Centro Blog

Huh? Bitcoin? What? Quick recap: Bitcoin started in 2009 by a hacker who calls him or herself Satoshi Nakamoto (and who might be several people). It’s a form of decentralized virtual currency used to buy goods and services online. By internet standards, it’s still an odd and super nerdy phenomenon. Bitcoin is a byproduct of software and computer networks looking at the concept of currency and asking the question, “How can we create a new economy?”

By now we’ve all seen and heard much about the six IAB Rising Star Units. It’s no surprise Centrons are eager to hit the ground running to bring these new, sexy ad units to our advertisers. Creative teams are busy building these out and publishers are working hand-in-hand with their web development teams to get them approved. Historically speaking, if an advertiser wanted to make an impact, they’ve been somewhat limited to sliding billboards, interstitials and overlays. The new IAB Rising Star units are a perfect combination of splash and functionality. These ads are high impact and cannot be missed.

As I was thinking about how we (Centro) can help publishers solidify the quality of inventory, I came across an story on the IAB’s task force to guard against non-human traffic and fictitious publishers. It’s clear that there are market concerns over the legitimacy and value of the inventory that brand marketers are purchasing. Advertisers are getting more digitally savvy, and as they increase their digital budgets, they’re itching for more guarantees and more accountability. Now, the process of standardizing metrics and guaranteeing viewable impressions may not eradicate the bots, but it certainly is a start.

Recently, Centro was named the Best Place to Work in Chicago, according to business publication Crain’s for the third year in a row. As much as we’d like to credit our freebies (yoga, food, etc.) and great health benefits for helping us attain this award, there are factors at our core that drive the happiness in our employees across the U.S. These are simple ideas that, when put into action, return incredible results.

Yes, “mobile” is no longer a thing of the future.  It is here and it is prominent, but still struggles to get its share of the advertising dollars. According to an AdAge White Paper, consumers’ media consumption time on mobile is up to 10 percent, while marketers’ share of advertising budgets is only 1 percent – this is a large gap.