Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Shunned
IAB Europe just elected its new board of directors and guess who didn’t make the cut? Google. For the first time in years, Google will not have a representative on IAB Europe’s board. [You can check out the newly elected crop here.] It’s been a tough couple of weeks for Google in Europe. It’s been fined in France, had its wings clipped in the UK and, on Tuesday, the European Commission launched a wide-ranging investigation into Google’s allegedly monopolistic behavior in the digital advertising sector. And now it’s been snubbed the membership of IAB Europe, which votes a new board into place every two years. It’s noteworthy that Google doesn’t have a spot. The IAB Europe electorate appears to be making a statement. There’s no doubt that nearly every member, be it advertiser, publisher or ad tech company, partners with Google in some way … and so perhaps they feel Google already has enough power as it is.
Copyright Or Wrong
The European Union may have opened an antitrust investigation into Google’s ad tech, but YouTube just scored a major victory in the bloc. Per CNBC, The EU’s top court on Tuesday ruled that YouTube and other online platforms should not be held liable for copyright-infringing in certain situations. The EU recently introduced copyright reforms, including one that would require the likes of YouTube and Facebook to install filters to block users from sharing copyrighted material. YouTube and others have long been at odds with artists and musicians over how to fairly compensate them for work that gets distributed on the web. Music producer Frank Peterson filed a lawsuit against YouTube over recordings that were uploaded in 2008 which he claimed to hold the rights for. Despite the favorable court ruling, YouTube and other platforms could still be liable if they have knowledge that protected content is available illegally on its platform and fail to take action.
UID 2.0 Supporter
Tubi, the free, ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox, has joined The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 initiative, saying it will be the first CTV publisher to implement the hashed email-based alternative to third-party cookies. Read the release. Tubi joins a growing list of companies such as fuboTV, AMC Networks, Xandr, OpenX and Magnite that support the initiative. Tubi said that its adoption expands the Unified ID 2.0 framework to CTV and other devices where consumers view premium TV content. But isn’t CTV inherently cookieless? Tubi says that advertisers are looking for ways to target the right audiences, and that Unified ID 2.0 helps to solve for addressability, by connecting logged-in CTV viewers to web audiences. More. [Related in AdExchanger: AdExchanger’s Regularly Updated Guide To UID 2.0]
More Options
Speaking of streaming TV, Univision is gearing up to launch a two-tier streaming service next year in the United States and Latin America. Deadline reports that the new streaming service will include PrendeTV, the free, ad-supported service that Univision launched earlier this year, as well as Vix and Univision Now. There is no word yet on pricing or a specific launch date, since that’ll be hashed out after Univision’s $4.8 billion merger with Televisa is approved and the company acquires its production assets. But the AVOD tier of the new service will be anchored by Prende, which offers select originals and movies, live sports, news and 100 linear channels. The premium subscription level, meanwhile, will add more than 6,000 hours of Spanish-language content and more than 30 exclusive originals in its first year. [Related in AdExchanger: Univision’s Donna Speciale On The Launch Of PrendeTV, The Future Of Addressability And Walled Gardens]
But Wait, There’s More!
Less than a week since Facebook announced its first in-headset VR game ads for Oculus, the gaming partner Resolution Games has pulled the ads after hearing negative feedback from players. [MediaPost]
Hello, unicorn: Software review company G2 has raised a $157 million Series D, which values the company at more than $1 billion. [TechCrunch]
The Commerce Department is rescinding a list of prohibited transactions with TikTok and WeChat that was issued in September as the Trump administration sought to block new US downloads of both Chinese-owned apps. [Reuters]
Shopify has not yet been directly involved in advertising – but that’s about to change with the launch of a new targeting tool. [Insider]
TikTok has launched a brand lift analytics tool to help advertisers measure and optimize how ads perform on the platform. Kantar will serve as TikTok’s third-party measurement partner. [blog post]
Fuse Media, an English-language media company that serves mostly multicultural audiences, is launching a subscription video service later this year to fill a void in the market. [Axios]
Grocery TV, a digital out-of-home ad network for grocery retailers, has expanded to 6,000 locations. [release]
You’re Hired
VideoAmp has appointed Cameron Meierhoefer as its new chief product officer. [release]
David Ellis is the new CMO for Friendly’s Restaurants and multi-concept franchisor BRIX Holdings. [Restaurant Business Magazine]
Deidre Hudson is joining Payability, a payment platform for ecommerce sellers, as VP of growth marketing. [MarTech Series]
