TRUSTe Expands Privacy Management Product Suite to Address Data Privacy Challenges in the UK

Privacy company TRUSTe has launched a product this week that tells publishers the identities of the tracking companies that drop cookies on visitors' computers.

The service, dubbed EU Cookie Audit, is aimed at helping companies in the UK comply with new privacy regulations, which are slated to take effect in May. The rules require companies to obtain users' explicit consent before placing tracking cookies on their computers.

Although the cookie audit is geared toward UK laws, TRUSTe is rolling out the service globally. CEO Chris Babel says the service is needed because many Web publishers don't realise who else is on their sites. "In the customer meetings that I've had in the past three months, every customer or potential customer has been surprised at some of the things we've found on their sites.”

Babel adds that in some cases, publishers realise they used to have business deals with the unexpected tracking companies; in other circumstances, "they honestly do not know why a tracker is showing up."

The audit will give publishers details about the tracking, including where the trackers are on sites and which organisation generates the tracking cookies which are found.

Publishers can customise the frequency of the scans and the number of pages scanned. Pricing starts in the thousand-dollar range and increases based on volume.

Weborama Year-On-Year Revenue Up 47%

Weborama’s consolidated revenue for 2011 was €22.4 million versus €15.2 million in 2010, a 47% growth over the period. Organic growth for the year was 46%. Operations results (EBIT) grew 42% to €4.1 million.

Weborama’s operation margin remains stable at 18.3% in 2011 versus 19% a year ago. Significant investments were made to launch in new countries (Portugal, Italy and the UK) which have had an impact on the company’s margin, however the company claims this impact has been balanced by higher profitability in the countries where Weborama has a leadership position (France, Spain and the Netherlands). The company currently generates 36% of its revenue outside of France.

Weborama made its audience profiles available for targeting through demand and supply side platforms such as Invite Media and AppNexus and acquired 50% of Hi-media UK to develop its footprint in the UK.

The company signed a pan-European agreement with Vivaki Nerve Center, part of the Publicis Groupe, to integrate its technology, data and media solutions to the Audience On Demand (AOD) buying platform.

Weborama’s technology platform has been chosen by international advertisers PMU in France, KPN in Holland and Proctor & Gamble in Spain and Italy, to manage and optimise their online advertising investments.

Adform Invests Locally to Grow Finland’s Online Media Market

This month, Danish software company Adform opens a new local office in Finland, following their expansion of a number of recent openings across Europe. Adform is currently represented in all Nordic countries and now operates locally serviced offices in eleven European markets.

Within the interface, media agencies and advertisers can purchase display ads in real-time, perform media planning, execute rich media solutions and optimise activities across media, centralising all reporting.

Finland presented high growth rates in digital advertising in 2011. Adform commented online display advertising was instrumental in creating this result and is certain there is much more to come.

"Display advertising isn’t afforded the respect or attention it deserves. Things have changed of late, and there is more focus on planning and producing effective display ads," says Christopher Fernandez, Adform’s newly appointed Business Development Director in Finland.

He points to Web TV and rich media ads as a major source of growth for the future. "The use of video banners is increasing. The popularity of Web-TV and the widespread use of Web-TV from advertisers spur demand. Similarly, there is great potential for rich media. "

For the past two years, Christopher Fernandez has been Head of Digital at the media agency Virta Mediacommunity and has previously worked for Aegis Media.

David Fulton, Chief Commercial Officer of Adform is optimistic about the future of rich media in Finland: "We are at our best when executing locally with our partners. Our goal is to make display media simple, relevant and rewarding to the Finland media market – that’s quite unique. We have great confidence in our recent developments in real time bidding and rich media solutions and are excited to bring to this Finland, but leadership is key; Chris comes highly recommended and we’re really very excited about what his potential will bring the market."

Ebuzzing Merges with BeeAd

Ebuzzing, a European specialist in broadcast video advertising, has just announced its merger with the advertising video solution provider, BeeAd. The amount of the transaction remains undisclosed.

BeeAd, part of the Group Ebuzzing Business Unit, is continuing to build its brand in Europe. The site Beezik WeSpread are also part of the agreement with Ebuzzing.

Developed in 2010 by the founders of legal music downloading site Beezik, BeeAd has specialised in premium media sites. The platform allows users to choose the advertising they want to watch from a selection of four commercials from four different advertisers, before accessing content that the publisher wants to monetise: news article online, test, play, player, radio, etc.

With this merger, BeeAd hopes to benefit from Ebuzzing’s strong presence in Europe and a network of 90 countries in which Ebuzzing already serves its customers' video ads.

Founded in 2006 by Bertrand Quesada and Pierre Chappaz, the Ebuzzing group (formerly Wikio group) will now have over 200 employees. Their clients have included Heineken, Orange, Peugeot, Mercedes, Unilever and Coca-Cola. Ebuzzing also owns the blogging platform Overblog, which recently acquired the U.S. start-up TimeKiwi .

The new entity claimed it had a combined turnover of €40m - and expects to double that amount this year. Last August, Ebuzzing finalised a second round of funding totalling €17.3m from the investment company Gimv, and €14.5m from existing shareholders Gemini, Lightspeed, and Pierre Chappaz Solorun. The company is currently valued at nearly €100 million.