You don’t need to be a devoted games industry observer to have noticed something of the recent rise of eSports. Organised competitive gaming has been around along time, of course. eSports’ nascent form was forged in the earliest arcade gaming tournaments in the 1970s, where players competed to win a patch declaring their prowess; presumably to be sewn onto an oversized distressed denim jacket. By the 1990s the notion of a ‘pro-gamer’ making money from prize winnings was established, but even then [...]

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In light of the GDPR coming into force in Europe on 25 May, 2018, ‘context’ is swiftly becoming the mot du jour, as many advertisers and publishers look for new ways to effectively reach their target audiences. ExchangeWire speaks with Benoit Sanchez, team leader, data division, Smart; Charlotte Fouquet, COO, Zebestof; and Céline Craipeau, product and solutions specialist, Tradelab, about the power of contextual targeting, and the increasing popularity of semantics.   ExchangeWire: What value does contextual targeting bring over behavioural [...]

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In economics, markets need symmetry. If one side of the equation fails to thrive, the entire market will be at risk. In the mobile in-app advertising ecosystem, we need profitable publishers. If too many in-app publishers were to fail, advertisers will lose a critical channel they rely on to reach and engage their audiences. In this piece for ExchangeWire, Alon Golan (pictured below), head of product marketing, Fyber, explains that when publishers know more about their users – and are in [...]

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Total marketing budgets were revised higher during the third quarter of 2018, extending the current period of growth to six years, but to the weakest extent in almost three years. This is according to the Q3 IPA Bellwether Report, published last week (17 October). Report highlights – Cost pressures and growing uncertainty weigh on budget – Internet marketing spending plans continue to provide key support to growth – Most downbeat assessment on industry-wide financial prospects since Q4 2011 – Muted ad-spend growth forecasts for 2018 [...]

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This week, Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com has officially launched an e-commerce site in Thailand alongside local retail group, Central Group. The new addition is part of JD.com’s efforts to expand its presence in Southeast Asia, where it currently operates an e-commerce site in Indonesia and has invested in Vietnamese business-to-consumer e-commerce operator, Tiki. The Thai platform, called ‘JD Central’, had been running in beta since 18 June, offering products across various categories, including electronics, fashion, home appliances, books, processed foods, and cosmetics, [...]

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QR codes have emerged as a popular tool to facilitate mobile payments, but their potential goes beyond enabling transactions and should be tapped to help retailers build brand equity. In fact, the matrix barcode and other visual-recognition technology can provide a way for businesses to bridge the gap between offline and online realms, according to Marcus Tan, CEO of AIQ, a Singapore startup that develops artificial intelligence (AI) software capable of mining images and visual data. Founded in 2014, the [...]

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ExchangeWire rounds up some of the biggest stories in the European digital advertising space. In this week’s edition: OpenRTB 3.0 Now Open for Comment; Data Accuracy Most Important Factor When Buying Audience Data; TabMo & zeotap Partner; Series A Funding for GlobalWebIndex; and JCDecaux Boosts OOH in London. OpenRTB 3.0 Now Open for Comment After releasing the OpenRTB framework last September, the IAB Tech Lab is now ready for receiving feedback on the new media transaction system, as well as the tech [...]

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Demand for connected TV (CTV) is growing across Asia-Pacific, but the lack of audience verification standards and viewability metrics remain key challenges that need to be resolved. Furthermore, media buyers need to better understand audience behaviour so they can reach valuable and engaged audiences, according to Juliette Stead, Telaria’s Asia-Pacific vice president. In this Q&A with ExchangeWire, Stead notes that having strong demographic targeting options can address some concerns around accuracy and wastage, but urges the need for programmatic buyers to be [...]

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Traditional retail has been on a dismal track in Singapore, with stores closing and global brands leaving the market, but the challenge may lie in how retailers really are engaging their customers and if they are tapping the right tools to do so. At RetailTechNews’ inaugural RetailTechSummit held in Singapore, panellists debated the state of retail in markets such as Singapore, where the likes of Banana Republic, Gap, and American Eagle Outfitters shuttered their physical outlets early this year and [...]

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The need for data – specifically, quality data – remains a key theme amongst Asian marketers and the region’s ad-tech community, who underscore its role in driving deeper customer engagement and transparency in the industry. Data, for instance, is a key enabler of almost every function within Carousell, a Singapore-based consumer-to-consumer (C2C) online marketplace. It offers valuable insights on who are likely buyers and sellers on the site and what the company needs to focus on when it launches in [...]

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