Google Ad Manager remained on top of the sell side market with 51% of all publishers listing it as their top partner. Amazon Publisher Services stood a distant second with 10% of publishers listing it as their top partner. Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 seems to be a clear winner in the identity space with half of the 150 publishers polled saying they were either committed to Unified ID 2.0 (15%) or aware of it and exploring (38%).
2. Parler Urges US Judge to Order Amazon Restore its Platform (Reuters)
Parler said that Amazon had no evidence that the social media platform was used to incite last week’s riots of the US Capitol and urged a US judge to order Amazon.com Inc to restore its account. Amazon Web Services had cut off Parler on Sunday night saying Parler took no action after repeated warning to remove violent content from its platform.
3. E2E Encrypted Email Providers Also See Sign-up Surges in Search of Privacy (TechCrunch)
ProtonMail and Tutanota, both Europe-based email providers, have reported an increase in sign-ups in recent weeks. Privacy concerns that were driving the users to alternative chat apps appear to be generating some uplift for end-to-end encrypted email providers as well.
4. MediaMath Unveils its Supply Chain Product to Help Marketers to Reach Business Goals (AdExchanger)
MediaMath has finished phase one of its SOURCE product, “the industry’s first fully-transparent supply chain,” in the words of CEO Joe Zawadzki. MediaMath obtained buy-in from a large group of SSPs, publishers, brand safety vendors, identity providers and others to help buyers easily understand all the providers and costs associated with the operation of their programmatic campaigns. With that level of control, marketers can more easily tune campaigns to drive their business goals.
5. Tiger Global is Raising New $3.75 Billion Venture Fund, One Year After Closing its Last (TechCrunch)
Tiger Global Management, the New York-based investing powerhouse, is raising a new $3.75 billion venture fund called Tiger Private Investment Partners XIV. The fund is Tiger Global’s thirteenth venture fund and it comes hot on the heels of the firm’s twelfth venture fund, closed exactly a year ago, also with $3.75 billion in capital commitments.
6. iSpot.tv Acquired Ace Metrix to Track Business Outcome and Ad Impact (AdExchanger)
TV ad measurement provider iSpot.tv has acquired Ace Metrix, a company that screens and scores video advertising using a survey-based methodology. The deal will help iSpot track both business outcomes and brand impact of the ad creative and media in real-time, including persuasion, likeability, watch-ability, purchase intent, brand recall and emotional factors. Advertisers can use this type of data to inform their TV planning and buying process, something that is not being done today, said Sean Muller, iSpot’s CEO and founder.
7. Axios to Launch AxiosHQ, a Subscription Platform Aimed at Businesses (Wall Street Journal)
Axios is planning to launch AxiosHQ, a communications platform that will enable businesses to communicate using Axios’s just-the-facts, bullet-point style. The software tool, would cost at least $10,000 a year depending on a customer’s size, is the first paid-subscription product of the digital-news startup that covers U.S. politics, media and technology, known for its short, exclusive stories.
