ExchangeWire rounds up some of the biggest stories in the European digital advertising space. In this week’s edition: UK ad viewability hits its lowest level in 18 months; Shine Technologies appoints James Collier as chief revenue officer; Time Inc. UK acquires Collective UK, Mobvista acquires Danish analytics platform GameAnalytics; and Ad Eye partners with the Dandy & the Beano publisher DC Thomson.

UK ad viewability hits lowest level in 18 months

The sore subject of viewability rears its head again, a new report from Meetrics showing that online viewability levels have decreased dramatically from 54% to 47% in Q2 2016 – the lowest level for 18 months. The last time it was lower was in Q4 2014, when it hit 46%. This lags significantly behind the international average of 56%, and even further behind other European countries, such as Germany and France, which have average viewability rates of 60% and 62%, respectively.

Anant Joshi, director of international business, Meetrics puts it down to the higher penetration of programmatic and automated ad buying in the UK, compared with other markets: “The surge in ads bought programmatically contributed to the decline in viewability, which was compounded by publishers upping the speed at which ads are reloaded or auto-refreshed to raise inventory levels and revenue. Around 20% of ads weren’t viewable because they weren’t in the frame for long enough – the highest rate we’ve seen due to this reason for some time.”

Based on ad-spend figures produced by the IAB and PwC, Joshi estimates that this rate equates to approximately £700m being wasted annually on non-viewable ads.

Austria, on the other hand, have seen impressive viewability figures of 69% in the last quarter, since launching an agreement, where the majority of publishers bill by viewable impressions, based on an independent viewability definition, agreed upon by a dozen leading advertisers.

As Joshi confirms, the results of this Austrian agreement are plain to see.

Shine technologies hires AdTruth MD James Collier as chief revenue officer

In other news, notoriously vocal advocate for ‘consumer protection against negative advertising’, Shine Technologies have announced the hire of James Collier as chief revenue officer.

Collier’s role will involve working with the ad industry to evolve the current online advertising experience into one that puts consumer consent and choice at the centre, whilst providing a cleaner and more valuable environment for brands, publishers and app developers, according to the press release.

Collier, an industry veteran, who has previously held posts at AdTruth, YuMe, Badoo, Google, and News Corp, is an active member of the IAB and MMA and has written extensively on the subject of consumer privacy and consent in advertising, so it is a well-suited pairing.

Of the appointment, Collier said: "I'm extremely excited to be joining Shine to help build a framework and technology that creates a transparent value exchange between advertisers, publishers and consumers." He goes on to say that the industry needs to work together to deal with pressing issues, such as fraud and bad advertising practices, which affect revenue generation for publishers and accurate mobile investment attribution for brands.

Time Inc. UK acquires collective Europe Limited

Still in the UK, Time Inc. UK, the print and digital publisher with such titles as Horse & Hound and Wallpaper*, have announced their acquisition of Collective Europe Limited.

Trading as Collective UK, the creative and data-targeted solutions provider landed the deal with Time Inc. UK after receiving interest from several companies. Giles Ivey, UK MD, Collective says: “In a time of much consolidation in the market, we were approached by several companies last year enquiring as to our future plans. When we talked to Time Inc. UK we knew immediately that there were so many ways we could work together to produce amazing results for our clients. In an era where the ability to offer scale programmatically, to create and distribute content and also to offer experiential solutions is key, we’re so excited to be part of Time Inc. UK and be a part of delivering the highest quality and most coherent brand solutions in the UK market.”

With a decent client portfolio, including O2, Sky, and eBay, Collective UK entering the Time Inc. UK fold will strengthen its position as a market-leading solution. 

GameAnalytics acquired by Chinese mobile ad tech Mobvista

Over to Denmark now, with news that the free analytics platform for game developers, GameAnalytics has been acquired by Chinese mobile giant, Mobvista.

Mobvista, Asia’s largest and fastest-growing mobile ad-tech company, will be looking to expand its international reach and service offering with the acquisition, bringing game developers a complete advertising technology platform that drives revenue and maximises lifetime value.

GameAnalytics comes with best-in-class technology and rich player insights, which will nicely complement Mobvista’s proprietary ad tech and native ad mediation service.

The move comes after Mobvista’s purchase of NativeX in the US in March, signalling their pursuit of an aggressive international growth strategy.

Of the deal, Robin Duan, co-founder and CEO, Mobvista said: “Acquiring GameAnalytics in Europe, like NativeX in the US, is helping us to rapidly develop a multi-dimensional, global ecosystem of mobile traffic. We’re confident that GameAnalytics’ best-in-class technology and 20,000-strong developer community will increase our mobile marketing solution’s effectiveness to the benefit of both the supply and demand sides.”

Ad Eye partners with Dandy & Beano Publisher DC Thomson

Back to the UK and the world of publishing with news that Ad Eye, the automated guaranteed sales platform has partnered with DC Thomson, the publisher of your favourite childhood comic books, Dandy and Beano.

The partnership will see DC Thomson opening up its inventory directly to agencies and advertisers, through the Ad Eye platform.

Kate Morgan, MD, Ad Eye said of the partnership: “The popularity of programmatic advertising among publishers has grown at a phenomenal rate over the past twelve months, as publishers and advertisers alike recognise its potential; and we are delighted to be working with such an iconic publisher as DC Thomson. It is further proof of the industry’s faith in our product.”

The partnership, similar to that announced between Ad Eye and City A.M. earlier in the year, will also bolster DC Thomson’s transition from a traditional publisher to a multimedia business. As Mike Dee, digital sales manager, DC Thomson confirms: “It’s imperative that we evolve to offer our clients the ability to access our audiences through multiple channels; our partnership with Ad Eye demonstrates how committed we are to achieving this.”