Experienced marketers and merchandisers understand that every few years there is a ‘-geddon’ or ‘-ocalypse’ that monopolises the industry’s attention – sparking fear, changing priorities and, in some cases, altering the landscape forever. In this piece, James Norwood (pictured below), EVP strategy & CMO, Episerver, tells RetailTechNews how the most recent of these – GDPR – poses new challenges for retailers than faced in the ‘-geddons’ of years past. The nearest and dearest situation is that of the general data [...]

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RetailTechNews’ weekly Amazon watch brings you some of the company’s biggest moves from the past seven days, analysing how the giant is revolutionising the retail space. In this week’s edition: Amazon Throws USD$2bn More at India; Amazon Doesn’t Dominate Private-Label Sales; and Loyalty of Prime Members. Amazon Throws USD$2bn More at India Amazon is reportedly upping its investment in India by USD$2bn (£1.5bn). This would be a significant move, considering that in June 2017 they committed USD$5bn (£3.7bn) towards [...]

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ExchangeWire rounds up some of the biggest stories in the European digital advertising space. In this week’s edition: Ad Blocking Rates on the Decrease Since 2016; New Majority Stakeholder for Integral Ad Science; Outbrain Acquires AdNgin; Fyber Supplies FairBid Mechanism to Facebook Audience Network; Video Study: Longform Video Ads Keep Users Engaged; and Amobee Integrates with ownerIQ. Ad Blocking Rates on the Decrease Since 2016 Monitoring ad blocking activities for the past two years, a two-year ad blocking audit among the members [...]

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By using ‘legitimate interest’, online publishers and vendors are playing Russian roulette with their users’ data, writes Stuart Austin, digital consultant, ConsentEye. Now GDPR is in place, many publishers and tech vendors are banking on ‘legitimate interest’ to cover their use of data processing rather than seeking explicit consent from their data subjects. This obviously requires less work on their part, and little or no change to their current systems, but could see them being liable for big fines.

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After months of speculation about how GDPR will change programmatic, the deadline for compliance has finally come (and gone). The Media and Marketing Privacy summit, which took place just before the deadline (22 May) made a few final predictions about the how the regulation will affect the buy- and sell-side, how to build a consenting audience, and how programmatic businesses will have to adapt in a GDPR world. Has GDPR killed programmatic? Even though not everyone has [...]

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RetailTechNews’ weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world. In this week’s edition: Retailers Know Too Much; CRM Battling for Budget; and Businesses Can’t Predict Individual Customers’ Needs. Retailers Know Too Much As many as half (52%) of UK adults would not sell their personal data at any price, even to their favourite brand, according to research by SYZYGY. These figures rise to 63% for those aged 55 and over.

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Once considered TV’s last safe bastion, the world of live sports is facing disruption. Ratings have dropped, subscriptions have fallen, and digital platforms continue to take an increasing share of eyeballs. Confronted with an ageing demographic, it’s no surprise rights holders and sports teams are moving into esports to counter declining ratings and attract younger audiences. For brands, this represents an exciting opportunity – the variety of players, teams, stories, and narratives offer many opportunities to be relevant. Duncan [...]

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AI has recently pushed programmatic to new heights. But how are the new regulations regarding data privacy going to impact AI and machine learning? ExchangeWire discusses the future of AI with Jeffry van Ede (pictured below), co-founder & CEO, Simplaex. ExchangeWire: After a funding round in 2017, Simplaex recently raised further capital. Where are you investing and are you already seeing benefits from your investments? Jeffry van Ede: We’re definitely seeing the benefits from the investments as it pertains to recruiting – [...]

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TheGamingEconomy rounds of some of the biggest stories in the business of gaming. In this week’s edition: Voodoo Gets Some Help from Goldman; Apple Back in the Ad Business; and Zynga Grabs Gram Games for USD$250m.  Voodoo Gets Some Help from Goldman There is a huge amount of money still going into gaming. Goldman Sachs is investing USD$200 (£150m) into French gaming firm Voodoo, which has had a string of hits over the past twelve months, and is looking to use the [...]

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Programmatic has a measurement problem. P&G chief brand officer Marc Pritchard sent shockwaves through the industry with demands for improvement in this important area; and evidence is emerging that underlines just how tricky the thorny issue of measurement is for marketers and, crucially, how it continues to hold our industry back. In this piece for ExchangeWire, Rachael Morris (pictured below), director of optimisation and insight, Infectious Media, explains why a new approach is needed to stop brands wasting millions. Our own [...]

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