#iab-education industry

[neyatimes]

University of Waterloo, Canada: 24-year-old suspect charged with stabbing 3 people during gender studies class at Canada's University of Waterloo in 'hate-motivated' attack, police say

CNN  —  A 24-year-old student has been charged with stabbing three people during a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo in Canada this week in what police are calling a “hate-motivated incident.” The suspect, Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, is an international student who recently graduated from the university, Waterloo Regional Police Service Chief Mark Crowell said during a Thursday…

[101now]

Scott Galloway on the 'scarier part' of AI tools like ChatGPT

Scott Galloway on the ‘scarier part’ of AI tools like ChatGPT ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot that interacts with users and can provide lengthy and thorough responses to questions and prompts, is stunning users. Professor Scott Galloway from NYU Stern School of Business joins CNN’s Anderson Cooper to discuss. Source link

[nuwanhemal]

What you get: NEW REPLAYS: Ad World 2023, Affiliate World Dubai & Barcelona 2023 Weekly new released masterclasses 400+ masterclass speeches, panels and interviews 20+ topics spanning the industry’s biggest trends Access speaker resources & slides Access the exclusive Ad World Community Group Super Early Bird Ticket Access to future Ad World & Affiliate World events (save $500+) 1. LEARN: Get proven growth strategies from the world’s top marketers to light a fire in your belly. 2. APPLY: Implement learnings and watch as your CPAs and CPLs drop and ROAS increases. 3. STAY UPDATED: New masterclasses added every week so you know what’s working in 2023. 4. CONNECT: Be part of an advertising community that supports and wants to connect with you. 5. DEVELOP: Earn IAB Certified Professional’s Continuing Education Credits for content you consume.

[worldsleadersmagazine]

Sarah Palmer: Championing Change with Exemplary Leadership in the Finance Industry | CEO of IAB Group

Sarah Palmer, CEO of IAB Group, graced the cover of World’s Leaders Magazine as one of the Worlds Ambitious Women in Education to Admire in 2024

[jcmarchi]

What’s next for AI and industry-academia relations?

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/whats-next-for-ai-and-industry-academia-relations/

What’s next for AI and industry-academia relations?

Academia-industry relations: a critical linchpin in the United Kingdom’s desire to be an Artificial Intelligence (AI) prowess on the world stage. Beyond becoming a hiring partner and offering graduate programmes, there’s many ways in which the industry can work with academia to carve out a path of AI knowledge.

Examples range from in-faculty incubators (designed to help students/graduates launch their business idea), Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) (which link academia and industry together to solve industry challenges) to being involved strategically on Industry Advisory Boards (IABs).

As AI continually advances and transforms the world around us at breakneck speeds, what’s next for this important relationship? 

The knowledge formed through the links between industry and academia was one of several critical areas for advancement outlined in the UK’s National AI Strategy: a framework introduced back in 2021 by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

The aim was to outline an action plan to help the UK become an AI superpower behind the likes of the USA and China, covering areas ranging from increasing the number of Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) to increasing investment in critical areas for AI research, for example in Defence and Cyber Security.

In amongst outlining improvements listed above, the document showcased the increasingly important role of academia in shaping understanding of the said technologies. From this, we’ll start with the digital skills gap. 

Digital skills gap and industry-academia relations 

When talking tech, the digital skills gap finds a way of creeping into conversations: an ever-increasingly important area where there just aren’t enough skilled workers to fill the expanding list of digital-based vacancies. When the National AI Strategy was first released, it outlined a 16% increase in both AI and Data Science job vacancies in 2020 with 69% of vacancies being hard to fill [1].

In addition, the Turing Institute’s AI Ecosystem Survey found 81% of respondents agreed there were significant barriers in both recruitment and retraining of top AI talent within their respective sectors in the UK [2].

Furthermore, a more recent 2023 Forbes IT Skills Gap Report found that over 93% of businesses agreed an IT skills gap existed [3], with numerous companies highlighting several key contributing factors, namely: 41% identifying a lack of training and 37% believing the gap stems from a lack of relevant educational opportunities [3].

When it came to the core skills in 2023, 2 in 5 employers recognised AI and Machine Learning as being the top skills [3] and from a management standpoint, 71% of Chairpeople along with 71% of business partners believe AI holds the most value in today’s market [3]. 

Narrowing the skills gap is an incredibly challenging endeavour, especially with the dynamic nature of the macroeconomic forces pushing and pulling against both industry and academia, but one way to start the effort is within Education.

Since the publication of the National AI strategy, over 2,500 Masters conversion courses have been delivered in England, and in the first year of the introduction of these programmes 1,200 students enrolled with 22% receiving scholarships [1].

The Office for Students (OfS) have and continues to be an integral part of this, having allocated £18.1 million since April 2020 to drive the delivery of 1,818 postgraduate course scholarships across the AI and Data Science spectrum [4].

To continue the solid uptake of enrolment, the OfS recently announced an additional £8.1 million in funding to be distributed across 31 universities and colleges (including 7 as a collaborative project) to deliver scholarships across the 2023-24 academic year [4].

Whilst the funding boost aim is to continually increase the accessibility of such courses, It’s important to recognise AI’s rapid development creates a continually moving see-saw: industry beavering away behind the scenes to test tools and find what works for them, whereas academia seeks to learn from industry what students need to know to thrive in the job market.

Whilst the wider digital skills gap is an area of ongoing concern, industry are also likely battling their own internal multi-dimensional skills gap: whether it be understanding the ever-increasing list of new programming frameworks to transform algorithms to actionable insights or understanding the ever-changing role of data and how it’s affecting the hiring landscape.

It’ll therefore be key for both sides to monitor trends, but unless there’s a bottomless pit of capital to continually iterate resources at the pace they’re released, it’ll be some time before benefits are keenly felt on the ground.

Industry Advisory Boards

Turning to an area of increasing importance is the Industry Advisory Board (or IAB for short). Widely adopted at many institutions on a faculty or departmental level (sometimes both, and sometimes even on a programme level), this area of engagement is seen as a core method in which academia can pick industry’s brains about the wider industrial environment that may not easily be observable from inside a university.

There’s numerous angles on which industry can provide input but in a broader context, the board is there to ensure the university department (and wider faculty) has a commercially sound research, development and employability strategy. In addition to the strategic element, members also provide external insight into the department curriculum: making sure course modules teach students in-demand skills.

It’s important to keep in perspective that whilst the board remit is there to help steer the academics, the pace of technology creates tug of wars in how operationally and commercially feasible it is for the department to change course in the event of major technological innovation industry pilot en-masse. 

Industry-academia relations into 2024

With digital skills gaps and Advisory Boards out of the way, this leaves the question of what lies ahead. There’s two particular areas I feel will carry increasing importance as we move into 2024, namely the Industry Advisory Boards (IAB) and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). 

As module content evolves and the wider AI landscape shifts, the role of industry steering academia (and vice versa) through the Tetris maze will be key in ensuring students aren’t simply taught about but feel the value of the tools they’re learning about. This day and age is no longer about simply producing cutting-edge research: it’s about synthesising the cutting-edge knowledge of both industry and academia to transform students into the next generation of Data pioneers. 

Board Advisory aside, another area I envisage increased importance and attachment to is Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). These projects are key in crafting undiscovered knowledge, innovation and creativity and as a result, their impact has been felt far and wide.

Between 2010-2020, Innovate UK invested £223 million into KTP projects, with the average grant sitting between £80-£100,000 per project [6]. Grant numbers aside the benefits of KTPs have been felt across the wider economy, generating between £1.7 and £2.3 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) [6].

However, of equal importance is the tangible benefit in knowledge and perspectives KTPs have delivered, with 79% of businesses feeling the benefit of having academic expertise and as a result, were keen to engage with academia [6].

On the flip side academia was equally enthusiastic, with 92% of academic partners reporting an improvement in their understanding of industry challenges and 75% developing more industry-focused teaching [6]. Knowledge is twice as powerful if it’s shared, and if these trends continue that’ll help in some way to fill the gap. 

Conclusion

As policymakers, industry and academia work to imagine ideas, create solutions and inspire others to think big, relations between AI and Industry are more important than ever. The formation of knowledge through decades of collaboration will benefit those coming through the education system for years to come.

Strategies and Governmental frameworks alone won’t fix or simply narrow any skills gap: Instead, it’ll come down to a combination of initiative, lots of networking, balancing bureaucracy and an eagerness to think differently.

Bibliography

[1] National AI Strategy & Job Vacancies: HM Government (2021). National AI Strategy. [online] Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/ 614db4d1e90e077a2cbdf3c4/National_AI_Strategy_-_PDF_version.pdf. 

[2] Turing Institute AI Ecosystem Survey: AI ecosystem survey Informing the National AI Strategy Summary report. (n.d.). Available at: https://www.turing.ac.uk/ sites/default/files/2021-09/ai-strategy-survey_results_020921.pdf. 

[3] Forbes 2023 IT Skills Report: Thornhill, J. (2023). IT Skills Gap Report 2023. [online] Forbes Advisor UK. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/ business/software/digital-skills-gap/

[4] Office for Students Course Funding: Students, O. for (2023). OfS confirms £8.1 million boost for postgraduate AI conversion courses as evaluation finds promising signs of increase in diversity of graduates – Office for Students. [online] www.officeforstudents.org.uk. Available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/ news-blog-and-events/press-and-media/ofs-confirms-81-million-boost-for postgraduate-ai-conversion-courses-as-evaluation-finds-promising-signs-of increase-in-diversity-of-graduates/ [Accessed 28 Dec. 2023]. 

[5] Zipdo Skills Gap Statistics: Anon, (n.d.). Essential Skills Gap Statistics in 2023 • ZipDo. [online] Available at: https://zipdo.co/statistics/skills-gap/ [Accessed 28 Dec. 2023]. 

[6] Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KPT) 2023 Evaluation: Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Evaluation Final Report. (2023). Available at: https:// www.ukri.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IUK-23102023-KTP-Evaluation-Final Report-FINAL-Aug-23.pdf [Accessed 4 Jan. 2024].

[madhukumarc]

How long has affiliate marketing been around?

Affiliate marketing has been around for quite some time now, but its origins can be traced back to the mid-1990s. In fact, it only started to gain popularity after 2002-04 as a result of the rapid growth of the internet. 

It was during this time that many affiliate programs were launched, and the concept of affiliate marketing began to spread across the world. 

Referring to history of insights, the Amazon Associates program is widely believed to be one of the oldest affiliate programs in the world. It was launched by Amazon in 1996, just after the company itself was founded in 1994.

The idea behind affiliate marketing is simple: a company or a business entity pays a commission to an affiliate after successful completion of conversion [generally through their website or designated landing pages] via unique affiliate links provided to affiliates.

The conversion could be a lead or a sale. But, it will most often be in the context of sales. The commission can be a percentage of the sale, a fixed amount per sale, or a combination of both.

At first, affiliate marketing was mainly used by e-commerce companies as a way to increase sales and drive traffic to their websites. 

Because it also helped them in cutting back on advertising expenses and also raising brand exposure or awareness through affiliates’ efforts. 

Over time, however, it has evolved to include other types of businesses, such as service providers, SaaS, B2B, and even online education platforms.

Do you know? - “Affiliate marketing as an industry is now worth $12 Billion a year and is expected to grow by 10% in the next few years, contributing to about 15% of the total revenue made through ALL digital marketing” – JVZOO [Global Affiliate Network Platform]

One of the reasons why affiliate marketing has become so popular is because it's a win-win situation for both the company and the affiliate. 

The company gets to increase its sales and reach a larger audience, while the affiliate gets to earn a commission for promoting products or services that they believe in.

"Affiliate marketing has made businesses millions and ordinary people millionaires" - Robert Foster Bennett

Simple affiliate marketing working model: 

Image Source - IAB, Australia

Today, affiliate marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry that is used by businesses of all sizes and industries. There are already over 10,000 affiliate programs worldwide.

There are now countless affiliate networks and platforms that connect companies with affiliates, making it easier than ever to get started with affiliate marketing.

But it also needs to be noted that this is not a quick money-making strategy, which is why many affiliates have failed up until this point.

“Nobody becomes a successful affiliate overnight, so don’t expect this to happen in your case. You will fail at first. If you give up too early, you may just miss out on a life-changing adventure” – STM Forum

In conclusion, while affiliate marketing started out small in the 1990s, it has since grown into a massive profitable industry that shows no signs of slowing down. 

If you're interested in learning more about affiliate marketing or getting started with your own affiliate program, there are plenty of resources available online to help you get started.

Here's related information that you may also find helpful - Why affiliate marketing is booming in 21st century? [Know the top reasons]. 

[digitaldrive360-blog]

5 essential courses you must try about Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is the new way of marketing in this internet-driven era. Digital marketing is a process in which products and services are promoted through the internet to the targeted customers. In 2022, the digital marketing industry has grown to a massive 20,000 crores mark! Data is considered the most important asset in today’s world; hence, digital marketing, which runs on data and analytics, has witnessed tremendous growth.

During the corona virus period, various industries suffered losses, but the digital marketing industries had increased revenue. Some forms of digital marketing are Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Content Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Campaign Marketing, E-commerce, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization, and others.

Hence here are the top 5 best digital marketing course which you can pursue and master your skills:

1. Digital Marketing Fundamentals by Google

Getting the best education and skills from the best teacher is a boon. Google, the epitome of the internet, teaches all the fundamentals and basic requirements in the course to help in business or career. The course is co-powered by The Open University of England and IAB Endorsed of Europe. It has 26 modules at the beginner level having course duration of 40 hours. The best part of the course is that it is free, and anybody with a Google account can pursue the course.

In this course, you have self-paced learning, video tutorials, and even unlimited access to those tutorials. Google trainers have designed all the tutorials. Hence, the tutorials are packed with practical exercises and real-world examples, helping you to use your education skills in the real world. You also end the course by getting a certificate. Thus, a Google-provided certificate will create a spark on your CV or resume.

2. Marketing Analytics by Future Learn

Advertising and marketing consist of the creative and analytical parts. People who lag or need to brush up on the analytical part can enroll in the course. The course is supported by Google and is made by the Future Learn Company. It has 5 modules at the beginner level having course duration of just 10 hours. You can clear out all your data-driven problems in the marketing field and upscale your career portfolio while improving your marketing campaign’s return on investment (ROI).

After completing the course, you can make data-specified marketing decisions, evaluate and expand your digital brand, measure the lifetime value of your customers, test the theorem, and interpret outputs. The course is just 30$ and has limited free access for more than a month. You can also get a subscription of 10$ every month if you want to learn the course in installments. Getting such a developed course is worth the money!

3. Social Media Marketing by Hubspot Academy

Social Media Marketing is the most recent and effective form of marketing today. Hubspot Academy has designed the course for Social Media Marketers, Marketing Managers, and Aspiring Marketers. The course has 8 lessons, 38 videos, and 29 brain-challenging quizzes with duration of just 4 hours and 5 minutes. What makes the course different from others is that the course is available in Japanese and French. People having problems with the English Language can even pursue it.

The course will help in developing engaging and effective strategies for social media content and other businesses. The strategically designed campaigns will help grow your customer’s accounts, thereby increasing traffic rates in their business. The course also helps to turn visitors into customers by leveraging your clients’ conversion ratio. You can also check the teachers of the course before enrolling in it. Hence, you can research them before pursuing the course. The course is free; you need to create an account, and boom, there you go! Hubspot provides a certificate with it, thereby improving your CV.

4. Become an Online Marketing Manager by LinkedIn Learning

Online marketing managers are the most demanded people because they help create and improvise strategies to make the digital marketing company profitable. The course will help you learn how to create and improvise such strategies to take your company to the next level. It has 11 modules with a time limit of 18 hours. The course content is designed for beginners; by the end of the course, you will be an expert in the fields.

You will discover the best online marketing practices, learn all the latest tools to carry out your plan, and explore various advertising ways on popular social media platforms. The topics covered in the course are Digital Marketing Foundations, Growth Marketing Foundations, Advance Branding, SEO Foundations, Email and Newsletter Marketing Foundations, and many more, covering all the sectors of online branding.

5. Internet Marketing for Smart People by Copy Blogger

The course teaches you about the four pillars of Online Marketing Success. It helps in giving a specific knowledge in the field of Relationships with customers, Direct Response Copywriting, Content Marketing, and Making products worth selling. The course helps to build authority using content, gaining information, and building trust towards the customers.

Unlike other courses, the copy blogger course helps in the “Copyblogger method” of creating a profitable online business. It’s a 30 days digital marketing training program and free digital marketing course, which you should try! The course is specially designed for content writing for practical and effective returns because getting the correct information and correct style makes it easy to target more clients.

Hence, you can pursue any of the 5 mentioned courses to upgrade your skills or enter into the digital marketing field. The benefits of digital marketing are that it doesn’t require massive capital, massive educational background, but have tremendous growth in the future, and anybody can learn it from any educational background.

[theusarticles]

Britain is being hit by a wave of strikes. Why have things got so bad? | CNN

Britain is being hit by a wave of strikes. Why have things got so bad? | CNN

London CNN  —  Another day, another round of strikes in Britain. As the Christmas holidays approach, railway workers have brought the transport network to a standstill. Border Force staff are preparing to walk out. Postal workers, bus drivers and civil servants are either in the middle of strike action or threatening to strike. This week, nurses staged their biggest walkout in decades. And on…

[neyatimes]

North Korean defectors: Inside the school teaching them how to live in the outside world

Seoul, South Korea CNN  —  Before she left North Korea, the woman known as “C” had caught glimpses of life across the border through smuggled television shows. People caught with foreign materials like books and movies, which are banned in the hermit nation, can face severe punishment. But C secretly watched the South Korean shows anyway, fascinated by what she called a “different reality” than…

[pressroom-yahoohk]

Verizon Media Asia Big Idea Chair Awards

CSL Mobile 5G launch campaign named Big Idea Chair Champion totalling 7 awards AXA Hong Kong and Macau & Bupa (Asia) Limited named biggest winners of video strategy and acquisition campaign

Verizon Media, a division of Verizon (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) today announced the winners of the “Asia Big Idea Chair Awards 2020” (Asia BIC Awards 2020) at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. The awards celebrate a year of not only resilience and tenacity against the COVID pandemic, but also a new normal where digital innovation, next-generation - user experience and customer engagement became pivotal to business success. 

As an acclaimed regional industry event for 12 consecutive years, the Asia BIC Awards 2020 continues to honor marketers’ and advertisers’ brilliant digital campaigns that never cease to charm us with ingenuity and cutting-edge technology. Winners of 21 award categories – 15 for Hong Kong and 6 for Asia– were proudly announced at the award ceremony today. 

The judging panel was composed by 21 executive members from trade associations across both Hong Kong and around the region, such as IAB, HK4As, The Hong Kong Advertisers Association, Hong Kong Association of Interactive Marketing (AIM), HKMA Digital Marketing Community, as well as renowned industry practitioners from Taiwan and Singapore. 

Witnessing the rising importance of the digital realm amidst the new normal, Mr. Rico Chan, Co-Head, Verizon Media, APAC says, “In 2020, we had a very challenging and disruptive year, but yet it was also a year of reflection. To the media industry, it was a year of digital acceleration and dramatic uplift of user engagement across digital platforms. To the advertising industry, it was a year of more digital innovations, more performance-driven and more technologies enablement. We, at Verizon Media, are very grateful to be loved by our advertisers, agencies and partners, and very glad to host this 12th signature Asia Big Idea Chair Awards to recognize outstanding big ideas and digital marketing campaigns even in time of crisis.”

“Though 2020 was a tough year for many industries, we have received more than 260 submissions, among those, many brands have launched campaigns that demonstrated breakthrough ad technology such as AR/VR immersive experience, real time data, new formats of video and programmatic ads.” Mr Chan continued.  

CSL Mobile’s 5G launch campaign swept home a total of seven awards, including Best Branded Content Campaign Outstanding Award, Best Innovative Experience Outstanding Award, Best Partnership Strategy Outstanding Award, Best Branded Content Campaign Merit Award (Asia), Best Innovative Experience Merit Award (Asia), Hong Kong Big Idea Chair Champion Outstanding Award and Asia Big Idea Chair Champion Merit Award. 

To revel in the endless possibilities brought on by 5G, CSL Mobile and Verizon Media joined hands to host the city’s first immersive 5G VR media event that featured memorable events from Hong Kong’s past, plus a meet-and-greet with Verizon Media’s leaders from around the world. Mr. Bruce Lam, Managing Director of consumer mobile from CSL Mobile Limited says, “5G is becoming much more mature with extending 5G coverage throughout Hong Kong right now.  Inspiration and education are, therefore, paramount in not only convincing them to make the jump to 5G, but also see CSL Mobile as the market leader. The partnership between CSL Mobile and Verizon Media was a true success, with the branded content hub reaching over 2.8 million pageviews, leading to 139% increase in new website visitors to csl’s 5G website.” 

AXA Hong Kong took home 4 awards, including the Hong Kong Big Idea Chair Champion Merit Award, Best Branded Content Campaign Outstanding Award, Best Video Strategy Outstanding Award, and Best Partnership Strategy Merit Award for their “Ask Dr Chiu” content series.  Leveraging their in-house Chief Medical Officer, AXA has published over twenty articles, eight videos and two live broadcast programmes to educate the general public on health and hygiene during the outbreak of COVID.  Relevant contents were developed according to the development of the pandemic, covering topics like prevention, myths and mental wellness tips to address the public concerns and to demonstrate their professionalism and their expertise in health and protection. Ms. Andrea Wong, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer of AXA Hong Kong and Macau says, “At AXA, we are committed to protecting what matters to our customers and the community. The COVID pandemic was an unprecedented event and we understand that people needed support and guidance. We are very pleased that our timely and useful content has effectively reached and supported nearly 120,000 viewers during the two live broadcast events, while the ‘Ask Dr Chiu’ articles garnered over 650,000 page views during this difficult time. We will continue with our mission to be a true partner to our customers and to stand by and support our community.”

Finally, Hong Kong Big Idea Chair Champion Merit Award winner Bupa (Asia) Limited was crowned winner of 5 awards namely the Best Acquisition Campaign Outstanding Award, plus merit recognitions for Best Branded Content Campaign, Best Video Strategy and Best Native Ad Campaign. Its branded content campaign launched in partnership with Yahoo’s BetterMe took a soft approach that turns the concept of insurance from a protection during rainy days into a necessity in different lifestages through editorial and micro-films themed around companionship, trust, friendship as well as love during times of woe. Mr. Jimsun Lui, Marketing Director from Bupa (Asia) Limited, says, “We wished to add a soft, lifestyle-oriented angle to something as technical and practical as insurance to reach the group of younger audience, and Yahoo’s BetterMe has long been reputable for its heartfelt stories among the younger generation. This campaign was launched with a great success, drawing more than four million eyeballs with over 560 total engagement.”

Originating from Yahoo! Inc., the Asia Big Idea Chair Awards is a leading event which has travelled around the world, and was launched in Hong Kong in 2009. The Asia Big Idea Chair Awards celebrates all the remarkable advertising campaigns and ideas on Verizon Media in Asia throughout the past year.

For the full winner list, please visit the official website: https://yahoo.digitaladvertising.com.hk/bicawards/2020/ 

CSL Mobile’s 5G launch campaign swept home seven awards including the Hong Kong Big Idea Chair Champion Outstanding Award, Best Innovative Experience Outstanding Award, and Asia Big Idea Chair Champion Merit Award.

AXA Hong Kong and Macau took home 4 awards, including the Hong Kong Big Idea Chair Champion Merit Award and Best Branded Content Campaign Outstanding Award for their “Ask Dr Chiu” content series, which educates the general public on health and hygiene during the COVID outbreak.

Bupa (Asia) Limited was crowned the Best Acquisition Campaign Outstanding Award winner for its branded content campaign launched in partnership with Yahoo’s BetterMe.

[shrivenkateshwarauniversity]

Best University in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) | Top University in India

Sri Venkateshwara University (SVU), Gajraula is a State Private University enacted by Act No-26 of 2010 of State Legislature of Govt. of Uttar Pradesh and notified u/s 2 (f), UGC Act 1956 of University Grants Commission, Govt. of India. We award degrees u/s22 (1) of UGC Act 1956.

The university provides excellent teaching & research facilities through state-of-the-art infrastructure equipped with laboratories & workshops for comprehensive learning.

The 60 acre lush green campus of the Top University in India provides the serene environment for holistic learning.

The Teaching pedagogy is a blend of theory with practice that ensures employability. SVU inculcates internship as an integral part of its teaching to give the practical edge to its students.

Apart from this, Guru Shishya ideology ensures they root us in our culture of respect & care making us the best University in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.).

Dr.Sudhir Giri, honorable chairperson of the group aimed to realize his vision of Affordable Education for all combined with academic excellence, innovative and entrepreneurial approach to make learning unparalleled.

Therefore, our mission is to turnout individuals who personify competence, leadership, personal integrity, ethics, and empathy for weak and less privileged, making us the Best University of Moradabad (U.P.).

The University is running over 150 undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG) courses, (Ph.D.), Diploma and certificate courses in various fields of Applied Sciences, Medical Science, Humanities & Social Sciences, Languages, Design, Agriculture, Engineering & Technology, Nursing, Pharmacy, Paramedical, Commerce & Management, Law, Library & information Sciences, Mass Comm. & Journalism to enhance the employability of the youth.

Our vision “to educate every Indian with no discrimination at any level” is now being fulfilled as thousands of those millions of Indian youth which were denied education because of economic, region and other discriminations are now getting skill based, professional, employment based education with us and ensure their contribution in strengthening the nation making us the best university in Gajraula (U.P.).

SVU, the top University in India, strives to unfold the full creative potential, latent in every individual with an aim of producing skilled professionals, synthesizing conventional and modern thinking with a global outlook and having the capability of adapting to changing requirement.

To accomplish this, it has hired the best faculty. The faculty is a mix of academic & industry trained who ensure the students grasp the key skills.

SVU encourages faculty to take part in FDP to broaden their knowledge base & add value to the university.

Majority of faculty members are Doctorates with years of experience that enable them to augment the skills of our students.

The faculty of best University in Uttar Pradesh takes part in research projects to enlighten a culture of research & true learning.

The College lays emphasis on Internship. The best University of Moradabad has tied up with leading organizations for internship of its students. This ensures students have hands on exposure, enhancing their employability.

Our unique attribute is our curriculum. The Course committee alters the syllabus according to industry demand.

We include the in demand topics & discard outdated ones to ensure we teach what the industry requires. This improves job prospects of our students making us the Best university in Gajraula (U.P.).

The university has an impeccable record in fostering research.

Our dedicated R & D cell works to imbibe a culture of innovation in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign. The Institute has dedicated workshops to innovate & work on the latest technologies.

The institute R & D cell works on national & international projects, tempting graduates to innovate.

It’s the responsibility of colleges to encourage real learning. To achieve this, the top university of India has dedicated labs & workshops which are an epitome of new technologies where budding engineers showcase their abilities & innovate new products.

To foster entrepreneurship the Incubation center nurtures ideas & materializes them with support from the entrepreneurship cell.

The reason for many social & economic problems is the rising unemployment in society. The college prepares students to become job givers by training them on entrepreneurship.

This way the technocrats of the Best University in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) materialize new ideas that add value to the society & provide employment to the masses.

The university has tied up with industry to create centers of excellence. These centers provide training on latest technologies, thus improving employment.

These centers of excellence are in –

Artificial Intelligence & machine Learning.

Smart & sustainable infrastructure.

Basic & applied Sciences

Advanced Pharmacy

Advanced & Special care Pharmacy

Microelectronics & power systems

Innovative education & pedagogy.

The University has tied up with global institutions to allow students to study abroad. The International Research & Collaboration Cell (IRCC) has partnered with leading universities to allow for inbound, outbound & study abroad programs. This way, faculty & students can plan their research & study overseas with ease.

This tie up enables learners to take part in collaborative research, thus enhancing their intellectual & technical knowledge.

SVU has created an International Advisory Board (IAB) of renowned educationists who guide on study abroad & research options. This enables students to go for higher studies, making us the best University of Moradabad (UP).

We want to create an environment where sky is the limit for dedicated students. Those who wish to undertake research internationally can contact our IRCC for admission guidance.

IRCC helps faculty members who wish to pursue higher studies to gain admission in foreign universities, making us the Best University in Moradabad (UP).

SVU wants to promote collaborative research in areas affecting the world. We the best University in Gajraula (UP) are an institution that wants to make research outcomes applicable to all citizens of the world.

To allow international students take advantage of research facilities at SVU, the IRCC guides them for inbound exchange programs, thus enabling international collaboration. Many foreign students have benefitted from SVU’s research infrastructure, making us the top University in India.

[reportwire]

Deion Sanders hired as the next head coach for University of Colorado football | CNN

Deion Sanders hired as the next head coach for University of Colorado football | CNN

CNN  —  Coach Prime is officially heading to Boulder, Colorado. Football legend Deion Sanders has been named the new University of Colorado football head coach, the school announced Saturday. Sanders will be leaving Jackson State University, where he coached the Tigers for the past three seasons, compiling a record of 26-5 – including going undefeated this season. The Tigers won…

[itbeatsbookmarks]

(Via: Hacker News)

Welcome back to BRANDED, the newsletter exploring how marketers broke society (and how we can fix it).

We have some big news this week: 

For the past few years, we’ve all believed that not funding hate is as easy as blocking bad sites. That you can avoid the risks of being viewed next to terrorist propaganda or hate speech by simply opting out.

But nothing about digital advertising is straightforward.

Last month, Zach Edwards, a data supply researcher, reached out to us with a tip. He told us he had found evidence that Breitbart was continuing to siphon advertising dollars from unsuspecting brands without their knowledge or consent. He told us the average marketer would never know — that you wouldn’t find any clues of this by checking your site list.

This tactic enables vast sums of money to be funnelled towards bad actors mostly without detection, which means that the biggest companies in the world are still funnelling ad dollars towards hate and disinformation. Even if you have blocked Breitbart or use an inclusion list, your brand could still be at risk.

Zach has been our guide to understanding this type of ad fraud, which we find to be so egregious that it should be illegal. We decided to join forces with him for this story.

👉🏽 You can read Zach’s technical version here.

We’re going to walk you through the story and implications in a multi-part series. This is the first issue.

It starts with account IDs

Every website has a number of account IDs to identify them on ad exchanges. Typically, websites that care about quality have just a handful. The New York Times, for instance, has only 12 different account IDs. 

There are two types of account IDs: DIRECT and RESELLER. 

Sometimes, media conglomerates share the same account ID across their owned websites. If Condé Nast wanted to, they could do this with Vanity Fair, WIRED, and Teen Vogue. To make it clear that they’re sharing account IDs, they label one website with a DIRECT label, and the others with a RESELLER label. This is called pooling, also known as a ‘sales house,’ and it’s generally acceptable because at the end of the day, it’s all done within the same organization — in this case, it’s all Condé Nast inventory and being properly labeled as RESELLER inventory for buyers.

Technical readers will want us to note that DSPs and SSPs can legitimately use RESELLER labels, too. The RESELLER label is generally used by large SSPs and audience companies to pool audiences across all their client websites. 

What outlets are not supposed to do, though, is share their DIRECT account ID with websites and companies that are completely unrelated to them. It’s not a direct sale, it mislabels the inventory, and it funnels advertiser money towards shared advertising accounts owned by unknown entities. That’s why we’re calling this dark pooling.

The mislabelling of DIRECT account IDs across websites means that these sites are sharing data (good for retargeting!) and ad revenues. One way to describe this grouping of DIRECT account IDs is a “sales house.” That makes these groupings “dark pool sales houses.”

That means Breitbart is still getting your ad dollars

Sharing DIRECT account IDs does not necessarily mean you’re committing ad fraud. It is possible to share one or two account IDs with Breitbart, for instance, and not be intentionally involved in a shady ad scheme.

For example, we found that Vimeo.com, MSN.com, Upworthy.com, TalkingPointsMemo.com, NBA.com, MLB.com, and AdWeek.com were all sharing DIRECT account IDs with Breitbart. This is hopefully news to these companies.

Wait, how is this happening?

Saambaa is one of the many sales house companies that seem to be working with Breitbart. On their site, they say that they help curate local content, grow audiences, and provide premium publisher experiences. We think companies like them might be the ones setting up these mislabeled DIRECT account ID records, or looking the other way as it happens.

We think (because of a reddit thread that talked about this) that companies like Saambaa might send their publisher clients a list of account IDs and tell them to put the code into their ads.txt file. 

We don’t know, because we haven’t seen a Saambaa email (or emails from other sales houses), whether their instructions also educate the publisher about the difference between the DIRECT and RESELLER labels. Any of the organizations with these overlapping DIRECT account IDs may be surprised to know they’re in a dark pool sales house with Breitbart and other companies.

That’s not good. That could mean that even if they blocked Breitbart.com, they’re revenue sharing with Breitbart without knowing it. 

Every account ID is linked to an advertising account, which is linked to a bank account. That gives us some clues as to where the money goes, but there’s no transparency beyond the shared account IDs. 

These are generally backroom deals. We don’t know what the ad revenue split is here. These deals almost certainly include complex contracts and revenue sharing agreements, and we don’t know much Breitbart might be making. What are the cuts to manage these pools of mislabeled inventory? Is there some kind of a bonus associated with taking this risk? We don’t know. 

RT.com looks like it’s financially tied to Breitbart, too

The story got crazy when Zach visited RT.com’s ads.txt file. He found that RT are really, really organized with their sales houses. They code them as Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, etc. In the RT.com ads.txt file, there are 13 blocks (sales houses). In many of these blocks, he found DIRECT bidding IDs shared across multiple websites. This work is blatant and out in the open. And even more surprising? Some of their ads.txt DIRECT account IDs match Breitbart’s.

Here’s Zach’s take:

If you compare the Breitbart.com/ads.txt file against the RT.com/ads.txt file, you will find at least 4 identical account-bidding IDs that share the “DIRECT” label on both sites, which is mislabeled RESELLER inventory being sold as DIRECT inventory to advertising buyers.

Financially tied like this, RT and Breitbart look to be in cahoots.

There’s a whole network of alt-right profit-sharing?

RT isn’t the only disinformation site Zach saw in Breitbart’s ads.txt records (available here). 

He did a Google search of each of their DIRECT account IDs to find more. If you want to try this yourself, open a tab and search for this DIRECT account ID:

“33across.com, 0010b00001shFQpAAM, DIRECT, bbea06d9c4d2853c”

He found lots of associated sites. For instance, this DIRECT account ID is shared across 34 websites including... 

Breitbart.com

DrudgeReport.com

PlymouthHerald.co.uk

BirminghamMail.co.uk

Liverpoolecho.co.uk

Mirror.co.uk

essexlive.news

Publir.com

Remember, only one site can have a DIRECT account ID, so this means that the rest of these sites are mislabeling their inventory. If you see a DIRECT account ID that is linked to more than one website it is likely linked to a dark pool sales house. 

Here’s what Zach says:

Many of the Breitbart.com dark pool sales houses are labeled on ads.txt files hosted on other websites — so the names of the companies can be found, parsed and flagged. Some of these organizations are violating ethical standards, industry protocols endorsed by the IAB and Google, and likely legal frameworks in numerous jurisdictions, particularly due to their work as data amalgamators without registering as data brokers.

The account ID above appears to be linked to a dark pool sales house owned by Saambaa, which we mentioned earlier.

How is this not illegal?

This type of ad fraud is almost too brazen to believe. It’s taking place in broad daylight, through the same piping that ad industry associations have told us will safeguard our brands. 

One of the reasons that this is still legal, or not explicitly known to be illegal, is that ads.txt is only three years old and there hasn’t been, to our knowledge, any major investigative research into the consequences of its design. But even though it is new, its risks are already severe. Ads.txt is a global standard, used in international markets. This giant security hole opens markets and mediascapes around the world to foreign propaganda, hate groups, money laundering, and, of course, fraud. If trade commissions aren't interested in this vulnerability, national security organizations should be. 

Where are the ad industry associations on this?

That’s a good question! Ads.txt was developed by the adtech industry to bring transparency and accountability to the advertising supply chain. It was supposed to make it easier to verify that our ads were appearing on the correct inventory. However, because anyone can make up their ads.txt records, schemes like this one are incredibly easy to get away with.

What we need to combat this is free access to a universal ads.txt directory, so we can quickly query account IDs, and block any account IDs that don’t meet our quality thresholds (aka account IDs participating in dark pool sales houses). 

A universal directory is essential to finding ad fraud like this. But the records are maintained by a handful of organizations — and it costs $10,000 a year to access them from the IAB Tech Lab. That makes it prohibitively expensive for most businesses as well as researchers like us to get our hands on the data.

We took a shot anyway, and asked three organizations - Google, Facebook and IAB Tech Lab - for a free copy of their ads.txt directory for research purposes. Google and IAB Tech Lab declined (Google said that they wanted to support their industry partners at IAB Tech Lab and TAG). Facebook didn’t respond. IAB Tech Lab told us the ads.txt directory is a source of revenue for their organization.

This raises some interesting questions about conflict of interest. What’s more important, brand safety or their organization’s money-making ventures? 

So for now, we have done the tedious, manual and time-consuming work of going through ads.txt without access to a directory. It took Zach over a month to work through the information he presents in his detailed post, and there’s tons more information out there.

What can marketers do to avoid dark pool sales houses?

We believe there should be a free and easily accessible ads.txt directory across all domains in the global advertising inventory available to the public. 

But for now, consider blocking all of the account IDs in this Breitbart ads.txt list. Otherwise Breitbart will continue receiving your ad dollars. There are over 230 DIRECT mislabeled publisher IDs in there. 

Then, contact your ad exchanges to ask them if they’re giving you a refund for the budget you spent with those account IDs.

That’s it for now. We’ll have more for you next time.

Thanks for reading!

Nandini and Claire

UPDATE (July 22, 10:00pm EST): Saambaa CEO Matt Voigt reached out to us with the following statement:

“Specifically on the ads.txt Direct issue: We run an events discovery module which renders itself on the page as a Javescript widget. The module is our own content and own experience, which is why we represent the inventory as our own inventory. We do not manage inventory for publishers, or run any kind of publisher ad network. We don't work with Breitbart, but since any publisher can copy and paste our ads.txt up, we don't control what they have up. It's an unfortunate reality of ads.txt that there is no control of it for us. The Breitbart ad inventory is managed by a third party ad management company. We work with them on other sites and they have grouped our ads.txt as part of their larger assembly of ad buyers on Breitbart."

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