Today, I’m proud to announce that TUNE has concluded successful audits for SOC 2 Type II certification and SOC 1 Type II certification, receiving positive reports for both.  

This is the fourth year in a row TUNE has earned a clean bill of health in its SOC 2 Type II audit, which evaluates service organization controls relevant to security.  It’s the second consecutive year TUNE has completed a successful SOC 1 Type II audit, which tests the suitability of financial reporting system design and operating effectiveness. 

What Is SOC? 

SOC stands for System and Organization Controls, a component of the American Institute of CPAs’ (AICPA) reporting platform.  SOC audits for Service Organizations are intended to assure the security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of customer data.   

Use of an independent third-party audit to review privacy, security, and reporting controls is an investment that companies do not take lightly.  The audit process tests the sufficiency of a company’s procedures and execution on a variety of systems.  It also requires active employee engagement across a broad swath of the company.   

SOC 2 audits are both technical and pragmatic; they require a company to document and comply with comprehensive information security policies and procedures.  SOC 1 audits focus on user entities, testing their relevant internal controls over financial reporting.  Positive reports for both audits signal that TUNE customers can expect high standards across TUNE’s data security and privacy practices as well as quality control from TUNE reporting.  

Type I vs Type II Reports 

Each audit period, TUNE has voluntarily pursued the more stringent and comprehensive Type II report rather than a Type I report.  Type II reports require a company to test its policies and procedures over a lengthy time period, whereas Type I reports test a single moment in time.   

TUNE’s usual audit period for SOC 2 and SOC 1 covers 12 months, demonstrating our ongoing effort to uphold the Trust Services Principles. 

TUNE’s Commitment to Security 

TUNE pursues SOC audits and other voluntary examinations to both improve our practices and demonstrate our commitment to provide trustworthy and transparent solutions for our customers, partners, and employees.  We view the feedback loop generated from periodic third-party reviews — including active dialogue with auditors — as the best means to improve forward-looking operations.   

TUNE previously completed SOC 2 Type II audits covering periods of time in 2017, 2018, and 2019, and a SOC 1 Type II audit in 2019. We intend to sustain our investments in a customer-centric compliance program in the years to come.   

Relevant portions of both the SOC 2 Type II and SOC 1 Type II reports are available upon request to security@tune.com for TUNE customers as well as prospects under a non-disclosure commitment.   

To learn more about how TUNE approaches data security and privacy, click here.  

Do you remember the feeling you had on the last day of school before summer? The energy, buzz, and excitement you had to unplug from the grind of the school year and enter the bliss of summer, where you were free to go on vacation, to summer camp, or just spend time with your family and friends? That feeling seems like such a long time ago. That is, up until last week — for me, and for the rest of the folks at TUNE.

This year, TUNE tried an experiment. We wanted to bring that breath of relaxation and personal space back by providing everyone time to step away. A week-long, so-called “professional summer break.” Yes, we all get to enjoy our vacation time, but if you are anything like me, you find yourself checking in with your team, checking emails and Slack to keep up on what’s happening, and likely don’t get to fully disconnect without the fear of a massive inbox upon return. The beautiful part of this week is that all of our colleagues were on break as well.

It was an opportunity for everyone at TUNE to pause and focus on what’s important in their life outside of their day-to-day routines. Dive into a passion project, spend time to get to know yourself better, or simply use the time to staycation and get to all of those things you want to do, but never found the time to.  

Oh yeah … there was also an opportunity to go to summer camp. TUNE’s founders, Lucas and Lee, have been working hard to fulfill their ideation for work-life integration over the last year, and found their happy place on a serene piece of property in Valdez, Alaska. When they haven’t been cranking on projects for TUNE, they have been transforming their raw piece of land into a retreat for others to come unwind and enjoy the beauty of America’s Last Frontier. So during the gifted week off to unplug, Lucas and Lee hosted 39 TUNErs and their families in Valdez to enjoy the Fourth of July with each other. Although I didn’t get a chance to participate in the Alaska trip, I heard amazing stories of people connecting with each other on a deeper personal level, and rarely hearing a peep about work life.

While so many of my work family was up in Alaska, or traveling to Mexico, Iceland, or Japan, I was gifted the opportunity to spend some amazing quality time with close friends and family. My week started off with a quick trip down to Marin County, California for the wedding of one of my oldest friends, Ryan. This trip brought back that buzz and energy of summer break, as Ryan and I spent so many of those days together. I was able to see his brothers, parents, aunt and uncle, a handful of other childhood friends, and most importantly, my parents, who also made the trip down to spend the weekend with me. I am fortunate to see my parents often, but with a 4-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son, our family get-togethers are a little more hectic than our weekend in California. A nice brunch in Sausalito, a beautiful wedding in the redwoods, and a brief trip to Sonoma for wine tasting afforded us some time to reconnect on life. It was amazing.  

When I returned home, the rest of my week was still circulating around family. My father-in-law and his wife were in town from New York, and we all spent the Fourth of July at my parents’ house with my family. My wife and I had a lazy Wednesday as she had the day off, so we spent a lot of time with the kids at home; I spent Thursday and Friday with my little dude Calvin, as he had a bit of a cold and wasn’t able to go to daycare. It was time well spent — he was attached to my hip, and even helped me clean out the garage.  

The week was busy, but at the same time felt effortless. As Sunday was coming to an end, I was able to reflect on the opportunities I had during the entire week, and how it was a beautiful way to spend some time away from the office and relax with those who are so important to me.  

What was the result for the rest of TUNE? Monday morning felt almost like the first day of a new school year. Everyone was refreshed, a little tanner, and sharing stories of their adventures and experiences. We are leaned-in, ready to tackle the next quarter and the rest of 2017, and can bring with us those memories and experiences about what is important to us outside of our work lives.

A look inside: How TUNE employees spent their week off

“TUNE’s generosity shone through twofold during the first week of July, through both the gift of an entire week off for all employees worldwide, and in the spirit of its founders, who hosted a spectacular gathering at their Valdez, Alaska retreat. Consummate hosts that they are, the effort they’d gone to and the passion that drove them was clear upon arrival, and all manner of food, drink, recreation, relaxation, and shelter was provided. Plus lots of fireworks, of course. Those who made the journey know the magic that awaits in the Alaskan grandeur. We returned rejuvenated, more closely knit, filled with awe, and I am so thankful to have had such an opportunity.”  — Ian Molee, Software Development Engineer, Seattle

“During the TUNE week off I went on a bike camping trip from Berlin to the Baltic Sea. There’s a great network of bike paths crossing Germany, running through forests and fields and connecting small villages. You can buy vegetables for your dinner directly from tables at the roadside. It was the perfect way to disconnect completely for a few days, I only used my phone to take some pictures.” (Photo at the top of post.) — Malin Larsson, Account Manager, Berlin

“Having the week off at TUNE was incredible and greatly appreciated. We are expecting a baby girl (our first!) in August so it really gave me the time to fully prepare for her by washing her clothes, organizing her nursery and reading to prepare for our new little one. My husband had to work during this week so I walked our dog 2-3 miles every day as well and truly practiced some self care. Typically when I take vacation, I find it hard to fully disconnect because I want to continue my high standards to other co-workers…this vacation was different. I was confident that everyone was doing the same thing so it truly allowed me to have the type of liberation that was so needed and I couldn’t be more thankful.”  — Sabrina Hilton, Director of Recruiting, Seattle

“I’m so glad I made my way to Cambodia for a six day yoga retreat during our company holiday. At the retreat, we went on a complete digital detox, and it definitely allowed us to fully enjoy the present life and better connect with each other in the nature land. With the loving and supportive community, I was truly inspired and motivated, it put me in the perfect mental, physical, and spiritual space to return home. My colleagues even told me that I looked so peaceful when I was back in the office!”  — Min Wang, Sales Executive, Seoul

“As soon as I got the word about us having the time off, I knew it meant my wife and I could plan for something special. We were thinking about Hawaii but Paris ended up being cheaper, actually! We love Paris and hadn’t been back in a couple of years, so it was awesome to go back and take in more of the sights and be tourists for a couple of days. Plus, we love to seek out great places for food so what better place to spend a week exploring with each other!”  — Tim O’Neil, Head of Strategic Sales, San Francisco

Over the past year the world of performance marketing has seen a few seismic shifts that may result in more clarity and more opportunities for people who are paying attention. The overall themes of 2015 have been about improving quality and increasing engagement, while discarding the cheap gimmicks and poor user experiences of the past.

2015 marked the birth of several hot new trends, and, we’re happy to say, the death of several unpopular ones. Here’s our recap:

Things That Trended

Native Advertising as One Solution to Content Blocking

Apple’s announcement in September that iOS would support content blocking underlined an ongoing shift in digital marketing: Consumers now have more control in blocking ads on both desktop and mobile devices.

While this means the death of banner ads, ad blocking could also be extended to the interstitials that monetize mobile games.

What are publishers to do?

One solution to evading pop-up blockers and connecting with consumers is native advertising, a new digital advertising concept focused on integrated, informative, and enjoyable brand messages published in the form of content itself.

Unlike traditional banner ads served by an ad network, native content is intended to closely match the aesthetic and function of its platform.

The takeaway

To deal with the seismic shift presented by content blocking, advertising should be relevant and engaging—viewers should never want to reach for the block controls to blacklist your ad. Understand what your customers are seeking, and craft your message to address their needs.

The Rapid Growth of Mobile Advertising

In 2015 mobile advertising continued to grow faster than all other digital advertising formats. In some regions, mobile ad spending increased by nearly 50 percent in 2015 compared with the same period in 2014.

How marketers can take advantage

For mobile marketers, not only should you be focusing more on mobile, you should be analyzing user behavior from device to device and from region to region in order to effectively optimize mobile campaigns.

Analytics tools now provide more sophisticated insights such as post click and impression event tracking as well as cart and product tracking. Performance marketers that invest the time to optimize campaigns will win in 2016.

The Global Mobile Marketing Ecosystem Coming of Age

Widespread adoption of mobile devices around the world, combined with an explosion of ad tech and performance marketing hubs, has created more lucrative opportunities for performance marketers.

While mobile marketers have traditionally focused on countries and regions such as the U.S. and Europe, the growth of mobile usage in other countries means there are new markets to explore.

For example, Brazil was one of just four countries with double-digit growth in mobile adoption. Fifty percent of Brazilian households currently use mobile devices as their primary means of communication.

What to keep in mind

While other countries around the world are presenting similar opportunities, not every region is the same. It’s important to work with trusted local partners help you create relevant campaigns that engage local audiences.

The Efficiency of Programmatic Advertising

As TUNE predicted earlier this year, 2015 became the year mobile programmatic moved beyond the confines of a few media properties to become an industry norm.

What is programmatic advertising? It’s an automation of digital ad purchasing, using software in place of salespeople and ad buyers to make transactions. Due to the complex nature of buying programmatic, among other reasons, programmatic advertising has been difficult to implement competitively on mobile platforms. But 2015 saw the emergence of programmatic mobile apps that incorporate specific tracking and segmenting in order to reach a desired audience.

The takeaway

Online advertising in 2015 is quickly clamping down on fraud. Thanks to better tools and attribution it’s much easier for marketers to determine click sources and their true value. By analyzing traffic sources and visitor behavior, you can create more targeted and efficient campaigns.

Things That Fell Flat

The Death of Clickbait Content

While 2015 marked an acceptance of content marketing, the past year also sounded the death knell for “clickbaity” headlines.

Pioneered by media properties such as Upworthy, clickbait used provocative headlines to “bait” readers to click to their site. The purpose was to generate outrage and shares, and increase traffic volume. But increased traffic did not necessarily mean more engagement. Readers rarely stayed on the page for long, and a multiplicity of knock-off sites came on the scene to capitalize on the trend. Readers became bored and began to ignore these headlines outright.

The lesson for performance marketers?

In an era of almost unlimited content, the only way to stand out and engage visitors is to focus on quality, and not instant results. Creating informative, not infuriating, headlines is more effective in drawing readers to articles of substance.

Paying for CPM Ads

Many advertisers pay for ads on a “CPM” basis, and pay for every thousand times their display ads or video ads are shown. The problem with this is that spammers have come up with ways to manipulate page views and ad impressions in order to commit fraud. While advertisers may think they are paying less for higher volume, they’re really paying for fake traffic.

The solution?

Shift from CPM-based ad impressions to CPC-based search ads where performance can be measured. Also monitor your analytics to observe visitor behavior. For example, fraudulent traffic rarely sticks around on your site for long and doesn’t travel to other pages of your site.

The 2048 Clone Wars of 2015

Popular puzzle game 2048 was one of the hottest mobile apps of 2014, but a year later, the excitement had fizzled out.

The massive but brief success of 2048 serves as a case study about the perils of Internet hype. 2048 itself was a clone of a paid puzzle game that had achieved success earlier in 2014. Once 2048 was launched as a free app, multiple copycats of the clone soon appeared.

By early 2015 the hype had faded and mobile users had moved on to something else. Any performance marketer who had tried to capitalize on the popularity of 2048 was left searching for the next big thing.

The takeaway for mobile marketers and publishers?

It’s always better to identify quality experiences to find advertising opportunities, which will likely result in quality leads and longer campaigns. Instead of following the biggest fad, focus on the needs of your targeted audience. That way, you can earn a longer retention rate when your customers are fully engaged with your product.You won’t have to constantly start from scratch as you scramble to take advantage of the next trendy thing.

Angry Birds and the Faltering Free-to-Play Model

At one time Rovio’s Angry Birds was the hottest mobile game on the planet, inspiring toys and other merchandising kitsch as well as an upcoming movie. However, as the Angry Birds juggernaut finally faltered and revenues tanked in 2015, Rovio was forced to lay off staff this past August. The CEO stepped down in early December after just a year at the company.

While the decline in revenues has been blamed on a corresponding slump in merchandise sales, the real problem for Rovio is how difficult it can be to monetize a fairly simple casual game. Under the typical free-to-play model, users can play the game for free, but progressing from level to level can be a total grind. To escape the slog players can instead purchase upgrades.

The consideration for marketers?

There are a lot of free-to-play games out there, and unless a game is particularly engaging and compelling, players will get bored and move on to something else without upgrading. And the upgrades themselves often compete for attention with interstitial advertising where performance marketers make their money on mobile games in the first place. As mentioned before, quality is key.

Key Takeaways for Mobile Marketers from 2015

Based on these trends the three points for performance marketers to succeed are focusing on quality, taking the time to carefully observe audience needs and responses, and both monitoring and optimizing your data to establish efficient, effective workflows. By keeping these ideas in mind, progressive performance marketers can improve their marketing efforts and reap the benefits in 2016.

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As mobile advertising continues to grow faster than all other digital advertising formats, there is a need for advertisers to not only focus on mobile, but also optimize campaigns for specific audiences in local markets.

This means ad networks must work with publishers all over the world, which creates unique challenges that can make or break campaigns. Here’s a guide to understanding the global market for ad networks, and how best to approach mobile campaigns with a diverse mix of advertisers and publishers.

Mobile Advertising is Overtaking Desktop

Mobile display ads will overtake desktop display-related spending by 2017, according to a Business Insider report. Moreover, it’s predicted that mobile search will overtake desktop search ad revenue by 2019.

These insights are key when working on global campaigns. For example, when looking at the share of digital display ad spending by device, IAB Netherlands found that mobile, including mobile phones, tablets, and in-app advertising, made up 24 percent of the total amount spent on display ads in the Netherlands during Q1 2015. Compared with the same period in 2014, mobile ad spending has increased by nearly 50 percent.

“Everyone should be going mobile, it’s the future. But you can’t do the same thing as you do on desktop,” noted AppLift‘s Managing Director Konstantin Dieterle when speaking on a panel at Affiliate Summit in New York earlier this year.

Dieterle’s fellow panelists observed the same thing: Not only can you not treat mobile the same way you treat desktop, you also can’t assume that mobile behavior will be the same in every region across the globe.

Mobile Behavior Differs by Country

In Europe, it is much better to encourage an app install or an m-commerce action rather than taking users to native mobile content, according to Florian Lehwald, founder and president of KissMyAds. In mobile-first regions such as Southeast Asia and Latin America, Lehwald noted it’s the opposite case.

The need to optimize mobile campaigns to meet the needs of a particular local audience means ad networks must work with region-specific publishers that already command market share and who know the consumption habits of locals in that area. The better your ad is targeted to them, the more effective it will be, and publishers who are close to and familiar with the market can help with this.

Communication is Key for a Global Relationship

The fast-paced nature of mobile marketing can be a strain on how ad networks and publishers work together. Ad networks need to be readily accessible to address new issues when they arise.

“Not communicating with the publishers and affiliates will ruin the relationship,” says Benjamin Pomerantz, CEO of Pocket Media. “Even with our offices located all over the world, it’s not always easy to respond right away. But a 24-hour turnaround needs to happen, otherwise the publisher or affiliate will end up asking another advertiser and their focus will be off you as an advertiser.”

Problem solving is 99% of the job, according to Pomerantz.

“Just be available when it’s convenient for your publisher or affiliate. If you’re available when it’s convenient for the publisher or affiliate, you can efficiently discuss new campaigns, optimizations, or trends in the industry they are looking into testing.”

Publishers are busy, says Pomerantz. If a marketer can establish ways to simplify and focus communications, the process becomes more efficient and productive for both parties.

“To be the most effective and efficient account manager, communication needs to have a single main focus, whether it be one campaign to start, hints on how to optimize a current campaign, or a request for a volume amount for a specific geo/device,” Pomerantz says. “Always follow up a telephone or Skype call with an email that summarizes the key details of what you discussed.”

A critical part to running an effective advertising scheme is knowing how publishers set up and launch their mobile campaigns.

“This way if an issue comes up, the advertiser can proactively find the issue, fix it, and later on bring up that there was a problem,” Pomerantz says. “Also, clearly defining and communicating the process prevents the advertiser from repeatedly asking the same questions: ‘When will the traffic start?’ or ‘What eCPC/eCPM do you need?'”

As seen above, many obstacles can arise when working with a publisher from another country. Communication is a critical part of reducing such issues. But there’s more an ad network needs to do than maintaining contact with foreign advertisers and publishers. Here are five tips for a productive work relationship:

5 Tips for Working with Global Publishers

1. Follow their time zone
   You don’t have to be in the same time zone as the publishers you work with to develop strong relations with them, but it’s vital that you are awake when they’re awake. If you cannot troubleshoot because of different time zones, publishers will find someone who can give them more immediate assistance.
2. Have a payment system in place that works in multiple countries
   Your payment system must work in multiple countries. This means you must double-check before assuming anything. For example, while PayPal is available in 203 markets and 26 currencies, it may not work for all of your publishers. Payoneer is another great financial service that provides online money transfers and e-commerce payments.
3. Translate dashboards into critical target languages
   If you’re working with many foreign publishers, your documents might not be available in their specific language. Minimize such barriers by having your homepage or dashboard translated accurately into a few target languages publishers can read.
4. Be culturally aware
   Different cultures have different communication styles. This means that some publishers may not always understand if you are requesting them to take action or commit to a plan. It’s important to use cordial but clear language when making requests. Publishers in different regions also may prefer different communications platforms depending on what’s popular in their region, such as Skype, WhatsApp, or Google Hangouts.
   5. Set expectations
   Make sure your publishers understand what your response time is, what kind of support you will give, and what kind of questions they should come to you with. By clarifying these parameters upfront, you’ll avoid any riffs or misunderstandings down the road once your campaigns are live.

Establish these principles as regular habits, and you’ll have a successful work relationship with publishers around the world.

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It’s one of marketing’s fundamental trends: As global smartphone usage rises, an ever-greater share of online activity moves to mobile devices. The shift means that mobile is becoming a fundamental element of business strategy for nearly every industry.

Marketers ranging from big brands to small businesses are just starting to incorporate mobile channels into their paid, owned, and earned marketing strategy. They’re learning that mobile marketing tactics differ greatly from those used in desktop, TV or print campaigns. Mobile requires specific goals, strategy and tactical execution in order to reach the right audience with the right message at the right time. For example, some campaigns work to boost brand awareness, while others seek to engage high-value customers. The learning curve can be steep, so marketers often hesitate before they devote more resources to mobile.

This uncharted territory catches marketers in a bind—they want to increase their mobile spend, but they’re not sure how to proceed.

Recently, we’ve observed the emergence of many new mobile advertising partners who aim to support marketers’ new demand. In fact, the TUNE® Marketing Console is integrated with over 800 of those partners. This represents a challenge for marketers, who must choose advertising partners than can help them reach their goals of driving results on mobile.

At TUNE, we built a solution to this problem by listening to our customers from both sides of the mobile economy—marketers such as Playdots or Ibotta and advertising partners like Amazon and AppLift. In these conversations, we received a consistent message: Mobile marketing has lacked reliable industry standards that inspire confidence in marketers for them to trust that they’re working with the best partners.

The TUNE Certified Partner Program

We took the industry’s feedback and developed standards based on current best practices in mobile marketing. These criteria guide TUNE’s Certified Partner Program—a first-of-its-kind accreditation method designed to bring advertising partners and marketers together through a seamless working experience.

The Certified Partner Program recognizes partners with a proven record of meeting marketers’ needs. TUNE Certified Partner candidates are evaluated with a measurement scorecard which includes standard industry best practices.

TUNE designed the Certified Partner Program to evolve along with the industry. The program will adapt to ensure that its standards and best practices stay current.

A Seamless Experience

Why is it important to create a seamless working experience for marketers and partners? Because it’s a fact that marketers do their best work within hassle-free relationships.

When TUNE® Marketing Console marketers work with certified partners, those partners can use the TUNE® Partner Portal to review their client’s campaign. Both sides can trust that they’re working with the same data and results, so there’s no need to send spreadsheets back-and-forth. Marketers and partners can co-manage campaigns and optimize tactics. The result is greater campaign visibility and improved results.

TUNE chose the first wave of certified partners based on region, inventory scale, performance, and a positive record of serving the needs of marketers. We also chose partners who adhere to industry best practices.

The Certified Partner Program makes marketing better by providing clear and unbiased information so marketers can spend time on creating new campaigns and delivering the best results on mobile. That’s crucial, because better campaigns create trust. And greater confidence in mobile marketing means we’ll all get the chance to build a better experience for the consumer.

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