Walmart isn’t selling a CDP yet. But they did just buy Polymorph Labs, which will help their advertising clients to target Walmart shoppers. You did know that Walmart sells ads, right? It’s part of their “Anything Amazon Does We Can Do Better” program.
Ad agency giant Publicis announced a $4 billion purchase of data-driven marketing agency Epsilon from Alliance Data. The deal illustrates the transformation of mass media into addressable advertising. Attentive readers will recall that Alliance announced Epsilon was on the block last November and that Publicis-competitor IPG announced its purchase of Epsilon-competitor Acxiom for $2.3 billion last July.
This survey from ad blocking platform eyeo offers another contradiction: 80% of UK online users recognize the importance of advertising to free internet services but 81% still think it’s fair to use ad blocking software. The study reports 22% are actually using an ad blocker. While 71% of ad blocking users are trying to avoid ads, a hefty 49% aim to enhance privacy/security.
Procrastinators of the world can throw a party whenever they get around to it: Google has once more pushed back complete third-party cookie deprecation. The new target is “early next year.” Reasons for the delay include concerns expressed by U.K. data regulator Information Commissioner’s Office, an ongoing inquiry by the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority, and widespread discontent in the advertising ecosystem.