The News Gods have shown just enough pity to let me avoid writing about more surveys, Dear Reader. We have an honest-to-goodness acquisition: press release service Cision has purchased social media platform Falcon.io, which will help PR people and marketers integrate their publicity and social campaigns. Everyone loves convergence.
The News Gods remain on holiday but we can always talk about blockchain. Comcast announced plans for an early 2019 test of its Blockgraph project, which lets addressable TV media companies and advertisers use blockchain-secured encrypted data to target ads without sharing personal data. It doesn’t give any more control to consumers but does limit how widely their information is spread.
Here’s yet another study on the topic, from research agency Corinium Digital. Respondents were lower down in their organizations and perhaps had a more hands-on view. Fifty percent said they’re looking to build or buy a unified platform to assemble analytical data. A frightening 69% said data quality problems make them less than fully confident in their current analytical results. Weird graphics in this one.
It’s tough to get brand safety right, but the industry keeps trying. IPG Mediabrands announced a new set of tools to find and block inappropriate ad placements, while IAS expanded its suitability measurements to include standards from the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM). Meanwhile, DoubleVerify admitted a mistake made brand safety on X/Twitter look worse than it really was in October 2023 and March 2024.