Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Vying For Connections
CTV may be going programmatic, but DSPs can still capitalize on direct relationships in TV ad buying.
Take Viant, which saw double-digit growth in connected TV last quarter, with more than 40% of CTV spend through Direct Access, its supply-path optimization initiative – up from 25% in Q3.
After launching Direct Access early last year with six CTV media companies, Viant hit 20 partners by September thanks to deals with the likes of Disney+ and other streaming platforms.
And Viant remains all-in on CTV going forward. Case in point: Its post-cookie identity solution is called the “Viant Household ID.” For TV advertising and ecommerce (which typically involves items being shipped to the home), the household is a better, more durable way to “anchor” identity than cookies or device IDs, Viant CEO Tim Vanderhook told investors.
But the Household ID also has an individual first-party data hook, of course. When advertisers access supply using Viant as their centralized DSP, they can connect their own audience data to that of multiple content owners in a single place.
Anything that can help fix CTV’s frequency capping problem can’t arrive soon enough, amirite?
Full Circle
What do you think of when you hear “Target Circle 360”? Kind of sounds like Google or Salesforce went overboard on the “360” jargon.
But no. Target Circle 360 is a new paid membership program from Target, which is following in the footsteps of Amazon Prime and Walmart+, CNBC reports.
Retail subscriptions are built on shipping guarantees, so Circle 360 will include free two-day shipping and free one-day delivery on orders over $35. But retail subscriptions are “built on” shipping guarantees the way poker pots start with antes – the value accrues as more bells and whistles get added to the product.
For instance, Walmart+ now includes a subscription to Paramount+ with Ads, and Amazon Prime Video just added ads, not to mention sports and other TV broadcast rights.
Retailers are becoming powerful hubs in the so-called “subscription economy,” which is otherwise mostly made up of telco and broadcast providers leaning on one another to avoid churn. Apps like Spotify or even news subscriptions become fungible assets in this economy. If Target Roundel needs web inventory, might Circle 360 add a USA Today subscription? Anything is possible.
Mind If I CapCut In?
YouTube is aiming to reclaim its place in video creation with the launch of a new app, currently in beta for Android, called YouTube Create that competes with CapCut.
YouTube reigns supreme when it comes to video distribution. But the CapCut mobile video editing app, which is a sister app to TikTok, is a massively popular and low-key crucial ingredient in TikTok’s semi-secret sauce.
CapCut allows parent company ByteDance to double-dip on TikTok’s popularity, because TikTokers and non-TikTokers alike use CapCut for video editing. And there’s both a free and a paid version, which allows CapCut to generate revenue and ByteDance to have multiple chart-topping apps.
CapCut also makes the TikTok style ubiquitous. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other social networks are going big on short video snippets built for virality – and creators are using CapCut to produce the videos they post on those platforms.
So, what’s Google’s angle with YouTube Create?
In a clear shot at TikTok, the app will use AI to automate laborious editing tasks, like creating captions, audio cleanup and “beat-matching” audio clips to music.
That’s the kind of “tedious and painful” stuff that leads to creator burnout, Cielo de la Paz, designer of the YouTube Create app, tells Business Insider.
But Wait, There’s More!
Why measurement – not targeting – may be the bigger third-party cookie deprecation challenge. [Digiday]
Brian Wieser: Why I ignore media inflation (and why you probably should, too). [Substack]
Inside the world of TikTok spammers and the AI tools that enable them. [404 Media]
Google shares its plan for compliance with the EU’s Digital Markets Act. [blog]
The FTC: “Browsing and location data are sensitive. Full stop.” [blog]
You’re Hired!
U of Digital hires TTD vet Madison Brisseaux as head of customer success. [release]
Libsyn names Rick Selah as EVP of sales for its AdvertiseCast marketplace. [release]
VaynerMedia poaches Dentsu’s Mike Feldman to lead its retail media practice. [Ad Age]
TvScientific taps former Twitter exec Chris Riedy as CRO. [release]
AdImpact appoints Laia Pescetto as VP of marketing. [blog]
