Programmatic Is Failing

Not showing advertisers their own ads has been the elephant in the programmatic room from day one. The minute clients like Marc Pritchard at P&G — and others like him working for premium brands — start requesting “checking copies” of their online ads, programmatic advertising will have a huge problem

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The Economist Claims a Trump Bump

The Economist is following the trend of Trump-era subscription success, with a growth of 19 percent in North American digital subscriptions since the election. This puts the London-based magazine in the ranks of Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, which have all seen subscriptions surge since November

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MCH Group acquires MC2, a leading event marketing service provider in the U.S.

Press Release: MCH Group, a globally leading live marketing company with its head office in Basel (Switzerland) has acquired a 100% holding in MC2 (“MC-squared”), a recognized leader in the and event marketing industry in the U.S. This is by far the biggest acquisition in the 100-year history of MCH Group and a key strategic expansion. “The acquisition of MC2 marks a tremendous step forward in the implementation of our corporate strategy, which we have been pursuing since 2005”, explains René Kamm, CEO of MCH Group. “With MC2, we will be greatly boosting our international presence and activities, as well as expanding our range of services in the live marketing field.”

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Dentsu to acquire 89% stake in India’s SVG Media

Japanese advertising giant Dentsu has agreed to acquire an 89 per cent stake in Indian digital agency SVG Media. Dentsu said its subsidiary Dentsu Aegis Network would acquire the stake in SVG Media Group with the option to increase its share to make the Indian company a wholly owned subsidiary

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Incisive Media founder Weller and CEO Whiteley lead MBO

Press Release: Investment Week founder Tim Weller and the leadership team of parent Incisive Media have secured a management buyout (MBO), that allows the business to accelerate its growth strategy under long-term private ownership. The MBO was led by Tim Weller, founder and chairman, CFO Jamie Campbell-Harris and CEO Jonathon Whiteley; a team who have worked together in the business for two decades.

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Luxury magazines finally face digital headwinds

The luxury magazine market, for so long a well-heeled haven from the turmoil facing the rest of the print media industry, could be about to confront the same headwinds battering other magazines and newspapers. Analysts say that glossy magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair are starting to see a shift in readers and advertisers to online social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. But they are also being hit by forces specific to the industry that has for so long offered them protection.

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Publishers warm to Google plan for Chrome ad-blocker

US and European publishers have given support to the idea of Google introducing an ad-blocker to its widely used Chrome internet browser despite fears it would hit their online advertising revenues. Details of the technology group’s plans have not been disclosed but Google has said it held “initial conversations” on the idea with publishers.

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Telegraph Media Group acquires UK exam preparation app Gojimo

Gojimo, an app that helps U.K. high school students prepare for exams, has been acquired by Telegraph Media Group, the publisher of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph newspapers. Terms of the deal remain undisclosed, but from what I gather the Gojimo team are staying on and the company will still be run as a separate entity.

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Telegraph finds way to profits in age of digital disruption

The Daily Telegraph is a rare beast: a British newspaper that makes healthy profits. All around it, the news industry is being upended by plunging revenues from print advertising and the migration of digital advertising to Facebook and Google. But in 2015, the Telegraph Media Group made a £48m pre-tax profit on a turnover of £320m, a slight improvement on the £46m it made in 2014. It is still Britain’s biggest-selling quality daily paper, though its print circulation has fallen from its peak of more than 1m papers a day in the early 2000s to 457,331 in February, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation.

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Relx offloads New Scientist magazine

Relx has sold leading science magazine the New Scientist as the FTSE 100 group continues its shift away from traditional publishing to data and information services. The magazine, which has a global print and digital circulation of almost 125,000, according to ABC, was bought by Kingston Acquisitions, an investment vehicle led by Sir Bernard Gray, a businessman who previously led a buy out of the Times Educational Supplement from News Corp. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

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Future issues encouraging H1 Update

Press Release: Future plc (LSE: FUTR, “the Group”), the international media group and leading digital business, provides a trading update for the six months to 31 March 2017. Overall trading for the year to date has been positive. The Group’s Media division is performing strongly with the fast growing revenue streams of e-commerce and events up around 70% and 15% year on year respectively. As a result the Board’s expectation for the Group’s results for both the first six months and the financial year as a whole remain uncharged

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