Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Google’s Pub Crawl
Ads.txt was created to identify and help prevent fraud or non-transparent dealings in programmatic. But ads.txt also helps to quantify Google’s ad tech footprint.
Of the top one million sites that carry the ads.txt spec and are tracked by Well-Known, an index of web domains and standards they carry, 99% authorize at least one Google account and 97% list Google as a direct seller. (H/t to Well-Known creator @braedon.)
The second-largest vendor by ads.txt penetration, Magnite, claims 24% coverage and 19% direct status. Although, if you cut it down to the top 100,000 domains, Magnite improves to 73% of domain listings and 61% direct.
One lesson from that anecdotal data is that where Google dominates most and gets much of its differentiation is the long tail. The top 100,000 domains are fairly competitive, but the next 900,000 default almost entirely to Google. The vast majority don’t list Magnite or any other vendor.
Ninety percent of mobile apps list Google as an app-ads.txt seller. The next closest, Magnite again, reaches 74% of the top 100,000 app domains.
IDs Are The New Tags
Digital publishers underwent a spring cleaning in recent years, whittling down their vendor rosters and companies they allow to put a pixel on their site.
For years – since the inception of programmatic, really – ad tech companies wheedled their way into web domains in the form of tags and server calls. Each tiny bit of code was insignificant on its own, but collectively they bloated the web and gave Google air cover to launch AMP.
Publishers seem concerned that the seem dynamic is in effect again with the alternative identity systems, Digiday reports.
“[Site] performance issues is death by a thousand paper cuts. Every single one of those adds up,” says one publisher exec.
Adding to the frustration is that programmatic IDs, the hot new tech debt for publishers, are highly strategic for ad tech, meaning publishers are being “pressed” to adopt them.
“Whether The Trade Desk or Yahoo, to actually work with them you’re going to have to adopt [Yahoo’s] Next-Gen ID or UID [which was originally developed by The Trade Desk] in order for that to happen,” says another publisher exec.
Truth Be Told
Teens say TikTok needs to remove harmful content from its platform.
Fifteen-year-old Naomi Sanders, for one, can’t avoid content that glorifies eating disorders, despite trying, she tells The Wall Street Journal.
TikTok has expanded its ban on eating disorder-related content since the Journal published an investigation last year. TikTok says it released a tool for users to block content with a “Not Interested” tag.
But Sanders is still served videos about calorie counting, she tells WSJ.
One problem is that some users circumvent TikTok’s algorithms with tactics like intentionally misspelling eating disorders to post content that otherwise might be flagged or have stifled distribution.
YouTube has also been dinged recently because its “dislike” and “not interested” buttons barely affect distribution.
Algorithmic decision-making easily backfires on social media. For instance, TikTok filled in half-complete searches like “diet hack” with automated suggestions such as “diet hacks for women” and “diet hack snacks.”
“How can we expect kids to sift through all of that and know what’s safe and medically sound?” Rachel Fortune, a physician, asks the Journal.
But Wait, There’s More!
Mobile gaming goes full circle with ‘Clawee.’ [Financial Times]
Amazon will have a Prime Day in October, the first time it will host the shopping event twice in a year. [Bloomberg]
Two private equity firms invest in MediaRadar. [release]
Netflix is building its own in-house game studio in Finland. [Engadget]
The biggest mystery of Google’s algorithm: Everything ever said about clicks, CTR and bounce rate. [Search Engine Land]
TikTok is making progress on a US security deal, but hurdles remain. [NYT]
You’re Hired!
Mobile gaming vet Kim Carlson joins Mobivity as chief revenue officer. [release]
Former Zoom Exec Heather Macaulay Appointed President of MadTech Advisors. [MediaPost]
