Can IAC Become A Real Exit Strategy For NYC Tech Startups?

Last month, the idea that Foursquare could exit to Yahoo! for $120+ million had everyone abuzz.  “This means NY tech has come to its own!” people exclaimed. Finally, we had a major player in the social web space. It was a company born here and grown here. Now it was on the brink of being sold for big money. It was a proof point that NYC could breed a serious batch of startups post-Web 1.0.  But if anything, the “Fourhoo episode” was also a scary wake-up call for those of us invested in the future of the NY tech ecosystem. If Foursquare sold — to Yahoo!, to Facebook, or to anyone else in the space — they’d undoubtedly end up in the hands of a Silicon Valley company, and its IP and (probably) leadership would be shipped out of town, taking any future value creation with it. (Sure, they may keep the jobs here, but the profit and reinvestment? Future product integrations?)  As it turns out, this whole exit scenario is a sham for the local environment, and here I thought exits were a good thing. What’s the matter with New York?! Here we are producing a fleet of World Class startups, and an exit for our startup scene means depleting its resources?  This sounds bad. And it is.

Read More: BusinessInsider.com

Futures, Forwards, Contracts Part 2

I was recently talking to someone in the industry I admire and we both started discussing the options, forwards and contracts of dispensable media. Ironically both of us have oil/gas history. He mentioned to me the context of the spot market and how in oil and gas – almost the majority of deals are done in advance and commodities trade in this manner and hedge where needed. The spot market is a residual market where it’s a lot less of the commodities that trade. Take the 80/20 rule – 20% is the spot market in oil/gas and 80% is the futures, forwards contracts market.  Let’s look at the premium and remnant market in digital – is it not the exact opposite? 20% of the market is secured guaranteed premium inventory and the other 80% is the spot market! Incredible – this means that the upside is greater and that digital is only at the start of its bell curve. While 20% has the bulk of the monetisation –we have an 80% pool of potential upside waiting in the wind. Technically, the spot market becoming competitive and working by market forces should only increase the guaranteed market.

Read More: AdSolver

Pay To Play: Is Hulu Plus A Step Away From An Ad-Supported Model Or The New Freemium Norm?

Beginning what some analysts see as the beginning of a slippery slide away from wholly ad-supported models, Hulu on Tuesday debuted Hulu Plus — its premium service that will charge consumers $9.99 a month for carte blanche content access over multiple platforms.  When Hulu debuted in mid-2007, it was viewed as a potential threat to cable and satellite providers that charge a premium for content — and in some cases ad-supported content.  Hulu Plus, which will include some advertising, could therefore be seen as an admission that advertising alone is not enough to support premium content online.  Not so, says senior eMarketer analyst David Hallerman. “It’s an expansion of Hulu’s business rather than a failure,” he says. “What they’re offering here is a deep catalog of content, and studies I’ve seen show that about a quarter of [consumer] respondents are willing to pay for that.”  Meanwhile, Hulu is positioning its subscription service as the perfect vehicle for marketers to target advertising across four screens. Initially, Hulu Plus is partnering with Nissan and Bud Light, and said it expects to include additional advertisers shortly.

Read More: MediaPost

A Look at Who’s Getting What on Apple’s iAds

The first of Apple’s iAds are expected to start popping up on iPhones later this week, but don’t expect all the marketers that have committed to the platform to be there. A check-in with declared iAd advertisers found that many are still in the early stages of flushing out concepts and creative. Some are weeks — perhaps months — away from having an iAd in the system.  ”Most advertisers won’t be there on July 1; there just isn’t enough time,” said one agency exec with several iAds in the works.  Part of the issue is with Apple itself: The company is handling all the technical production of iAds, and telling agencies it will take six to eight weeks to produce an ad after the creative is produced.  The July 1 rollout announced by Apple doesn’t necessarily coincide with the objectives of the marketers themselves, and many are staggering launches on the platform through the fall. Apple is telling marketers that the device considered most promising for advertisers — the iPad — won’t be on the iAd platform until November.

Read More: AdAge

The 7 Newest Interactive Trends: How Will They Affect You?

What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago was a wholly different kettle of fish for most of us — a kettle that had been left out to fester in the sun. But the optimism is back, baby! We saw it in the packed conference and expo aisles at ad:tech San Francisco in April, and in the double-digit growth figures for ad revenue in the first quarter of the year.  The can-do mood has returned. Memories of 2009 have been thrown into the ash heap of history. The digibiz again smells as sweet as gardenias in springtime.  But let’s leave odor to the side for a bit. There’s been more to the first half of 2010 than just better business results. Here are some of the most important happenings this year:

Read More: iMediaConnection

Unilever CMO: We’ll Double Digital Budgets This Year

CMO Keith Weed told the audience here today that Unilever aims to double its digital budgets this year. In some countries, the shift could mean interactive channels will command 25 to 30 percent of spending.  In an on-stage interview with WPP Group CEO Martin Sorrell, Weed argued the transition to digital is even more important than the buzz warrants. And the company is backing up that view with actions. Earlier this spring, numerous top executives from the company toured the West Coast, meeting with leaders at Yahoo, MSN, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple, among others.  Asked by Sorrell what role data and insights play in his marketing approach, Weed couldn’t emphasize their role enough.  “Consumer insight is everything,” he said. “The only way I can get a differentiated product to the consumer is understanding the market better. Consumer insight is the starting point. Then an agency can get the creativity, build the brands.”  Unilever is among the more visible clients at this year’s festival. In addition to being awarded Advertiser of the Year, its agencies have won numerous Lions for work on Unilever’s brands. Campaigns for Axe and Hellman’s Ketchup were among those honored.

Read More: ClickZ

ScanScout Boosts Transparency

The online video ad network space has earned something of a reputation for murkiness, which has helped fuel interest in a string of ad verification companies that aim to ensure brands’ ads run where they are supposed to.  ScanScout, one of the growing players in online video, already claims that it’s technology can prevent an advertiser’s ads from running alongside questionable content. But to take things a step further, the company says it will now be fully transparent upfront with its advertisers about what sites their campaigns will appear on.  Buyers can now peruse ScanScout’s lists of hundreds partner sites — which include MLB.com, NBC and Fox sites, as well as Gannett and Warner Bros. Web properties — picking ahead of time where they’d like their clients’ ads to run.  That, says ScanScout evp Jason Krebs should take a lot of the uncertainty out of buying online video — and help risk-averse traditional brands embrace the medium. “Brand dollars have stayed away from the space,” he said. “We want to help brands figure out upfront what they are buying.”

Read More: AdWeek

How Paypal Can Help Save Media—And Itself

Earlier this month, John Donahoe, CEO of eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) and its subsidiary Paypal, was interviewed at the D8 conference. It was a flashback to see him speak:  I had worked under him 15 years ago when I was a freshly minted undergrad just hired into the San Francisco office he ran for Bain & Company. A strapping and charismatic up-and-comer, John was known for his bold visionary talks and his strident walk.  But at D8, I didn’t see that confidence. He spoke of eBay’s connections between buyers and sellers as though he hoped we’d believe it was a new trend; meanwhile far from his Santa Clara headquarters, Gilt Groupe and Groupon are reinventing e-commerce. On Paypal, he looked backwards to the innovation of getting financial services online, rather than forward to the app revolution. Overall he looked staid, the way eBay and Paypal now look to me – entangled by their legacy, unable to cut the cords to freely enjoy the new boom around them.  With that in mind, I’d like to offer Paypal the chance to get ahead in an area that still has room for wild success. Media desperately needs help to become financially viable – and consumers will need to foot part of the bill to make it so. It’s clear that others see the opportunity here: Facebook surely wants to spread its Facebook Credits currency to take over the world the way ‘Like’ has; and now word comes that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is readying Newspass in its bid to capture consumer payments for media. But more than these other companies, Paypal, with its huge footprint of consumer accounts and years of web experience, is in the catbird seat to be media’s savior. 

Read More: PaidContent.org

Guaranteeing Data And Audience Validation Reporting

Known as the “Quality Data Guarantee program,” AudienceScience has announced that it will start verifying its own data as well as those of other vendors in order to guarantee for clients that they’re really getting the audience they wanted. New audience verification reports will also be offered. Read the release.  AudienceScience CEO Jeff Hirsch discussed the new program and reporting as well as its implications.

AdExchanger.com: What has pushed AudienceScience to offer the Quality Data Guarantee?

JH: There are several reasons. First, we are strong believers in the notion that the creator of data has the right to determine how that data gets used. The industry needs standards to support this. AudienceScience has spent years developing relationships with thousands of data sources that specifically and contractually, spell out our right to utilize data to power campaigns for our advertiser and publisher partners. We think it is important for marketers to know, with absolute certainty, that they have the right to utilize the data powering their campaigns. Secondly, we are concerned that data collection does not always adhere to privacy guidelines. It is absolutely essential that we get this right as an industry. We have invested in a significant way to protect consumer rights and we want marketers to ask the tough questions of any company utilizing data – are consumer rights protected? Lastly, we want our partners to know that their own data is protected and that they have complete control over its collection and utilization.

Read More: AdExchanger