In this week’s Week in Review: no sackings for Yahoo employees as native ads show massive increase, SpotX adds App Store data to aid in-app video ad targeting and Flipboard launches vertical ad unit. To receive a weekly summary of industry news and other VAN interviews and videos, sign up to the weekly Video Round-Up.
No Sackings For Yahoo Employees As Native Ads Skyrocket
Yahoo does not have plans to sack any employees from now through to the end of its $4.83 billion Verizon deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2017. CEO Marissa Mayer and her team will stay until the deal closes, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission report filed Monday. Verizon agreed to acquire Gemini, BrightRoll, Tumblr, Flickr, Polyvore, Aabaco Small Business and other assets, such as search. The company says that no layoffs are planned because employees will need to support the ‘trillions of native ad requests’ that the company now receives. Yahoo say they served more than 2.02 trillion native ad requests in the first half of 2016, up 2,548 percent in year-over-year growth.
Twitter’s Share Price Skyrockets on Takeover Speculation
Twitter’s share price has skyrocketed today on the back of speculation that Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer has partnered with Saudi investor Prince Al-Waleed Bin-Talal to mount a takeover of the micro blogging service. News of the possible intervention saw Twitter’s stock soar to $17.72 having hit an all-time low of just $14.01 as recently as May following a stall in member growth over the first quarter. However, Business Insider was sceptical of the rumours.
Flipboard Launches Vertical Ad Unit
Flipboard is launching a Snapchat-style vertical video ad unit Wednesday with independent film distributor Bleecker Street as its first buyer. The ads will run via the company’s proprietary format, Cinema Loop, which allows brands to choose the best 3-10 second loop of compelling footage from anywhere within their video content.
Sizmek & Criteo Report Strong Q2 Earnings
Amid news of their acquisition, Sizmek reported financial results for the second quarter ended 30 June 30, 2016 that included a 22 per cent increase in revenue, a 317 per cent increase in mobile products revenue and a programmatic revenue increase of 138 per cent.
Sky Profits Rise by 12 Per Cent
Sky’s full-year operating profits have risen by 12 per cent to a record £1.56bn. Once the impact of Sky’s sale of a stake in ITV last year and the impact of restructuring charges over the last 12 months were included, profits rose by just by 1 per cent to £977m. Total revenues for the group rose by 7 per cent to £11.96bn for the year to 30 June, as it added more than 800,000 customers. The broadcaster also revealed that they’ll be launching a VR app within the next few weeks.
Ad Spend to Increase at a Slower Rate Post Brexit Says Warc and AA
UK advertising expenditure is forecast to increase by 4.2 per cent in 2016 and 3.8 per cent in 2017 according to the latest Advertising Association (AA) and Warc expenditure report. However, the report also warns the UK Government needs to ensure it stays open to “global advertising talent”. The figures follow a strong first quarter, with advertising expenditure surpassing £5bn for the first time in the first three months of the year. However, overall growth forecasts have been revised down slightly – by -1.3 per cent for 2016 and -1.7 per cent for 2017 since April, caused in part by the economic uncertainty following the UK vote to leave the EU.
Instagram Releases Snapchat Style ‘Stories’, Internet Rolls Eyes
This week, Instagram announced “Instagram Stories”, a new feature that lets users share multiple photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. Instagram Stories aims to get people to share all moments of their lives instead of perfectly filtered highlights and was launched with celebrities like Nick Jonas, Demi Lovato and Serena Williams. However, the internet was quick to compare the updates to Snapchat. Users and social influencers like YouTubers Dan Brian and Mariam Diamond expressed their annoyance of how similar the social networks have become.
2017 Global Ad-spend to Surpass $550bn Says GroupM
WPP’s GroupM has trimmed its 2016 global ad expenditure forecast and shared its initial outlook for 2017. The 2017 ad volume prediction of $552 billion (€492.2bn) (+4.3 per cent), when combined with other marketing services, pushes total marketing services expenditures worldwide past the $1 trillion threshold for first time. However, slowing growth in China and Brazil this year drive GroupM to revise down their 2016 growth estimate to 4 per cent from the 4.5 per cent earlier predicted, (net new investment of $22 billion trimmed to $20.5 billion).
Facebook Reveals Ad Testing in Live Broadcasts
Facebook has started running tests of mid-roll video ads inside live video broadcasts from top publishing partners, the company has confirmed to Adage. These will be the first ads to be served directly inside videos on the social network. “We’re running a small test where a group of publishers have the option to insert a short ad break in their Facebook Live videos,” Facebook said in an e-mail.
LeEco Confirms Netflix Content Talks
Less than a week after it acquired US smart TV maker VIZIO for $2 billion (€1.82bn), Chinese technology giant LeEco has confirmed that it is in talks with Netflix regarding content cooperation. LeEco has scheduled an event in the US at the end of September to unveil details of its North America strategy, with an announcement expected at that time.
Havas Outstrips Rivals
Havas outperformed its rivals in the second quarter of 2016, increasing its revenue faster than Interpublic, Omnicom and Publicis Groupe, according to second-quarter results from the holding company.
UK and US Publishers Place Faith in Video
Most UK and US respondents to AOL’s latest publisher survey have signalled that video will be their top revenue driver for 2017. More than half of UK publishers and 56 percent of American publishers cited better-quality creative as the primary driver. A slightly higher proportion of Americans (53 percent) cited making video ad targeting more individually relevant to viewers as a core driver for video, compared to 51 percent in the UK. However, there was a more marked difference between importance of ad-load time to growth: 53 percent in UK, and 48 percent in US.
SpotX Adds App Store Data to Aid In-App Video Ad Targeting
Video inventory management platform SpotX has introduced a new mobile app data points to boost in-app video targeting abilities. The additions will enable advertisers to buy against app store data, like app ratings and download numbers, to help advertisers determine app quality and reputation among consumers.
Interactive Experience, Tribal Worldwide and Merkle Top Digital Shops
The top three among 50 digital shops clients want to work with are: IBM’s Interactive Experience, Omnicom’s Tribal Worldwide, and performance marketing agency Merkle according to research from Advertiser Perceptions. Publicis’ Zenith, Dentsu Aegis’ Carat, and GroupM’s MediaCom ranked as the “top three” media agencies, with Interpublic’s Deutsch, Publicis’ Leo Burnett and its Saatchi & Saatchi units topping the ‘creative’ charts.
Social Media More Critical to Digital Campaigns than YouTube
65 per cent of marketers think social platforms (e.g. Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter) are the most important partners for digital video campaigns than video platforms (YouTube, Vevo); video demand side platforms or DSPs (Videology, Tremor Video); full episode players (Hulu, broadcast and cable digital properties); ad networks; publishers (BuzzFeed, Vice, Vox); and multichannel networks (Maker Studios, Awesomeness TV, FullScreen) according to The Future of Digital Video study from Trusted Media Brands. Live stream was seen as a key growth area for 2017 and short form video was seen as likely to grow. Budgets for digital video advertising and programmatic video were also expected to rise.
Broadband Providers May be Forced to Cut ‘Misleading’ Speed Claims by 25 Per Cent
Broadband companies could be forced to advertise average speeds rather than top speeds as part of a major crackdown being planned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), following pressure from consumer groups. Some advertised broadband speeds could shrink by 25 per cent overnight if the ASA bans firms quoting speeds received only by the top 10 per cent of customers according to the Daily Telegraph.
BT Reaches 1.6m TV Customers
The addition of 59,000 TV customers in Q1 has seen BT reach 1.6 million, with the telco reporting that BT Sport’s average audience figures increased 58 per cent, excluding Showcase and digital channels. Broadband and TV revenue rose 21 per cent.
Only Nine Per Cent of Digital Ads Are Viewed for More Than a Second
The vast majority of digital advertising is not being viewed at all, according to a new study from Aimia and Lumen. Research firm Lumen used laptop-mounted eye tracking cameras on 300 consumers’ laptops to collect visual data on what they notice when they are online. The study, run since January 2016, looked at around 15,000 digital ads and found that only 35 per cent of digital display ads received any views at all, with only 9 per cent receiving more than a second’s worth of attention.
Enhanced Capabilities Drive TV Advertising Efficiency
Quarter-over-quarter spending on linear TV campaigns in the Videology Platform increased by 50 per cent from Q4 2015 to Q1 2016, and by 74 per cent from Q1 2016 to Q2 2016, according to the Q2 2016 US Video At-A-Glance report from Videology. The company claims that growth in programmatic TV capabilities is driving more marketers to embrace solutions that go beyond age and gender to find linear TV programmes, networks or dayparts that index highest for their strategic audience.
Tailored TV Ads Most Successful
Eighty-eight per cent of viewers across the UK do watch the adverts on live TV, according to research conducted by Censuswide and Yospace. Rather than avoiding ad breaks, 78 per cent of people actually want to see adverts that are personally relevant to them. One in five viewers want adverts that are relevant to where they live and exactly one fifth said they would be more interested if the ad was relevant to their age group.
Nielsen to Measure TV Chatter on Facebook
Nielsen will update its ranking of TV shows generating the most activity on Twitter to include a broader measure of social-media activity by adding Facebook and eventually, Instagram. The new Nielsen Social Content Ratings will rank series and separately, sports programming, by “interactions” on both platforms. Nielsen says the new chart will more accurately measure the social media’s TV footprint.
Mobile Accounts for Two Thirds of Views on Olympic YouTube Content
65 per cent of all views on Olympic-related YouTube video over the past 12 months came from mobile – a figure that jumps to 75 per cent in the UK, and 87 per cent in Saudi Arabia. That’s according to figures released by YouTube ahead of the 2016 Rio Games. In addition, Channel 4’s ‘We’re The Superhumans’ film is the most-shared Olympic ad so far across YouTube and Facebook, according to figures supplied by Unruly.
Growing Gap Between Young and Old in New Zealand
New Zealanders’ media consumption habits are changing rapidly, particularly amongst younger age groups. Research from Glasshouse Consulting and NZ On Air found that the dominance of traditional media is under real pressure with from online video on sites like YouTube and Facebook, and the launch of online SVoD services. There is an increasingly big generation gap in media consumption. In 2016 more 15–34 year olds stream online video each day than watch linear TV.
Teads Raises €43M In Debt Financing
Teads has raised €43 Million ($47 Million) of new debt financing, thanks to a bank syndicate including BNPP, Bank of China, HSBC, Banque Palatine and BPI. The cash will be used to acquire ad tech companies and fund the company’s expansion into the Asian market.
Partnerships of the Week:
Clearcast and Videology Integrate to Deliver Real-time Ad Clearance Solution
Software provider Videology have announced a partnered with Clearcast. Via a technical integration, Videology will be able to ensure that ads served into Broadcast linear and catch-up content via their platform are real-time compliant with the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising. The solution is currently in closed beta testing and will be released in mid-August.
Hires of the Week:
Google Names UK and Ireland MD Eileen Naughton as Head of People Operations
Google’s managing director of its UK and Ireland business Eileen Naughton has been named vice president of people operations worldwide. She replaces Lazszio Bock.
Joe Media Announces Raft of New Hires
Joe Media has announced a plethora of new hires including several ex-Buzzfeeders. Louise Emmerson, formerly brand partnerships director at BuzzFeed, will take up the role as VP of brand partnerships, while the Lad Bible’s commercial director James Wigley will lead the commercial strategy as director at the digital publisher. The Mirror’s former digital sports editor Rob Burnett will join as sports editor, with BuzzFeed’s senior staff writer Alex Finnis as deputy editor and Tony Barrett as its first chief football correspondent.
This Week on VAN:
Teads Founder Pierre Chappaz says Teads will Continue to Disrupt Online Video, read more on VAN
Sizmek to be Acquired by Private Equity Firm for $122 Million, read more on VAN
Why is Header Bidding Failing Video Advertising? Read more on VAN
Ad of the Week: NSPCC, Pantosaurus, Aardman Animations
A brilliant and lighthearted video to teach children about what constitutes sexual abuse and what steps to take.
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