Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Roku’s Seat At The Desk
Roku and The Trade Desk announced an expanded partnership timed to the NewFronts, although specific terms of the deal remain obscure, Digiday reports.
“The partnership is intended to provide The Trade Desk customers with the ability to leverage Roku audience and behavioral data on Roku Media. Advertisers can access Roku Media through a range of options in The Trade Desk in a private marketplace,” according to the release.
In other words, TTD is getting better targeting based on the multiplicity of streaming apps Roku viewers jump between. (In open-web parlance, “behavioral data” is shorthand for cross-site tracking.) It is bounded, however, by Roku media. That would mean TTD can’t reconcile IDs from audiences targeted via the Roku integration to its own open web campaigns.
Via the partnership, TTD will access Roku targeting and measurement that should outperform other third-party ad tech on the platform by improving match rates and bidding intelligence. But does the deal include the notoriously locked-up Roku ID?
“The question here is if The Trade Desk will be able to access the Roku ID or will that be reserved for those using Roku DSP [OneView]?” one source tells Digiday.
Get Back, Copycat
Instagram is shaking up its content recommendation system again, The Verge reports.
This time, the idea is to privilege original creators over reposted or aggregated content. Instagram will stop recommending reposted content, replace reposts with original posts in recommendations and label reposts with a credit and link to the original creator.
A couple of caveats: Both the creator and reposter can remove that label. And if users follow an account that aggregates content, reposts will still show up.
Reposting is often reflexive on Instagram, including for marketers with brand announcements. Advertisers might need to rethink their strategies to ensure posts are discoverable.
Instagram is also revamping its ranking algorithm to give small creators a leg up. Instead of ranking Reels based on total engagement, which is largely tied to follower counts, the algo will display content to a small audience. Then it will display the best-performing Reels from that group to progressively larger audiences. Which is to say, Instagram’s not done copycatting TikTok.
The Ball Rolling
The European Commission has formally begun proceedings into whether Meta violated the Digital Services Act (DSA).
This is the first step in a very, very long process if it eventually leads to a punishment or fine. Nothing is even alleged yet.
“The suspected infringements cover Meta’s policies and practices relating to deceptive advertising and political content on its services,” according to the Commission’s release.
This is a reminder of why Meta’s overall approach to political news and advertising since the 2016 election has been like a vampire in the sun.
The DSA could be interpreted to require major online platforms to take automatic or preemptive measures to flag misinformation or illegal content, per the announcement. Facebook and Instagram currently rely on users and organizations to spot offending content for review.
The investigation will also assess the legality of Meta not offering “an effective third-party real-time civic discourse and election-monitoring tool ahead of the elections to the European Parliament.”
This is an impossible thing. Although the commission cites the removal of CrowdTangle data as part of the same issue, it’s possible a public rating system for popular news on the platform would suffice.
But Wait, There’s More!
Apple to unveil AI-enabled Safari browser alongside new operating systems. [Apple Insider]
Eight daily newspapers sue Microsoft and OpenAI for copyright infringement. [NYT]
The WSJ’s Emma Tucker on going audience-first. [The Rebooting]
T-Mobile Advertising Solutions launches its retail media network. [Adweek]
