AOL Not So Open Anymore; Twitter Plans To Monetize Moments

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Only Room For ONE

AOL has long positioned itself as the open alternative to Facebook or Google, but that’s changed to some extent since the company’s acquisition by Verizon in May. In trying to explain what made AOL so valuable to the telco (all of five months ago), the NYT described “its so-called programmatic advertising business, a system that matches online advertisers with consumers across different platforms.” And from the privacy notice Verizon just released, it’s clear why AOL’s new role as Verizon’s tech stack necessarily means more restrictive policies.

Moments That Matter

Two weeks after launching “Moments,” Twitter has revealed monetization plans around it. Blog post. Pricing for “Promoted Moments” isn’t cited in this Bloomberg writeup from Sarah Frier, but Twitter VP of revenue Matt Derella says the format includes video options, and that sponsored stories will be “really prominently displayed.” The stated goal – though somewhat unambitious – is to eventually have one promoted Moment per day in users’ timelines.

Lean, Mean Ad Machines

Earnings season has surfaced some trouble in agencyland. Even though P&G is upping its working marketing budgets (money spent on media), the brand that The Wall Street Journal’s Nathalie Tadena calls “a bellwether of broader spending trends among big marketers” is scaling back on agency-related outlays. According to Publicis CEO Maurice Levy, automobile, consumer goods and pharmaceuticals sectors companies all withheld ad spending in the latest period. More.

Data For Better Set Lists

Instead of applause to gauge what songs fans like most, Pandora is offering bands access to its Artist Marketing Platform (AMP). Bands can see what songs listeners are giving a thumbs-up and where fans are located, helping them plan tours and grow their followings. And, of course, use Pandora to advertise their concerts. Pandora bought two companies, business intelligence-focused Next Big Sound and ticket sales platform Ticketfly, to activate AMP. Data, content, commerce – that’s quite the jam. Read Pandora’s blog post.

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