And speaking of Roku, they just announced a new shopper data program to help track the impact on purchases of TV ads. Launch partner is Kroger Precision Marketing, which will provide purchase data and help to refine TV audience targeting. Smart TV/retail data alliances are increasingly common: they offer alternatives to Facebook/Google/Amazon and don’t rely on third party cookies.
Paris-based mediarithmics, a rare hybrid of CDP and DMP, has raised €8 million ($9.1 million), to expand in the UK market. The round brings total funding to €12 million.
Inching a bit closer to reality, Lowes launched an augmented video chat service that lets workers remotely evaluate and sometimes complete repair and maintenance projects. It’s all browser based, so easily accessible to repair people and customers with little technology investment. Like other remote-working solutions, it will probably remain popular even after the pandemic has ended.
The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not sell its holdings within a year. The bill now goes to the President Biden, who has said he will sign it. Court challenges are likely to follow.