The tech industry has been called on to share data with public sector researchers so the mental health and psychosocial impacts of their service on vulnerable users can be better understood, and also to contribute to funding the necessary independent research over the next ten years. The UK’s chief medical officers have made the call […]
View More Tech platforms called to support public interest research into mental health impactsCategory: Advertising Tech
Facebook will reveal who uploaded your contact info for ad targeting
Facebook’s crack down on non-consensual ad targeting last year will finally produce results. In March, TechCrunch discovered Facebook planned to require advertisers pledge that they had permission to upload someone’s phone number or email address for ad targeting. That tool debuted in June, though there was no verification process and Facebook just took businesses at […]
View More Facebook will reveal who uploaded your contact info for ad targetingWhy no one really quits Google or Facebook
Another week, another set of scandals at Facebook and Google . This past week, my colleagues reported that Facebook and Google had abused Apple enterprise developer certificates in order to distribute info-scraping research apps, at times from underage users in the case of Facebook. Apple responded by cutting off both companies from developer accounts, before […]
View More Why no one really quits Google or FacebookBrexit backer’s insurance firm and leave campaign fined £120k by data watchdog
The UK’s data protection watchdog has issued fines against a pro-Brexit campaign, Leave.EU, and an insurance company owned by the largest individual donor to the leave cause, Arron Banks’ Eldon Insurance. The penalties have been handed down for what the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) dubs “serious breaches of electronic marketing laws” during the 2016 referendum on […]
View More Brexit backer’s insurance firm and leave campaign fined £120k by data watchdogLeaked TikTok ad deck suggests it has 17M+ MAUs in Europe
An advertising pitch deck used by fast-growing short form video sharing app TikTok has leaked, providing a snapshot of usage in its biggest markets in Europe. The pitch deck was obtained by Digiday which says it was sent to a large (unnamed) European ad agency. Metrics and gender breakdowns for the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy are […]
View More Leaked TikTok ad deck suggests it has 17M+ MAUs in EuropeHulu announces a new ad unit that appears when you pause
Just to get this out of the way: Yes, Hulu is introducing an ad unit that will show up when you pause a video. But no, the ad won’t be a video. Hulu says it has 25 million subscribers, the majority of them on an ad-supported plan — so they’re used to seeing TV-style commercial […]
View More Hulu announces a new ad unit that appears when you pauseKnotch raises $25M to help marketers collect data about their content
Knotch announced yesterday that it has raised $25 million in Series B funding. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates, with NEA’s Hilarie Koplow-McAdams joining the Knotch board of directors. Rob Norman, the former chief digital officer of ad giant GroupM, is also joining the board. “Brands have a desire to understand the effectiveness […]
View More Knotch raises $25M to help marketers collect data about their contentFacebook, Google and Twitter told to do more to fight fake news ahead of European elections
A first batch of monthly progress reports from tech giants and advertising companies on what they’re doing to help fight online disinformation have been published by the European Commission. Platforms including Facebook, Google and Twitter signed up to a voluntary EU code of practice on the issue last year. The first reports cover measures taken […]
View More Facebook, Google and Twitter told to do more to fight fake news ahead of European electionsMozilla streamlines Firefox tracker blocking controls
Mozilla has rolled out what it bills as enhanced and simplified controls for Firefox users to manage how they block trackers. An update to its browser software, released today, offers a redesigned interface which includes new controls that let users choose from ‘standard’, ‘strict’ or ‘custom’ settings to help them control online trackers. Trackers refer […]
View More Mozilla streamlines Firefox tracker blocking controlsGoogle and IAB ad category lists show “massive leakage of highly intimate data”, GDPR complaint claims
Male impotence, substance abuse, right-wing politics, left-wing politics, sexually transmitted diseases, cancer, mental health. Those are just a few of the advertising labels that Google’s adtech infrastructure routinely sticks to Internet users as it watches and tracks what they do online in order to target them with behavioral ads. Intimate and highly sensitive inferences such […]
View More Google and IAB ad category lists show “massive leakage of highly intimate data”, GDPR complaint claimsHas the fight over privacy changed at all in 2019?
Few issues divide the tech community quite like privacy. Much of Silicon Valley’s wealth has been built on data-driven advertising platforms, and yet, there remain constant concerns about the invasiveness of those platforms. Such concerns have intensified in just the last few weeks as France’s privacy regulator placed a record fine on Google under Europe’s […]
View More Has the fight over privacy changed at all in 2019?The facts about Facebook
This is a critical reading of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s article in the WSJ on Thursday, also entitled The Facts About Facebook. Yes Mark, you’re right; Facebook turns 15 next month. What a long time you’ve been in the social media business! We’re curious as to whether you’ve also been keeping count of how many times […]
View More The facts about Facebook