Streaming In The Amazon
More dollars are flowing through the Amazon ads machine.
The proportion of Prime Video ad spend within Amazon’s DSP jumped 10% between Q3 and Q4 to 36%, Digiday reports.
Yet media buyers are also turning to Amazon’s DSP for access to other streaming inventory – not just Prime Video. On the TV front, Amazon is focusing more on distributing other (more popular) streaming shows on other platforms rather than spending big to produce original content.
Marketers can now buy ads across streaming apps such as Disney+, Max and Paramount+ in the same place they purchase ads across any of Amazon’s ad supply.
For example, digital ad agency Markacy has clients that now spend between 3% and 8% of their ad budgets on Amazon’s DSP, up from between 2% and 5% last year. And, according to Basis Technologies, clients spent as much through Amazon’s DSP over the course of just one month this year as they did during the entirety of 2024.
ProteXion Racket
Advertisers may return to X to avoid reprisals from the Trump administration, over which X owner Elon Musk wields heavy influence.
A lawyer for IPG – whose proposed mega-merger with fellow holdco OMG is subject to review by the federal government – recently fielded a call from a lawyer representing X, The Wall Street Journal reports. The implicit message, according to the IPG lawyer, was this: Get your clients back on X or else.
Advertisers also want to avoid being tied up in Musk’s lawsuit against the World Federation of Advertisers. Some brands that pulled their budgets after Musk loosened X’s content moderation “feel there is an implied threat from X that they could be added to the lawsuit if they don’t return,” says Ebiquity CEO Ruben Schreurs.
Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, made similar veiled threats in conversations with IPG execs, sources familiar with the interactions tell the Journal. And Yaccarino recently met with OMG, Dentsu and WPP seeking new spending commitments, according to sources with knowledge of the meetings.
IPG recently signed a new annual contract with X. Meanwhile, WPP is negotiating a new deal with the platform, and Publicis is also in the process of signing one.
Cash For Comment
People who say nice things about products or companies on the internet are sometimes – no, let’s be honest, often – accused of being paid shills. Now, Instagram actually wants them to be.
On Thursday, Meta introduced a new tool called Testimonials, which allows creators to get paid for posting short endorsement messages alongside ads on the platform.
Meta told TechCrunch that, although payment will occur through Meta’s app, the brands and creators negotiate the deals themselves. Once that’s done and the endorsement is approved, it gets pinned to the top of the comments section and labeled as “sponsored.”
Many brands already incentivize or pay for positive online reviews, so hopefully Meta’s move will serve to provide better transparency to potential customers looking for authentic product reviews.
To take the more cynical view, however, automatically pinning positive endorsements to the top of a comment section might serve as a welcome change from all the “Nice Try Diddy” memes and other brand-unsafe content that you typically see in response to Instagram ads.
But Wait! There’s More
Twitch will start capping streamer storage at 100 hours and deleting content that goes over that limit. [TechCrunch]
WordPress is now offering 100-year-long domain name registrations for $2,000. [Search Engine Journal]
A new study suggests that companies doing away with their DEI initiatives might face long-term reputational risks. [Fortune]
Programmatic marketers can now buy live sports inventory on DirecTV through Magnite, including the new MySports skinny bundle. [release]
Amazon spent $21 billion on advertising and promotions last year, which translates to roughly $679 per second. [Ad Age]
To appeal to younger audiences, ESPN is considering including user-generated content as part of its soon-to-be-launched streaming platform. [CNBC Sport]
You’re Hired
Ann McGowen will lead a new division of A+E as the general manager of digital platforms. [Adweek]
Thanks for reading AdExchanger’s daily news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
