Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
VIP Access
Cue the 1990s club track “Blue” by Eiffel 65, because Twitter just put up a velvet rope for users to gain VIP access for exclusive features. On Thursday, Twitter launched its first subscription service, dubbed Twitter Blue, with an initial rollout in Canada and Australia. The offering is designed for power users willing to pay a monthly fee for perks, including an edit button … of sorts. Subscribers will be able to fix their tweets, but they’ll only have 20 seconds to do it. Other features include Bookmark Folders, for users to organize saved tweets, a Reader Mode to make it easier to peruse longer threads, and dedicated customer support. It’s all part of Twitter’s larger plan to diversify its revenue streams. Advertising currently makes up more than 86% of the company’s revenue. No word on when Twitter Blue will launch in the United States. CNBC has more.
A New Look
New cookieless future, new you. On Thursday, during Criteo’s virtual investors day, the company announced a rebrand that includes a new logo, visual identity and brand positioning. According to Criteo, its makeover is part of an ongoing strategy during the past year to prepare for a world without third-party cookies. All hail retail and retargeting is so last year. Read the release. During the pandemic, Criteo saw retailers lean into retargeting in lockstep with an acceleration in online shopping and a reallocation of investments into direct response advertising. But retargeting, which makes up the majority of Criteo’s revenue, will be greatly diminished by the loss of third-party cookies, and so it’s been doggedly focused on developing alternative solutions to mitigate the risk, including a first-party shopper graph, a commerce media platform and a contextual targeting solution released in late April. Criteo says its rebrand illustrates its commitment to supporting a fair and open internet. (As opposed to before?)
The Safety Dance
Ad verification company DoubleVerify claims that four months after launching a new tool that intercepts fraud, there have been 62% fewer brand safety “violations” on video ad impressions across devices. DoubleVerify’s Video Filtering tool is being used by the travel, technology, CPG, finance and food services industries to reduce noncompliant ad placements and improve the quality and performance of their video campaigns. Before the launch of Video Filtering, fewer than 40% of video impressions were eligible for post-bid blocking on desktop and mobile web. And on CTV and mobile apps? Fuggedaboutit. Blocking was virtually impossible. Read the release.
But Wait, There’s More!
Roku is launching a new 15 minute weekly entertainment program called “Roku Recommends” that uses Roku’s data to help people figure out what content to stream. [release]
RTB House is partnering with Oracle Moat to help measure ad campaign performance. [MediaPost]
In 2021, 640 million people in China will listen to digital audio, up by 70 million from 2020. This growth will continue into 2022, as digital audio penetration approaches half of China’s 1.4 billion plus population. [eMarketer]
Neeva, the web search startup co-founded by Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s former senior vice president for ads, plans to share at least 20% of its sales with content partners, including Quora and Medium. [Reuters]
Product intelligence platform Amplitude has a new experimentation tool powered by customer behavior and product analytics. [release]
You’re Hired
LiveIntent has hired Neustar vet Charlie Buckley as VP of product management for identity. [AiThority]
Publicis Groupe has named Geraldine White its new US chief diversity officer. [Ad Age]
B2B data provider MeritB2B has elevated Karie Burt from SVP and chief privacy officer to chief data and privacy officer. [release]
Global B2B market research firm B2B International, a part of Merkle B2B, has promoted Matthew Powell to lead the LA office as VP and executive director for North America. [release]
