Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
The Stream-To-Shop Pipeline
Retail media networks are the new walled gardens. Meet two tech startups that want to break down the barriers.
This week, Gigi and Stackline, the startups in question, announced a data partnership to help advertisers target TV viewers based on what – and where – they buy, Adweek reports.
Gigi enables agencies to buy and measure TV and streaming ads across Amazon Prime, Disney and NBCUniversal, while Stackline aggregates opted-in purchase data from retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Target and Best Buy.
Together, the pair plans to sharpen their audience targeting and measurement capabilities by connecting streaming preferences to shopping habits.
A brand, for example, might target prospective customers who watch Prime Video and shop at Walmart and then also measure when people make a purchase after seeing an ad.
There are also many other startups cropping up to capitalize on the gaps in retail media measurement standardization. But this team-up could prove particularly appealing to buyers looking for closed-loop attribution and to potentially bring together online performance marketing with TV brand marketing.
The Ticking Clock
TikTok remains in will-they-won’t-they purgatory.
Without an intervention, the law essentially banning TikTok will go into effect on January 19, and the app won’t be available for download or updates in the US.
President-elect Donald Trump has asked for a delay so as to negotiate with ByteDance from a place of leverage – but that doesn’t really change anything. The decision now falls to the Supreme Court.
“What hangs in the balance is a platform that, for better or worse, has emerged as a vast engine for cultural production,” writes Amanda Mull at Bloomberg.
And it’s not just culture. TikTok has proven it can power Amazon sales growth and move products off grocery store shelves across the country.
Over the past few years, TikTok has pulled away from the likes of Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit and the artist formerly known as Twitter, both in terms of user numbers and its reported $17 billion 2024 US revenue goal.
Yes, Meta, Google and Amazon are far superior at self-attributing sales, but TikTok is the rare walled garden that actually works for organic growth.
Although that’s not the only difference between them. Meta, Google and Amazon are American companies.
Weighty Decisions
Ozempic. Wegovy. Noom. Ro. Hims & Hers.
If you’re like us (as in, humans with internet access), you’re probably being bombarded by ads for weight loss drugs – an increasingly competitive category, especially in January.
But starting this month, Meta will limit how advertisers can target consumers with health-related ads. These advertisers will also have limited access to sales data on their campaigns. It’s still unclear which products and services will be affected, but agencies tell The Information that the changes are already restricting weight loss ads.
Meta faces mounting pressure from federal regulators to handle sensitive data more carefully, like not handing out personal health information to advertisers, for example. Not too long ago, Meta was hit with a HIPAA violation for targeting ads using patient data from hospitals.
Like other health-related concerns, weight loss is a risky marketing category. For instance, platforms could leak sensitive information about people with specific health conditions or eating disorders, which might result in targeted ads that push them to lose more weight.
It’s a dangerous cycle. Research suggests weight loss ads on social media can encourage or exacerbate eating disorders.
But Wait! There’s More!
Meta is testing eBay listings on Facebook Marketplace following pressure from the EU to allow more competition. [WSJ]
Who are the winners and losers in Disney’s deal with Fubo? [NYT]
Holiday shopping is going increasingly mobile. [Quartz]
Creators are changing their approach to brand partnerships ahead of TikTok’s US ban deadline. [Digiday]
And speaking of the ban, this company – a would-be competitor to TikTok – is helping creators back up their TikTok videos. [TechCrunch]
You’re Hired
Adform appoints Jens Bargmann as VP of retail media. [release]
AI ad platform Hunch hires Khaled Halwani as director of creative and innovation. [release]
