Tick, Tock, TikTok
A US federal appeals court has rejected a suit brought by TikTok and some prominent creators who had argued that the law enforcing a ban or sale of its app is an infringement of the First Amendment.
The law was passed earlier this year after legislators were briefed regarding alleged national security threats related to TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
The Wall Street Journal notes that when and if the law goes into effect as planned in January, it will not become a crime for Americans to have TikTok on their phone or to post on the platform. However, app stores, including the ones run by Google and Apple, will be barred from supporting software updates or letting new users download TikTok.
US web hosting services, meanwhile, won’t be allowed to support TikTok content.
It’s unclear how these entities will comply with the law.
ByteDance has maintained that it will not sell off its US TikTok business, which is one way it could avoid the ban.
Even though this feels like it’s getting real, it’s hard to imagine a TikTok ban becoming reality. But the tracks are laid and the train has left the station.
Grabbing The Live Wire
If failure is an opportunity to learn, Netflix should know plenty about live TV.
Netflix has tested a few relatively low-stakes live feeds, including episodes of a live talk show, a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul and a new live cooking competition. But those were all a mess, for the most part.
On December 25, Netflix will jump into the deep end with back-to-back live NFL games, The Information reports. The games also mark the first time Netflix will show ads to ad-free subscribers.
And so, the pressure is on. Nobody messes with the NFL – or Christmas.
A laggy feed for a short-run talk show or a standup comedy special is one thing, but advertisers, viewers and the NFL itself will no doubt feel very differently about Christmas day games.
And similar logic applies to Netflix’s nascent and untested ad tech, which still offers little to no targeting or dynamic ad insertion, both of which are now “table stakes in the connected TV ad market,” Simulmedia CEO Dave Morgan tells The Information.
So we’ll have to see how it goes.
“There is no question that the biggest and most profitable opportunities for big ad-supported streamers like Netflix are big live events and sports,” Morgan says.
The Hit Factory
2024 is going out with a bang when it comes to ad tech M&A.
It’s often the case that a flurry of acquisitions and investments happen in early December. Because if a deal isn’t done this week, it’s going on ice for the next four to six weeks at least – and may end up disappearing as quickly as a New Year’s resolution.
It’s therefore not surprising that at least one more ad tech company may get sold before the year is out.
Channel Factory, a YouTube specialist that does optimization and brand suitability analytics for social video, is being actively shopped and may be near a deal, Digiday reports.
Since October alone, there’s been a big uptick in ad tech consolidation, including Samba TV buying Semasio, Zeta acquiring LiveIntent, Connatix snapping up JW Player, Viant purchasing IRIS.TV and Mediaocean grabbing Innovid – not to mention Experian picking up Audigent just this week.
According to Digiday, potential Channel Factory acquirers include private equity companies and larger ad tech players that might add it as a point solution.
But Wait! There’s More!
How VaynerMedia is optimizing its supply-path optimization practices. [Digiday]
Can retail media compensate for weaknesses in performance media? [Campaign]
New year, new rules: How to keep consumers spending in January. [Emarketer]
A board game maker with titles related to women’s suffrage and the history of the Supreme Court says Facebook has banned its ads. [Polygon]
You’re Hired!
J.Crew hires Skims marketing vet Julia Collier as CMO. [Ad Age]
New Engen appoints Kathleen Coughlin as VP of social commerce. [release]
