Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
CES SMB CTV
Amid CES announcements about the latest hardware and glitzy consumer brand tie-ups, Comcast dropped a little announcement of its own.
On Monday, it debuted a plan to expand its reach among small business and regional advertisers with a new offering called Universal Ads.
The platform, which was built on FreeWheel, Comcast’s ad tech business, is free to use. Presumably, though, advertisers will have to make a low minimum campaign commitment. (That last detail isn’t confirmed by CNBC, which reported the news, or in the release.)
Universal Ads integrates with other broadcast giants for supply, including Paramount, Roku, Warner Bros. Discovery and its own NBCUniversal. But on the demand side, the idea is to gain traction with the “every-business” – as in, smaller buyers that use a simplified Google or Meta interface to buy streaming and online video.
Google and Meta each have millions of advertisers on their respective platforms, while NBCUniversal only has thousands. In other words, the long tail is a big key to growth.
“You can continue to compete in a diminishing market, or you can go on offense and you can go after where the growth is,” says Comcast Advertising President James Rooke. “We have to be fishing in the ponds where the growth is.”
DV 180 More Like
When The Trade Desk CRO Jed Dederick testified during the DOJ’s ad tech antitrust trial against Google in September, he made what might seem to be a counterintuitive point.
His point was this: It’s possible to demonstrate that Google (allegedly) has a monopoly in display because TTD has been able to outperform Google in streaming TV advertising.
Stay with us.
Dederick’s point is that Google dominated the search, display, online video and mobile ad markets because of its ad server monopoly, which prohibited direct ad tech rivals from operating effectively, relative to DV360.
But because Google didn’t have a lever with which to control TV advertising, TTD has been able to compete with Google on more even terms.
YouTube is a beast, no doubt. But, as Catherine Perloff writes at The Information, Google is a laggard in streaming ad tech and CTV, in part because DV360, Google’s DSP, doesn’t have a foothold with CTV advertisers. When DV360 competes with TTD without controlling the auction, it loses its edge.
YouTube isn’t the focus of the DOJ’s ad tech case, but, fact is, Google benefits greatly from the connection between DV360 and YouTube. If Judge Leonie Brinkema’s judgment – which is expected any day now – severs that exclusivity, Google would feel the fallout.
What is DV360, even, without its YouTube privileges and Google’s control over the auction house?
Play Ball
Venu Sports – the sports broadcast joint venture between Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery that never launched – has another chance at life.
Business Insider reports that the JV is collectively paying Fubo $220 million in cash to settle the antitrust suit Fubo filed in February last year. Hearings were scheduled to begin yesterday.
As part of the deal, Disney and Fubo will launch their own, separate joint venture combining the Hulu + Live TV streaming offering with a similar platform owned by Fubo.
Disney will own 70% of the company-to-be, which doesn’t yet have a name or launch date. Disney will also lend Fubo $145 million to pay down other debts and pay Fubo a $130 million fee if the new venture doesn’t pass regulatory approval.
Confused? Join the club.
But one thing’s certain: Legacy broadcasters, particularly Disney, see live sports distribution as a durable pillar for their advertising businesses. In December, Disney added ESPN content to the Disney+ app, and this year will launch a standalone ESPN+ streaming app (not to mention the whole Venu Sports and Fubo drama).
Let the games begin.
But Wait! There’s More!
How companies are using AI agents. [WSJ]
The latest product reveals from the CES showroom floor. [TechCrunch]
Have we reached peak ad network? [Digiday]
You’re Hired
Arielle Garcia is the new COO of Check My Ads. [LinkedIn post]
Albertsons Media Collective appoints Liz Roche as VP of measurement and media. [LinkedIn post]
IHeartMedia promotes Nicky Sparrow to EVP of multicultural sales and Dee Dee Faison to VP of multicultural partnerships and alliances. [Radio Online]
The Guardian appoints John Sills as VP, head of sales for North America. [release]
