Online ad network Specific Media has been hit with a lawsuit for allegedly violating Web users’ privacy by using Flash cookies for tracking purposes.

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, six Web users allege that Specific Media failed to provide adequate notice about its online data collection techniques, including Flash cookies. The lawsuit also alleges that Specific Media used Flash cookies — which are stored in a separate location from HTML cookies — to recreate HTML cookies that users had deleted so it could “obtain personal identifying information, monitor users, and to sell users’ data.”

The company’s “privacy documents require college-level reading skills for comprehension and include substantial legalese, ambiguous and obfuscated language designed to confuse, disenfranchise, and mislead the users,” the lawsuit asserts.

In addition, the use of Flash cookies to recreate deleted HTML cookies “unfairly wrests control from users,” the lawsuit alleges.

Read More: MediaPost

Adap.tv Launches Brand Impact Offering for its Online Video Advertising Marketplace

Adap.tv, creators of the industry’s first online video advertising marketplace (atm) and the onesource video ad management (ato) platform, today announced Brand Impact, a powerful suite of tools that makes it easy for brands to increase the effectiveness of their online video advertising in the marketplace.

“Our customers are telling us they want brand safety, advanced targeting, increased measurability and verification for their online video ad campaigns. Only adap.tv’s Brand Impact incorporates all of their needs into a single offering, so they can have confidence in their video ad spend,” said Toby Gabriner, President of adap.tv. “Through partnerships with industry leaders such as Affine Systems and Vizu, as well as built-in tools, we provide brands with the necessary technologies to make online video advertising easy, targeted and impactful.”

Adap.tv’s Brand Impact provides five key benefits for brands that want to create powerful online video advertising programs:

Prevention – Through a partnership with Affine Systems, Brand Impact offers access to innovative new video targeting technology. Affine’s first-of-its-kind computer vision engine fully analyzes in-stream video content frame-by-frame, and provides ratings based on obscenity, production quality and violence. As brands expect more transparency and protection for their online video advertising, Affine’s data provides them with the protection they need to prevent their campaigns from running alongside harmful content and ensure their brand is safe.

Performance – Brand Impact will leverage Vizu’s Ad Catalyst solution to enable real-time measurement and optimization of brand advertising campaigns. With Ad Catalyst, advertisers using the adap.tv marketplace can move beyond basic clickthrough rates and apply a more relevant metric, Brand Lift, to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. Advertisers can also use real-time data on the performance of creative, targeting, and frequency to optimize in-campaign, for maximum Brand Lift and ROI for their online video advertising.

Precision – The adap.tv marketplace includes the industry’s most advanced data targeting and audience verification tools as part of its Brand Impact offering. Brands can leverage multiple targeting providers including eXelate, Lotame and TARGUSinfo across campaigns to reach specific audiences.

Proof – The adap.tv marketplace has a built-in URL verification system that automatically confirms a campaign only runs on the sites that have been selected. Brands have full visibility into the video inventory their ads are running against and the audience they are reaching.

Premium Inventory – With a roster of more than 1,400 of comScore’s top properties, adap.tv ensures access to premium quality inventory, giving brands a powerful environment to showcase their ads.

Read More: PRNewswire

The Rise of the Demand-Side Platform

During the past few months, this column has briefly explored the history of digital ad serving. This month, we’ll continue that journey as we look at recent ad serving developments that are creating significant changes throughout the industry.

Digital advertising, unlike more traditional mass media marketing, doesn’t rely on group exposure models for its success. In reality, online advertising is less about reaching the greatest number of eyeballs and more about reaching the right eyeballs. This means that standard “blind” ad serving models (where ads are being served to any open ad slots on any available pages within the ad network) are being replaced by “smart” ad networks that look for the best recipients for an ad’s message, regardless of where in the network they visit.

Not only does this approach mean that consumers receive more relevant ads, but it also means that advertisers get better results and higher conversion rates for their campaign because they’re reaching a higher percentage of consumers who may take future action in line with the advertiser’s needs.

But there’s also a third winner in this scenario in the form of publishers who are able to better monetize the impressions they serve on behalf of the advertisers. Historically, most websites needed to divide their available inventory into a tiered value model to identify which pages were most popular (attracted the greatest number of eyeballs) and which were less popular. As a result, ads that appeared on the popular pages of a site cost more per impression than those on the less popular pages.

Because advertisers are able to rely on more behaviorally-driven ad models today, which page an ad appears on is becoming less and less significant. Instead, second or third tier online inventory can now be sold at a premium price, not because of where or when the ad runs, but because of who is seeing it when it does. This allows publishers to increase the value of all of their site impressions without having to weigh in on a page popularity contest first.

Most ad networks today utilize some level of audience targeting which allows publishers to better identify site visitor characteristics and behaviors that can be used to help define possible future interests and actions. Through the use of cookies, each user’s browser is tagged and when that consumer revisits a site or ad network, that history is used to direct ads that are more in line with the personal needs and interests of the consumer.

Read More: ClickZ

Hearst-owned iCrossing has become the latest search agency to try and boost its display ad chops by partnering with a demand-side platform.

Scottsdale, AZ-based iCrossing will work with DataXu to support real-time ad optimization and bidding on ad exchanges such as Yahoo’s Right Media and Google’s DoubleClick Ad Exchange.

The move follows a slate of developments in which search agencies have made advances in the display arena. Recently, four search firms – Efficient Frontier, SearchIgnite, Kenshoo, and Marin Software – joined a Right Media pilot program involving real-time bid display ads. Back in April, SEM firm Efficient Frontier launched a DSP of its own, fusing real-time bidding functionality with search campaign management.

While not purely a search agency, iCrossing’s roots are in the search arena. Dax Hamman, the agency’s VP of display media, said in a statement that data integration is key to the company’s clients’ exchange ambitions.

“We wanted a partner…that could provide the technical framework in which we can test the effectiveness of multiple data sources for our clients,” he said.

iCrossing was not the only search firm to announce new moves into display this morning. Marin Software, a search management platform company that manages $1 billion in marketing spend annually, today released applications for managing Facebook Advertising. The new features allow clients to manage algorithmic bidding, segmentation, and ad rotation on Facebook, alongside their search campaigns on Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Read More: ClickZ

ShortTail, TidalTV Ink Video Ad Deal

ShortTail Media, a company that helps publishers deliver video ads to text-based portions of their Web sites, has signed a deal with Web video network and technology firm TidalTV.

As part of the pact, publishers in TidalTV’s network, including 30 newspaper sites owned by McClatchy, have begun selling advertisers ShortTail’s signature D30 ad unit — a video interstitial that appears as users click between Web pages.

ShortTail touts the D30 as a way for sites to better monetize text content, which still makes up the majority of publishers’ content outside of the YouTubes and Hulus of the world. The company already works with sites such as EW.com and The Huffington Post and has run campaigns for brands like A&E, Sonic, Jim Beam and General Mills. (See also: “Web Ads Get More Intrusive.”)

That monetization concept appealed to McClatchy, which is testing the D30 on the sites for newspapers such as The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and Kansas City Star. “We’ve traditionally had our own video and video from the Associated Press, but that requires users to say, ‘I’m going to watch video now,’” said Chris Hendricks, vp, interactive media at McClatchy. “We’ve had very limited [video] inventory because of that. This puts video front and center on our site, and it helps us compete from a volume perspective.” McClatchy’s sites reach about 35 million unique users, per Hendricks.

Read More: AdWeek

Video ad network BrightRoll has struck a deal with search data provider Magnetic to offer search retargeting as an option for targeting video ads. Search retargeting allows advertisers to run display ads based on a user’s search history. So if someone has been researching a car purchase, they might see a banner ad from an auto advertiser.  With the BrightRoll deal, Magnetic is now applying this approach to video ads as well. “By combining Magnetic’s targeting technology with our video advertising platform, we’re able to solve the needs of our advertisers by delivering targeted campaigns at scale with a high return on investment,” said BrightRoll CEO Tod Sacerdoti in a statement. The ad network already offers targeting according to demographic, behavioral, geographic and other criteria.  Magnetic has already struck partnerships earlier this year with display ad networks including interCLICK and Undertone Networks aimed at refining display ad targeting based on the 270 million anonymous profiles the company has created based on search data gleaned from mostly second-tier search engines, Web site toolbars, e-commerce sites and other sources.  The idea is to combine the high conversion rates of search advertising with the traditional brand-building role of display. “You have all the different creative options in display that you don’t have in search,” said Magnetic CEO Josh Shatkin-Margolis. “And for premium publishers the best form of online display ads are video ads.”

Read More: MediaPost

The Future of Free Media

Monday’s Wall Street Journal article on cookie tracking was a bit underwhelming. So although (a) we’ve been having the same conversation over and over again since 1996 without getting anywhere*, (b) the article was a bit misleading and maddeningly vague, and (c) industry rumor has it that the church/state divide at the Journal does not quite live up to the J-school ideal, I am siding with Jeff Jarvis in believing that News Corp is not well enough organized to stage a conspiracy: the article was just poorly done.  These arguments are nominally about privacy. And providing privacy is a worthy but complicated** goal. But given the general level of philosophical confusion about privacy, I believe much of the commentary (and the comments to the commentary) is motivated by a hostility to advertising in general.  If you hate advertising, you hate advertising. Arguing that not paying for music means a diminished supply of quality music does not sway the downloader. Not paying for media–in whatever sense of pay–means a diminished supply of quality media. This argument does not sway the hater of advertising, but I’m not trying to convince them. Advertising provides something important: free (as in beer) media. This may not mean much to Rupert Murdoch–who can afford to pay cash for his media–but it means something to society. And it should mean something to those of us who are trying to find a way to make quality ad-supported online media a viable proposition.  Paying cash for media is regressive. High cover prices exclude those with less disposable income. (This strategy is used purposefully by mixed-model high-end media outlets to produce a demographic appealling to better-paying advertisers.) Advertising democratizes media***. And media allows a democracy.

Read More: ReactionWheel.Blogspot.com

The Google-Verizon Net Neutrality Pact

Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg hosted a conference call Monday to discuss an open Internet just days after the Federal Communications Commission abandoned efforts to reach a compromise. The proposal aims to derail unlawful discriminatory practices and gives regulators the authority to stop offenders.  While the two companies published the terms of the Google-Verizon “A Joint Policy for an Open Internet” agreement in a blog post, the plan does not treat wireless and wireline network access equally.  Both Schmidt and Seidenberg emphasized that there is no formal agreement based on the proposal. It simply represents suggestions to “the public policy arena to see how we can move our industry forward,” says Seidenberg, emphasizing that the agreement stands for innovation.

Read More: MediaPost

IAB Ad Network Guidelines: Providing Greater Brand Safety

We have all witnessed the ad network space and the overall non-reserved inventory landscape become increasingly complex. During the past 18 months, changes to our industry have come from the continued proliferation of ad networks, growth in data usage, the emergence of exchange models, as well as increased technology offerings including demand-side and supply-side solutions.  While these innovations are designed to benefit the end client, it has led to confusion – particularly during a time when advertisers and agencies are seeking transparency, brand safety, quality, and control.  As a result, clients have had growing concerns when it comes to buying inventory through networks and exchanges. They often wonder: “How will my brand be protected? Where will my campaign really run? How do I make sense of the various targeting capabilities and data sources?”  In light of these concerns, the IAB has released the “Networks & Exchanges Quality Assurance Guidelines.” The guidelines are intended to provide increased simplicity, transparency, and control for the buying community (i.e., marketers, agencies, and publishers). Based on feedback from members of this community, I’m confident that the implementation of these guidelines will result in providing confidence and clarity that buyers seek and an overall stronger marketplace for all parties alike.

Read More: ClickZ

Part of the magic of real-time bidding is found within machine learning. This involves using sophisticated algorithms to “learn” complex patterns based on large amounts of data in order to make optimal advertising decisions. The importance of machine learning is cost avoidance and value creation. Cost avoidance is simple to understand: data-driven optimization strategies help reduce waste by identifying the most relevant impressions while selecting the best ads (better creative message, better offer, etc.), which in turn improves performance and ROI (define). Value creation, on the other hand, happens when buyers and sellers of commoditized offerings are more efficiently brought together for a transaction.  To create machine learning magic, two ingredients are required: scale and prediction. Scale speaks to the need to make more users/impressions available through the auction marketplaces, and increase the number of advertisers bidding on these users. The bigger the scale, the more sophisticated the data-driven prediction can be. The second ingredient refers to the idea that prediction needs to be “accurate enough.” Amazon and Netflix have demonstrated that when you provide an accurate prediction of what consumers want, the business grows in two ways:

1. Better inventory control and more purchases/utilization.
2. Better targeting becomes a custom delight feature when it’s perceived to be quite accurate by average consumers.

The ability to deliver relevant choices in real time based on what consumers reveal about themselves creates a virtuous cycle: 

Ads/recommendations become more accurate → consumers are willing to share additional information about themselves → the machine learning algorithm for ads/recommendations becomes even smarter

In digital advertising, the machine learning prediction ultimately boils down to two parts: identifying your target audience and reaching them efficiently. The first part requires machine learning at the user level to learn the most optimal audience segments to target; the second requires machine learning to drive real-time bidding strategy with precision. For instance, demand side platform technology allows advertisers to have global control over how many times each user sees the ads (i.e., frequency capping) and how they see them. This begs the obvious question, “what is the optimal number of ad repetitions?” The answer might be an average of five times over a period of seven days. Problem solved? Not quite.

Read More: ClickZ

BrightRoll Launches Video Ad Exchange

Earlier this year, video ad company Adap.tv launched a video ad exchange in partnership with Gannett Co. and Publicis Groupe’s VivaKi digital unit. Now, its OneSource platform will have some competition from a rival video ad marketplace started by video ad network BrightRoll.  As with the online exchanges that have emerged in recent years for display and other types of advertising, the goal is to bring increased efficiency to the video sector by giving publishers a way to unload unsold inventory and media buyers an automated system for reaching particular audiences across a wide range of sites.  “What we’re essentially releasing is a video advertising business in a box for buyers of online advertising,” said BrightRoll CEO Tod Sacerdoti, who added that the new exchange dubbed BRX is an outgrowth of the company’s efforts to further automate its own ad network over the last 18 months. BrightRoll is the third-largest U.S. video ad network based on streaming video ads viewed — at 333,492 in June, according to comScore.  “We realized everything we were building was applicable to other media buyers and sellers,” said Sacerdoti. A BrightRoll study earlier this year found that half of publishers surveyed reported that at least 20% of their online video advertising inventory is never sold, suggesting the potential for an automated, auction-based marketplace for pre-roll ads.

Read More: MediaPost

Forbes Sells Investopedia To ValueClick For $42 Million

After less than two months on the block, Forbes Media has sold financial education site Investopedia to lead gen provider ValueClick (NSDQ: VCLK) for $42 million. In June, Forbes retained the Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. three years after it bought the Canadian-based site.  The announcement comes a few weeks after Forbes purchased freelance journalism site True/Slant, which was shut down last week and will remain live as an archive site only.  Forbes had been an investor in True/Slant and before the purchase, it had hired site’s founder, Lewis DVorkin, as consultant to help restructure its digital offerings. The quick sale of Investopedia is a the first step in the struggling publisher’s latest digital reinvention. Despite the fact that Forbes was eager to sell the Edmonton, Alberta-based Investopedia, the company claimed that the site’s profits and users have grown in the past three years since it was acquired.  In a release, ValueClick CEO Jim Zarley said that Investopedia gives the company “great content, organic traffic and established advertiser relationships in the important financial services advertising vertical.” He also believes that the addition of Investopedia will be able to help build up its ValueClick Brands and ValueClick Media offerings.

Read More: PaidContent.org

Many pundits have criticized Google as a one-trick pony that makes money from one thing – search on the desktop. There’s certainly some truth to that, but Google’s moves over the last few years foreshadow an audacious three screen advertising strategy that, if properly executed, would represent a ground-breaking second act for the company. By aggressively pursuing platforms on mobile and TV in addition to their traditional perch on the desktop, Google is positioning itself to deliver ads across all three screens and trump the capabilities of both Apple and Microsoft, who have made far less inspiring moves in the advertising world.

Read More: JackMyers.com

John Mayer’s LeBron Spoof Satisfies Fans’ Growing Content Cravings

Since Monday a new video featuring musician John Mayer’s spoof of LeBron James’s ubiquitous “decision” TV special has collected an additional 30,000 views. That brings views of the parody video – which doubles as a summer tour promo – to over 192,000 as of noon today.  “After giving it a lot of thought and careful consideration I have decided that I’m going to play for Cleveland,” says Mayer in the video in a deadpan monotone. “So as not to offend my fans in South Beach, I’d also like to announce that I’ll be playing for Miami,” he continues, adding, “I’m also going to be playing for New York City.”  Those three cities, as anyone who’s glanced at sports coverage recently knows, were among the likely locations for former Cleveland Cavaliers offensive powerhouse LeBron James to choose as his new home as he made his much-hyped decision as a free agent. James chose to play for The Miami Heat starting next season, though the New York Knicks were also reportedly in consideration.  “The John Mayer bit works because it’s timely, clever, and reflects his personality,” said Edith Bellinghausen, SVP digital business at entertainment firm Razor & Tie, which puts out bands and artists including Day of Fire, Matisyahu, and Natalie Grant.

Read More: ClickZ

Online Video Ad Segment Poised to Explode

The online video advertising market is poised for rapid growth over the next few years, according to eMarketer.  The research firm estimates online video advertising spending will grow more than 48 percent this year, reaching $1.5 billion. By 2014, it expects the video ad market will top $5.5 billion.  ”Video fulfills branding objectives better than any other current online ad Format — with the sound, motion and emotion of TV, but with better measurability and targeting,” said David Hallerman, a senior analyst at eMarketer. “The continued development of more professional-quality video on the Web makes the target audience more receptive to advertiser messages and thereby encourages advertisers to spend more for video ads.”  Still, spending growth does not necessarily correlate with current market importance. While video ad spending growth will far outpace that of any other online ad format from 2009 to 2014, it will still represent only 6 percent of all Internet advertising expenditures in 2010.

Read More: AdWeek

Social networks and their endlessly growing page views have dominated every sphere of the web — from audiences to ad impressions. But there’s one area where they still can’t seem to catch up: ad prices.  A recent analysis by ComScore shows social networks, primarily Facebook and MySpace, have over the last year drawn an average CPM of only 56 cents, compared to the $2.43 average for the internet at large. Looking more closely, the ComScore data show that the average pricing for online ads exclusive of social-networking sites, namely Facebook and MySpace, would be much higher, about $2.99 for every 1,000 views; social sites dragged down the average online CPM by as much as 18% over the last year.   Some industry executives are concerned that Facebook and its ilk may in fact be reducing the overall pricing of CPMs, or the cost-per-thousand impressions, that are the basis for online ad pricing.  “Social networks are going to be a challenge for everybody, as the sheer dominance of the impressions they’re making flood the marketplace with inventory,” said Keith Lorizio, Microsoft’s newly installed head of U.S. sales. “And it’s especially a challenge for every publisher, as they drive down CPMs.”  The low-cost rates on social sites don’t necessarily mean they’re driving down the pricing for other publishers. In fact, much of the collective downward pressure on ad prices could be attributed to the mass of inventory altogether — it’s supply simply outstripping demand.

Read More: AdAge

TwitVid Launches Video Ad Network

Twitter video hosting service TwitVid today launched SocialAds, a standalone video advertising network designed to help businesses connect directly with their audience by collecting followers and retweets for their advertising campaigns.  “Traditional means of monetizing video has heavily relied on pre-roll ads, which work great for premium content but can be quite suffocating for an end user who may only be trying to watch a short video,” said Mo Al Adham, co-founder of TwitVid, in a statement. “SocialAds offers an alternative advertising solution, which provides measurable value to both advertisers and viewers. Through SocialAds’ proprietary technology, media viewers are exposed to social media accounts targeted to be of high interest to them. In turn, advertisers are exposed to and gain engaged customers whom, once acquired, can be communicated with as a trusted brand.”   Advertisers and agencies are shifting some of their spending to online from TV, according to an April 2010 study of digital media and marketing pros by DM2PRO and Tremor Media. In fact, 94% of those polled expect to increase online ad spending this year, with almost 45% shifting those dollars from TV, the study reported.   In a private beta test, participating brands generated more than 400 new followers in less than one hour, TwitVid said. As a result of seeing the commercials, 2% of viewers began following a brand, according to the video hosting service.

Read More: InformationWeek.com

Foursquare Frenzy

Dennis Crowley, co-founder of hot location-based social service Foursquare, addressed a roomful of marketers in June. He asked for a show of hands of how many had tried to work with the company but didn’t hear back. A lot of hands went up. The simple message: the still-small company is struggling to further develop its service while responding to the avalanche of requests.  Now, with $20 million in new funding, agencies are hopeful the digital world’s new belle of the ball will build tools to help them use the service in deeper ways.  Adweek spoke with several agencies that report frustrating experiences with Foursquare. Some have found it both hard to contact and unwilling to come up with marketing ideas. One agency representing a major package-goods client said the company put the onus on the brand and agency to find the best way to use the service.  “They’re not responsive and extremely hard to work with,” said a digital agency exec who asked not to be named. “It’s hard to bring campaigns to life. Nobody knows how to create a badge or ask [Foursquare how] to enable behavior. It’s black magic.” In general, he said, “it’s pretty much unworkable.”   One sticking point is Foursquare’s strategy of initially limiting advertiser participation. Pepsi, for instance, has an exclusive lock on the soft drinks category. Additionally, Foursquare has identified one “charter advertiser” for some major categories, which it then works with to better understand what works before taking on other advertisers. While less formal than exclusive contracts, it nonetheless leaves some competitors out in the cold, if only temporarily.

Read More: AdAge

The real dream of any advertiser is to grab the attention of the right person at the right time. A new approach to online advertising, known as real-time bidding, could help make that vision easier to achieve.  Real-time bidding involves auctioning off the opportunity to show an online display advertisement to a specific type of user at a precise moment. A San Francisco-based startup called Triggit recently scored $4.2 million in funding from two venture capital firms, Foundry Group and Spark Capital, based on the promise of its real-time bidding platform.  “Every person has a different value to different advertisers,” says Zach Coelius, Triggit’s CEO. He points to the advertising auction system used by Google for search keyword. People searching for particular keywords are bracketed together as likely having similar intentions. With display advertising, he says, the interests of the person visiting a page is less clear, and it’s more difficult to match an ad to the ideal user. It is increasingly possible to gather information about a user by looking at her browser’s cookies–tiny files that show which sites she has visited. But matching this information to advertising is a still relatively crude process.

Read More: TechnologyReview.com

Google Working On Secret New Ad Format: “Interactive Video Ads”

Google is still casting around trying to find another revenue stream that will carry the company now that search is maturing.  The latest idea?  Interactive video ads.”  Eric Schmidt pitched the idea at Allen & Co.’s Sun Valley conference, Jessica Vascellaro reports:  Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt championed “interactive video ads,” which he said are on the way. Such ads, which could appear anywhere on a Web page, not just inside a video, would be like mini-Web pages. That means they could allow Web users to watch a video, leave a comment and see real-time updates within the ads that are more customized to their interests.  Mr. Schmidt said in an interview Thursday that he has pushed Google’s ad teams to think about the potential for such ads, which he suggested would eventually become prevalent. But he didn’t comment on any specific plans for them.  Sounds like a stretch. 

Read More: BusinessInsider.com

Tech Companies Work To Come Up With Ad Ideas That Click

As media companies voice doubts about whether they can build their digital businesses on advertising alone, technology companies gathered in Sun Valley this week are trying hard to convince them to think more creatively.  In a range of interviews on the sidelines of the conference, Internet companies from ad juggernaut Google Inc. to small upstarts have pumped the promise of new formats that are more effective than banner and search ads, the staples of the digital ad industry to date.  Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in an interview late Thursday that a new killer ad format—which he dubbed “interactive video ads”—is coming. Such ads, which could appear anywhere on a Web page not just inside a video, would allow users to interact with the ads in new and more engaging ways, such as asking users to click on a video to learn more about a product. He said he has encouraged Google’s ad teams to think along those lines, but didn’t comment on any specific plans.  Andrew Mason, chief executive and founder of Groupon Inc., said in an interview that his company—a fast-growing startup that distributes daily deal newsletters—is here talking to media companies about reinventing local advertising.

Read More: WSJ.com

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

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

The first 15 years of online retail saw breakneck growth and little reason to focus on anything but transactional revenue. As the medium matures, the smartest retailers will recognize they are sitting on a gold mine of media impressions and consumer behaviors that can keep the bottom line growing even as transactional growth slows.  Retail Web sites boast one of the best audiences a marketer could ask for: people who are actively researching and shopping products, practically raising their hands that they are currently in-market. In fact, brick-and-mortar stores have recognized this value for years, selling their suppliers premium placement such as end-cap displays, eye-level shelf space, and store circular ads.  Yet most online retailers are barely scratching the surface of the potential. The untapped media sales opportunity in online retail becomes even clearer when you look at conversion rates. Typically less than 5% of a Web site’s shoppers actually transact — but 100% of that traffic is valuable to advertisers since many of those shoppers will go on to buy elsewhere.  So why haven’t online retailers stepped up their game for in-store advertising?

Read More: MediaPost

YuMe Adds Brand Security

Online video has the undisputed numbers to attract advertisers, now it needs to inspire the confidence to seal the deal. To that end, video advertising technology company YuMe today announced that it has added brand security capabilities to its ACE technology platform.  The new capabilities leverage YuMe’s proprietary domain detection technology, which can collect detailed information about the in-page environment of a syndicated or embeddable player when it makes an ad request, even when the player is not associated with a companion banner.  This allows YuMe to prevent ads from running in video players that have been embedded on inappropriate websites, and to work with publishers to constantly monitor and improve the list of sites where their syndicated and user-embeddable players are appearing.  “The majority of online video publishers—including some of the biggest media companies in the world—have chosen to syndicate their premium online video content and to offer user-embeddable video players, and we want to be able to reach these online video audiences while keeping our customers’ brands safe” said Jonathan Nelson, CEO of Omnicom Digital.  “We are pleased that YuMe has chosen to make an ongoing investment in brand security, combining regular monitoring and research with proactive technology to prevent inappropriate impressions before they happen.”

Read More: DigidayDaily

IPG and AOL Unveil Plan to Improve Retail Marketing

Madison Avenue officially kicks off one of its annual summer rites today – in the South of France – where agencies will compete to prove who is most innovative and creative during the 57th annual Cannes Lions advertising festival. Some of the competition will take place during the judging sessions, of which one judging insider tells OMD U.S. agencies have made the most number of entries to the “short list,” followed by Sweden. Some of the competition will take place in presentations and panel discussions. And some of the competition will take place in the obligatory press announcements that agencies use to score bragging rights amid all the industry attention. Interpublic’s Mediabrands was first to score on the latter front, announcing an innovative online retail marketing initiative with AOL.  The deal, which the companies boasted would “re-invent digital retail advertising,” combines the research and development assets of Interpublic units with the ability of AOL to mobilize and activate its massive online user base.  The end goal is to develop new technologies that benefit both online consumers and marketers in the retail marketing process.

 Read More: MediaPost