News and Analysis
Yahoo Partners with Lowe’s to Power Off-Site Media Experiences for Advertisers
Yahoo announced that it has partnered with Lowe’s to power off-site media experiences for Lowe’s roster of brand advertisers. The deal positions Yahoo as the technology backbone for Lowe’s One Roof Media Network, enabling all off-site media buying and ad inventory not on Lowes.com or the Lowe’s mobile app.
5 Tools for Fake Review Detection
Consumer reviews matter now more than ever, but fake online reviews are at an all-time high. The issue has prompted FTC action as well as new guidelines for retailers that solicit online reviews. While most people can’t spot inauthentic reviews, 67% of consumers say they are concerned about review fraud.
Emodo Launches AI-Driven Native Ads for Brands and Publishers
Emodo, which calls itself an “intelligent exchange” focused on helping both advertisers and publishers, launched an AI-driven native ad offering today called Adapt. The offering will aim to allow advertisers to craft seamless, captivating ads in trusted publisher contexts while helping publishers drive ad revenue without interrupting user experiences.
Commentary
Location Weekly: Reveal Mobile Raises Fresh Funding
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association hosts two new guests: Denise McKenzie, director of the Benchmark Initiative at Geovation, and Walter Geer III, SVP, Group Creative Director, at TBWA/WorldHealth.
The team also covers Reveal Mobile being awarded a patent and raising fresh funding as well as EQ Works partnering with Opta Information to use location data for the insurance industry.
Can Local Commerce and Tech Work From Home?
I’ve worked from a home office since 2002. Forced into it — and initially opposed due to unfamiliarity — I didn’t like the isolation. But after acclimating, I became more productive, happier, and healthier than in any previous office job. Now, 18 years later, I may never go back.
One question is if that same realization will sink into corporate ranks now forced to #WFH. Could adjusting to working from home be a silver lining for some industries? In being forced to try new ways of doing business, could we discover habits that work better than older conventions? How might this principle play out in local businesses?
Adapting to Covid-19 Using Location Data
My personal experience getting sick during the pandemic also got me thinking about how easy it is to spread the virus just by moving around and how important it is to abide by government guidance to stay at home or at least limit your movements. As someone who works in the location data industry, I have an appreciation for the mass movement of people, and staying at home and limiting contact with other people is the right thing to do right now.
I also had the chance to think about how location data could be used to help hospitals, governments, and businesses combat the spread of the virus.
Latest Posts
Human Judgment, Automation, and the Future of Ad Tech
For now, I propose two major concerns—two challenges, even, for further thought—surrounding AI for the ad tech industry. The first is that the datafication of human experience that has allowed for precise ad targeting needs to be radically reconsidered, not just in terms of what can be done to obtain the consent of consumers for data collection, as the rising privacy movement has called tech companies to consider, but also in terms of what is lost and what is truly gained when the attributes of real people are transformed into consumer data. The second is that the human-machine hybrid decision-making model, while surely the best available in a hypothetical set that also includes human-only and machine-only models, will have to grapple with the bias and poor decisions of the humans who program the machines that will take on the task of regulating large platforms at scale.
Why Conversion Mapping and SEO Go Hand in Hand
Terry Cane: Search engine optimization isn’t just about on-page technical elements. Not anymore. These days, it’s as much about user experience as it is how well you can appeal to search engine robots. And a big part of that is conversion mapping—understanding the route your leads take from their first click to their purchase.
These 6 Location Data Providers Are Changing the Way Brands Target Consumers
Location data providers power the vast majority of mobile targeting strategies we’re seeing brand marketers implement today. An incredible 80% of marketers say they plan to boost their use of location data over the next two years, and in the U.S. alone, it’s expected that location-based advertising spend will reach $38.7BN by 2022. In order to achieve those goals, marketers will have to work closely with top location data providers. Here are six companies they’ll be working with.
At Retail Conference, Google Dangles Shiny New Visual Ad Format
The visual-first ads are here. Google announced at the retail conference Shoptalk on Wednesday that it is launching shoppable ads in image search, propelling the search giant into the center of the visual zeitgeist that has made Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat hot targets for advertisers.
AI Technology is Getting within Reach for Small Restaurants
Rodion Yeroshek: The majority of restaurant businesses, especially the small ones, remain slow adopters and non-adopters of AI technology. People may think that the introduction of AI in small restaurant operations is nothing more than jumping on the bandwagon. However, research on the impact of AI on the world economy by McKinsey Global Institute warns the naysayers. The research predicts that by 2030 active adopters of AI technologies could double their cash flow, while non-adopters could lose up to 20% of theirs. This is a hint for restaurant managers who plan to stay in business for the next 10-15 years that it’s time they embrace AI tools or prepare to lose a big part of their market share for good.
Four Targeting Myths That Devalue the Real Power of Location Data
Jake Moskowitz, head of the Emodo Institute, debunks some myths about location data. Here’s the first shocking one: Location data can’t find you 60 million devices that visited a Hyundai dealership within the last month or two… or three, because that’s impossible. Throughout all of 2017, across the entire US, there were only about 17 million cars sold in total. That includes Hyundai, Honda, Ford—indeed, all brands. In data stores, users run across super-sized segments all the time. It’s not uncommon for vendors to claim that their single-brand auto dealership visitor segments include tens of millions of consumers. Location data is powerful, but it can’t make up shoppers.
Native Ad Industry Booms, Capitalizing on Hunger for Ads That Don’t Look Like Advertising
Native ad firm AdYouLike is staking its reputation on the assumption that the ads you like may not look like ads. That bet appears to be paying off, as a report from the firm shows the native ad industry set to grow to $400 billion by 2025, a 372% jump from the projected size of the market in 2020.
3 Advantages of Private-Label or In-House Affiliate Marketing
The affiliate space continues to become more innovative each year. As a result, clients are looking for ways to enhance their affiliate programs. This could include anything from cross-device tracking to multi-channel attribution. And one of the fastest-growing affiliate marketing trends is private or “in-house” programs that are powered by white-label network or technology solutions. […]
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
Authentic Storytelling: Real-Life Scenarios Showcase Brand Values and Build Trust