ExchangeWire round up some of the biggest stories in the European digital advertising space. In this week’s edition: Facebook open Atlas tools and cooperate with Meetrics; Funding for LoopMe; Partnership between Adbrain and Eyeota; Rocket Fuel check out Prague; and Ve Interactive with new CEO and funding.

Facebook open Atlas tools, partner with Meetrics & launch fake news button

Facebook acquired Atlas in 2013 – and duly retired the ad server at the end of last year. The ad tech company’s measurement technology, however, will remain at Facebook’s service. The social network announced this week that a new 'Advanced Measurement' tool is based on Atlas technology and will now be made available to all advertisers. The move allows advertisers to compare their Facebook campaigns with campaigns running on other platforms. Finally, a reaction to the demand from advertisers to gain more insight into metrics.

Speaking of which – after announcing cooperations with Integral Ad Science, Moat, and comScore, another external verification partner joins the ranks. Meetrics will verify metrics and help Facebook counteract the mistakes of the past when Facebook had to admit to a number of irregularities regarding viewability figures. More advanced measurement tools are set to be launched over the coming year, according to Facebook.

Lastly, Facebook hope that a new feature will absolve them from the accusation that the network is responsible for the flood of 'fake news'. A new tag has been spotted on the platform, signalling 'disputed news' under news stories that are considered unreliable. The 'fake news' alert is added to stories that have been flagged as fake by users, and have been reviewed by external fact-checking organisations. With the fake news alert only just starting out, it remains to be seen how effective it will be at informing Facebook’s users, or whether it will have an impact on the ranking algorithm.

LoopMe boost AI with additional funding

London-based ad tech company LoopMe want to push AI in an effort to grow internationally. To that end, the company has just raised USD$10m (£8.2m) in a funding round. New investors are Impulse VC and Harbert European Growth Capital. Existing investors, Holtzbrinck Ventures and Open Ocean Capital, have also joined the investment round.

The bulk of the investment is earmarked for further development in AI, LoopMe says. “AI-driven video ads are the future of brand marketing”, says Stephen Upstone, CEO and cofounder, LoopMe.

LoopMe’s PurchaseLoop already uses artificial intelligence to optimise towards brand metrics like purchase intent, foot traffic, or offline sales, effectively learning user reaction to ads and adjusting campaigns to deploy them efficiently.

Adbrain & Eyeota ink new partnership

Eyeota want to expand their audience data into the mobile realm. To that end, the data provider has inked a new partnership with Adbrain.

Eyeota’s mobile data will reflect consumer behaviour in mobile app and web environments. The data will be available to marketers via demand-side platforms, allowing marketers to make use of Eyeota’s mobile audiences to target consumers on their mobile devices.

“Adbrain have a unique position in the market by being independent of media, which allows the company to be laser-focused on the quality of their data”, explains Kevin Tan, CEO, Eyeota, the motivation behind the partnership. "As more marketers continue to invest heavily in mobile, our partnership puts us in a great position to provide mobile data segments that help marketers take their campaigns to the next level."

Also just in: Eyeota have just inked a partnership with AmberDATA, integrating over 400 regional data segments collected from more than 200 million users into the Eyeota Audience Data Marketplace, thus allowing Eyeota to expand in the Russian market.

Kevin Tan, CEO of Eyeota: “This is an exciting partnership for us as we look to increase our presence in new markets. Russia’s digital advertising and programmatic sectors are set to grow exponentially as more audiences turn to online and mobile devices to consume content and shop."

Rocket Fuel expand to Prague

Rocket Fuel want to bolster their global presence. A new office is opening in Prague where the company also hopes to build their engineering team with talent from the emerging tech scene in the Czech Republic.

“As Rocket Fuel shift our business towards predictive marketing, it’s important that we continue expanding our engineering team with the best in the industry to enhance the tools and AI-based capabilities we give to clients”, explains Rick Pittenger, SVP of Engineering, Rocket Fuel.

The focus in Prague: further research and development of predictive marketing capabilities. Specifically, Rocket Fuel’s Prague office will concentrate on the data science behind the company’s artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Ve Interactive – investment & new CEO

New capital for Ve Interactive! The UK-based technology company has secured capital from a consortium led by Aston Ventures. The cash injection is only the start of a capital-raising round that is due to proceed over the coming weeks, the company has announced.

The investment comes in conjunction with changes in Ve Interactive’s leadership. Current CEO and co-founder David Brown is stepping aside for a new role as technology advisor in the company. The role as CEO has been taken on by Morten Tonnesen, who joins Ve Interactive from Aston Ventures, the recent investor.

“I am looking forward to focusing on the product and technology vision after handing over the CEO reins to Morten”, says David Brown. “As part of my new advisory position, I will be cooperating in the transition over the coming weeks.”