Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
MAGNAnimous Vote
MAGNA Global is raising its ad spend forecast for 2024, echoing other agencies and analysts.
MAGNA now predicts global ad spend will grow 10% this year to $927 billion, up from its forecast of 7% in December.
Unsurprisingly, digital publishers in particular will benefit, with 13.5% more in ad revenue compared to last year, according to the report.
The biggest growth driver for digital platforms is the “global digital giants” – aka Google, Meta and Amazon, says Luke Stillman, EVP of market insights, demand and strategic innovation, and also a presenter of the agency’s forecast this week.
Last year, Google, Meta and Amazon represented 60% of total ad revenues outside of China. That’s up from 57% in 2022, according to MAGNA. Its expectation is for more digital ad spend to be concentrated within these three giants, Stillman says.
Another growth driver for digital ad spend is – surprise – connected TV.
On average, traditional media companies (which include TV and radio broadcasters and print magazines) should make 28% of their ad revenue from digital operations this year, up from 23% last year. The main reason for that increase, Stillman says, is “the introduction of advertising in nearly all major streaming services like Netflix, Disney+ and now Prime [Video].”
The “Phony” In Symphony
TikTok took the biggest step yet for a major advertising platform using AI-generated creative.
It has introduced a product it calls Symphony, which takes auto-generated ad creative a good deal further. Advertisers input their product details, targeting parameters and cost per acquisition, and TikTok will produce a script and video featuring an AI-generated avatar to pitch the product – essentially, creating a fake influencer post.
TikTok offers “stock avatars” for brands to choose a likeness off the shelf, or they can input videos featuring a real brand spokesperson to create AI-generated video based on their likeness.
Google has dipped a toe in generative AI creative by allowing Performance Max advertisers to produce images using a prompt. But it’s only for basic product depictions – no live action or people in the image.
The new Symphony suite offers three tools that use TikTok’s AI tech to manage campaigns in different ways: Auto-Diagnosis and Auto-Fix monitors compliance or basic standards issues, Auto-Optimization tweaks content and strategy based on engagement, and Auto-Generation creates avatar videos and URLs to sell products.
It would be an amazing flywheel-spinning machine if it works right. And what could go wrong?
Were You Paid To Say That?
Reddit is slapping more ads into its social threads.
Expect ads to appear throughout the comments section, not just on the homepage or atop discussion threads, Ad Age reports.
Although Reddit distances itself from the social media label – it’s an information forum, thank you very much – its survival hinges on users returning to the platform to read and comment on each others’ posts. Peppering too many paid ads into “authentic” conversations could have an adverse effect on user retention.
But Reddit, now a public company, subsists on ad revenue. If it wants to impress investors with ad spend growth, it needs more advertisers.
As of May, its 10 biggest clients account for 25% of total ad revenue. Investors are worried by that lack of revenue diversification because advertisers could walk at the drop of a hat.
Selling ads in the middle of active threads, however, is an opportunity for brands to target more precisely. The platform relies on contextual targeting keywords, so when users recommend products and even specific brand names to each other in the comments section of a new post, there’s an ad opportunity.
But Wait, There’s More!
EU regulators prepare to charge Apple for stifling competition in violation of the Digital Markets Act. Apple will be the first tech company facing charges under this law. [Financial Times]
Oracle execs share plans about exiting the ad business in leaked audio. [Business Insider]
Disney taps Affinity Solutions for more retail data to bolster its attribution chops. [release]
YouTube is experimenting with Notes, a crowdsourced feature that lets users add context to videos. [TechCrunch]
Adobe is being sued by US watchdogs for cancellation fees and policies that allegedly ‘trapped customers’ in subscriptions. [Bloomberg]
You’re Hired!
Salesforce hires David Lee as senior manager of global media privacy, media quality and taxonomy. [post]
Tegna names Michael Steib its next CEO. [Variety]
