FROM AOP (http://www.ukaop.org.uk):

Ahead of the INMA/OPA Europe Conference 2010 taking place from 29th September in Krakow, we caught up with Tomasz Józefacki, President of OPA Europe, and Head of Internet at Agora, to get his insight into Europe's publishers' digital priorities.

The economic downturn has pushed publishers to think more creatively about revenue generation. Which publishers, in your view, are making best use of data, ecommerce and other non-ad-related opportunities available in the digital space?

Almost all OPA Europe members are offering revenue-generating services like iPad subscriptions and mobile subscriptions to supplement their online advertising revenues.

Full interview: http://www.ukaop.org.uk/news/opaeuropeinterview2264.html

A proposed privacy law in Germany will outlaw the use of Facebook for employee vetting, says Spiegel Online. Thomas de Maiziere, the country's Interior Minister, has drafted a data privacy law that aims to put a stop to bosses checking out potential subordinates via their Facebook pages. As it stands, the draft legislation does not cover LinkedIn or even Google, as that is seen as, respectively, work-related, and "fair game."

Given the fact that the German authorities and Google have had several run-ins this year over the thorny issue of privacy, one could be surprised by this last move. Facebook, however, has been at the center of a data privacy row since last month, with the Hamburg Data Protection Authority launching a legal action against the Big Blue 'Book.

Read more:  http://www.fastcompany.com/1684432/german-privacy-law-bans-firms-from-using-facebook-to-vet-potential-employees

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The New York Times will launch Press Engine, a technology and design solution that allows publishers and media organizations to deliver their content across new platforms starting with iPhone and iPad applications, in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Through Press Engine, clients will be able to leverage The Times’s experience in building acclaimed digital products designed to grow loyal readership, create an expanded subscription model and provide new opportunities for advertisers to reach that loyal readership.

The Telegraph Media Group and A.H. Belo Corporation-owned The Dallas Morning News, The Providence Journal and The Press-Enterprise are the first publishers to license Press Engine. Several New York Times Company-owned newspapers, including the International Herald Tribune, The Gainesville Sun and The Lakeland Ledger, will also participate in the product launch.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-New-York-Times-to-Offer-bw-4005079117.html?x=0&.v=1

Ad inventory optimizer AdMeld has raised a $15 million third round as it expects to attract more publishers making the move to online ad exchanges. With this round, AdMeld has raised a total of $30 million since opening its doors almost three years ago. The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners, with Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) Investments also participating. They were joined by New York-based AdMeld’s previous backers, Spark Capital and Foundry Group.

AdMeld says the new funding will help it meet growing demands of publishers. It’s hard not to doubt that publishers are increasingly interested in getting help managing their inventory and protecting their pricing as the use of real-time bidding and ad exchanges becomes part of the regular online ad marketplace. As the rise of ad networks led to the introduction of demand-side platforms (DSPs), at the opposite end, supply-side platforms, as AdMeld, along with Rubicon Project and PubMatic, have come to be known.

Read more: http://paidcontent.org/article/419-admeld-raises-15-million-round-time-warner-among-new-backers/