Accenture Interactive Gets Into Programmatic Video; Location Data Is About Boots On The Ground

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Au Revoir, Pre-Roll

Accenture Interactive is getting into programmatic video – but not in the pre-roll way. In Cannes on Thursday, the agency division of Accenture launched a new ad unit that will programmatically overlay product placements on streaming video content. That could look like, for example, swapping out an American Airlines logo for an Air France logo on a clip of a moving airplane when targeting viewers in France, said Alex Naressi, head of Accenture Interactive’s R&D unit in France. While Accenture Interactive hasn’t integrated with demand-side platforms or pitched the product to brands yet (it used Cannes as a launch pad), the goal is for native video units to combat ad blocking, Naressi said. “This theoretically could allow us to create a future where pre-roll and interruptions don’t exist,” he told AdExchanger.

Dropping Pins

Satellite imagery and mapping software is pretty cool, but there’s no substitute for boots on the ground when it comes to rich location data. Foursquare licenses its data to platforms like Twitter and Apple because it has human check-ins at stores and locations, rather than just lat/long-style mobile locations. Google is also experimenting with a tool that will display a map with a pin in response to a search query, even if that query has seemingly nothing to do with location, according to The SEM Post, which spotted the test in the wild. Snap is in a hurry to get there as well with its acquisition of Foursquare competitor Placed, its debut of a product for sharing nearby friends’ locations and its purchase of social mapping startup Zenly – all this month.

Telecombinations

Altice USA, America’s fourth-largest cable operator, freed up $330 million in its IPO on Thursday to pour back into its expansion-by-acquisition strategy. “We’re in an environment where the capital markets are very supportive and where scale does matter ultimately to driving the best technology investment and user experience,” said Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei. Altice spent $17.7 billion on Cablevision and $9.1 billion on SuddenLink to establish a US cable foothold, and it filled out its portfolio with smaller-scale deals, like cross-screen addressable targeting firm Audience Partners in March. Altice is rumored to be in pursuit of Cox Communications, though even if Altice USA can’t buy its way into the Comcast and AT&T/Time Warner telco tier, it will be an attractive asset as those giants get busy consolidating the market. More at Business Wire.

You Saw That Where?

Publishers that have built up capabilities to produce video content are looking beyond Facebook to monetize it. Although licensing revenue is miniscule for many publishers, there is a diverse set of buyers out there willing to pay for content. Over-the-top and subscription services comprised of Amazon, Go90, Spotify, Sky TV and Comcast’s Watchable form one group, while other publishers have licensed content to be shown on Delta flights, in Westin Hotels, on Royal Caribbean Cruises and in Dave & Buster’s locations. In the meantime, Facebook – whose parsimonious rev shares prompted many publishers to diversify – is even ponying up for some original publisher content. Read more.

#Influencer Standards

In April, the Federal Trade Commission sent 90 letters reminding influencers and brands to clearly label sponsored social content. (And #sp doesn’t cut it). This week, a group of talent agencies, influencer reps, creators and brands – including execs from Dr Pepper Snapple Group, OMD, Possible and Society – formed the Influencer Marketing Council, a trade group to develop guidelines and best practices for disclosures. “There’s so much ambiguity in how to implement influencer marketing from a creator and brand standpoint that is in the best interest of consumers,” said Krishna Subramanian, acting chair of the council and co-founder of social insights company Captiv8. The fact is, creators need guidance. “The rules around it are just completely cloudy,” said Andrew Fitzpatrick, an online personality who makes beatboxing videos and has created content for a slew of Fortune 500 brands. “If I can pick the shortest, easiest hashtag, that’s the one I’m gonna want.” Bloomberg has more.

But Wait, There’s More!