The Smaato Blog

China is increasingly recognized as a global powerhouse in technology and innovation — and, more recently, they are becoming a hub of creativity. It is for this reason that Cannes Lions launched China Day, a program featuring China’s thought leaders and pioneering practitioners, that will be held again this year.

Once thought of as an imitator, China is now paving its path as an innovator. And as the country continues to lead the way with major developments in areas such as mobile technology and AI, China is quickly becoming the country with which western companies are trying to keep up.

Here's some good news for anyone who's created a weather app — eCPMs for weather apps are the highest of all the app categories on the Smaato platform. However, making money with a weather app doesn't happen automatically. To best monetize a weather app, there are some best practices to follow in order to maximize revenue potential.

Since Mary Meeker released the 2018 Internet Trends Report last week, the digital realm has been abuzz with what these 294 slides have to say about the future of our online world — including us here at Smaato. 

Meeker is a renowned venture capitalist, and her annual Internet Trends Report is eagerly awaited each year across many digital industries. To break this data-packed presentation down for those specifically in the mobile advertising industry, we have identified the most relevant data points for mobile publishers and advertisers, and we will look at what these trends mean for the mobile advertising industry as a whole.

Nearly half the world’s online population plans to watch the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but they won’t all be completely focused on their televisions. Instead, they’ll be using their mobile devices to make the most of this experience. Every four years when the World Cup comes around users become more engaged with their phones than ever before.

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil was called the “social media World Cup” after setting records in social media usage. The latest edition of the tournament has been dubbed the “mobile World Cup.” It’s the perfect description of what advertisers and publishers should expect when the games start in Russia on June 14.

It might come as no surprise that people in the US favor their mobile devices. After all, the US is the land where Apple and Google first found mobile success. The full extent to which US mobile users spend time on their phones is especially impressive. Forget television and desktop computers. Mobile phones, and specifically apps, are now the most popular form of media in terms of total usage and ad spending.

In the US, mobile is king. Here are the figures that show just how big the experience is — and what you can do to take advantage of the mobile in-app trend.

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”) was enacted on September 30, 2011 and is considered to be one of the strictest data protection regimes in the world.

South Korea’s prior Public Agency Data Protection Act was largely limited. In the private sector, it applied only to those businesses that used telecommunications services. And in the public sector, the legislation covered all public agencies but lacked enough limits on government collection of data. The old Act was replaced with the more comprehensive PIPA, which applies to both public and private sectors. As a result, “more than 3.5 million public entities and private businesses are now regulated by common criteria and principles, and common enforcement mechanisms.”

After a year of legislative proceedings, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China enacted the Cybersecurity Law, taking effect on June 1, 2017. This move is illustrative of China’s increasing focus on cybersecurity and its intention to bring its cyber practices in line with global best practices for data privacy. The Cybersecurity Law appears to impose what some say to be “more onerous” requirements than even those imposed by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”).

Until now, the role of a data protection officer (DPO) had been largely undefined. Historically, data was considered primarily in the context of computing, and those given the role of a DPO were frequently professionals with an information and communications technology background. In fact, prior to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), very few countries had required the appointment of a DPO or other data privacy role within an organization. Given the ubiquitous nature of technology today, the role and expectations of a DPO have diversified and expanded, especially in light of the GDPR. 

To keep up with the fast pace at which technology is developing, the EU has begun amending its regulations to reflect these technological advances.

In January 2017, less than nine months after the European Union (EU) adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the European Commission drafted a proposal, known as the ePrivacy Regulation (“Proposal”), as part of an initiative to replace the current ePrivacy Directive. Together with the GDPR, the Proposal will aim to provide the strongest protection to users’ data across the EU.

Over 25% of consumers' total media time is spent in-app,¹ and since mobile devices are typically owned and used by one person, these apps are closely connected to users' personal lives and daily habits. The in-app environment also offers advertisers sophisticated data tracking and user targeting that is superior to other digital advertising formats, which makes it the ideal medium for creating effective advertising touchpoints.