Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Purity Test
Independent ad tech companies – namely, The Trade Desk and Magnite – have taken their first awkward steps across the exchange with products that bridge directly to publishers (in TTD’s case) and right to agencies (in the case of Magnite).
This is mostly the result of pettiness and PR. The Trade Desk’s OpenPath, an integration for publishers, was primarily an “eff you” to Google Open Bidding, while Magnite’s agency-direct solution, ClearLine, is a thinly veiled response to OpenPath (down to the camel case title).
So, who’s next to the disintermediation party? Not Index Exchange.
The company weighed in on the trend in kind (i.e., with content marketing) via an open letter to DSPs, in which CEO and Co-Founder Andrew Casale assures them that Index will remain a pure-play SSP.
It’s all a bit silly, but these are pivotal decisions.
With SSP bankruptcies and Yahoo shuttering its sell-side tech, there’s momentum behind current conventional wisdom that says SSPs should cross the Rubicon (pun intended) and work directly with advertisers.
But if Magnite oversteps, DSPs will warily divert to noncompetitive SSPs. Years ago, DSPs tried to disintermediate agencies from brands – and agencies let those DSPs wither on the vine by shifting budgets to a then-fledgling startup called The Trade Desk, with its pure-play, agency-first pitch.
The Tourist Trap
The Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau recently ended its tourism partnership with the city of Sedona, Skift reports.
Wait, what? And why is this relevant?
Bear with us.
For the past couple of years, Sedona has refused to let the tourism bureau run destination marketing campaigns. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in ad spend was instead put aside or redirected toward attracting long-term residents. But Sedona businesses – hotels in particular – were hit hard.
This is a growing trend in travel marketing, according to Skift.
Last November, the mayor of Sedona and a city councilman were voted out in elections where their opponents ran on frustrations with the increase in tourists.
The tourism bureau is looking for new sources of funding and may expand from its purview to more of Sedona’s surrounding art and wine regions. The Sedona city council, which just saw two powerful officeholders voted out on tourism issues, is now hiring a consultant to mitigate the effects of over-travel to the city.
A Jouncy Ride
SSP consolidation is a hot topic – but the buy side has seen consolidation, too. And demand concentration will continue through 2023, according to Jounce Media’s latest State of the Open Internet report.
Jounce estimates that global digital ad spend will total roughly $85 billion this year, including open auction programmatic and reservations. Three-fifths of open internet advertising will be controlled by three major demand-side players: Google, Amazon and The Trade Desk.
Meanwhile, walled gardens are still outgrowing the open internet. Nonsearch digital advertising revenue has seen net growth of about $178 billion since 2017, per Jounce.
Which sounds great, except walled gardens captured 99% of this new revenue.
Jounce predicts that more than half of the open internet’s $85 billion will be channeled via walled gardens this year. Sounds like the “open web” is about to get a lot less open.
Meanwhile, the major demand aggregators – Google, Amazon and TTD – will become even more important partner hubs for SSPs and data companies that must figure out where they fit into this new arrangement.
But Wait, There’s More!
Known unknowns of media in an AI era. [The Rebooting]
Microsoft drops Twitter from its advertising platform rather than pay $4,200 per month for the enterprise API integration. [Mashable]
WPP acquires sonic branding agency Amp. [Adweek]
Apple has a track record of initiating promising partnerships, only to ghost the company – while poaching their employees and ideas. [WSJ]
Google refines its algorithm for what it considers helpful content, which now includes good page experience. [Search Engine Roundtable]
Podcast stats that marketers should know. [Marketing Brew]
The Guardian and Illuma announce a contextual arrangement that cuts the publisher in on the deal rather than scraping data. [Digiday]
You’re Hired!
In-content advertising company Mirriad hires Danny Ratcliff as VP of operations. [release]
