In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up the key industry updates on ad tech from around the region – and in this week's edition: Twitter ads pop up on Yahoo Japan; Opera Mediaworks expands Asian ops as mobile ads grow; YuMe, D.A.Consortium partner to build ad marketplace in Japan; Dentsu Aegis acquires majority stake in Australia's BWM.

Twitter ads pop up on Yahoo Japan, Flipboard

The microblogging site has inked its first deals to syndicate "Promoted Tweets" outside of Twitter, revealing Flipboard and Yahoo Japan as its debut partners.

In a blog post this week, Twitter's senior director for product Arneet Ranadive said: "For the thousands of brands already advertising on Twitter, these new partnerships open a significant opportunity to extend the reach of their message to a larger audience.

"Twitter syndicated ads will be seen by users within Twitter content sections on third-party properties, as well as within third-party content areas," he added. "With the flexibility and control of a Promoted Tweet, we think marketers will have an almost infinite capacity to create large-scale, rich and well-targeted advertising campaigns across a variety of platforms."

Using a Nissan ad as an example, Ranadive explained that a Promoted Tweet campaign will run on Twitter as well as Flipboard, with specific targeting and creative that is native to each platform's user experience.

Opera Mediaworks expands Asian ops as mobile ad impressions increase

Opera Mediaworks has announced plans to expand its operations in key Asian markets, as it eyes a bigger share of the lucrative mobile advertising industry.

A subsidiary of Norwegian browser maker Opera, the mobile ad platform said it will focus its growth plans on certain countries including India, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. It currently runs its Asian operations out of its parent company's Singapore office.

Opera Mediaworks also appointed a new managing director for the region, Vikas Gulati, who will lead plans to scale the company's revenue and operations, bolster its footprint in the Asian mobile ad space, as well as improve its platform. Gulati was previously vice president of mobile ad exchange Vserv, where he helped build the company's Southeast Asian business.

Opera Mediaworks said its expansion plans were in line with the region's growth spurts in smartphone and mobile broadband adoption, as well as mobile ad impressions.

Asia was second-highest generator of mobile ad impressions in 2014. (Source: Opera)

Citing research gathered from users of Opera Mini Browser across 29 Asia-Pacific countries, the company said the region's smartphone adoption climbed to 60 percent in 2014. Mobile ad impressions reached 26.1 percent compared to 23.9 percent in 2013, surpassing Europe's 12.5 percent.

Asia is the second-highest generator of mobile ad impressions after the United States, which clocked almost 43.9 percent in 2014. Opera further noted that social, entertainment, and video sites generated the bulk of mobile internet traffic in the region.

"We see huge opportunities in mobile video adoption and, in turn, mobile-video advertising in the Asia-Pacific region," Gulati said in the statement. "We also see other trends in Asia-Pacific [including] the adoption of better audience targeting, and big retailers and e-commerce sites such as [India's] Flipkart and Snapdeal strengthening their focus in m-commerce as consumers get more comfortable making purchases on their mobile devices."

YuMe, D.A.Consortium partner on ad marketplace in Japan

Digital video advertising services provider, YuMe, has signed an agreement to license its platform to media agency D.A.Consortium (DAC), enabling the latter to build private ad marketplaces across multiple devices in Japan.

DAC President Hirotake Yajima said in a statement: "Partnering with YuMe gives us an edge on our competition by reaching multi-screen audiences as we continue to innovate in the digital advertising space."

DAC is Japan's largest digital media agency and its services support multiple devices including smart TVs and PCs, while YuMe's product offerings run across different platforms including mobile, CTV (connected TV), and video players. The digital video ad provider also has an inventory that includes publishers and OEMs such as LG Electronics.

Integration work for the partnership is projected to complete in the first quarter of 2015, and there are plans to expand the deal to other markets in the region, including Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Dentsu Aegis acquires majority stake in Australia's BWM

Dentsu Aegis Network has purchased a 51 percent stake in Australian creative agency, BWM Group, resulting in a name change to BWM Dentsu.

In a statement released this week, BWM said the agency would continue to operate its own administrative and management team in Sydney and Melbourne. The group also comprises four other entities including digital communications firm Sputnik and social PR agency The POP Agency.

Its three founders will retain 49 percent stake in the merged entity as well as their senior executive positions. Fully integrated, BWM Dentsu will offer a range of services such as data analytics and technology, and integrated media and creative consulting.