ExchangeWire rounds up some of the biggest stories in the European digital advertising space.

Google intensifies battle for app download dollars

Facebook, Twitter and now Google are preparing to intensify competition for mobile app developers’ ad dollars, as Google this week lifted the lid on the latest addition to its AdWords product that lets advertisers more precisely target users, in the same week that Facebook announced that its app install service was the key to its fortunes.

Google this week announced plans to offer targeted app install ads on mobile search and YouTube, as well as its AdMob network, with advertisers able to target users based on Google’s data on users, such as apps they have already downloaded, how often they engage with them, as well as prior purchase history. On YouTube, these app installs ad units will appear as an enhancement to the current TrueView offering.

Included in the announcement, was the launch of an app re-engagement tool – similar to Facebook’s ad units – for AdWords with both search and display formats that can take mobile users directly into apps already installed on their ads (which they may have forgotten about).

Additionally, the search giant, also used the announcement to reveal that it was continuing to invest in its Estimated Total Conversions tool, to help advertisers measure the full value of their campaigns, including phone calls and conversions, across devices. Advertisers can then use this information to inform their bidding and budgeting decisions, and to find new customers.

The launch of further app install ad units from Google, quickly follows last week’s’ announcement from Twitter that it was to launch an enhanced mobile app install suite that aims to help advertisers drive downloads of their mobile apps both on- and off-Twitter, in a move that amounts to duel-pronged attack on Facebook’s core advertising proposition.

Meanwhile, Facebook this week announced revenues of $2.5bn for the first quarter of 2014, an increase of 72%, with mobile app install ads providing the bulk of its growth, with mobile advertising representing approximately 59%, up from 30% the year beforehand.

In terms of dollars, mobile ad revenue was about $1.34bn in the quarter, compared to $374m a year ago, equating to growth of 258% year-on-year, but analyst house noted a: “high degree of rivalry given absence of barriers to deter new competition from emerging,” in its advisory note.

Elsewhere. earlier this week, Adobe published its Digital Index report showing that Facebook’s ad business continued to grow with click through rate (CTR) and ad impressions increasing by double-digits quarter-over-quarter, 20% and 41% respectively. While revenue per visit (RPV) coming from Facebook grew by two percent quarter-on-quarter, RPV from Twitter and Tumblr declined by 23% and 36% respectively, following a strong holiday quarter.

Nordics lead European programmatic growth

Magna Global this week published ‘The International State of Programmatic’ market report, with reports claiming valuing the agency group valued the global market at $12bn last year, additionally forecasting it to grow to $32bn in 2017, with the Nordic markets leading growth in Europe.

The claims that in the near future the overwhelming majority of non-premium inventory will be transacted through programmatic, primarily through RTB, with the North American market

The Nordic countries dominate among the researched European markets with a combined programmatic spend of $488mm in 2014.;

It goes on to claim that Sweden is by far the leading programmatic market and will also have the highest RTB penetration by 2018. Programmatic, including RTB and non-RTB purchases across both the Nordics and Central and Eastern Europe will represent 30% of total display spend in 2014, with RTB spend reaching $210mm this year. CEE countries will see a whopping 365% RTB growth in 2014.

The “International State of Programmatic” report was based on interviews and surveys with senior executives representing trading desks, DSPs, publishers, existing MAGNA GLOBAL research and other publicly available information.

Twitter aims to scale native ad units

Hot on the heels of last week’s announcement that it was to make mobile app downloads available both within Twitter itself and across its MoPub network, the social network this week revealed it is to make its “full stack ad serving and exchange solution for native ads” valuable to publishers.

The development means any publisher can now use MoPub’s native ads platform to serve direct-sold or in-house native ads, and auction inventory on the MoPub marketplace.

The new platform consists of three components, including: A native ad software development kit, an ad server for publishers that lets them traffic their own ad campaigns into their native inventory which also offers them full budgeting control, as well as an open RTB extension that means advertisers can bid on the inventory no matter how they render in-app.

A blog post announcing the launch reads: “We’ve learned that not only are native ads a significant improvement for publisher monetisation in general, but that users engage with these ad formats at a higher rate than the desktop-era banners and interstitials that are so prevalent today in mobile. Because of this, monetisation through native ads can deliver a considerably better experience for users and also a better ROI for marketers.”

In addition, the company has also issued a call for an open standard for serving native ads using real-time bidding platforms and used the announcement to publicise its submission to an IAB working group which focuses on best practice over native ads.

MoPub, a mobile specialist marketplace, makes the announcement after months of testing and adds to a number of mobile players launching native ad exchanges, with native advertising playing a key theme in this year’s Mobile World Congress, where OpenX among others unveiled its offering Native O|X.

Xaxis views cross-screen opportunities, eyes more TV spend

This week also saw the GroupM trading desk move one step closer to solving the cross-screen quandary with the launch of Xaxis Sync, a multi-screen technology that lets media buyers purchase ads on viewers’ mobile devices coordinated with their commercials running on televisions screens.

Xaxis Sync uses video identification technology to capture and analyse metadata about television spots airing on more than 2,000 channels across. For instance, when a spot runs, Xaxis is able to use this metadata as a trigger to deliver complementary ads on viewers’ smartphones or tablets that run within 2 seconds after the start of the TV spot.

The launch comes after a test spell between Xaxis subsidiary BannerConnect in partnership with Civolution in the Netherlands, UK and Italy, according to the WPP outfit. The launch of Xaxis Sync should offers advertisers greater reassurance that their highly-priced TV ads are not being wasted, as consumers increasingly engage with either their smartphones, or tablets devices while watching TV, but still cannot be 100% accurate in its placements.

ExchangeWire attempted to contact Xaxis for further details of the launch – such as whether GroupM will be packaging this into its TV buys for clients, or how this will affect the cost of TV ad slots – but it was unable to respond by time of publication.

However, the move should harbinger the further dilution of the once all-conquering TV advertising budget, which is becoming increasingly under question, as dual screening – the act of watch television while simultaneously browsing the web on another device becomes increasingly commonplace.

This issue has been discussed by the ExchangeWire community with columnist Gareth Davies, CEO of Adbrain, discussing how advertisers can use statistical IDs to build a holistic audience profile.

“This way we can connect mobile users with other devices, to create a single cross-device audience ID, and in return more relevant and impactful ads for consumers, not to mention a greater share of the digital ad dollar,” reads the piece.

Furthermore, the rise of ‘cross-screen consumers’ is presenting advertisers with how they attribute commissions of their media buys, with the term ‘fractional attribution’ becoming an increasingly common terms used in conversations around retargeting.

AdRoll raises $70m to enhance cross-screen retargeting, boost European presence

Retargeting firm AdRoll this week announced it has raised $70m in a funding round led by Foundation Capital. New investors include Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Northgate Capital, Performance Equity and Glenmede.

The round adds to AdRoll’s existing $19m, and will be used to deepen its new cross-device offering to reach customers on mobile devices, as well as build upon its European presence, with plans to open a European office as well as furthering its presence in European headquarters Dublin, and further afield.