ExchangeWire rounds up some of the biggest stories in the European digital advertising space. In this week’s edition: Oracle to buy AddThis; Yahoo ignores tax threat and considers lay-offs; Nielsen calls for new measurement system; Rubicon Projects partners with Zynga; and Snapchat to develop API.

Oracle adds AddThis to its stack

New year, new acquisition: Oracle has just announced an agreement to take over AddThis, an audience platform and provider of insight tools for advertisers, brands, and publishers.

Growing from an initial social bookmarking tool, AddThis has been operating a publisher marketplace since 2014, which provides analytics and engagement insights.

The acquisition is set to benefit Oracle’s Data Cloud which is pooling data from sources such as the Oracle-owned BlueKai.

The financial particulars of the deal have not been disclosed yet, with industry insiders putting a price tag between USD$100m and USD$200m on AddThis.

According to AddThis, the company tracks over 1.9 billion monthly unique users worldwide.

Yahoo ignores tax threat and sheds staff

Will 2016 see the rebirth of a completely new Yahoo? Under pressure from investor activists, led by major shareholder Starboard Value, the Yahoo board agreed to put the planned spin-off of their stakes in Alibaba on hold. Instead, Yahoo is currently examining plan B: selling off its core business – looming tax bills for the expected proceeds notwithstanding.

In view of the rapid downward slide of Yahoo’s share prices in 2015, shareholders are urging Yahoo to sell up – and fast, arguing that accepting a hefty tax bill now may be better than waiting until the US revenue authorities review Yahoo’s tax-free status at a later stage, a report by Reuters claims.

Cost-cutting at the front of their minds, Yahoo is apparently also considering shedding its staff. As part of a major re-org, the company may be laying off at least 10% of its workforce, sources from inside the company told Business Insider. More than 1000 staff would be affected by such a move, which is expected to hit particularly hard in Yahoo’s European operations, as well as its media business and platform technology.

Yahoo has yet to comment on the news.

Nielsen announces new measurement system

Moving with the times, research provider Nielsen is planning to go beyond mere TV-based ratings to include viewing data on digital devices in their new audience measurement.

Speaking at the industry event CES in Las Vegas, Nielsen president of media (US), Linda Clarizio, pointed out the “disparity in measurement” caused by different metrics for TV and digital devices.

“Metrics are often misunderstood”, Clarizio told the Financial Times. “We need to create a common language for measuring viewing, whether it’s on television or some other device.”

In order to provide useable audience data, the media industry needs to agree on a measuring system that can effectively measure and compare viewing data across all screens, Nielsen suggests.

Rubicon Project gains exclusive access to Zynga inventory

Rubicon Project and Zynga are joining forces. The partnership with Rubicon Project will allow troubled online-game company Zynga to sell premium ad inventory through an automated buying channel.

Offered through Rubicon’s Guaranteed Orders marketplace, all of Zynga’s game inventory is available programmatically for the first time, opening a new monetisation avenue for the game company.

Rubicon, on the other hand, is set to benefit from having exclusive access to Zynga’s inventory – and providing an audience of millions of online gamers to its SSP clients.

"By marrying Zynga’s rich data insights and compelling brand experiences with Rubicon Project’s leading automated advertising marketplace we’re making it easier for brands to more meaningfully connect with Zynga’s millions of loyal players”, vice president of sales at Zynga, Julie Shucker, said.

The partnership was announced yesterday at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show.

API for Snapchat?

Video and photo messaging platform Snapchat is taking baby steps towards programmatic. The company is reportedly exploring plans to open up an API and is currently involved in talks with ad tech companies and advertisers to understand their needs.

Following in the footsteps of other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, Snapchat is getting ready to position itself as a publisher, with not only a huge, young audience but also access to vast amounts of audience insights. Ad software could provide the company with more audience insights and improve targeting.

While Snapchat has not yet issued a statement, it remains unclear whether the messaging platform is going to develop the necessary ad tech on its own or partner up with a tech provider.