Mozilla, developer of the popular Web browser wants to help consumers block the parts of the web that slow down your Internet, spy on your online activities and generally make web-surfing a tedious experience, according to a report in the Washington Post. The report says: "Focus by Firefox is a new content-blocking app from Mozilla that lets iPhone and iPad users selectively block advertisements and third-party website plugins that send information about you back to the site or to other companies." The software launched Tuesday in iOS app store  "We believe content blockers need to be transparent with publishers and other …

Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference Wed., Dow Jones CEO William Lewis told the audience that he's "slightly, probably more sanguine about it [ad-blocking] than most," but said that it's on his radar, according to Ad Age. Of ad-blockers, Lewis said: "I can't help thinking that this has been brought about by some of our competitors being greedy in the ads that they run creating a substandard experience" for consumers. Lewis predicted that "less than 10%" of Dow Jones users have ad-blockers installed, and used the discussion as an opportunity to plug the intrinsic benefits of having …

AdExchanger weighs in on the interesting phenomenon of click fraud in India where it says advertisers have "become addicted to cheap clicks". However, "it shouldn’t just about installs. It should be someone actually converting inside an app,” said Deepak Abbot, head of mobile growth at Times Internet, the digital product arm of Indian media titan Times India Group. The report says that "Times Internet houses a host of apps that run the gamut from entertainment to news to utility. Gaana is a streaming music app for Bollywood songs. The Times of India is its flagship news app. FILMIPOP aggregates movie …

Interesting take on the AOL On network by Mike Shields in the Journal. AOL On syndicates 2.5 million videos from media companies like NBCUniversal, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Reuters and places videos on 2,500 websites. The distribution at scale helps the publishers earn more revenue from lucrative advertising that runs along with the videos. However, Shields notes that "some of the network’s partners worry that there’s little tracking of where exactly AOL On is placing their videos. These media companies are concerned that the video content and its accompanying advertising are placed on obscure blogs or websites they are not that familiar …

AdExchanger appears to have broken the news on Tuesday afternoon that sell-side platform PubMatic has let go more than 100 employees. The layoffs, affecting 20% of the company's global staff, follow an 8% reduction in October. The combined cuts have reduced PubMatic’s workforce from 600 to about 450. Speaking with AdExchanger, CEO Rajeev Goel stressed the layoffs “came from a place of strength.” He said the company plans to refocus on clients that drive the most value. “We saw a minority of publisher customers represent 90% of our revenue,” Goel said. “We’re doubling down on the minority of customers who …

Mumbrella reports on the layoffs at PubMatic and Turn spinning it as  another wave of consolidation in a space that has experienced explosive growth over the last few years as automated advertising has taken off". Pubmatic, a sell-side platform,  has let 100 staffers go globally, around 20% of its workforce. Turn, a demand-side platform, 57 people or 17% of its staff, reportedly in business development, HR, marketing and management. "It was unclear at the time of publishing how the Asian parts of these businesses will be affected" but Pubmatic told Mumbrella this morning that the move was designed to “support our core …

New York Times CEO Mark Thompson tells Ad Age about new lifestyle verticals and also segues into ad-blocking. He tells Ad Age that the Times "is 'less exposed' than its peers to the financial consequences of widespread adoption of ad-blockers, which could potentially sap publications of digital revenue," Mr. Thompson said. "But he called it 'disgraceful' that some ad-blocking companies are asking publications to pay to be "white-listed" and made exempt from their ad-blocking technologies."

eConsultancy asked experts for the biggest programmatic trends in 2015, among the issuess: Is there a creativity vacuum: "Had media left creative behind? Was programmatic only about cheaper buys and cheaper dynamic creative optimization with production efficiencies, real-time price updates and maybe a “personalized” colour-way and call to action based on someone’s browsing history? Brands seek greater transparency and control: "When at most 45 cents in the dollar reaches publishers and even an in-house or managed service on a shared platform leads to unknown ad-tech, DSP sell-side, reseller SSP and primary SSP fees plus data leakage to competitor algorithms, transparency …

The Monday Note takes up ad blocking in Europe. "As big as it already is, this might in fact just be the tip of the iceberg. The ad blocking picture in even more startling when considered on a global scale and when the mobile internet enters the picture. There, new players are staking strategic positions." For example, the author notes that at the DoubleClick Leadership Summit in Dublin last week, "23% of the audience admitted using an ad blocker. The very same crowd that sells or buy ads eliminates them while browsing the web. Interesting."

The Wall Street Journal reports that in separate revised projections released Monday, Interpublic's Magna Global, Publicis' ZenithOptimedia and WPP's GroupM predict global ad spending to increase almost 5% in 2016, with double-digit growth rates forecast for digital media. "While the firms slightly reduced their projections for next year, all three are still forecasting ad spending growth to continue at a steady pace. Next year’s ad spending levels will get a slight boost from the U.S. presidential election, UEFA football championship in Europe and the Summer Olympics in Brazil. With less than a month to go in the year, the firms …