Medalink In-Depth; Dailymotion Adds Gaming

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.

What Is Medialink?

Many ad tech names are dropped in Re/code’s in-depth profile of Medialink, a consulting/headhunting/networking/party-planning firm that has become indispensable in digital media circles. Metamarkets, Unified Social and Sharethrough have cameos in Nellie Bowles’ story, paying Medialink in order to be introduced to the right people. “Relationships have become more important with technology, not less,” says Wenda Harris Millard. “It’s people who know how to build relationships who will always win over people who think the whole world will turn into one giant algorithm.” Metamarkets CEO Mike Driscoll puts it a little more concisely: “They’re like LinkedIn, but in the flesh.” Read it.

Game Streaming Heats Up

Dailymotion is stepping into the ring with Twitch and YouTube with a game-footage streaming site of its own, dubbed Dailymotion Games. Currently in beta, Dailymotion Games says users can create their own streams, and those feeds are monetizable through ads. “Live gaming, in particular, is exploding,” writes The Wall Street Journal’s Brian Fitzgerald. “Pro-gaming championships sell out sports arenas, while millions of others watch online and on traditional broadcasters like ESPN. Twitch, a leader in live gaming video, was courted by Google before Amazon.com swooped in and bought it in 2014 for nearly $1 billion.” Read on.

Video On Twitter’s Radar

Speaking at a mobile conference in the UK on Wednesday, Twitter UK’s entertainment lead, Matt Boak, said 2015 is Twitter’s year of video. “Some of you will already be aware of our native player which contains a pre-expanded, one-click play video unit. … We’re actually going to be making that available to all advertisers this year, which is a great first step in making video the natural platform on Twitter,” said Boak.“[There is] so much more coming on video [at Twitter] and there’s going to be a slew of amazing announcements coming throughout this year and next.” Read on via The Drum.

AdSlot Goes Direct With PubMatic

PubMatic customers can plug into “guaranteed” demand through a partnership with AdSlot. PubMatic CMO Terri Walter told AdExchanger the partnership complements, rather than replaces, its own development of programmatic direct solutions. She cited the June hire of Evan Simeone as VP of programmatic direct, engineering. “Having a partner like AdSlot enables us to really scale on the buy side, so we can continue our focus on the publisher side,” Walter said. “We both agree interoperability is important.” Read the press release. Last month AdSlot partnered with Operative.

All Eyes On ROI

Customer-centricity is crucial for data-driven ads, says a report from AOL Platforms that draws on Convertro campaign data from eight industries collected over two years. “Legacy methodologies such as last-click or first-touch are not up to the specifications necessary for marketers today to fully understand how their dollars are being spent,” reads the report. “A best practice for improving ROI should include multiple buying tools, an advanced MTA methodology and an advertiser’s first-party data.” Get the report.

Snapchat Shops Brands

Snapchat is courting brand advertisers with a scoff-worthy asking price, according to several Adweek sources who were pitched firsthand. For one day of ephemeral branded messaging, the social messaging site wants a whopping $750,000, and that fee is non-negotiable. “They [Snapchat] have minimums, and they are very firm on them,” an anonymous agency executive told Adweek. “From a monetization perspective, they are looking for fewer, bigger, better.” But the individual added that there’s value in Snap ads. “We have clients for whom Snapchat works really well,” he or she said. “It’s good for a product launch or a rebranding like McDonald’s has done.” How high is too high for disappearing ads? More.

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