Amazon Eyes Game Ads; Snapchat Shows Pay Off For One Publisher

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Game On

Amazon is making a big push into game advertising, if recent job postings spotted by Business Insider are any indication. “We’re looking for the right hands-on engineer to work on a disruptive advertising system set to revolutionize customer acquisition for gamers,” according to the listings. “Imagine layering the strength of Amazon’s deep purchase history data with the power of machine learning to build a programmatic service that will disrupt the $100 billion-plus gaming industry!” It’s unclear if the roles are tied to Twitch, Amazon’s live game-streaming platform, but it’s a category where Amazon controls a lot of data and player engagement. The mobile acquisition space remains hot with valuations (such as Vungle’s $750 million price tag) far higher than traditional performance advertising businesses. Read on.

Make It Snappy

PopBuzz, the digital news and culture site owned by Global Media, is doubling its Snapchat programs from three to six in the next month, following an uptick in viewers and revenue. The PopBuzz Snapchat shows launched in October last year as an experimental channel for the company’s 40-person video team, Charles Ubaghs, Global’s audience development director, tells Digiday. But since Snapchat introduced 6-second unskippable ads for its Shows category in March, the content has become a revenue driver. And Snapchat shows bring other, less quantifiable brand boosters for the media company, too. “The presenters of these shows, who were previously news editors, now get stopped in the street,” Ubaghs said. “That’s how engaged the core demographic is.” More.

Vobile Goes Mobile

Vobile Group, a content rights management company, is acquiring Zefr’s copyright and channel management assets, RightsID and ChannelID, for $90 million. It’s an odd acquisition. The Zefr businesses were profitable and generated more than $40 million in the past year, whereas Vobile was unprofitable and reported $15.2 million in revenue last year. About 100 Zefr employees are moving to Vobile, leaving Zefr with a headcount of 150, Variety reports. Going forward, Zefr will focus exclusively on BrandID, its YouTube-based contextual advertising business. Vobile’s customers include global film studios, broadcasters and global entertainment companies. Like those companies, Vobile needs to improve its visibility and monetization of digital media, particularly YouTube. More.

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