News and Analysis

TRUSTX Takes Aim at Opaque Programmatic Trading Practices

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The lack of transparency in the programmatic space has finally reached a tipping point. According to a survey on the state of programmatic media buying, conducted by Digiday, 27% of media buyers say the greatest concern they have with programmatic advertising is the lack of transparency. While many players in the space are claiming that their hands are tied, and agencies continue to push back against audits, upstart technology firms are carving out niches as leaders in the push to bring trust into programmatic advertising.

Marketers Prepare for Father’s Day Boom

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With just two days to go before the big day, brand marketers would be smart to ramp up their campaigns now. Researchers at the digital advertising platform ZypMedia discovered that shoppers purchasing gifts for Father’s Day don’t plan nearly as far in advance as they do for Christmas and other major holidays. As a result, last-minute campaigns targeting shoppers are much more likely to have a major impact.

David Shim, Foursquare

After Foursquare Acquisition, Placed Founder David Shim Talks Teaming Up With a Major Competitor

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How did a Seattle-based ad tech company move up the ranks to become an industry darling, less than eight years after its launch? And how does the new relationship between Foursquare and Placed, which was previously the biggest competitor to the company’s Foursquare Attribution product, impact the location industry at large?

To find out, we caught up with Placed founder and CEO—and now president of Foursquare—David Shim. Here are his thoughts on what it’s like to go through an acquisition, and how two industry heavyweights who’ve competed for years are finding new ways to work together.

Commentary

Research Roundup: Comparing Franchisees and Independent Professionals

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Comparing some surveys focused at opposite ends of the local small business spectrum — franchise operators and self-employed professionals — it feels like, though the industry is selling these groups the same marketing and commerce technology and services, the two segments are more different than similar.

Optimizing for Mobile Search: New Tips and Old Tricks

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It used to be that you wanted to be situated as close as possible to the city centroid, or clustered with similar businesses. Now you might literally have to be the closest shop to the place your potential customer happens to be standing. How in the world do you optimize for that?

Why the Creative Director of the Future Stands at the Crossroads of Marketing, Tech, Product, and Ads

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Think of the evolving creative director as a technological and marketing pentathlete, a dynamic force who’ll need to satisfy more than just the traditional advertising imperative. Envision a product-strategy role; that is the model to come.

Latest Posts

Weather Company’s Webster Touts the Power of Forecast Data in Local Marketing

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“We’re starting to have conversations about how we can take data and predict consumer behavior based on weather conditions,” says the Weather Company’s EMEA chief Ross Webster. “We’re not just looking at the weather as absolute … It’s much more about the different layers of weather data.”

Case Study: Timberland Empowers Local Retailers with Branded Content

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“We know that our local retailers are the best way to engage and influence consumers,” says Frank Hwang, Timberland’s senior manager for digital and paid media. The company works with local retailers to provide product storytelling and brand lifestyle content for their digital and social media channels.

Street Fight Daily: Google’s New Tool for SMBs, Facebook Opens Up to Branded Content

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… One Year After ‘Mobilegeddon,’ Google Plans to Release a New Tool for Small Businesses (Business Insider)… Facebook Opens the Door to Branded Content from Top Publishers (Digiday)… Daily Mail Parent in Talks with Private Equity for Yahoo Bid (Reuters)…

Openings and New Hires at IBM, Verve, Infutor, and Pandora

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Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. This week’s edition includes moves and new openings at Review Trackers, Yik Yak and Unacast.

Raise Report: Luxe and Planday score fresh rounds

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Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes new cash infusions for Frichti, Virool, and Influenster.

Street Fight Daily: Verizon and Google’s Yahoo Bids, Foursquare President on Data Accuracy

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Verizon to Proceed With Yahoo Bid, Google Weighs Offer (Bloomberg)… The Right Questions to Ask About Location Data Accuracy (eMarketer)… Facebook Is Testing Weather Alerts on Mobile (The Next Web)…

Unacast Looks to Monetize Its Location Data, Hires ironSource’s Cunningham as CRO

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Beacon and proximity data company Unacast announced today that Chris Cunningham, formerly the Vice President of Revenue for ironSource, is joining the company as chief revenue officer. Cunningham will help Unacast to monetize all the data it aggregates from beacons and sensors.

IAB Primer on Ad Blocking for Publishers Leans Toward Carrots Over Sticks

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“Ad blocking is a crucial wakeup call to brands and all that serve them about their abuse of consumers’ good will,” says the IAB. Street Fight recently spoke with IAB general manager Scott Cunningham about how the group is working to help publishers combat ad blocking.

The Context for Contextual Marketing Is Changing

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The idea behind contextual marketing makes a lot of sense. But in practice, contextual marketing is getting pretty hairy, especially for location-based marketing. That’s because context is getting more complicated

Street Fight Daily: HERE Wants to Compete with Google Maps, Yahoo’s Grim Financials

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Seeking Investments from Microsoft and Amazon, HERE Signals Intent to Compete Aggressively with Google Maps (Search Engine Land)… Yahoo Paints Grim Financial Picture as Deadline for Bids Nears (New York Times)… Why Pinterest Forces You Off Its Mobile Site and Into Its App (VentureBeat)…