Google, TikTok, Apple and agencies—this week’s data news

Google is building separate data clean rooms for audience targeting, measurement

“Google is splitting its data tool Ads Data Hub into two entities, one for marketers and one for measurement partners, a move that will give advertisers new opportunities to use their own first-party data to target ads on Google’s ad network,” Ad Age’s Garett Sloane reports.

Background: “Google launched Ads Data Hub in 2017 for brands to bring data into a secure environment to study their media spend, which goes through Google’s ad network, and to understand how effective those ads were in converting customers,” Sloane notes. 

U.S. ad business employment rebounds

“Employment in advertising, public relations and related services jumped by 6,200 jobs in October,” Ad Age Datacenter’s Bradley Johnson reports. “U.S. employment in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) classification of advertising, public relations and related services came in at 493,900 jobs in October based on figures that are not seasonally adjusted. The ad market rebounded with a gain of 6,200 jobs in October following a loss of 3,900 jobs in September.”

Essential context: The jobs growth represents “a sharp rebound in staffing that indicates a surprisingly healthy ad market despite signs of weakness in internet media,” Johnson notes.

Keep reading for Johnson’s ad industry drill-downs by BLS classifications.

Stagwell trims growth forecast

“Stagwell Inc. trimmed its annual organic revenue growth forecast despite a record new business run in the third quarter,” Ad Age’s  Brian Bonilla reports. “Stagwell said it is now expecting 16% to 20% organic revenue growth for the year, a decrease from its previous guidance of 18% to 22%.”

More details: Bonilla notes that “Stagwell raked in $86 million in net new business for the quarter, the company’s highest on record for any quarter in its history, Stagwell CEO Mark Penn said in an interview.”

Essential context: “Stagwell is the latest holding company to release its earnings” Bonilla adds. “While it lowered its 2022 revenue growth forecast, its growth projection still outpaces those of key competitors.”

Apple tops Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2022 ranking for 10th year in a row

“Tesla is now sharing the crown of the world’s fastest-growing brand with Microsoft and Chanel after all three saw their brand value increase from last year by 32%, according to a report from Omnicom’s brand consultancy Interbrand,” Ad Age’s Jade Yan reports.

More details: “The top 10 most valuable brands segment”—what Interbrand packages as its Best Global Brands report—“is typically dominated by tech companies, with the top three usually becoming a tussle between Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Google,” Yan notes. “This year, Apple grabbed the top spot on Interbrand’s list for the tenth year in a row with a value of $482.2 billion. Amazon lost out to Microsoft for second place and fell to third, with a value of $274.8 billion. Rounding out the top 10 are Google, Samsung, Toyota, Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, Disney and Nike, which cracked the top 10 for the first time.”

TikTok data worries intensify

“TikTok is spelling out to its European users that their data can be accessed by employees outside the continent, including in China, amid political and regulatory concerns about Chinese access to user information on the platform,” The Guardian’s Dan Milmo reports. “The Chinese-owned social video app is updating its privacy policy to confirm that staff in countries, including China, are allowed to access user data to ensure their experience of the platform is ‘consistent, enjoyable and safe.’”

More details: “The other countries where European user data could be accessed by TikTok staff include Brazil, Canada and Israel as well as the U.S. and Singapore, where European user data is stored currently.”

Keep reading here.

The newsletter is brought to you by Ad Age Datacenter, the industry’s most authoritative source of competitive intel and home to the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers, the Ad Age Agency Report: World’s Biggest Agency Companies and other exclusive data-driven reports. Access or subscribe to Ad Age Datacenter at AdAge.com/Datacenter.

Ad Age Datacenter is Kevin Brown, Bradley Johnson and Joy R. Lee.

This week’s newsletter was compiled and written by Simon Dumenco.