The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) announced yesterday that Randall Rothenberg will become the new president/CEO, effective Jan. 8, 2007. Rothenberg replaces Greg Stuart, who resigned in August.
Rothenberg comes to the IAB from Booz Allen Hamilton, the strategy consulting firm, where he has been Senior Director of Intellectual Capital. Rothenberg was an editor-at-large for Advertising Age magazine and spent six years at The New York Times as a daily advertising columnist, media and marketing reporter, technology editor and politics editor of the Sunday magazine.
“I couldn’t imagine a more exciting time to be joining the IAB and the Interactive industry,” Rothenberg said. “Media consumption online continues to increase and it is inevitable that advertising dollars will follow. Interactive platforms such as video, search, mobile and others offer marketers unparalleled opportunities to create deeper and broader relationships with their customers. I’m incredibly enthusiastic about building on the IAB’s and our members’ success during the next stage of growth.”
Sheryl Draizen, the IAB’s senior vice president/general manager, said “Randy is ideal for the position because he’s been in the media business for a long time and he’s well positioned to build on the momentum we’ve created and take us to the next level.”
She said the issues he’ll be focusing on include measurement, creative and public policy. Broadband video will also be a key issue. “It’s one of our biggest priorities,” she said. “We’ve created measurement guidelines and we’ll start to investigate what are the best formats, lengths and messaging and how marketers can leverage the interactivity. We think the biggest difference between TV and broadband video is when you’re online you have the ability to engage the consumer in a much deeper and broader way. It’s an opportunity that has never existed before and it’s the next phenomenon online that’s as big as search. We intend to take a leadership position in helping marketers and publishers best leverage it and it will be one of Randy’s biggest challenges.”
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More