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Spotx Data Leakage Technology

SpotX claims its latest product launch can help cure the ills of data leakage

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By Ronan Shields, Digital Editor

June 13, 2017 | 5 min read

With ‘data leakage’ regularly cited as one of the main barriers to adoption of programmatic advertising, SpotX has today (June 13) launched a new service which it claims will secure the valuable competitive insights of advertisers and publishers alike.

Data Leakage is a priority

Audience Lock will allow publishers to activate their first-party data for an advertiser to target a campaign / Pixabay

Dubbed Audience Lock it will allow media owners to activate their first-party data for an advertiser to target a campaign to reach viewers of specific shows, or that fit a specific profile. Meanwhile, for media buyers the new launch will enable them to bring their own audience data to media owners, with similar assurances that their data is protected.

For example, an auto manufacturer who wants to target customers who are near a lease termination date can use the service by activating their audience data inside SpotX, then agree deal terms with a media owner. From here they can receive inventory from the publishers in a secure environment via their chosen demand-side platform (DSP).

SpotX, a video ad server that is 65% owned by Europe’s biggest broadcaster RTL, claims that as both media owners and ad buyers activate more first- and third-party data to improve targeting, additional safeguards are required around data protection.

Audience Lock has been designed for broadcasters, TV networks, OTT platforms, telecoms outfits, and lets advertisers target in a secure environment, while helping media owners raise their overall yields, particularly with live or linear OTT content, according to SpotX. It can also be applied across both traditional direct and programmatic direct (private and Curated Marketplaces) transactions.

The product will also help media owners manage the strict data privacy requirements they must operate under; regulations that vary country-to-country, but with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) upcoming across the European Union, this is now a growing priority.

Allen Klosowski, SpotX, vice president, advanced solutions group, explained that giving media owners the ability to define boundaries around who can see what data will enable them to protect the value of their data and facilitate direct sales, without limiting buyer access to inventory.

He added: “Effective transactions at scale are sometimes held back by legitimate privacy concerns shared by all parties.

“Audience Lock alleviates these concerns by matching user IDs and audience segments in a controlled environment, and ensures proprietary data is only available for the campaign at hand and can be configured to expire upon campaign completion.”

SpotX’s direct integration with media owners and DSPs enables verification and passing of audience information with every impression opportunity. Audience Lock transactions are also currently supported by Adobe Advertising Cloud, Amobee (formerly Turn), DataXu, MediaMath, as well as The Trade Desk and other leading DSPs.

Additionally, SpotX’s various data partnerships also enable first- and third-party data from leading data management platforms or proprietary data providers to be activated within SpotX’s platform.

Data leakage, where data or audience insights are unintentionally shared with third parties (thus potentially giving away competitive advantage to competitors) is regularly cited as one of the chief concerns for advertisers when it comes to adopting automated advertising.

Brian O’Kelley, chief executive of AppNexus, and regularly touted as one of ‘the Godfathers of adtech, shared his thoughts about it earlier in the year writing in his influential blog.

He wrote: “I believe that data leakage is at the heart of the crisis facing the open internet. Publishers undervalue their proprietary audience because the core value is leaking away from them like a balloon.

Consumers install ad blockers because they don't trust the advertising ecosystem to respect their privacy. Marketers spend money with ad networks and other intermediaries who have built "data assets"... and then hand over their proprietary data along with their money. It's a dangerous house of cards…”

The concept also occupies the mind of fellow leading adtech pioneer Dr Boris Mouzykantskii, chief executive and chief scientist of IPONWEB, who had publicly forecast that publishers will likely ramp up efforts to prevent data leakage by seeking legislation to make it illegal to mine data from their platforms.

He added: “The most successful way would be to try and create a situation where this data cannot be used in a legal way. In Europe at least they have a better chance of doing it because Europe has an opt-in system; users must give publishers permission to use their cookies. The publisher could seek to make sure that this permission stays with them and is not transferred.

Speaking separately with The Drum, Terry Kawaja, chief executive of investment bank Luma Partners, explained that providing such security services are likely to prove attractive to investors, as they are catering to an increased market demand.

Spotx Data Leakage Technology

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