Adfonic Releases Latest SDK for iOS and Android

Global mobile advertising marketplace Adfonic, announced last week the availability of the Adfonic SDK Version 2.0 for iOS and Android. The newly available SDK is compliant with the IAB’s MRAID (Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions) standard, a common API for mobile rich media ads that run in mobile apps. MRAID aims to reduce the complexity of running rich media campaigns by establishing a standard set of commands for developers.

By integrating the new SDK, developers can access a wide range of mobile advertising campaigns, including video and rich media, which can deliver higher eCPMs for developers. The new SDK offers support for a wide variety of mobile ad formats, including full-screen, and is compatible with both smartphone and tablet devices.

Paul Childs, Chief Marketing Officer, Adfonic, comments: “Rich media is changing the game for advertisers and creating huge demand and the opportunity is now here for developers to see a significant uplift in earnings as a result. Larger, more engaging rich media and video ad formats can often drive earnings over ten times higher than those of standard mobile display banners. The new SDK enables developers to run rich media ads without the need to work through complex certification processes with rich media partners.”

The new SDK provides the widest range of compatibility with alternatives to Apple’s recently deprecated UDID device identification system, including OpenUDID and ODIN-1. This support across a range of UDID replacement solutions means iOS developers can overcome the tracking challenges posed by Apple’s phasing out of the UDID approach.

Wes Biggs, Chief Technology Officer, Adfonic, adds: “With this release we’ve thought about how developers can tackle the dual challenges of UDID alternatives and increased eCPMs. It’s been our goal to simplify monetisation so developers can focus on their core business of innovation.”

The Adfonic SDK version 2.0 is compatible with Google’s AdMob Ad Network Mediation layer, meaning developers can use the new SDK alongside those of other ad networks. In addition, the SDK provides support for House Ads, enabling developers to cross-promote other apps within their portfolio across their inventory, for free.

The SDKs are available as free downloads from http://developer.adfonic.com. Developers can integrate and test the SDKs without needing to register for an Adfonic account.

Evidon Partners with TagMan To Provide Universal Privacy Tool

Evidon, a leader in online privacy and data control, and TagMan, a global leader in tag management, have announced a partnership in advance of the EU Privacy Directive enforcement date this month.

The companies have collaborated to enable clients to deploy a comprehensive privacy and compliance solution from within the TagMan system. This integration allows clients to manage their tag and cookie data compliance activities.

TagMan allows website owners to add, edit or remove onsite tracking tags, and so better manage the digital marketing technologies implemented on their site.

This includes site analytics, display ad serving, search, email, affiliates and social media. The native TagMan opt-out mechanism, incorporated into the TagMan system since 2007, allows website owners to offer visitors a site-side cookie opt-out preference. This puts primary control of tags and cookies directly in the hands of website owners, who are ultimately responsible for this in the eyes of privacy regulators.

The addition of Evidon’s “privacy layer” provides TagMan clients with a consent tool which allows website visitors to see which data collection vendors are placing cookies and other tracking technologies on their computer, and to provide their consent to be tracked—a key component of compliance with the ePrivacy Directive. 
By combining Evidon’s vendor-level privacy and compliance platform with TagMan’s website-level opt-out solution, users will benefit from a fully-fledged privacy tool to control their data collection preferences.

The tool, delivered into the web page via the TagMan tag management system (TMS), allows clients to customise the privacy messaging and functionality they offer to their website visitors, dependent on their specific business needs. The TagMan system configures and generates the vendor management list that is presented to the user in the tool, leveraging the fact that the vendor tags are already running though the TMS, which eliminates the need for manual updates of the tool as tracking vendors are added or removed on the website.

Paul Cook, CEO of TagMan, comments: “Evidon is the largest dedicated provider of privacy and compliance solutions for digital media. It has a proven track record in developing platforms that help businesses to comply easily with privacy laws and self-regulatory programmes. This partnership enables us to combine the best of both systems and offer a highly sophisticated, integrated privacy tool for our clients.”

Scott Meyer, CEO of Evidon, adds: “Control of third-party marketing tags is crucial for website owners to comply with the ePrivacy Directive and other privacy regulations around the globe. We have been impressed with TagMan’s continued approach to the issue of compliance and this collaboration will ensure that its clients have access to the tools necessary to become fully compliant with the EU ePrivacy Directive and the US FTC guidance.”

App Privacy Initiative Launched by MEF

MEF, the mobile content and commerce community, has launched a privacy in mobile applications initiative in a bid to build consumer trust when interacting with mobile apps that handle personal data.

The initiative aims to create a standardised framework from which developers can communicate privacy policy choices as well as establishing best practice and introducing a rating system.

A Privacy in Mobile Applications working group will oversee the implementation of these strands, whose members include Impact Mobile, InMobi, mBlox, SNR Denton and Vodafone.

Andrew Bud, MEF Global Chair, comments: "Mobile applications can use consumer data such as user location and address books to create great consumer value, but raise privacy concerns which we must address as an industry. Transparency and informed consent are key to consumer trust, and whilst apps stores can make a great contribution, it's essential the total mobile value-chain is engaged and empowered. MEF's Privacy in Mobile Applications Initiative will ensure both a holistic view is taken and practical tools delivered."

Tremor Video Launches VideoHub

Tremor Video, an international network for online video marketing on the Internet, has unveiled a video advertising analytics platform for UK marketers, agencies and publishers.

The new VideoHub aims to enable its users to be able to measure, verify and analyse their video campaigns, regardless of how the media is bought or where the campaign runs. According to Tremor, with the new platform marketers can know exactly what is driving campaign goals, including brand lift, brand engagement and purchase intent, as well as provide verification of where their ad is running. By providing insight into video advertising performance, VideoHub aims to allow marketers to make rapid and informed decisions on their campaigns and make changes that lead to increased brand lift.

Measurable video advertising campaign data, known as signals, can include content category, geo, time of day, day of week, video view history, frequency, demo, browser type, operating system and viewability, as well as where the ads run. This information is then scored against campaign goals including reach, frequency, time spent, brand lift, engagement, clickthroughs and conversion, in real-time.

It is through having such insight, presented on a dashboard, brands and agencies can optimise video advertising performance and reach. Through a partnership with video and TV measurement and ratings firm Nielsen, VideoHub also incorporates GRPs (gross ratings points) into its online video data. Available now in the U.S. and rolling out in the UK in Q2, this enables the reporting of GRP metrics, used by traditional TV advertising, to link in with its online video data.

Daniel Ruch, Vice President of Tremor Video Europe, comments: “The biggest challenge in online video advertising is proving its effectiveness. VideoHub allows users to manage, measure, analyse and optimise their online video advertising using real-time data that shows instantly how audiences are engaging with your brand and why.”

Maxifier Launches New ADMAX Platform

Maxifier, a global leader in inventory revenue and performance management technology, today announced the latest release of its ADMAX platform. This includes the addition of a new feature that acts as an “economic router”, enabling publishers to take control of their entire inventory stack with a unified solution.

While current technologies focus purely on either non-guaranteed or premium inventory, the new ADMAX platform offers a yield decisioning engine, enabling publishers to maximise the value of their entire inventory – both premium and unsold – providing them with a greater level of control.

The “economic router” takes into account a wide range of parameters, including creative format, audience, time of day, site, section and page, and geography among others. This allows publishers to traffic their unsold inventory to the demand channel source that will deliver the highest CPM at that moment of time, rather than relying on just one or two sources to monetise it for them.

Due to resource and logistics constraints, publishers have traditionally restricted the number of third-party partners to which they have outsourced their remnant inventory. However, ADMAX now allows them to centralise all their demand channels, encouraging publishers to link up to all demand channels to help drive revenues without dropping tags.

Anthony Katsur, Chief Operating Officer, Maxifier, comments: “Our top priority is to give publishers the tools they need to deliver maximum revenue from their inventory. We can now help publishers regain control of their entire inventory stack, allowing them to treat it holistically and begin to develop strategies around it.”

Another key ADMAX development is the ability to offer CPA optimisation, to support the growing demand by advertisers for buying action-based campaigns. Working not only at a pure CPA campaign level, this delivers automatic optimisation recommendations at a number of levels including site, page and creative, to ensure campaigns deliver to their performance goals.

This CPA optimisation enhancement has already generated results from clients who have tested it. By implementing the recommendations generated by ADMAX, one publisher achieved an overall eCPM uplift of 98% and an eCPA reduction of nearly 40% across the CPA campaigns it was optimising.

Additionally, the new release offers powerful yield management and inventory controls. This includes the ability to optimise around delivering margin improvement, setting thresholds and floors to protect inventory value and establishing website black and white lists to offer greater control over the environments in which adverts are run, or not run.

Katsur adds: “These enhancements, in particular the developments around maximising the value of unsold inventory, put the power back into the publisher’s hands. Now they can monetise their entire portfolio of inventory, on their own terms and on a single platform.”