In an era where every brand is vying for attention, Vulcan Media LLC has proven that substance still wins. The Birmingham-based video production firm has been named a 2025 Best of Alabama Award winner, recognizing its exceptional contributions to business storytelling across the Southeast.

Founded in 2008, Vulcan Media stands out not just for its Emmy-winning production team, but for how it applies a journalistic mindset to corporate video. From internal training reels to high-impact recruiting campaigns, the company turns mission statements into stories—and vague messaging into visual clarity.

“This award is a huge honor,” said Scott Mauldin, Executive Producer & Director at Vulcan Media. “But for us, the real win is helping clients communicate what matters, in a way that actually lands with their audience.”

From Newsrooms to Boardrooms

At its core, Vulcan Media doesn’t just produce videos—they craft narratives. The team includes veteran journalists and creative professionals who bring editorial discipline to every frame. Instead of chasing flashy effects or templated messaging, the company focuses on what a video is meant to accomplish: whether it’s to recruit talent, enhance safety, educate stakeholders, or move a mission forward.

The result? Visual content that resonates internally and externally, from the C-suite to the shop floor.

Their project portfolio includes:

• Corporate messaging and executive communications

• Safety and training videos for industrial clients

• Aerial tours for real estate and property development

• Recruiting and brand culture campaigns

• Nonprofit and cause-driven storytelling

Purposeful Production, Community Impact

Vulcan Media’s vision goes beyond the boardroom. Led by Mauldin—a longtime advocate for media literacy and public education—the company frequently partners with local nonprofits, offering pro bono or discounted services to causes that align with their values.

That blend of commercial savvy and civic commitment helped secure their place on the Best of Alabama list, a competitive honor that recognizes businesses making tangible impact across industry sectors.

Looking Ahead: Storytelling That Works

Even as they celebrate the win, the Vulcan team remains focused on the road ahead.

“We’re excited to keep pushing the boundaries of what business video can do,” Mauldin said. “Whether it’s helping a manufacturer train safer or a nonprofit reach donors more effectively, our job is to make every second of video count.”

With a visual-first communications landscape only becoming more complex, Vulcan Media’s model clarity, purpose, and craft feels more relevant than ever.

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Pixalate, a global authority on ad fraud prevention and privacy compliance, has released its May 2025 Top 100 EMEA Mobile App Bundle IDs Rankings, highlighting which apps are commanding the most real estate in open programmatic mobile advertising across the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The rankings span five of the region’s biggest digital ad markets: the UK, Germany, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.

These rankings, filtered to exclude invalid traffic (IVT), offer a rare glimpse into which mobile apps are driving the most legitimate ad impressions in the EMEA market—a crucial metric for advertisers hunting for visibility without the fraud.

Inside the Rankings: Blockbusters and Breakouts

Among the top performers:

• "Block Blast!" by ARETIS LIMITED made repeat appearances across the UK, France, and Germany’s Apple App Store rankings—underscoring the game’s cross-market appeal and monetization strength.

• "Happy Color®: Coloring Book" by X-FLOW dominated on Google Play across four of the five EMEA markets, reinforcing how casual gaming continues to drive scalable ad inventory in mobile.

• News and local commerce apps like Daily Mail Online (UK), Wallapop (Spain), and Kleinanzeigen (Germany) show that non-gaming categories are still competitive when it comes to open programmatic inventory.

Each app’s position reflects post-IVT ad volume, meaning only clean, validated traffic was counted—key for brands wanting their budgets to go further in a fraud-ridden ecosystem.

Why It Matters for Advertisers and Publishers

With more than 20 billion mobile ad impressions analyzed globally by Pixalate’s data science team, these rankings offer something more than bragging rights—they serve as a trustworthy barometer of which apps offer scale and quality for programmatic buyers.

For marketers looking to optimize spend across EMEA markets, understanding which apps are delivering high-volume, fraud-free traffic is essential. As mobile budgets grow and user attention fragments, these insights can mean the difference between hitting KPIs and blowing through budgets.

Pixalate also released companion rankings for the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Japan, India, and Singapore—providing a global benchmark that spans both hemispheres.

Context in a Crowded Programmatic Market

Programmatic ad buying continues to swell across mobile, but with it comes rising complexity. Issues like supply chain transparency, fraud exposure, and signal loss due to privacy changes (hello, third-party cookie deprecation) make ad placement a riskier bet.

Platforms like Pixalate are playing an increasingly vital role by not only filtering out invalid traffic but by packaging trustworthy data into tools marketers can act on. The firm is MRC-accredited for detecting Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT), making its insights especially valuable for demand-side platforms, agencies, and analytics teams.

In short, knowing which apps are programmatically performant and fraud-free is becoming as important as knowing which ones are popular.

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NetWeb Software, a global player in enterprise software engineering and AI-powered digital transformation, is celebrating more than just another year in business. As the company hits its 27-year milestone, it’s doing so with a series of strategic wins: a revamped website, an expanded suite of AI-driven enterprise services, and national recognition as one of the 2025 FAST 100 Asian American Businesses by the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC).

New Look, Sharper Focus

NetWeb’s redesigned website (netweb.biz) signals a renewed commitment to solving complex enterprise challenges with cutting-edge technologies, particularly in intelligent automation and agentic AI. The refresh isn’t just aesthetic—it reflects a company that’s aligning its offerings with the evolving priorities of today’s digital-first businesses.

With pressure mounting across industries to modernize legacy systems, streamline operations, and embrace generative AI, NetWeb’s latest moves position it as a go-to partner for enterprise transformation.

FAST 100 Recognition: A Marker of Growth and Momentum

Landing a spot on USPAACC’s FAST 100 list—a benchmark of the fastest-growing Asian American-owned businesses in the U.S.—further cements NetWeb’s place among elite innovators in the enterprise tech space. The company will be recognized at the CelebrAsian Business + Procurement Conference, happening June 3–5, 2025, at MGM National Harbor.

The award highlights NetWeb’s consistent revenue growth and its impact on industries ranging from BFSI and healthcare to logistics and retail.

AI-Powered Services for the Enterprise Era

NetWeb’s new service architecture revolves around AI as a core enabler of business transformation. With a dedicated Center of Excellence (CoE) for AI-driven solutions, the company is rolling out a full-stack approach to intelligent transformation that goes beyond experimentation and into execution.

Key service offerings include:

• Agentic AI & Generative AI Solutions
  Leveraging LLMs and custom-trained agents for automated decision-making, customer personalization, and scalable AI orchestration.

• Enterprise Application Modernization
  Helping enterprises migrate and modernize legacy infrastructure into cloud-native, secure, and agile architectures.

• Intelligent Automation & RPA
  Integrating AI with robotic process automation to optimize workflows and reduce operational overhead.

• End-to-End Software Engineering
  From cloud-native apps to industry-specific platforms, NetWeb delivers scalable digital solutions tailored for enterprise resilience.

• Data Engineering & Advanced Analytics
  Building the infrastructure needed for data integration, visualization, and AI-powered insight generation.

Positioning for a Hyper-Automated Future

What’s clear from NetWeb’s anniversary announcements is that the company isn’t resting on longevity. Instead, it’s doubling down on relevance—adapting to client demands for resilient, AI-infused, scalable systems that not only modernize operations but also set the stage for innovation.

In a space where many firms are just beginning to integrate AI, NetWeb is designing agentic systems with business impact baked in—a differentiator that could reshape how digital transformation is scoped and delivered across enterprise sectors.

As enterprise tech enters its next phase of evolution—defined by automation, data intelligence, and AI co-pilots—NetWeb is signaling it’s ready not just to compete, but to lead.

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In the crowded landscape of global digital marketing, one Tokyo-based agency is making a calculated leap. Orinas Global has launched a new version of its Social Media Marketing (SMM) services, purpose-built for brands seeking to grow both within Japan and abroad. The enhanced offering includes end-to-end campaign execution, multilingual support, and uniquely Japanese-market features that global brands often miss.

Orinas Global, known for its creative agility and cross-cultural fluency, is positioning this launch as a strategic solution for companies facing increasingly fragmented consumer behavior and tightening ad spend ROI expectations.

What’s New — and Why It Matters

This isn’t a repackaged service. The upgraded SMM suite offers fully integrated support across:

• Strategy Planning & Execution: From content calendars to campaign launch, Orinas handles it all.

• Multichannel Social Management: Facebook, TikTok, LINE Official, Instagram, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter)—they’re all covered.

• Localized Content Creation: Campaigns are tailored to resonate across cultures, with support in Japanese, English, Thai, and more.

For global brands trying to navigate Japan’s unique media ecosystem—or Japanese companies eyeing international growth—Orinas brings both market insight and creative infrastructure.

Influencer Marketing with Global-Local Reach

Orinas operates a network of 20,000+ creators worldwide, with a heavy emphasis on Japan-based influencers, giving it a leg up in authenticity and cultural alignment. From outreach and contracting to post-campaign analytics, the agency offers full-funnel influencer support.

This is particularly relevant for companies targeting niche segments or regional fanbases in Japan, where influencer trust often drives conversion far more than display ads.

Monetizing Creators: YouTube Shorts and P2C

In a nod to the booming creator economy, Orinas also supports:

• BGM Monetization for YouTube Shorts: Through copyright-cleared music licensing, creators can earn via Shorts views—an increasingly popular revenue stream in Asia.

• Producer-to-Consumer (P2C) Brand Launches: Creators can develop and launch their own product lines—be it cosmetics, apparel, or lifestyle goods—by partnering with vetted Japanese manufacturers. Orinas manages sourcing, design, production, and logistics.

This dual-track approach to monetization makes the agency not just a service provider, but a business enabler for the growing class of global creators.

Not Just Digital—Full-Funnel Brand Building

Beyond screens and streams, Orinas offers offline support too: event production, venue sourcing, and product launch activations in Japan. This hybrid offering blends online engagement with real-world experiences—a model that aligns well with the post-pandemic consumer's craving for physical connection.

Flexible, Scalable, Borderless

Startups with niche audiences. Global enterprises looking to localize in Japan. Influencers aiming to build a brand. Orinas has modular, scalable pricing designed to serve all of them.

Its value proposition? A rare combination of cultural fluency, in-house creative production, platform strategy, and deep operational capability in Japan, one of the world’s most complex consumer markets.

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In a significant push toward streamlining campaign workflows, Guideline a leader in advertising data and media planning technology has rolled out a major update to its Guideline Planning Suite, integrating automation, real-time collaboration, and deeper analytics across its flagship tools, MediaTools and Lumina.

The move is aimed squarely at eliminating inefficiencies, unifying planning systems, and empowering agencies and advertisers to make faster, smarter decisions in a fragmented media ecosystem.

“Many top advertisers have already moved past spreadsheets using our planning tools,” said Guideline CEO Vince Mifsud. “This upgrade is a direct response to their evolving needs—and a leap forward in what media planning tech can do.”

What's New? A Suite of Data-Powered Features

The newly enhanced Planning Suite introduces a powerful set of capabilities that stitch together campaign planning, execution, and analysis with a focus on automation, integration, and transparency:

• On-Demand Data Extraction – Export campaign data instantly through the platform's UI.

• Scheduled Reporting – Set recurring reports to automatically track campaign metrics.

• Read & Write APIs – Integrate directly with internal tools and data lakes, keeping taxonomy and planning data in sync across platforms.

• 30+ 3rd Party Integrations – Automate ingestion of actuals from external vendor platforms, eliminating time-consuming manual uploads.

• Flight Mapping IDs – Improve visibility by linking media flight plans to real-world performance data.

• Advanced Analytics Module – Custom dashboards, high-speed performance, and pivot-style reporting built for power users.

Why It Matters

The upgrade reflects a broader industry trend: media operations are no longer siloed. With data flowing across platforms, teams, and stages of the media lifecycle, planning tools have to be both agile and interoperable.

Guideline’s expanded capabilities aim to address three critical pain points in modern advertising:

1. Disconnected Systems – By integrating data and taxonomy across platforms, brands can ditch the spreadsheet chaos.

2. Slow Optimization Loops – With real-time visibility and on-demand insights, teams can iterate and reallocate budgets without delay.

3. Manual Data Mapping – API integrations and scheduled reporting reduce human error and free up planners to focus on strategy, not data entry.

Connecting People, Platforms, and Performance

With these changes, Guideline’s Planning Suite is more than a media planning tool—it’s a collaboration engine. From strategy to reporting, cross-functional teams can now share the same data environment, ensuring consistency and reducing the latency between insight and action.

For advertisers investing millions in digital, TV, audio, and cross-platform campaigns, the impact could be substantial: better data hygiene, faster decisions, and tighter control over spend effectiveness.

Competitive Context

As media spend continues to shift toward digital and streaming, the demand for integrated planning platforms has intensified. Competitors like Mediaocean and Adobe are making similar moves, but Guideline’s tight coupling of real-time ad market intelligence (via its SMI and MediaCosts products) gives it a key differentiator in surfacing true performance and pricing benchmarks.

Moreover, with the addition of advanced pivot-style analytics, Guideline is stepping into BI territory—bringing enterprise-grade insights to the fingertips of media planners and investment teams.

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In a strategic move that blends deep catalog access with rich community engagement, Everand—the premium reading subscription from Scribd, Inc.—has acquired Fable, the social reading app known for its vibrant book clubs and goal-oriented reading tools.

The deal brings together two reader-first platforms with a shared mission: to make reading not just more accessible, but more meaningful.

From Discovery to Dialogue

Everand offers millions of audiobooks and ebooks under a tiered subscription model, while Fable carved its niche by turning solitary reading into a shared experience—with over 100,000 active book clubs led by authors, BookTok creators, and everyday readers. Together, the platforms promise to support the entire reader journey, from discovery to discussion.

“This partnership is about amplifying what both teams do best while staying true to the people we serve: readers,” said Scribd CEO Tony Grimminck.

What Changes for Readers?

In short, not much—yet.

• Fable’s book clubs, social features, and personalized goal tools will remain intact.

• Everand’s Standard and Plus subscriptions stay as-is, alongside Fable Plus and its à la carte ebook catalog.

Over time, both teams will look to integrate features thoughtfully, potentially bringing Everand’s robust catalog to Fable users and extending Fable’s social capabilities across Scribd’s ecosystem.

Why It Matters

This move aligns with broader trends in digital media where platforms are consolidating features to boost user stickiness. Spotify has nudged into audiobooks. Amazon owns Goodreads. But where many competitors focus on access alone, Everand and Fable are betting on connection.

“Reading is about more than what’s on the page—it’s about how it brings people together,” Grimminck emphasized.

A New Value Proposition for Publishers

For content owners, this union is also a boon. It creates a vertically integrated pipeline that:

• Drives discovery through Everand’s catalog

• Supports engagement via Fable’s discussion-centric features

• Encourages re-engagement through social recommendations

This could translate into longer shelf lives for midlist titles and deeper reader loyalty for series authors.

The Team Behind the Deal

Fable CEO and founder Padmasree Warrior will move into an advisory role as all Fable employees join Scribd, Inc. leadership. Grimminck remains CEO of the parent company.

The acquisition adds to Scribd’s ongoing evolution from a document-hosting startup to a multi-platform media ecosystem that now includes Everand, Scribd, and SlideShare.

The Takeaway

As digital reading continues to expand, experience matters as much as access. By acquiring Fable, Everand isn’t just adding another bookshelf—it’s creating a reading environment built for the way we read today: digitally, socially, and with a desire to connect.

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In a bold move to strengthen its national logistics footprint, Postmedia Network Inc. has announced the expansion of its Parcel Service to Newfoundland and Saskatchewan. The rollout builds on the company’s growing delivery network across Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and British Columbia—reasserting Postmedia’s ambition to become a trusted player in regions long underserved by traditional carriers.

This latest expansion goes beyond just faster shipping. It underscores a commitment to community connectivity, economic inclusion, and infrastructure reliability across Canada’s most remote corners.

“Extending our reach into Newfoundland and Saskatchewan is about more than logistics,” said Andrew MacLeod, President and CEO of Postmedia. “It’s about ensuring Canadians in every region have access to reliable delivery options, no matter where they live.”

Why It Matters

While Canada Post and major courier brands like FedEx and Purolator dominate urban areas, rural communities often suffer from delays, limited pickup points, and higher costs. Postmedia is looking to change that equation by tapping into its existing print media distribution infrastructure to support its parcel logistics arm.

A Quiet National Contender

Originally known for its newspaper empire, Postmedia has quietly transformed part of its operations into a logistics service. This expansion adds momentum to a broader strategy: repurposing legacy delivery routes for modern e-commerce and parcel fulfillment needs.

With additional regional expansions already in development, Postmedia is positioning itself as a national alternative to the existing delivery giants—particularly for merchants and consumers in areas where options are limited.

The Bigger Picture

The growth of Postmedia Parcel Service comes at a time when:

• E-commerce demand in rural Canada continues to rise.

• Consumer expectations for delivery speed and reliability remain high.

• Small businesses in remote areas need more affordable shipping solutions.

For now, Postmedia’s quiet logistics pivot may seem niche—but its potential impact on Canada’s rural digital economy could be significant.

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Indeed, the world’s leading job site, has named James Whitemore as its new Chief Marketing Officer, marking a strategic leadership move as the company doubles down on global expansion and AI-driven hiring innovation.

Effective immediately, Whitemore will join Indeed’s senior leadership team, reporting to Chief Revenue Officer Maggie Hulce. His mandate: lead Indeed’s global marketing organization across brand, communications, category and lifecycle marketing, country-specific strategies, and the Indeed Hiring Lab, a thought leadership and labor market research arm.

“James brings a strong track record of helping business customers thrive through innovative, customer-first marketing,” said Hulce. “He’ll play a vital role in shaping how the world sees and experiences Indeed.”

A Heavyweight Hire in a Shifting Talent Tech Landscape

Whitemore steps into the role with more than 25 years of senior leadership experience at the intersection of marketing, growth, and technology. Most recently, he served as Chief Marketing & Growth Officer at Celigo, a fast-scaling cloud integration platform. There, he led the sales and marketing push that accelerated the company’s market presence in a crowded automation landscape.

Before that, as CMO and EVP at NetApp, he spearheaded an award-winning integrated digital marketing campaign that helped fuel the company’s Public Cloud business growth—an experience that aligns closely with Indeed’s increasing push into AI-powered solutions.

Whitemore’s resume also includes marketing leadership roles at IBM Europe, Sun Microsystems, and Intrado, making him well-versed in both B2B tech and global brand scaling.

Humanizing AI-Driven Hiring

Whitemore’s appointment comes as Indeed continues to evolve beyond a job board into a full-scale hiring platform powered by artificial intelligence and data. The company has been investing heavily in simplifying the hiring process, from job search to interview to offer—especially as businesses and job seekers alike navigate the complexities of remote work, labor shortages, and skills-based hiring.

Whitemore emphasized this mission in his statement:

“As Indeed continues to lead with AI-powered innovation to transform hiring, I’m excited to help more job seekers and employers unlock the full value of Indeed—especially by harnessing our unmatched data, insights, and sister brands like Glassdoor and Indeed Flex to create smarter, more meaningful connections.”

A Brand on the Move

This leadership change signals Indeed’s broader focus on expanding its brand footprint, sharpening its data storytelling, and integrating its ecosystem of hiring tools—including Glassdoor’s employer insights and Indeed Flex’s gig work platform—under a cohesive go-to-market strategy.

With Whitemore at the helm of marketing, expect Indeed to take a more proactive role in defining the future of hiring, and solidifying its position as the platform of choice for both job seekers and global employers in an increasingly AI-driven world.

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