Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
From The Ashes?
When MediaMath’s defunct assets go up for auction in Delaware bankruptcy court next week, founder and one-time CEO Joe Zawadzki may be in the mix.
Zawadzki wants to buy and revive the demand-side platform he founded in 2007 … and was pushed out from in 2021, according to multiple anonymous sources who spoke with Insider. Zawadzki didn’t respond to a request for comment.
MediaMath had well-known financial issues, but it was still a shock when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a month ago. MediaMath ceased operations on the Friday before July 4, and more than 300 people unceremoniously lost their jobs (and, apparently, their health insurance).
But now, Zawadzki is reportedly assembling a “syndicate” of ad tech investors to try and buy back the MediaMath assets.
The question is: What’s left to buy? The real value of a programmatic business is the people, not the software. And MediaMath’s tech has been gathering dust. Its clients haven’t, though. They all moved on.
There’s no guarantee that Zawadzki will have the winning bid. But sources tell Insider that, if he does, he’d aim to recruit some former MediaMath engineers and possibly combine the tech with FxM, his new fintech startup for media financing.
A Tough Compromise
Netflix is lowering its ad CPMs under duress in a plea for stronger advertiser adoption.
Some buyers have agreed to pay between $39 and $45 CPMs for Netflix ads, The Wall Street Journal reports – a far cry from the $60 CPM Netflix was initially hoping for.
Netflix’s ad revenue and supply are still modest since only a small percentage of its subscribers choose to watch ads.
Although Netflix is making an effort to attract more ad-supported subs, it must accept that advertisers won’t pay premium prices without major scale.
Still, sources say Netflix is frustrated with Microsoft for not selling more ads. And although a cohort of advertisers will no doubt spend more at a lower CPM – thereby boosting Netflix’s ad revenue growth in the short term – what the streamer really needs is account density across verticals to sustainably increase advertiser investments.
Shopping Spree
Shopify is on an announcement spree.
Last week, it debuted Shopify Collective, which allows merchants to resell other Shopify items that fit their online store. Shopify also added one-click checkout functionality, subscription sales options and, last but not least, opened a business credit card program with Visa.
The Shopify credit program has a 3% cash-back reward on spending up to $100,000 in the company’s top-spending category, and 1% cash back for the top category after $100,000.
One category is marketing, which includes Google, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, Snap, TikTok and Twitter advertising, per the fine print.
It’s low-key a very interesting play for Shopify’s burgeoning ad data biz, called Shopify Audiences, because merchants must channel spend through Shopify’s platform integrations.
Plus, it’s a way to manufacture ROI. A seller that spends $100 million per year on ads across those platforms gets $1 million back (the extra 2% on the first $100,000 is a blip). Whereas credit cash-back rewards are kosher, kickbacks are a no-go.
But for ecommerce companies, profit levers like price, ad spend, fulfillment costs and potential cash-back rewards are a part of the ROI calculation.
But Wait, There’s More!
Publishing companies are pivoting to events – which is one thing they can do that the platforms cannot. [The Rebooting]
The AP’s deal with OpenAI lets it renegotiate if another publisher gets more favorable terms. [WSJ]
A top ad sales exec leaves Warner Bros. Discovery, causing some doubt about the company’s future. [Insider]
Scott Messer: An inside look at the IAB and Beeler.Tech’s publisher lobbying trip to Washington, DC. [LinkedIn]
You’re Hired!
Richard Simons has been appointed interim CEO of Adludio. [release]
