The 10 things in advertising you need to know today
1. Rubicon Project's president and 6 other top execs are leaving. The departures are part of a streamlining process announced in November, when the company said it was reducing 19% of its total headcount - but rumors are also swirling that the company is setting itself up for a sale.
2. Verizon cut Yahoo's acquisition price by $350 million. Both companies agreed to cut the price of their deal following Yahoo's disclosure of two huge data breaches.
3. A London analyst sees difficulties for Snap. A note from Atlantic Equities said the app could face difficulties, with Facebook adding more Snapchat features to its own apps and it faces the challenge of growing beyond its current demographic of young people.
4. YouTube agreed to a third party audit of its ad metrics. Google said it would allow the Media Rating Council to track ad measurements on the video site, to ensure it's accurately reporting viewing statistics to advertisers.
5. Goldman Sachs predicted Snap will generate $2 billion in revenue in 2018. The figure, five times last year's sales for the app, is being used by Goldman sales staff when speaking with potential Snap investors.
6. Facebook is in talks with the MLB to livestream one game a week. It's unclear which baseball games would be streamed as part of the deal, which is reportedly in the advanced stages of discussion.
7. Snapchat is blaming slow user growth on Android and it's worrying investors. Users had difficulties accessing the Android version of the app, which the company said it was prioritizing.
8. Netflix forced to pull German ads for its new series "Santa Clarita Diet," which featured a dismembered finger. The public complained the ads, featuring a cut up finger in the style of a German currywurst, were "offensive to children and young people, fear-evoking, and disgusting."
9. Vans wants to broaden its appeal beyond skateboarding with its latest campaign. The newest ads highlight how different creatives are appropriating the fashion brand's "Off the Wall" slogan to define how they express themselves.
10. Chipotle is fixing online ordering speeds. It rolled a new system this week after customer complaints and then saw "record levels" of online orders.