Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Amazon Leads On Upfronts
Amazon has officially wrapped its first-ever TV upfront.
Amazon didn’t disclose a total amount of ad commitments. (We’re sensing a trend.) But buyers say they allocated a good chunk of change to Amazon in their upfront negotiations this year, Adweek reports. Amazon “garnered more share as a first-year upfront player than the competition,” one buyer says, referring to Netflix and Disney+.
Buyers cite Amazon’s scale and lower prices as the main reasons they struck upfront deals with the ecommerce titan.
Unlike legacy broadcasters, Amazon doesn’t have linear TV networks, but its digital scale spans video, audio and display inventory, from Prime Video, Fire TV and Freevee to IMDb, Twitch, Amazon Music and Wondery. Plus, Prime Video has 115 million US subscribers on its ad-supported plan, to which the streamer defaulted subscriptions earlier this year.
As for prices, two ad buyers pinned Amazon’s CPMs between $20 and $25. Netflix lowered its CPMs earlier this month to stay competitive with Amazon.
Buyers do, however, have concerns that viewers are actually spending more time watching Prime Video’s competition. In reality, they watch more Disney, YouTube, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCUniversal content than they do Amazon titles.
But, hey, a deal’s a deal.
Not So Big Tech?
As part of a document release for its advertising antitrust trial, the most extensive breakdown yet of Google’s ad tech margin was made public.
In 2020, across Google Ad Manager, DV360 and Google Ads, Google generated $15 billion in booked revenue and $2.9 billion in net revenue, Brian Wieser, who crunched the numbers in his Madison and Wall newsletter, tells Ad Age.
“Booked” revenue refers to total ad spend on Google’s platform, while “net” refers to Google’s cut.
Surprisingly, the revenue numbers for Google’s DSP, DV360, are outshined by its biggest independent competitor, The Trade Desk. DV360 booked $2.2 billion and netted $438 million in 2020, whereas TTD had $4.2 billion in gross revenue and $836 million in net revenue the same year.
Google also pointed out in an internal competitive overview with TTD that DV360’s 15% take rate is lower than TTD’s 20%. However, Wieser says, DV360’s take rate could be closer to 20% in practice.
Google’s defense is poised to highlight TTD as proof that it hasn’t prevented ad tech competition from flourishing.
Ironically, Wieser notes, if Google loses its case and is forced to spin off its ad tech businesses, they would be freed from government oversight – and could therefore compete more effectively with TTD and other rivals. So be careful what you wish for.
CMO Woes
Women are more likely to hold marketing leadership positions than men – but they’re also quicker to exit, Marketing Dive reports.
According to market research firm Forrester, chief marketing officers are well represented in six of the nine Fortune 500 industries, particularly financial services (91%). Women are also more represented in B2C companies (84%) than other business models.
But while women make up the majority of senior marketing roles in many industries, men in these same positions tend to last longer, at an average tenure of 4.3 years versus 3.8 for women.
Interestingly, the gap is actually largest within the industry with the most female CMOs – utilities and telecommunications, where the ratio is almost 3 to 1 women (71%), but where men stick around for over two years longer on average.
It’s no wonder, then, as a recent Adweek piece opined, that imposter syndrome looms so large over CMOs, and especially among women compared to men.
One proposed solution is that men be more honest about their own insecurities – which is great advice, of course! – but maybe it would also help if we gave these women more support to begin with. Just saying.
But Wait, There’s More!
Speculating on who could buy Criteo amid rumors the company is up for sale. [Digiday]
Here’s a thorough breakdown of all OpenAI’s current copyright woes. [The Verge]
All the ghoulies who put out Halloween decor on September 1 are right: It’s the best month to start seasonal fall marketing, say consumers. [Ad Age]
Brazil bans X after the company refuses to comply with legal orders from the Brazilian Supreme Court. [AP]
California’s journalism funding deal with Google will provide newsrooms about $51 million for the first year and about $31 million the following four years – a fraction of the estimated $375 million per year the state needs to rebuild local news outlets. [Second Rough Draft]
