Amazon App Pop-Ups Pitch Its Private Label Items; Netflix May Share More Viewership Data

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It’s Amazon’s World

Amazon is testing a pop-up feature for its app that suggests its own private-label goods on competitor’s product pages, taking its aggressive approach to conquesting to another level. Amazon already places display and search ads on other brands’ pages, but this test went a step further with pop-up windows that took over almost half of a phone screen and forced consumers to click through or ex-out before continuing to the product page. The pop-ups targeted brands such as Clorox and Energizer with cheaper AmazonBasics alternatives, The Wall Street Journal reports. The test was a limited experiment, but it shows the power Amazon wields over brands that rely on the platform for ecommerce sales. It also shows how complicated it can be to deal with Amazon’s many internal competing constituencies. For instance, Amazon said this test was developed by its retail team, not its advertising team. More.

Swimming Against The Stream

Netflix is starting to share viewership numbers with talent and may be more open with its data, NBC reports. It’s an “open secret” that Netflix and Nielsen have had discussions about sharing more audience data. “Though one person described them as akin to the United States’ talks with North Korea on nuclear weapons.” Nielsen plans to start releasing Amazon and Hulu viewership numbers later this year, according to a source. And as the likes of Disney, AT&T and Comcast enter the streaming market, they’ll put more pressure on Netflix to open up. Top directors, actors and actresses demand audience numbers to prove its films and shows are as popular as Netflix claims. “As more competitors come into the marketplace and [Netflix] lose their top shows, they might want to understand the trajectory,” which could also push Netflix to work with Nielsen, says one TV industry exec. More.

Pay Day

Sir Martin is getting his bonus. WPP will pay its former chief executive $2.84 million as part of a long-term incentive plan put in place before he left the company. Last year, WPP accused Sorrell of breaching a confidentiality agreement and threatened to withhold his bonus when he acquired digital production company MediaMonks to launch his new holding company S4. But after seeking outside legal counsel, WPP found no basis for withholding or adjusting Sorrell’s shares, Financial Times reports. Sorrell, who left in part due to accusations of financial misconduct, has paid back personal expenses he owed the company to the tune of $266,000. Under the current incentive scheme, he’s set to get paid out for three more years, although his share will shrink over time. More.

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