Competitive promotion tracker Market Track has acquired InfoScout, which captures sales information by scanning store receipts from a consumer panel. The combined firm will be able to connect marketing programs with sales results. John Wannamaker would be so happy. Market Track itself was purchased in April by Vista Equity Partners, whose other martech holdings include Marketo, Lithium, and Xactly.

I haven’t pestered you recently about GDPR (those new European data privacy rules, now less than a year away).  But this Spiceworks report shows just five percent of U.S. companies have even begun to prepare, so another nudge is in order.  Consider yourself nudged.  Remember that GDPR affects any company holding data on European Union citizens, even if the company is the U.S.

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.