Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
More Like Fixalate, Amiright?
Pixalate just published its October made-for-advertising (MFA) report. And it isn’t pulling punches.
Most MFA reports don’t detail revenue contributions by specific media companies or SSPs. Or, if they do, it’s just to pick on Google.
Pixalate does pick on Google, mind. Of all MFA sites Pixalate identified, Google Ad Exchange sold ads on 93% of them. The next highest, OpenX, was tagged on 56% of sites, then Magnite at 41%.
Magnite stood out as the largest revenue channel for MFA spend, though, bringing in 27% of MFA sites’ total ad spend. PubMatic followed at 10%. And Pixalate says Google only contributes 4% of those sites’ revenue, despite reaching far more overall MFA sites – one implication being it bids more efficiently on the supply.
Media companies get an uncomfortable spotlight, too.
Pixalate aggregated publishers that operate many MFA sites. Most are piddling, no-name fronts. However, Nexstar, a broadcaster with general entertainment and conservative news channels, plus some newspaper sites, has 51 MFA sites under operation, per the report. The Arena Group, which publishes formerly notable magazines like Sports Illustrated, Parade and TheStreet, sits on 33 MFA sites. Townsquare Media, a regional radio and news company co-owned by the Madison Square Garden Company, has 156.
More than enough blame to go around.
Reddit And Returned It
Can Reddit ever be a major advertising business?
Despite enticing user numbers and engagement, Reddit hasn’t gotten over the hump from niche, test or project-based ad budgets to earning billions per year, like Snapchat and Pinterest (let alone always-on ad giants Google and Meta).
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, a co-founder and CEO since 2015, tells Ad Age that one thing he didn’t realize “until relatively recently, is just how naturally commercial Reddit is.”
There are popular subreddits for vacation advice, hobbies and deals, to name a few. But it isn’t exactly commercial.
A TikTok, YouTube or Instagram influencer shilling affiliate links like a carnival barker is one thing; that wouldn’t fly on Reddit, where link decoration would likelier be derided.
Reddit also focuses on its own supply and contextual placements. Which sounds reasonable, but is a restriction.
The company isn’t about ad tracking and profiling, Huffman says. The other social nets follow Meta’s playbook: audience network extensions and server-side publisher connections.
Reddit doesn’t have search ads yet, either, like the others all do.
But would Redditers abide search ads, anyway?
If Reddit only has its own inventory, it saturates an audience that won’t embrace the sponsored feed.
Promo No-No
Subscription service FabFitFun is dealing with a backlash caused by an ill-advised X ad that aped owner Elon Musk’s vulgar message to advertisers at the recent New York Times DealBook Summit, Modern Retail reports.
The ad, which ran Monday on the site formerly known as Twitter, says FabFitFun is “pledging an additional $100K of X advertising in support of its free speech ideals.” The ad also offered a free gift to new subscribers using the promo code – we kid you not – “GoF*ckYourself” (the uncensored version).
Unsurprisingly, the ad rubbed customers the wrong way. Some were put off by the association with Musk himself. Others felt blindsided by the seemingly random vulgarity – most people aren’t on X or don’t care about Musk’s every misstep.
Within a day of running, the ad was screenshot to death. The FabFitFun subreddit is currently swamped with posts from users who canceled their subscriptions.
The campaign was pulled, and FabFitFun says its $100,000 budget is just a test of X’s campaign performance. The company’s founders spent Wednesday responding to angry posts in its subscriber forum, calling the ad “dumb (and divisive).”
Oops.
But Wait, There’s More!
Amazon and IPG Mediabrands sign Amazon Prime Video ads deal. [Ad Age]
Why Disney Plus’s new Hulu integration was such a huge high-stakes challenge. [Fast Company]
With the rise of retail media networks, marketers continue to grapple with lack of standardization. [Digiday]
PayPal shares slide after Amazon drops Venmo as payment option. [CNBC]
From unicorns to zombies: Tech startups are running out of time and money. [NYT]
