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ExchangeWire European Weekly Round-Up

ExchangeWire rounds up some of the biggest stories in the European digital advertising space. And in this week’s edition: Brands get wise to programmatic ways; The 'F-word' raises its ugly head again; RTL goes full-steam into programmatic with closure of SpotXchange deal; AdForm report sheds light on state of European market. 

Clients formalise ad tech guidelines

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) this week unveiled a programmatic guide penned by Mikko Kotila (a notable programmatic trader and ATS speaker), focuses on best practices for brands working with agencies, trading desks and ad tech vendors in the space.

The WFA guide focuses on several areas including: Money flow; Transparency & conflicts of interest; Invalid impressions and the new models of trading entering the sector.

However, most interestingly the announcement also contains the formation of a WFA Programmatic Task Force with representatives from a host of tier-one brands represented on it, including: MasterCard; Coca-Cola; Johnson & Johnson; GSK and Phillips.

In the report, Mark Butterfield, Boehringer Ingelheim, global head of media, and Task Force member, said: ““We have little or no clear understanding of what percentage (of digital spend) is being delivered to the media owner and what is being taken in fees from either the agency or middle men.

“There needs to be clarity in the value chain otherwise clients will continue to question the validity of the digital buy.”

The moves marks a positive step as brand marketers (who ultimately control all spend) are starting to take programmatic seriously, indicating that more ad spend will be invested via such channels. But ad tech practitioners will have to be aware that they are now dealing with much more clue-up clients.

It’s the ‘F-word’, again...

Fraud, it’s been one of the key industry issues in ad tech this year, and this week saw some if its serious consequences take place, as investors demand greater transparency from ad tech firms that have gone public.

Under-fire Rocket Fuel is now the subject of formal legal proceedings with legal firm Kahn Swick & Foti this week announcing it is to commence a class action lawsuit against the ad tech outfit.

This hails from a previous profit warning after Rocket Fuel was embroiled in a public bot traffic scandal earlier this year.

This topic will be discussed at length next week at ATS London where execs from security experts Integral Ad Science and Project Sunblock will share insights with attendees.

RTL closes SpotXchange deal

Europe’s largest broadcaster confirmed that it has completed the acquisition of a 65% majority stake in US-based SpotXchange, following the approval of the US competition authority.

The closure of the deal, for a reputed $144m, is a significant footnote in a feeding frenzy in the online video tech space at the moment, with LiveRail’s purchase by Facebook being the other significant purchase in this space in recent times.

The question now is what other broadcasters will look to buy tech? There are very few options left in the video ad tech space, particularly in Europe.

Ciaran O’Kane, ExchangeWire, global editor, believes that Videoplaza look like a good option. The company has built a video ad server and is now branching out into programmatic. StickyAds too would seem like an attractive buy – and is already working with La Place Media on its video exchange.

This trend and more will be covered at ATS London next week during a panel session entitled: ‘Programmatic Video – Entering The Era of Brand Response’.

AdForm’s European survey points to the rise of mobile and private marketplaces

Data from the Adform RTB Trend Report, Europe, Q2, 2014, reveals that it was yet another period of double-digit growth (52%) in ad spend. And the figures reveal that there are some amazing trends occurring right now.

Writing in ExchangeWire earlier this week, Martin Stockfleth Larsen, Adform, CMO, said: “Publishers sitting on the sidelines, fearing that programmatic is nothing more than a ‘race to the bottom,’ are most likely squandering their futures.

Clearly it’s the advertisers who are driving the growth in private marketplaces, since the buying model offers an irresistible combination of exclusive inventory, brand safety, less fraud, and plenty of rich-media ad formats – and that’s on top of the efficiencies programmatic marketing delivers.

A full version of the article can be read here.

The Exchange Lab strikes Turkish deal

The Exchange Lab this week announced plans to bolster its presence in the high-growth Turkish market after forging an exclusive deal with digital sales house, Netcom Medya.

The partnership will extend The Exchange Lab’s capabilities in Turkey by building on Netcom Medya’s strong international experience and its ability to deliver sales representation in the region for global media companies. It will also allow Netcom Medya to exclusively offer its partners programmatic solutions within the market.

The alliance will provide marketers and media agency trading desks access to local services by a company that understands the needs of the local market, and will see Netcom Medya sell The Exchange Lab’s infrastructure to local Turkish advertisers and agencies.

The Exchange Lab will manage the advertising operations function – campaign set up, management and delivery – from the London office.  The partnership begins on 1 July 2014.

James Aitken, CEO, The Exchange Lab, said: “The Turkish market is an early adopter of digital and mobile developments and has a thriving economy.”

Zeynep Taptik, Co-founder, Netcom Medya, said: “Turkey is Europe’s second fastest growing market in terms of online display spend. This is a great opportunity for us to connect with The Exchange Lab, a programmatic pioneer, and continue our growth strategy.”