Google’s AdMeld Deal to Clear U.S. Antitrust
Google Inc. (GOOG)’s $400 million acquisition of AdMeld Inc. has been recommended for antitrust approval by U.S. Justice Department staff attorneys, two people familiar with the matter said.
The staff urged approval after a detailed analysis found that AdMeld’s competitors in online display advertising were strong enough to offer companies alternative ways to advertise, one of the people said. The recommendation still must be approved by senior department officials, said both of the people, who didn’t want to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak about the matter publicly.
The recommendation contrasts with the department’s reservations about Google’s purchase of ITA Software Inc. In that case, the department required oversight of Google’s actions before giving approval because government attorneys determined online travel agencies that used ITA’s software, which aggregates flight information, didn’t have many alternatives.
AdMeld offers technology services to Internet publishers that help them boost revenue by managing display ads from hundreds of sources, including ad networks. Customers of the New York-based company, founded in 2007, include News Corp. (NWSA)’s Fox News and the Weather Channel.
Read More: Bloomberg
Collective Introduces Ensemble
Full Integration of Tumri and Oggifinogi Products and Operations Gives Way to Comprehensive Audience Platform for Brand Marketers
NEW YORK, Nov 30, 2011 — Collective, a full service provider of media and technology solutions for display and video advertising today released Ensemble(TM), its new technology platform designed to service brand advertisers seeking a complete buy-side audience platform and services solution. The full integration of recently acquired Tumri and Oggifinogi products and operations into a single business unit allows advertisers to leverage rich media and dynamic creative optimization, powered by Collective’s AMP(R) audience data and media platform.
“The integration of Tumri and Oggifinogi into the Ensemble platform coupled with key leadership appointments makes it possible for Collective to help advertisers deliver rich, video-enabled and optimized creative to audiences at scale,” said Joe Apprendi, CEO, Collective. “We’re enabling brands to intelligently connect with consumers across the entire spectrum of online display advertising with a truly integrated technology suite versus reliance on multiple third party vendors.”
Collective’s new solution eliminates the need for multiple service providers, presenting advertisers with the opportunity to leverage dynamic creative, engaging ad formats and Collective’s industry leading audience data all from one place. Ensemble works across their entire media buy, including real-time bidding (RTB) on leading ad exchanges. Collective is also offering comprehensive creative and production services with Ensemble, ranging from full to self-serve options.
Read More: Collective
Ad Network Offers Rich Media To Niche Publishers
Uses the Portrait unit introduced by IAB and Pictela.
Martini Media, which serves a network of 1,000 publisher sites in lifestyle and business, is launching a series of multimedia advertising programs including bringing rich media to niche sites.
The program kicks off with the threefold Portrait (a 300 x 1050 unit that permits advertisers use high quality ads) introduced by Internet Advertising Bureau and Pictela. “Now elite, niche publishers can attract premier advertisers that have been the province of portals,” says Bill Rowley, SVP/business development and marketing at Martini Media. “And premier advertisers can make specialty environments a mainstay in brand campaigns.”
Martini Media claims it offers advertisers a chance of more than 100 million page views. Charter advertisers include MINI, Victoria’s Secret and VISA.
Read More: Folio
comScore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for October 2011
Big Prizes Lure Players to Lotto and Sweepstakes Sites
Sweetest Day and Halloween Drive Traffic to Flowers and E-Card Sites
RESTON, VA, November 16, 2011 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. web activity at the top online properties for October 2011 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. The annual McDonald’s Monopoly game and a large Powerball jackpot drove millions of prize-hungry visitors to the Lotto/Sweepstakes category in October. Sweetest Day and Halloween prompted a seasonal spike in traffic at Flowers/Gifts/Greetings sites and E-Card sites.
“Lotto and Sweepstakes sites saw big gains in October, with the popular McDonald’s Monopoly game generating widespread interest,” said Jeff Hackett, executive vice president of comScore. “Of course October is also the month of Halloween, which generated a predictable surge in retail gifts and greetings, as well as sending of e-cards.”
Read More: comScore
5 Things You Should Know About the Future of Retargeting
Display advertising is changing rapidly and getting more and more confusing. And many people are looking to understand its landscape.
Here are five things you need to know that you may not have thought of when it comes to display:
1. There will be fewer ads per page. One of the problems with online advertising today is that there is no barrier to creating new inventory. Constructing a billboard alongside a highway costs capital. There are a limited number of :30 spots you can run during a top-rated TV show. But if you’re a publisher that wants to create new revenue, it is much easier to add more ads to a page than it is to get more users to the site, or to get the ads to perform better. I estimate that there is about five times more supply than there is CPM/CPC demand. The rest of the inventory is spent on CPA offers or site promotions. Smart publishers should be focused on their audience and properly pricing those ads, to make for a more efficient marketplace – rather than flooding the exchanges and networks with new inventory. As the market gets more mature, the market will get closer to a balance between supply and demand.
2. RTB will be the primary way to retarget and your DSP technology will be the difference between success and failure. For some, this goes without saying. Only a demand-side platform (DSP) accessing all of the major ad exchanges can provide enough reach to power retargeting at scale, particularly when there are any kinds of restraints, like targeting by geo. A good DSP is like a racecar or precision surgical tools – it allows the buyer using the DSP to distinguish between good inventory and bad, cheap and expensive, and premium and remnant.
Read More: ClickZ
Limelight Networks Announces Its Dynamic Site Platform for Mobile to Enable Publishers to More Effectively Create and Manage Mobile Web Presence
Service Allows for Tailoring of Content-Rich Web Sites — Ensuring Content is Displayed as it Should be, Regardless of Device
TEMPE, Ariz., Nov 8, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) — Limelight Networks, Inc. /quotes/zigman/105873/quotes/nls/llnw LLNW +0.63% today introduced its Dynamic Site Platform for Mobile, an innovative new service that enables publishers to create and manage their mobile web presence. By providing the ability to create mobile-specific sites and repurpose content for multiple devices, the solution ensures that content-rich sites are optimized for every device — regardless of screen size, processing power or bandwidth.
Limelight Dynamic Site Platform for Mobile is built on the company’s cloud-based Dynamic Site Platform to integrate all web content management tasks — saving time and money while ensuring that publishers’ brands are expressed consistently across all online platforms. Using industry-standard languages (XML, HTML, CSS and Javascript), it allows web designers to create mobile sites that leverage the content and features already built into corporate sites. The solution eliminates the need for a separate mobile CMS, further speeding time to market.
Read More: MarketWatch
Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL Share Display Inventory
Still no merger news, but Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL have agreed to share unsold “premium” display inventory among their respective ad networks.
The partnership, announced Tuesday, appeals directly to Madison Avenue’s desire for scalable reach — something that has been increasingly hard to come by via TV, but not yet achievable online.
“This agreement should begin to change the industry’s perception of premium” inventory, Ross Levinsohn, Yahoo EVP of the Americas, said on a conference call late Tuesday.
More to the point, “this is about differentiation,” Levinsohn added, in response to a direct question about increasing competition from Google and Facebook, and whether their rise brought Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft together.
A clear and present threat, Facebook and Google are expected to increase their share of domestic display advertising this year by 9.3% and 16.3%, respectively, according to eMarketer.
Yet by adding greater scale into the equation, the partners hope the deal will increase demand for their premium display ad offerings.
Read More: MediaPost
