Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Plus Ads
Paramount Plus rolled out its ad-supported version on Monday at $4.99 per month for those consumers who don’t feel like shelling out $9.99 for the commercial-free plan. The new AVOD offering is slightly cheaper than the $5.99 option that was part of CBS All Access, which ViacomCBS rebranded as Paramount Plus in March. One possible reason the ad-supported version of Paramount Plus is a bit cheaper than the CBS All Access plan it’s replacing, MediaPost reports, is because it doesn’t provide access to local CBS stations. Subscribers can cancel and switch to the new plan, of course, or just continue their existing service and pay the same rate. But hey! There’s still that “mountain of content” that Paramount Plus is bullish on, and the ad-supported plan includes access to live sports, including CBS-broadcast NFL games, the UEFA Champions League and the Europa Leagues, in addition to 30,000 episodes, movies, Paramount Plus originals and 24/7 news access via CBSN. ViacomCBS also announced on Monday that it would expand its content offering this summer with more than 1,000 premium movies. [Related in AdExchanger: “ViacomCBS Setting Itself Apart With Paramount Plus And Pluto TV”]
Get Zuck’d
Facebook trolled Apple with a product launch on Monday two hours before the start of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference. CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally announced the new tool, which mobile influencers and content creators can use to estimate taxes on their earnings and see which companies take a cut of their revenue. A yoga instructor who made about $3,300 for an online course, for instance, might expect a $420 tax bill from Uncle Sam … and a combined $600 bill for Uncle Tim and Uncle Sundar. Facebook currently doesn’t take a fee, and said its creator monetization products will remain free until 2023, The Verge reports. When Facebook does begin charging creators, though, Zuckerberg said it will be “less than the 30% that Apple and others take.”
Tax Agreement
Amazon, Google and Facebook may have to cough up a minimum 15% corporate tax on profits after the G7 reached a historic deal on Saturday to support a US-backed proposal on global tax reform. Per CNBC, the plan calls for corporations around the world to pay a minimum 15% tax on profits. The reforms, if finalized, would affect the world’s largest companies with profit margins of at least 10%. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tweeted that a global minimum tax would end the race to the bottom in corporate taxation and ensure fairness for the middle class and working people in the US and around the world. So, how are big tech companies taking the news? Not bad, actually. Amazon said the agreement “marks a welcome step forward” in efforts to “bring stability to the international tax system,” while Facebook’s VP for global affairs, Nick Clegg, noted that Facebook “has long called for reform of the global tax rules.” Google, meanwhile, also supports the initiative and said it hopes for a “balanced and durable” agreement.
Rates May Vary
In the weeks following the rollout of iOS 14.5, reports of user opt-in rates have varied considerably. Flurry reported a global opt-in rate of 13% … although that translates to approximately just 5% as of early May if you’re only looking at the US, Adweek reports. Meanwhile, AppsFlyer says it saw opt-in rates differ depending on the content category of a particular app. Further analysis showed that 40% of users opted in to tracking during the week of May 17, though this figure dipped slightly to 37% among gaming and social media apps. Although the fear has been that data loss could dissuade advertisers from paying a premium for ads in iOS apps, that hasn’t happened just yet. IOS app inventory appears to be holding its value. According to AppsFlyer, iOS ad spend increased 20% after AppTrackingTransparency’s official rollout, compared to a 2% increase on Android.
But Wait, There’s More!
When it comes to device fingerprinting, the cure is worse than the disease, muses Eric Seufert. [Mobile Dev Memo]
SpotX and IRIS.TV have teamed up to enable video-level contextual targeting in CTV. [release]
NBCUniversal and ReachTV have inked a deal to connect marketers to over a billion travelers in more than 90 airports in the US, Canada and the UK. [release]
Pinterest is looking to help its users get one step closer to purchasing with a new feature that automatically saves shoppable product pins and notifies users of price changes. [Digiday]
Eighty two percent of US TV households now have at least one internet-connected TV device, according to new consumer research from Leichtman Research Group. [BroadbandTV News]
L’Oréal, NatWest and PepsiCo have signed up to the WFA Planet Pledge, which helps marketers lead on sustainability. [release]
You’re Hired
Cardlytics has hired Peter Chan as chief technology officer. [release]
European radio company Global has appointed Les Hollander as North America CEO for its digital advertising platform, DAX. [release]
