Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Ad Dependent
An ad-reliant business feels risky nowadays. Publishers and broadcasters have tried to diversify away from advertising.
On the other hand, an ad-supported model hasn’t been so bad for Google and Facebook.
Still, even for Facebook, its dependence on ad revenue means depending on fickle advertisers.
Which leads to an investor report from New Street Research, a tech and media equity research firm. In it, the analysts forecast Meta will earn $4.1 billion from “other” revenue across its family of apps in 2025. The market consensus is $1.4 billion, so New Street sees great upside.
One tailwind is WhatsApp’s business services suite. The analysts also expect adoption of Meta Verified, which authenticates a business and increases its discoverability on the platform. Verified also promises customer support, which is more valuable than it sounds because Meta’s general account support has been depleted.
Don’t get it twisted, though. New Street is also bullish on Meta’s advertising prospects with Advantage+ (an AI-based ad product), Reels and generative-AI ad tools.
Meta’s “other” revenue will go from 1% to 2% of its total, even by New Street’s bullish forecast. It’s not easy to outgrow ads.
The Google-Reddit Tie-up
Many didn’t chart the depth of Reddit and Google’s partnership last week, which spans Google’s cloud, machine learning software and search and ads products.
Google pays $60 million per year. Coverage mostly focused on Google gaining access to Reddit’s “incredible breadth of authentic, human conversations,” as Google VP Rajan Patel put it in a blog post, to help train its generative AI systems.
Reddit also gets access to Google’s Vertex AI enterprise service, which will “enhance search and other capabilities” on the platform. That is to say, Google plants its machine learning solution within Reddit search.
Google also secures unique access to the Reddit Data API.
“We’re ushering in new ways for Reddit content to be displayed across Google products by providing programmatic access to new, constantly evolving, and dynamic” content on the platform, according to Reddit’s post.
AdExchanger recently expounded on the trend of “sky bridge” partnerships between walled gardens, often with expansive, cascading benefits. These sky bridges aren’t about parity. As with Google and Reddit (or Google and Pinterest, Google and Roku, Google and Instacart, you get the point), one side gets a lump of cash and Google derives vast value.
Aim For The (Shop) Stars
You have been warned: “The next wave of TikTok stars is here to sell you stuff,” Business Insider reports.
Despite lukewarm interest in the US for its Shop product, TikTok is steadfast in its ambition to become an ecommerce hub.
TikTok’s latest effort is an internal team called “Star Creator” focused on finding and developing influencers with a knack for driving sales.
TikTok is hiring for several roles in the group, including a team lead responsible for identifying Shop creators who are good at hocking fashion items.
The benefits of being a so-called Shop star are what one might expect: brokered introductions between creators and brands, help driving commissions from shopping videos and, in some cases, intel on top-selling products.
It’s possible that this talent cultivation program could finally give TikTok Shop the boost it needs.
One content creator tells BI that when she visited one of TikTok’s offices recently, the company talked about pushing Shop creators as “a new type of influencer,” not unlike a comedy personality or a dance star, but for moving product.
But Wait, There’s More!
In a ‘great signal for creators,’ YouTube star Marques Brownlee adds a corporate gig at accessories company Ridge. [Fortune]
CTV providers court SME ad spend as the streaming wars enter a new era. [Digiday]
Amazon is jumping into the TV upfronts fray. [Deadline]
Netflix’s ad tier is still missing popular movies and shows. [Variety]
AI tools like Google Gemini are tailor made for the culture wars. [NY Mag]
You’re Hired!
The Shipyard, an independent ad agency, hires Nigel Carr as chief strategy officer. [release]
