

Will Provide Demographic Data for Tablet and Smartphone Media

NEW YORK - Nielsen and ABC announced the network’s participation in Nielsen’s first-ever trial to expand its Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings^TM solution to mobile. Quickly emerging as the standard for online campaign measurement, Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings measures the audience of digital advertising. Incorporating mobile apps will significantly extend the solution’s coverage footprint, which currently includes computer and tablet browsers.

“When we first launched Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings 18 months ago, we knew that it was the beginning of a market-moving shift in digital advertising. For the first time, it enabled all parties to understand the audience of an ad campaign using metrics comparable to TV”

The proliferation of mobile devices coupled with the ease-of-use of the in-app environment has contributed to significant growth in video viewing on both smartphones and tablets in recent years, according to Nielsen research. Through the Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings pilot program, ABC will be able to measure audience demographics and understand the reach and frequency of online campaigns across ABC content on the web and in mobile apps.

ABC’s Geri Wang, President of Sales, announced their participation in the pilot during today’s ABC Upfront presentation. “An increasing amount of our digital video viewing comes from apps on mobile devices, so the ability to understand who sees ads is crucial for our business,” said Wang. “Viewers have demonstrated that they want to watch ABC content everywhere they can, and that increasingly means on their smartphones and tablets. This trial with Nielsen is a significant next step in allowing us to help advertisers see the whole picture, and make our ABC Unified offering even more compelling.”

ABC and Nielsen have a history of collaboration and innovation around multi-platform advertising. Earlier this year, ABC began comprehensive use of Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings to provide advertisers with metrics for their ABC Unified offering – one buy across all screens. In 2012, ABC and Nielsen announced work to develop a custom tablet measurement panel and consumer insights connecting media exposure with purchase behavior using Nielsen Buyer Insights.

“When we first launched Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings 18 months ago, we knew that it was the beginning of a market-moving shift in digital advertising. For the first time, it enabled all parties to understand the audience of an ad campaign using metrics comparable to TV,” said Cheryl Idell, Executive Vice President, Client Solutions for Nielsen. “In that period, mobile usage has skyrocketed and the need to extend our measurement has become clear. We are excited to be announcing this pilot and to collaborate with ABC once again to deliver high-powered, multi-platform insights into the market.”

The mobile expansion of Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings will use a similar approach to the solution’s Media Rating Council-accredited methodology, which combines the industry-leading Nielsen Cross-Platform Homes panel with data from providers, to measure all ads, including video and display, within iOS and Android apps. The pilot runs through summer 2013.

ABOUT NIELSEN CAMPAIGN RATINGS

Nielsen Campaign Ratings delivers clients comprehensive, comparable metrics for TV and online advertising campaigns. Part of the Nielsen Campaign Ratings product suite, Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings combines Nielsen’s Cross-Platform Homes panel data with aggregated, anonymous, privacy-protected demographic information from participating online data providers. Campaign reporting is available the day after the launch of a campaign, providing vital delivery information in-flight to both advertisers and publishers. Nielsen Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings, also part of the suite, draws upon Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings as well as Nielsen’s proprietary TV data to deliver unduplicated and incremental reach, frequency and GRP measures for TV and Internet advertising.

ABOUT NIELSEN

Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related properties. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

*Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings is the first Internet measurement system that provides demographic ratings for online advertising campaigns of any size with certain metrics comparable to those used for TV advertising to be accredited by the MRC.

Millennial Media Launches Operations in Japan

Otilia Otlacan — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:00:18 +0000

Industry Veteran John Greiner Named Managing Director of Japan

BALTIMORE, Md. - Millennial Media (NYSE: MM), the leading independent mobile advertising and data platform, announced the official launch of operations in the Japanese market. John Greiner has been named Managing Director of Japan, and will lead the company’s operations out of the newly opened Tokyo office.

“Japan is an incredibly advanced and robust mobile market, and there is a tremendous opportunity for brands to reach and engage consumers over mobile devices”

“Following the opening of our Singapore office in 2011, expanding into Japan was a natural progression as we look to continue working with brands, agencies and developers across Asia,” said Mollie Spilman, EVP, Global Sales & Marketing, Millennial Media. “Our scale, innovative rich media capabilities and industry-leading data asset will allow us to bring a premium mobile advertising solution to the Japanese market.”

As the Managing Director of Japan, John Greiner will lead all operations in Japan and will be responsible for building relationships with developers and publishers, and working with premium brands and agencies to help them execute effective mobile advertising campaigns. Greiner was most recently the President of MonkeyPaw Games, and brings over 18 years of experience in the Japanese market.

“Japan is an incredibly advanced and robust mobile market, and there is a tremendous opportunity for brands to reach and engage consumers over mobile devices,” said John Greiner, Managing Director, Japan, Millennial Media. “Millennial Media has the technology and infrastructure in place to bring a unique, premium offering to the region, and we will be looking to immediately capitalize and generate scale.”

With the opening of the Japanese office, Millennial Media now has international offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo, Paris, Hamburg and Jakarta.

Millennial Media has over 350 employees worldwide and is aggressively hiring in both the United States and internationally.

About Millennial Media

Millennial Media is the leading independent mobile advertising and data platform. Our technology, tools and services help app developers and mobile website publishers maximize their advertising revenue, acquire users and gain audience insights. Our platform also enables us to offer advertisers powerful Mobile Audience Solutions (MAS) that utilize our significant scale, sophisticated targeting and uniquely engaging creative capabilities to deliver meaningful results.

Nielsen Catalina Solutions Launches AdVantics On Demand for TV

Otilia Otlacan — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:00:29 +0000

Purchase Behavior Based Single Source Platform to Play Key Role in Media Activation

CINCINNATI - Nielsen Catalina Solutions launches its signature single source software offering, AdVantics on Demand™, which will enable consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers, their agencies, and media companies to better match advertising with desired “buyer-rich” audiences based on actual retail purchase data.

“The new NCS AdVantics process provides marketers with a single-source solution for the optimal planning and execution of their television campaigns”

The AdVantics™ suite of services embodies the Nielsen Catalina Solutions “Define Once, Activate Everywhere™” continuous media optimization approach, including the newly launched software, AdVantics on Demand, CPG Buyer Segments, and custom analytics. This enables buyer-based segment definition and Sales Effect retail sales lift measurement for nearly all media touch points.

CPG marketers using Nielsen Catalina Solutions’ AdVantics suite of services for media activation have increased efficiency by an average of 10% and driven incremental advertising effectiveness, with up to 30% in additional sales lift among households exposed to the TV advertising, versus traditional buys.

Approximately 15 product categories representing 60 brands, including CPG manufacturers Kraft, Kellogg’s, and Johnsonville Sausages, and media agencies Zenith, Compass Point Media and others, will use AdVantics On Demand for the 2013/14 Upfronts. In addition, over 10 networks are using Nielsen Catalina Solutions CPG Buyer Segments – which can be accessed in AdVantics On Demand, Nielsen’s NPower, or in other 3rd party solution provider software.

Initially covering national TV media, AdVantics On Demand is a web-based platform that enables media decision makers to determine which media vehicles best deliver buyer-based audience segments, including television networks, dayparts, genres and programs. In addition, AdVantics On Demand provides “buyergraphic” post-buy analyses, reach and frequencies and can be integrated with most third-party planning, buying and housekeeping systems.

“The new NCS AdVantics process provides marketers with a single-source solution for the optimal planning and execution of their television campaigns,” said David F. Poltrack, Chief Research Officer, CBS Corporation and President, CBS Vision. “With this new analytical toolkit they can select audiences based on actual product consumption; select the schedule that offers the best delivery of their target market; and measure the true ROI of their television campaign. This research tool will allow CBS to work with clients to better harness the full marketing power of the television medium on their behalf.”

“Understanding and leveraging the power of data is key to our LIVE ROI! approach and is crucial to how we infuse our media process with intelligence and drive greater ROI for our clients,” said John Nitti, President Activation, Zenith. “The ability to leverage 3^rd party data partners such as Nielsen Catalina Solutions across platforms to provide consistent buyer definitions and sales impact metrics is a key component of Zenith’s activation solutions.”

From nearly 60 million frequent shopper data households and 2.7 million TV viewing households, AdVantics On Demand accesses the largest single source database of shopper data and television viewing in the U.S. With approximately 664,000 anonymous U.S. households, it is the only single source data that incorporates the Nielsen People Meter panel data used by the industry for national TV advertising transactions, and Nielsen Set Meter panels, plus Cable Set Top Box tuning data, providing both panel-based national projectability and “census” data scale for deep, granular analyses.

This complements Nielsen Catalina Solutions’ current offerings including buyer-based audience segments for online, mobile, print and CRM, as well as campaign sales lift measurement.

Nielsen Catalina Solutions is the leading provider of single source data and services for improving advertising performance for CPG marketers and media companies on all media platforms. The joint venture between Nielsen and Catalina has provided purchaser behavior-based analytics, including offerings such as Sales Effect. Nielsen Catalina Solutions has worked with approximately 150 clients, 50 agencies and 40 media companies to deliver over 1,400 studies since its start-up in 2010.

“This year’s TV Upfront market will be the tipping point for the buyer-based media activation approach being embraced by our CPG and TV network clients,” said Nielsen Catalina Solutions CEO Mike Nazzaro. “It’s fitting that the launch of AdVantics on Demand coincides with the 2013-14 Television Upfront and our announcement of key client agreements.”

About Nielsen Catalina Solutions

Nielsen Catalina Solutions helps consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers and media companies measure and improve advertising performance by precisely linking what consumers watch and what they buy.

Nielsen and Catalina established Nielsen Catalina Solutions as a joint venture enabling the advertising industry to improve the delivery of advertising to the most responsive audiences, and measure the resulting sales impact using advertising performance analytics. The joint venture integrates data from Nielsen’s industry-leading media and household purchase panels and approximately 60 million shopper households from Catalina’s shopper data warehouse. This single source view provides the retail sales impact of TV, online, mobile, CRM, radio and print advertising. Nielsen Catalina Solutions is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Visit www.ncsolutions.com or www.advodvideos.com to learn more.

New Kantar Solution Optimizes Campaigns Based On Impact

Otilia Otlacan — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:00:02 +0000

New Kantar Solution Gives Advertisers the Power to Go Beyond Reach and Optimize Campaigns Based on Impact

Compete, Dynamic Logic, DoubleVerify integrate audience, ad viewability, brand and behavioral data into a single measurement and optimization solution

Boston, MA – Leading digital insights and Kantar Group companies Dynamic Logic and Compete have teamed up with DoubleVerify, the pioneer in online media verification and viewability, to launch Advance™ − an integrated solution that provides marketers the insights needed to optimize digital media campaigns based on brand, behavioral and sales impact.

Advance is the only solution in the industry to combine exposure metrics (audience composition, reach and viewability) with effectiveness measures (brand, behavior and sales outcomes) into a unified reporting and optimization system.

The Advance platform addresses the measurement struggles advertisers, agencies and publishers face in aligning key data and increasing marketing ROI. Advance provides end users with more control over the data needed to make critical media selection, placement and creative decisions. Rather than being limited to basic measures of audience reached, media planners can now incorporate brand, behavioral and sales impact data as inputs into their optimization decisions. This new capability brings increased transparency to media planning and performance, enabling well-informed changes in real time and ultimately brand and sales lifts – the key drivers of marketing ROI.

“While digital media is thought to be more measurable than traditional media, there have been blind spots preventing advertisers from really understanding their digital media ROI,” said Yaakov Kimelfeld, Chief Research Officer of Compete. “Advance removes these blinds spots with a holistic tool that enables optimization focused not just on reach and impressions, but squarely on advertiser impact.”

Advance reports on the four critical aspects of a campaign in a single interface: Audience Target Reached, Ad Viewability, Brand Impact and Behavioral Impact. The platform includes a real-time analytics dashboard to provide planners with the ability to adjust campaigns “in-flight” and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of digital spend. In addition, a cost-analysis calculator enables planners to input media costs and compare Effective CPM, Effective CPP (cost–per–point), Viewable CPM rates and Cost-Per-Impact.

“Until now, optimization solutions have focused primarily on campaign delivery; but GRPs or TRPs alone are not sufficient,” said Michelle Eule, SVP of Digital Solutions at Dynamic Logic. “Advertisers and planners now have a more complete formula for evaluating the success of their campaigns using unique metrics such as Impacted Audience and Cost-Per-Impact to optimize how they reach their target audiences.”

“We’re excited to partner with Compete and Dynamic Logic to help solve the performance measurement gaps that exist in online marketing today,” said Wayne Gatinella, CEO, DoubleVerify. “Together we can build a better industry that enables brand advertisers and their agencies to achieve optimal media performance and insights.”

Additional benefits of the Advance solution include:

• Customizable demographic and behavioral audience definitions to pinpoint reach within the audience segments that advertisers value the most

• Verification and viewability technology that is accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC), adheres to 3Ms standards and is used by more than two hundred Fortune 500 brands

• Streamlined tagging solution that leverages existing workflow and is already merged into most media buying platforms

• Normative insights for brand and behavioral measures; brand impact metrics are benchmarked against norms from thousands of other campaigns and correlate with changes in brand equity

• Customizable reporting and deliverables that extend client insights into cross-media, cross-device and cross-channel applications

“By bringing delivery, attitudinal and behavioral data together, Advance allows us to understand how optimizing against one metric is impacting the others in real time, which is critical not just for managing complex digital campaigns but for elevating the level of insights we provide for our clients,” said Hilary Kolman, Director, Analytics & Insight at MEC.

“In our client work we always focus on delivering a holistic view of metrics and KPIs so as to optimize and truly drive performance,” says Tommy Wiles, Associate Director, Strategy & Analysis, Digitas. “Advance’s dashboard has made the process of creating a full picture view easier by putting all of our reporting data in a single, easy-to-use interface.”

Live Webinar

The companies will introduce Advance and share insights in a webinar entitled “A New Formula for Optimization: Optimize Digital Ad Campaigns Based on Impact” on June 6th at 2 p.m. EDT. Please register for free at: http://success.compete.com/newformula.

www.compete.com/us/products/advance

About Compete
Compete (www.compete.com) provides digital insights that helps the world’s top brands improve their marketing based on the online behavior of millions of consumers. Compete’s offerings are fueled by the largest integrated online consumer behavior and survey panel in the industry. Consumer and media insights are interpreted by analytical experts in the automotive, entertainment, financial services, media, mobile, packaged goods, retail, technology, telecom and travel markets to deliver data and recommendations to create effective online experiences and highly profitable advertising campaigns.

About Dynamic Logic
Dynamic Logic (www.dynamiclogic.com) is the world leader in digital insights. Founded in 1999 as a pioneer of the digital revolution, Dynamic Logic helped establish the Internet\’s true marketing value to businesses by developing solutions that measure beyond click-through to quantify the full brand impact of online advertising. As part of Millward Brown, Dynamic Logic continues to lead the industry — developing innovations to optimize and track digital ad impact, specializing in emerging media platforms, and integrating insights across all digital and non-digital media. For marketers, agencies, and publishers alike, Dynamic Logic offers the most cutting-edge and adaptable solutions to make the most of every digital marketing dollar.

About DoubleVerify
DoubleVerify (www.doubleverify.com) is the world leader in online media transparency, accountability and effectiveness insights. MRC-accredited, DoubleVerify is the top choice of brand marketers, agencies, advertising networks, demand side platforms, exchanges and digital publishers looking to ensure quality advertising environments, campaign transparency and performance. DoubleVerify validates over 60 billion advertising impressions per month for hundreds of Fortune 500 brands, advertising networks and media platforms. DoubleVerify was conferred the World Economic Forum 2012 Technology Pioneer Award for being one of the most innovative stakeholders in the technology space. Headquartered in New York City, DoubleVerify’s investors include JMI Equity, Institutional Venture Partners, Blumberg Capital, First Round Capital and Genacast Ventures.

DataXu Introduces the Industry’s First Algorithm Marketplace

Otilia Otlacan — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:00:06 +0000

Programmatic Marketing Platform Employs Data Science to Drive Business Goals with Unprecedented Choice and Flexibility

Boston – DataXu today introduced the industry’s first Algorithm Marketplace, a major new addition to its enterprise programmatic marketing platform that leverages data science to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of digital advertising. The Marketplace is a library of algorithms created over time from DataXu’s experience solving clients’ complex marketing problems. For the first time, dozens of algorithms are available to users in one place, so brands and their agencies get complete transparency and control of their advertising investment strategies. Marketers can also continue to innovate and collaborate with DataXu to develop custom algorithms that address their business’ unique opportunities and challenges.

“The Algorithm Marketplace helps brands drive sales through data science,” said Mike Baker, CEO of DataXu. “We’ve worked with our clients to solve difficult business problems requiring advanced targeting rules and optimization techniques. We’re excited to codify our learnings and share them in a scalable, easy-to-use way. It’s like putting a data scientist at our customers’ fingertips – now they can confidently target and optimize digital ad investments based on real-time data to improve ROI.”

Marketers looking to capitalize on the programmatic aspects of digital marketing have been frustrated by the one-size fits all approach to targeting and optimization, forcing them to juggle multiple platforms and partners, which leads to higher staff and vendor costs, loss of data and reporting inconsistencies. The DataXu Algorithm Marketplace offers marketers a scientific “test and learn” methodology to continually refresh campaign models based on learnings acquired over time. The continuous cycle of testing, learning and executing plus the flexibility of the DataXu Platform gives marketers the ability and confidence to standardize on one platform that will meet their needs today and tomorrow.

The Marketplace also offers algorithms that tap into attribution and validation models from partners such as Adometry and Nielsen, and smart data sources from partners like eXelate. The intuitive user interface gives guidance on which algorithm is right based on a marketer’s channel, performance, targeting and delivery objectives.

The DataXu Algorithm Marketplace helps marketers:

Customize programs to achieve their own unique business goals
Engage consumers with relevant messages across multiple channels including display, mobile, video and Facebook Exchange
Integrate partner attribution and validation models for better audience insights and results
Apply a test and learn methodology that measures, models and optimizes every individual consumer interaction
Confidently standardize on one platform, avoiding duplicate fees and switching costs

For more information on the DataXu Algorithm Marketplace, a video demo is available.

About DataXu

DataXu is transforming the way companies build their brands in a digital world through the industry’s only fully integrated programmatic marketing solution. The DataXu Platform offers cloud based software that leverages data science to help enterprise marketers better understand and engage consumers, and optimally manage marketing investments for more efficient and effective customer acquisition strategies. With 11 offices in eight countries, DataXu services more than 700 brands across the globe. For more information, visit or follow us at twitter.com/dataxu.

Innovation in Action:

“Adometry solves a problem faced by the world’s top marketers every day—knowing and acting upon what truly influences customer conversions. The DX Algorithm Marketplace allows marketers to leverage Adometry’s best-of-breed attribution solution and their own algorithms in a single platform. The result for marketers will be increased ROI from media buys on DataXu as part of their overall omni-channel media strategy.”- Gad Alon, VP of Business Development for Adometry

“The Algorithm Marketplace combines eXelate’s smart data platform which provides accurate, actionable and agile consumer data and analytics with business rules that will achieve a Brand’s specific marketing objectives. Together, the two address a growing demand for programmatic marketing platforms that provide a single integrated solution for driving smarter marketing decisions that provide immediate top and bottom line impact.” - Mark Zagorski, Chief Executive Officer at eXelate

“Marketing in a digital world is evolving so quickly that one size fits all solutions can’t meet the demands of today’s brands. A solution like the Algorithm Marketplace helps us maximize ROI for each individual client based on their unique business goals and grow with them as their needs change.” – Scott Macdonald, Head of Display at Forward

appssavvy Answers the Industry’s Cries for Scalable, Standard Native Advertising

Otilia Otlacan — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:00:47 +0000

appssavvy’s Activity-Based Ad Units Employ IAB “Rising Stars” Canvasses for Brand Advertising Naturally in a User’s Activity Stream and Native to The Experience

NEW YORK, NY – “Scale” and “standard” are two question marks that often arise about native advertising. appssavvy (www.appssavvy.com) continues to answer these questions with its activity-based advertising platform. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is encouraging adoption of the IAB Rising Stars, new canvasses for brand advertising on digital platforms, but these are too often delivered in a non-native manner. appssavvy fixes this through its activity-based web and mobile ad units.

“Delivering ads in natural placements within the user activity flow is the Holy Grail for advertisers — as is engaging, creative experiences. Using the IAB Rising Stars in-stream delivers a new standard ad unit that is native to the experience and demonstrates the next generation of digital brand advertising,” said Peter Minnium, Head of Brand Initiatives at the IAB.

appssavvy’s activity-based advertising technology platform focused on people’s native activities, reaches an audience of 103 million unique users per month. appssavvy delivers a Full Page Flex mobile “Rising Star” ad unit featuring a full screen experience with interactive functionality. These ads, which are similar on the web, except that they are 600×300 in size, are triggered by people performing activities, such as creating and consuming content, or communicating. Each of these activities, which, today, appssavvy delivers against more than 4 billion per month, provides a natural break within the user flow resulting in better timing, as well as context based on the activity, to drive scalable, standardized native advertising.

“The IAB’s Rising Stars initiative is in lock-step with our vision to rethink the delivery and reception of advertising,” said Chris Cunningham, co-founder and CEO of appssavvy. “As people’s behavior has shifted from page-based media to activity-based, both on the web and mobile, so should how we think about advertising. Through our, now, IAB standard, activity-based ad units native to the digital experience, we’re making advertising better by empowering leading web publishers to get smarter about their inventory and what it’s worth through data and insights, and brands to reach people within natural breaks and when they are most receptive, all in real-time.”

To learn more about the IAB’s Rising Stars, visit: www.iab.net/risingstars.

About appssavvy
appssavvy (www.appssavvy.com) is a technology company with the mission of rethinking the delivery and reception of advertising. Focused on activity, appssavvy redefines how brands reach consumers, creates native ad experiences for publishers, and most importantly, improves advertising through data and insights about real-time behavior. For more information, visit www.appssavvy.com, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/appssavvy) or follow us on Twitter @appssavvy.

BIM Hires Dr. Paul Barford as Chief Scientist to Focus on Ad Optimization and Traffic Quality

Otilia Otlacan — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

UW Computer Science Professor, founder of Nemean Networks, is Expert in Internet Traﬃc Measurement, Large Data Analytics and Internet Security

MADISON, WI - Broadcast Interactive Media (BIM), whose evolving suite of Web, video, and mobile publishing tools help increase client revenues by attracting more traffic and improving ad delivery, today announced that Paul Barford, PhD and Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, has joined the company as Chief Scientist, a newly created position. Dr. Barford will direct the development and operation of a new BIM platform that assures its network of local publisher sites can identify and avoid invalid traffic which is now costing the online ad ecosystem over $10 billion in wasted ad spending.

While teaching at Wisconsin (Madison) Professor Barford was the founder of network security company NemeanNetworks, an Internet security company focused on commercializing next-generation intrusion detection technology. Nemean was acquired by Qualys (NASDAQ: QLS) in 2010. Dr. Barford is also founder and director of the Wisconsin Advanced Internet Laboratory, which receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Army Research Office and Cisco Systems. He was also part of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, a public transdisciplinary research institute and “skunkworks” focusing on the interfaces of computation, laboratory science, the humanities and entrepreneurship.

“I am exceedingly lucky to have Paul Barford join our team. He is an industry and academic leader in network security and data analytics,” says Timur Yarnall, CEO of BIM. “For more than 10 years we have been working with high demand local media and pure play publishers focused on interactive mobile, display, and video inventory. Since we have been seeing roughly 500 million monthly impressions from over 40 million unique visitors we have been able to see a wide swath of traffic and identify the kinds of irregularities that point to fraud for both brands and publishers.”

Dr. Barford’s research interests have been in measurement of Internet traﬃc and topological structure; large data analytics and Internet security including detection of traffic anomalies and identification of malicious attacks and intrusions. More recently, his interests have turned to challenges in online advertising. Dr. Barford was a visiting professor at the University of Cambridge, an EPSRC Visiting Fellow in 2011 and has been a consultant on Internet measurement and security issues to a number of companies. He also served as Chief Scientist at Qualys.

Author of many highly-cited research papers, Dr. Barford also served on numerous panels, organizing committees, and program committees (ACM SIGCOMM ’13 TPC co-chair, ACM SIGMETRICS ’10 TPC co-chair, and ACM IMC ’06 TPC chair). He had served as an associate editor for IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, on the board of directors of the National Lambda Rail, and on technical advisory boards of companies. He is an NSF CAREER award winner and senior member of the ACM and IEEE. Dr. Barford received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Boston University.

“I am very pleased to have a chance to work with the fantastic customer base, talented developers, and team at BIM, “ said Dr. Barford. “I’m certain that the application of big data analytics to our large network of publisher sites will yield immediate results.”

Broadcast Interactive Media (BIM) (www.broadcast-interactive.com) is a leading digital ad network and data services provider of revenue and technical solutions to online publishers and remains a trusted resource for hundreds of local broadcasters and media sites worldwide. Core products are the BIMLocal Digital Network, BIMvid video CMS, MediaStarSuite of program scheduling tools, and TitanTV.com Guide Data Services. Customers include ABC, Belo Corp., Capitol Broadcasting, CBS Television, Fox Television, Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst-Argyle, NBC Owned Television Stations, Scripps-Howard, and the Telemundo Station Group. BIM is based in Madison, WI, with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Cedar Rapids, IA, and Austin, TX.

AOL Signs on as First Large-Scale Digital Media Company to Require Entire Sales Team to Be Certified Through IAB Digital Media Sales Certification Program

Otilia Otlacan — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:00:00 +0000

NEW YORK - The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced that AOL is the first large-scale digital media company to require its entire sales team to take and pass the IAB Digital Media Sales Certification exam, marking a major milestone for this program, created less than a year ago. With today’s digital media sales roles requiring in-depth knowledge across a spectrum of ever-evolving standards, measurement guidelines and best practices, IAB launched the certification program as the first-ever professional benchmark for interactive advertising sales teams.

“AOL is dedicated to providing clients with the best digital advertising customer service, knowledge and innovation”

“AOL is dedicated to providing clients with the best digital advertising customer service, knowledge and innovation,” said Marta Martinez, Head Of Sales Strategy and Operations, AOL. “Customer service is a hallmark of AOL’s business, and fundamental to building a long-term relationship with our clients. By certifying all our sales employees and ensuring that they have a deep understanding of the interactive advertising platforms, technologies and capabilities that impact the industry, we are demonstrating our dedication to our clients and staying ahead of the curve.”

“The digital advertising space is booming,” said Michael Theodore, Vice President, Training and Development, IAB. “With competition at an all-time high for talent in the digital advertising space, to recognize those who have attained the requisite skills and intelligence needed to succeed. The IAB Digital Media Sales Certification is the professional barometer that all digital media companies should aspire to, and we are thrilled that an industry leader like AOL has been so proactive about adopting it.”

To receive the certification, digital sales professionals must complete an examination, which covers general comprehension of the interactive advertising ecosystem, selling digital media and analyzing campaign performance.

The certification knowledge areas include:

Comprehending the digital advertising ecosystem
Selling digital media
Managing digital advertising campaigns
Analyzing campaign performance

No formal coursework is required to take the IAB Digital Media Sales Certification examination. Designed for salespeople with 2 to 5 years of experience in the digital industry, the exam is recommended for candidates who have a strong command of current industry issues, players, and operations, as well as a broad understanding of every major digital platform. The test costs $400 for IAB members and $500 for non-members.

The IAB worked with the fully accredited test development company Professional Testing, Inc. to create the content of the exam, alongside subject matter experts. All exams are administered through Pearson Testing Centers and are available worldwide.

Earlier this year AOL was one of only two companies selected for the IAB Award for Overall Sales Excellence, recognizing the company’s commitment to providing its clients with the industry’s best customer service.

For more information on the IAB Digital Media Sales Certification program or to register to take the exam during the next window, July 1 – 31, 2013, please visit www.iab.net/certification.

About AOL

AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is a brand company, committed to continuously innovating, growing, and investing in brands and experiences that inform, entertain, and connect the world. The home of a world-class collection of premium brands, AOL creates original content that engages audiences on a local and global scale. We help marketers connect with these audiences through effective and engaging digital advertising solutions.

About the IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 500 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.

Ad Operations Online

Socialbakers Appoints James Bodha as CFO

Related articles:

ChinaJoy to See New Wave of Mobile Advertising

Related articles:

ABC Kicks off First-Ever Nielsen Trial to Measure Ad Campaigns in Mobile Apps

Related articles:

Millennial Media Launches Operations in Japan

Related articles:

Nielsen Catalina Solutions Launches AdVantics On Demand for TV

Related articles:

New Kantar Solution Optimizes Campaigns Based On Impact

Related articles:

DataXu Introduces the Industry’s First Algorithm Marketplace

Related articles:

appssavvy Answers the Industry’s Cries for Scalable, Standard Native Advertising

Related articles:

BIM Hires Dr. Paul Barford as Chief Scientist to Focus on Ad Optimization and Traffic Quality

Related articles:

AOL Signs on as First Large-Scale Digital Media Company to Require Entire Sales Team to Be Certified Through IAB Digital Media Sales Certification Program

Related articles: