Going Negative
Walmart is providing a long-asked-for search advertising feature: negative keyword exclusion.
Very exciting, we know. But the update is actually quite important when it comes to retail search, as Digiday reports.
Why is Walmart doing this? Negative keywords give advertisers more control over when their ads don’t appear. That’s useful for smaller merchants that want to stop wasting budget on low-performing queries and for large companies with multiple brands that might otherwise end up bidding against themselves on the same terms.
Most advertisers absolutely hate being forced to purchase their own brand terms. There’s even research showing that they’re better off not bidding on branded terms, since they’ll probably get the organic sale anyway.
During the first couple of years of Google’s Performance Max, a major frustration among buyers was that PMax would target people who had literally just searched for a brand or product, swooping in to take credit for conversions that were already in the bag. PMax added keyword exclusions in 2023.
But wasted spend and dodgy attribution aren’t the only concerns. Some kosher or vegan protein brands, for example, might feel very strongly about not appearing in a search for, say, “ham” – even if everyone understands why a performance-driven AI ad platform might want to bid on the term.
Gimme A Break
Fans derided the hydration breaks that FIFA introduced during the World Cup this year ostensibly as a player safety precaution. But everyone understood the breaks were created to force an extra couple of commercial breaks into each broadcast.
So don’t expect FIFA or its broadcast partners to go back to soccer’s traditional nonstop halves, even if the next World Cup is played in the Arctic. Those hydration breaks were a major boost for advertisers.
One World Cup advertiser saw viewership drop by roughly 20% during halftime, an executive at agency Globant tells Adweek. For the three-minute hydration breaks, though, only 1% of viewers changed the channel.
As FIFA and broadcasters bid on and divvy up streaming and broadcast rights, the temptation to build hydration-break monetization into future revenue models is a Siren’s song for both sides.
“All the networks and tech companies that are bidding on it are going to be factoring that into what they’re willing to pay,” says Adam Schwartz, an SVP at Horizon Media and the agency’s director of national broadcast and sports media.
“Because there’s certainly revenue that can be generated there if they monetize that correctly,” Schwartz says.
A Not-So-Safe Bet
The New York City Council is investigating four prediction markets – Polymarket, Kalshi, Coinbase and Gemini Titan – for allegedly deceptive marketing practices and for targeting minors.
Council Speaker Julie Menin sent letters to all four companies requesting detailed information about their marketing operations. They have 14 days to respond.
“Reports allege that Polymarket conspired with social media influencers to target young adults with false, deceptive and unconscionable advertising,” Menin wrote in a letter viewed by The Wall Street Journal. According to an analysis by the Journal of more than 1,100 videos made by creators who were sponsored by Polymarket, 70% featured fake websites and simulated trades.
The purpose was to make it seem like many influencers were winning their Polymarket bets – but the bets weren’t even real.
While the City Council can’t press criminal charges, it can issue subpoenas. As Big Tech companies have learned in cases brought by state attorneys general and the DOJ, documents they’re forced to disclose in one lawsuit can turn into valuable evidence for other enforcers.
Menin’s letters follow a suit filed last month by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Kalshi for allegedly operating an illegal gambling app.
But Wait! There’s More!
Agencies want to move from hourly billing to outcomes-based pricing, but it’s complicated. [Ad Age]
As the TV ad market swings to streaming media, cheap inventory is in demand. [Digiday]
A new tool called DecryptAds hopes to help people identify the webpages where data brokers and trackers operate. [404 Media]
AI music generator startup Suno inks a major music licensing deal. [Forbes]
A look at the AI “newsrooms” where one person oversees (or doesn’t) a group of bots that scrape the web and social media to “write” breaking news. [Wired]
You’re Hired!
Nexxen appoints its chief commercial officer, Chance Johnson, to the newly created role of president. [blog]
Roku vet Sarah Saul joins Creativ Company to lead marketing communications. [release]
