Intrepid Advertising Age reporter Kate Kaye has turned her attention to a big controversy in the digital campaigning world: the patent on data-targeted online advertising recently awarded to Audience Partners, the parent company of CampaignGrid (for an overview of the issue, see our initial coverage and a strongly worded commentary piece from Seth Oldmixon).
In the process, Kate puts this development into the context of other software patents recently awarded, with a patent attorney casting doubt on its long-term survivability. Cue the lawyers! Plus, Kate examines an angle of the story that hasn’t seen much attention yet, the fact that Audience Partners and CampaignGrid have been working opposite sides of the street when it comes to the Affordable Care Act. Will advertisers care, or is this just a normal part of the digital communications business? Read the piece and see what you think. It’s great to see this story getting more coverage, for sure. How will it shake out? Watch this space….
– cpd