Evolution Of Tech To Ad Tech; Rising Tide Of The ‘Buy’ Button

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Ad Tech Foundations

In a think piece for the WSJ, Christopher Mims notes that many key figures in Internet technology innovation cut their teeth in digital advertising. “Since the debut of the Web banner ad in 1994, ad tech has been a finishing school for some of the greatest minds in tech history,” Mims writes, citing people like Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Square’s Gokul Rajaram. Why? Rajaram says it’s the data. “Advertising was the first commercial domain to which machine learning was used at scale,” he told Mims. Read it.

Believing In Buy Buttons

The NYT takes a deep dive into the rise of buy buttons, which are becoming increasingly important considering advertisers in the US are expected to spend more on mobile search ads this year than on desktop ($12.85 billion compared to $12.82 billion, according to eMarketer). But even as advertisers flock to mobile devices, where firms hope a single-touch interface will ease checkout processes, consumers are still inclined to use desktops to buy. AdMarketplace claims users convert 84% less by clicking on a mobile ad than by clicking through desktop search ads. Can buy buttons turn the tide? Read on.

Always Atwitter

Twitter revealed a mobile interface on Monday that lets advertisers manage campaigns on the go. The Twitter Ads companion, a suite of tools for iOS and Android devices, lets marketers check campaign performance, optimize budgets, tweak scheduling and reply to notifications. The app also lets marketers pause or resume campaigns, and signals alerts when total ad budgets near completion. The tools cater to an always-on marketer, according to a Twitter blog post, “since campaigns don’t stop running when the office closes.” Read the blog post.

Marketing In Martian

Two pieces via Ad Age on Monday encapsulate some upcoming evolutions marketers will have to adjust to. One is a big pivot among children away from TV, which is now seen as “punishment” when kids lose their favorite screens: phones and tablets. Nickelodeon’s Nielsen ratings have tumbled more than 30% among 2- to 11-year-olds. Another article chronicles the rise of emojis and graphics in digital language, whether it’s on Instagram, messaging services or phone keyboards. Marketers, who can’t afford to tell all these kids to get off their lawn, are going to have to learn the lingo. The times, they are a-changing.

The Sleeping Giant Of Ride-Hailing

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Can I Help You Find Something?; The Streaming Fortress Prison

On Monday, Google launched a beta version of RideWith, a potential Uber competitor that deals specifically with ride-sharing. According to The Verge, “RideWith calculates a cost based on the anticipated fuel consumption and ‘depreciation’ based on mileage, and the driver is free to accept or decline the ride.” The beta is launching in Tel Aviv only, but if other ride-hailing apps aren’t worried already, news also broke last Friday that Chrome for Android became Google’s 12th app to hit a billion downloads. Google’s looking to expand on the ad empire it has built by veering into a potentially lucrative niche. Read on at VentureBeat.

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