ABC, A+E Networks, Comcast and Canoe have initiated a pilot with broadcaster ad server FreeWheel to manage dynamic ad insertion in VOD and set-top box inventory alongside digital ads. Video-on-demand advertising has been relatively slow to take off, namely because of greater need for back-end integration in the underlying TV tech infrastructure. “The benefit for […]
Comcast’s plan to acquire Visible World, announced late Thursday, will deepen its addressable TV prowess, but the real target might be Visible World subsidiary AudienceXpress and its burgeoning buy-side dealings. Comcast’s inheritance of AudienceXpress, which provides provides digital workflow automation for the buying and selling of linear TV ads, could reduce the media giant’s reliance […]
ISpot.tv, which helps advertisers gauge the cross-channel impact of their national TV ads, revealed Tuesday it raised $21.9 million in Series B funding from Insight Venture Partners, bringing its total funding to $27.5 million. The Seattle-based company, which has more than 60 employees and 150 customers including P&G and Holiday Inn, will invest this latest […]
“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Reed Barker, vice president of cable ad products at The Weather Company. Remember when you were a kid and you finally realized that there was no Santa Claus? There was a decision on the […]
“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Jay Stocki, vice president of digital services at Experian Marketing Services. You won’t get fired for buying age and gender gross rating points (GRPs) at this year’s upfronts. But mark […]
Mediabong has designs on the US. The Paris-based video platform, which revealed a $5 million Series B round on Wednesday, plans to use the bulk of its funding to beef up operations out of its nascent New York office, where the headcount is slated to increase from two to around 10 sales and business development people […]
In the first quarter, TubeMogul’s self-serve software, called Platform Direct, accounted for 78% – or $55.3 million – of total advertiser spend running through the company. The video demand-side platform (DSP) has worked to migrate managed services clients onto its platform, which could garner the recurring revenue and customer-retention rates characteristic of enterprise software deployments. Agencies accounted for 37% of Q1 spend on […]
“On TV And Video” is a column exploring opportunities and challenges in programmatic TV and video. Today’s column is written by Bob Rupczynski, vice president of media, data and CRM at Kraft Foods Group. You can’t fool me. I see you there. You’re reading this on your phone in the middle of another NewFront (or […]
Nielsen and Roku’s marriage for over-the-top (OTT) measurement, along with Roku’s development of a unique device identifier, may be a watershed moment for the connected TV ecosystem. The agreement, announced last Thursday, will enable Roku’s publisher partners to measure the impact of ads on some 10 million set-top boxes by accessing Nielsen’s demographic data and […]
A programmatic API for cable television? Cablevision, a telecom and cable systems company reaching 2.5 million households in the New York tristate region, claims it has developed one. It launched Total Audience Application (TAPP) last Thursday, an audience-planning tool that allows marketers to apply first- and third-party data to optimize addressable or linear TV campaigns. […]
“On TV And Video” is a new column exploring opportunities and challenges in programmatic TV and video. Today’s column is written by Hagai Tal, CEO at Taptica. Video is a powerhouse advertising tool because it can engage on multiple levels, and advertisers increasingly want to leverage video across channels. After years of technological advancement in […]
Fifty-four stories above New York’s World Trade Center site, 800 media planners gathered Tuesday evening for AOL’s annual advertiser NewFront. The big “reveal” was a new video content and distribution agreement with broadcaster NBCUniversal. Starting this summer, select NBCUniversal videos from network partners Bravo, CNBC, E!, MSNBC, NBC, Oxygen, Syfy, Telemundo and USA will be […]
Traditional cable nets are increasingly turning to video demand-side platforms to factor things like digital purchase habits into the TV-planning process. Cadent Network, a national media network that partners with more than 200 multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD) and more than 80 cable networks at the local and national level, including Verizon FiOS, Comcast and […]
The $45 billion Comcast-Time Warner Cable (TWC) deal is officially kaput. If the merger had materialized, it would have created an unsurpassable media and cable conglomerate with massive audience reach. From day one, regulators were wary about one company controlling too much broadband access, resulting in Comcast terminating the deal Friday. “Today, we move on,” […]
Advertisers are no longer interested in hitting demo targets alone and, leading into upfronts, media companies are baking behavioral and audience-based guarantees into their sales pitches. Buy- and sell-side parties want to link TV programs with purchase propensity to determine whether a media exposure helped loosen purse strings. “We’re seeing more demand to bring together business […]
Devs: Yahoo is looking at you. On the heels of arguably lackluster Q1 2015 earnings and the week before is NewFront event in New York City, Yahoo revealed two video ad units on Wednesday. Native in-feed video and video app install ads will now appear in Yahoo’s digital magazines and apps, as well as on desktop and […]
It’s a tough road for a stand-alone second-screen app. Beamly, the social TV network formerly known as Zeebox, would appear well positioned to help publishers engage millennial audiences across all platforms. Its install base grew from 2 million monthly active users in 2011 to 10.5 million today, and Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Viacom have a joint […]
On Monday, Interpublic Group snapped up a minority stake in Samba TV, a startup that offers TV analytics and attribution tools. IPG did not disclose the value of its investment. IPG Media Lab initiated the relationship and managed the integration of Samba TV’s data and tools with IPG Mediabrands’ Audience Measurement Platform. “IPG, like every […]
On Monday, WideOrbit, a broadcast tech provider and a cross-channel SSP, officially launched WO Programmatic TV, a local broadcast TV marketplace that had been in beta for the past few months. WideOrbit also unveiled a dashboard for sellers to access that exchange as well as a tool to help both buy and sell sides distribute, track […]
Google’s plan to rival Netflix and Hulu by introducing its own ad-free subscription service has left some questioning as to whether it will restrict content creators enough to move elsewhere. Although YouTube creators will receive a 55% cut of paid subscription revenue for their videos, which is equal to the percentage they earn for pre-roll […]
Video supply-side platform consolidation was huge last year – Telstra (Ooyala) grabbed Videoplaza, Facebook bought LiveRail and RTL Group planted a majority stake in SpotXchange. But in the wake of all the acquisitions, new SSPs also arose. The latest is Videa, a TV SSP backed by broadcaster Cox, unveiled Thursday. Videa has been in beta […]
“Brand Aware” explores the data-driven digital ad ecosystem from the marketer’s point of view. Today’s column is by Tony Ralph, director of advertising technology at Netflix. Over the last year, I’ve spoken with at least a dozen representatives from brands both large and small that are looking for advice on first steps as they consider […]
Although programmatic TV executions are far from “real-time,” agencies and some of the digital DSPs have made headway as suppliers open up greater access to inventory (at least on the local-market level). MDC Partners’ Varick Media Management is one of them. The company claims it buys programmatically now across seven different channels, including TV. One […]
Welcome to the real Facebook Exchange. Facebook is using its F8 Developer Conference in San Francisco, where it trotted out its Audience Network one year ago, to unveil an expansion of its publisher-facing ad tools. The big news is this: Facebook has extended the capabilities of its LiveRail video SSP – acquired last summer – […]
AOL is building on its foray into long-form content, which it first announced at last year’s newfronts, by distributing the pilot of its documentary series, “Connected,” on Roku devices. Although AOL Video has content distribution agreements with 17 different Internet-streaming and over-the-top devices, including Amazon Fire and Chromecast, “Connected” – produced by Morgan Spurlock and […]
Video and cross-screen private marketplaces (PMPs) are all the rage, though their strategic uses differ from publisher to publisher. AOL’s newest PMP partner, Rev4 Media, wanted to take advantage of the silver screen and the associated second-screen opportunity for mobile app developers. It’s in the process of building a PMP using AOL’s technology. Rev4 Media […]
Advanced audience targeting is taking a seat at this year’s TV upfronts. Sellers are lining their arsenals with new products promising cross-platform reach, partially out of necessity. Viewer attention is fragmenting and advertisers want assurance that if they commit an upfront buy, there will be multiple points of execution. It’s unclear the extent to which buyers […]
Boston-based DataXu is getting into the cross-device game with a management, targeting and measurement capability of its own. The demand-side platform’s cross-device tool, dubbed OneView, exits beta next month. DataXu’s take on cross-device simplification hinges on compliance management. The tool offers check-box controls for marketers to tailor which data sources are used for targeting and […]
MEC North America’s digital president Shenan Reed is discussing the way her media agency communicates with its sisters in GroupM (“We’re all one big stock ticker symbol and it’s to nobody’s advantage to be competitive with each other”) when her Ringly vibrates. That’s the connected piece of jewelry that perks up when someone receives a call […]
Nielsen’s acquisition of data technology company eXelate for an estimated $200 million positions it squarely in the digital camp, a move experts agree was essential to break away from its perceived image as a purveyor of panels and diaries. “It’s a recognition that the future is more than measurement and analysis,” said Dave Morgan, CEO of […]
The kids companies Hasbro and Animaj have formed a co-venture for selling their ads on YouTube and streaming media.
It’s official: ChatGPT has launched ads and the test will expand in the coming weeks. But don’t ask the LLM for details, unless you’re looking for misinformation.
Criteo has an optimistic pitch for future growth, but Wall Street doesn’t see the money yet from LLMs, commerce agents and social shopping.
What people need is an independent agent that peers across retailer and is entirely focused on ecommerce services. At least that’s the conclusion driving Wizard Commerce, a personal shopping agent that emerged from beta on Wednesday.
The OAAA’s new content taxonomy introduces new subcategories that OOH media owners can use to classify their inventory in OpenRTB bid requests.
Agentic AI is gaining popularity as a tactic for media buyers and sellers striving to simplify workflows, including in streaming TV advertising. Ad measurement firm iSpot introduced SAGE, an agentic AI platform with a “ChatGPT-like interface” that media buyers can use to generate campaign planning ideas.
