Twitter: Nope, We're Not Testing a Self-Serve Ad Platform (Yet)

Twitter does indeed plan to roll out a self-serve ad platform this year. But it hasn’t done so yet, isn’t testing one and has yet to build the thing. So says Twitter, which is publicly calling out a MediaPost report that says otherwise.

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Twitter Testing Self-Serve Ads for Launch This Year [UPDATED]

Twitter wants to replicate Google’s and Facebook’s advertising success, and in order to do that it will have to have a self-service ad platform, just like the big guys. It’s now testing out the service, which it wants to launch later this year, and MediaPost has a lengthy preview. Takeaways: The platform is designed to sell Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts; buyers can use both search keywords and users’ interests to target the ads.

Gawker Settles a Libel Suit With a Correction, but Not a Check

Sometimes Nick Denton likes to boast about Gawker Media’s legal battles. Other times, he keeps quiet. Like earlier this month, when Denton settled a libel suit filed by motorcycle-maker Confederate Motors.

Apple Announces Mobile Ad Plans Thursday, and Google Can’t Wait to Tell the FTC [UPDATED]

Apple is likely to introduce its mobile ad platform Thursday at its iPhone developer event, say sources familiar with the company’s plans. Expect to hear a loud cheer from Google, Apple’s former ally and current competitor.

Was It All a Bad Dream? Ad Business Optimism at 2007 Levels.

Your semidaily dose of advertiser pulse-taking: People who plan to spend money on ads seem more chipper than they have been in two years.
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Consumers: We Don’t Absolutely Hate Mobile Ads

Here’s your half-empty/half-full stat for the day: Four in 10 consumers don’t want to see ads on their phones. Is that good or bad for the nascent mobile ad business?
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Ad Giant Publicis Tells Publishers to Throw Bodies at the Fake Web Ads Problem

Last month, the New York Times was attacked by hackers who bought fake Web ads from the publisher. And one of the world’s biggest ad companies says that won’t be the last assault. But the solution runs counter to industry trends.
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Is Media Spending Up? It Better Be.

Another “things are looking up, sort of, maybe” report from medialand: A survey of advertisers says that many of them intend to increase their spending in the coming months. Except for those who say they’re going to decrease spending. Bigger picture: A year ago, things started getting downright terrible, which is going to make it a lot easier to say that things have improved today.
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Viacom Says It Has Cracked the Web Ad Riddle, Using Lots of Web Ads

Web video publishers are desperately trying to figure out how to make money selling ads against their clips, but Viacom’s MTV Networks says it has figured it out: Use lots of ads in each clip!
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Online Ad Snoop NebuAd Gives Up the Ghost. Who’s Next?

Talk to online ad folks for any amount of time and you’ll walk away thinking that behavioral targeting–whereby marketers track and chase Web surfers based on which sites they visit and what they do there–is both old hat and the wave of the future. But I’m still convinced that there’s a very big gap between the way the ad industry views this stuff and the way politicians and average Americans do. For a reminder, head on over to NebuAd’s Web site, which no longer works. That’s because the targeting firm, which once employed 60 people, closed up shop on Friday.
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Why You’re Losing Your Magazine Job

Mobile Ads to the Rescue? Not for a While