Writing on the MediaVillage blog, ad veteran Brian Jacobs says media agencies are getting much of the blame for transparency issues in the industry. He goes further, writing: "Digital advertising is generally so poor that consumers go out of their way to avoid it. So-called precision targeting starts to get close to an invasion of privacy. Fingers are being pointed, mud is being slung. How on earth did we get into this mess? Although there are many candidates to blame from client procurement, to trade bodies and even the trade press, much of the mud being slung around seems to …

The Associated Press wire service is putting some skin in the native game and opening up a digital advertising shop for its subscribers that will offer an inventory of sponsored content alongside its inventory of news stories. International Business Times reports that "in some ways, it’s a natural outgrowth of the AP model: If you’re an outlet that can’t always afford to report on the goings-on in New Guinea, for instance, you can subscribe to the Associated Press and pull one of its reports. Similarly, if you’re a struggling outlet unable to pump out high-end sponsored content, you could now …

Right before the Association of National Advertisers' (ANA) report on transparency in the ad buying world came out, there were signs of distress. Maurice Levy, CEO of Publicis Group SA, called the study “unfair and an unwarranted attack on the entire industry," according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The study is expected to reveal that ad companies are collecting rebates from media vendors in the U.S. on behalf of their clients as a reward for buying a certain amount of ad time. "The report... isn't expected to call out specific companies or individuals that allegedly have …

Interesting interview with Jon Mandel, Chairman of Dogsled Enterprises, who shares with Jay Sears, SVP Marketplace, Development, at Rubicon Project his three top picks for the most overblown topics in advertising automation: Ad Blocking: "I mean really … the New Orleans water district complained in 1956 when the water pressure dropped during the last commercial in some TV shows. Online is a technical medium so did you think someone wouldn’t make it easy? Let’s not forget that the original digital media was the human finger that was adept at avoiding print ads by turning the page." Branded Content, Native: "not …

"Finding more efficient and automated ways to target consumers online and improve digital media planning and buying has become the holy grail for many in the ad industry. This computer-based, data-driven model, dubbed programmatic trading, has been a big growth area. Many publishers say that the automation helps them quickly, and cheaply, understand their readers. However, there is now an argument that it is being overused; just because it’s available doesn’t mean the technology should be used on every platform. The fear is that programmatic could be having a negative impact on news publishers, as …

China, with its "great wall of closed-off infrastructure and lack of openness, has bred a programmatic marketplace that looks a lot different to elsewhere, not least because Google and Facebook are nowhere to be seen," according to a report in The Drum.David Chen, managing director, China for data, technology and innovation at Publicis Media, says: "The media landscape in China is a little like the wild, wild west and like no other in the world. For starters, the Chinese government in the internet space has created a unique programmatic ecosystem where global giants – Google, Facebook, and YouTube are …

Facebook’s attempt at a real-time, notification-based news app is shutting down, according to a report in TechCrunch. Facebook sent an alert to users thanking them for using Notify and mentioned that it's transitioning parts of Notify into other Facebook products, and the app will no longer be supported. Facebook launched Notify last November, allowing users to choose from over 70 publishers that they wanted to send them news notifications. Users would receive short summaries they could click through to view full news articles.

Some 71% of B2B executives have invested or already invested in a CRM-based marketing technology like Salesforce.com, according to research by B2B content platform Kapost. Also, 63% of executives have invested or planned to invest more in marketing automation.

As issues surrounding transparency reach a fever-pitch, an eight-month probe by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) revealed that ad agencies in the U.S. are accepting rebates from media companies, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. The ANA found that media companies are using rebates to reward ad agencies for buying a certain amount of advertising time or space on behalf of their clients, the sources said. The group found that the practice was widespread within the sample it studied. Rebates or agency-volume bonuses—in cash, free ad space or other services—are a common business practice in …

Twitter announced in a blog post that it will offer new automation tools for serving premium pre-roll ads by supporting what it's calling Video Ad Serving Templates (VAST) through select Ads API partners. Twitter announced the release in beta of Twitter pre-roll to provide advertisers access to premium videos from Twitter Amplify publishers such as FOX Sports, Dick Clark Productions, and MTV. VAST is a universal protocol that standardizes communication between ad servers and video players. Using the feature, advertisers can now programmatically serve pre-rolls in front of premium content from hundreds of publishers. The ability to use VAST is …