
IPA Bellwether: Small rise in marketers’ optimism on vaccine hope
Marketers have enjoyed a confidence boost with a net balance of 18.1% more confident about the financial prospects of their company than three months ago, according to the latest IPA Bellwether report.

SoundCloud partners AdsWizz for ad sales in 14 European markets
Open audio platform SoundCloud has formed an exclusive agreement with audio ad tech firm AdsWizz to sell audio advertising in Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Ad fraud: Criminal bots rinse companies out of £700k a year
Criminals are defrauding advertisers out of their ad spend, with brands losing up to $700k a year and agencies losing $200k a year to criminal gangs using bots for fake clicks, according to new research.

Clarins sponsors new ITV programme Finding Alice
Agency Spark Foundr has announced a new TV sponsorship for Clarins.

Tribepad Ventures launches new entrepreneurship platform for work tech start-ups
Recruitment software provider Tribepad has announced plans to place Sheffield at the centre of work-tech innovation, with the launch of Tribepad Ventures and a new £1m fund.

WEF warning: The world needs to wake up to long-term risks
In 2020, the world saw the catastrophic effects of ignoring long-term risks such as pandemics, now an immediate risk according to the Global Risks Report 2021 released today.

Global ad spend doubles as brands shift budgets to social
Global social media ad spend increased by 50.3% in the final quarter of last year compared to Q4 2019, but brand interactions fell by 5.4% on Facebook and 6.3% on Instagram as video ad costs continue to rise, according to new research.

Top 10 creative trends: Imperfection, authenticity, and escapism top themes for 2021
Tie dye, eccentric animations and classical and string music are among the key creative themes for 2021, according to a new report.

In-game advertising: Anzu.io and Digiseg team up for cookie-less data
Anzu.io has struck a new partnership with Digiseg to brings precise, cookie-free data to in-game advertisers, enhancing the value of their digital campaigns by allowing them to target and retarget the right gaming audiences.

Google and Facebook accused of limiting ad competition with ‘sweetheart deal’- report
Google and Facebook have been accused of striking a deal to limit competition in advertising, according to a news report.

easyJet launches ‘3 Minute Escapes’ video series
easyJet has launched four three-minute films to transport the viewers away from the humdrum of life for a moment on mindfulness during the January blues.

Norwegian Refugee Council picks Twilio to boost digital services
Twilio has teamed up with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to enable the digital transformation of its services across the globe and to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Top apps by sector: Education apps grew most in last 4 years
Education apps have enjoyed the most growth in downloads over the past four years, followed by business apps and shopping/ food delivery apps, according to new research.

Taboola launches Snapchat-style ‘Stories’ for content advertisers
Native ad platform Taboola has launched Taboola Stories, a new way for publishers to engage readers with the familiar “stories” format used by Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

WhatsApp extends update deadline amid privacy concerns
WhatsApp is extending the date to accept its new terms and conditions to May 15 from the previous date of February 8.

Courier roles expected to continue to soar in 2021 as online ordering soars
We’re living in the most turbulent time of recent years as Coronavirus continues to change the world – but how has the job market been affected? A new report shows that couriers and sales roles are among those that have seen a boom over the past year.

Marketers list biggest challenges for 2021: Diversity, Covid recovery and ethical data
Diversity and inclusion has been cited by senior professionals as the data and marketing industry’s biggest challenge, according to the Data & Marketing Association’s (DMA) latest research,

Only 42% of marketers understand what “headless” means
Less than half (42%) of marketers are confident in their understanding of the term “headless CMS”, according to new research.

Biden to restart @POTUS Twitter account (with zero followers)
Joe Biden has launched a new Twitter account @PresElectBiden, after it was revealed the incoming US leader will not retain all the followers on the official @POTUS account.

UK and Ireland SMEs ‘bullish about 2021 business landscape’ despite challenges
As SME leaders plan for the year ahead, more than half (54 per cent) of small and mid-size enterprise (SME) members in the UK and Ireland are optimistic that the economic conditions will improve in the next 12 months, according to new research.

Lotame boosts cookie-less targeting tools with new ad partnerships
Lotame has announced Magnite, Sovrn and Eyeota will support its Lotame Panorama ID, a global, people-based, privacy-compliant and interoperable identity solution for a cookieless web.

Alteryx partners Snowflake to automate analytics and data science in the cloud
Publicly listed analytics firm Alteryx has struck a partnership with cloud-based data firm Snowflake.

Poq partners with AppsFlyer to boost mobile marketing analytics
Native SaaS retail mobile app platform, Poq has announced the beta launch of its standard integration with mobile analytics and attribution provider, AppsFlyer.

Aldi teams with Marcus Rashford to donate 10 million meals to families facing hunger
Aldi has announced it is pledging to donate 10 million meals to feed hungry families across the country in 2021.