Accenture surveyed more than 10,000 adult smartphone users globally who shop online and in-store. The research, conducted in Nov. 2015 found that nearly half of smartphone users worldwide are enthused about receiving real-time promotions from retailers on their phones. Yet only 7% of retailers are offering them, according to a report in eMarketer's daily newsletter. And, 42% of respondents said they want the ability to credit coupons and discounts automatically.

Rocket Fuel on Thursday announced the appointment of Ben Saitz as its first-ever chief customer officer. In this role, Saitz will lead all post-sales functions. Formerly at DoubleClick, Google, and Medallia, Saitz has deep expertise in ad tech and software as a service (SaaS).

The Wall Street Journal reports that publishers say it's getting easier to make money from Facebook Instant Articles. Facebook made some adjustments to the program, reacting to publisher frustration over the platform’s advertising restrictions. Some publishers report that their Instant Articles are generating the same amount of ad revenue on a per-view basis as pageviews on their own mobile properties. "That’s an important milestone for the program, which allows publishers to host content directly on Facebook instead of posting links to draw users back to their own websites. Publishers are still testing and evaluating Instant Articles, and the ability to …

AdExchanger reports that Nielsen is increasing its ownership stake in Nielsen Catalina Solutions (NCS) – its joint venture with shopper marketing company Catalina – from 50% to a majority 63.5%. Nielsen Catalina connects TV viewing and digital ad exposure to in-store buying, which Nielsen claims perfectly aligned with its business strategy. Nielsen is developing a platform in conjunction called the Connected Buy System, which a Nielsen spokesperson later described as an automated “data exchange” based on machine-learning algorithms. "It’s not an attribution system. Instead, it’s intended to combine data and analytics to help retailers and CPGs improve marketing and merchandising …

Operative Media, Inc., on Wednesday announced a partnership and integration with SaaS provider Moat, Inc. to provide publishers a seamless way to account for viewability and invalid traffic as they sell, traffic and bill on their inventory. The integration provides publishers significant efficiency, accuracy, and control of their ad quality. Until now, publishers have been transacting on viewable inventory by combining information from several systems, according to a release. "Operative's integration with Moat pulls Moat Analytics for display and video across desktop and mobile directly into the Operative system, providing analytics for every individual product and line item. As a …

GeoMarketing reports that with about 75% of small to medium-sized businesses that use digital marketing services, mobile ad platform Verve is releasing a white label self-service ad program that promises local businesses the same geo-targeting capabilities that its enterprise and agency partners currently have. "Verve’s self-serve mobile ad platform lets SMBs select audience targeting segments that can be adjusted based on location and the creative assets and messaging, all of which is directed by a range of consumer data."

Twitter announced Q4 2015 ad revenues on Wednesday that show, not counting SMS Fast Followers, monthly active users declined from 307 million in Q3 to 305 million in Q4. Year-over-year, this represents only a 6% increase. The company also reported a Q4 revenue of $710 million — a year-over-year increase of 48%. Overall in 2015, Twitter’s revenues exceeded $2.2 billion. Ad engagement is up 153% which SocialTimes.com says is "no small feat." In addition, Twitter said it now has more than 130,000 active advertisers, a 90% year-over-year jump.

TechCrunch reports that Twitter launched a new video ad unit that it's calling First View, a format that will essentially catapult advertisers that choose it to the front of the queue in Twitter’s ad network. In its debut, First View will be video only, but the company may expand to other versions in the future.

Forbes reports that even as people generate more data than ever before, most cities haven’t taken full advantage of that information flow to improve services and become more efficient. That may be about to change. "With the Internet, mobile apps, and a wide range of useful programs online, residents add to the pool of information with every keystroke they make on their computer or smartphone. In addition, cities are expanding their own data-gathering and crunching capabilities through advancements like sensor networks and sophisticated modeling software." In a new working paper, academics at Harvard Business School argue that cities have …

Advertising Age reports that Google is tackling ad fraud with a new tool that automates the filtering of traffic from three of the top ad fraud botnets currently plaguing the advertising industry. The three botnets have already "infected more than half-a-million electronic devices, but Google has further reinforced its existing botnet defenses across its ad systems and says it can now stop all three," according to the report. "Botnets are responsible for fake traffic or serving ads that nobody will ever see. Botnets also control armies of malware-infected computers which are operated by fraudsters who generate large amounts of non-human …