Cost Per Minimizing
The CTV landscape is thriving. So why are CPMs going down?
Per Digiday, although the CTV ad market in the US is reportedly poised to exceed $33 billion dollars this year, vendors have seen CPMs dip between 10% and 30% year-over-year, with the average nonpremium ad buy coming in below $30.
What’s the deal?
First, there’s been a massive increase in CTV inventory, as major streamers introduced ad-supported options and then increased their ad loads. Greater supply means advertisers can get lower prices.
Second, advertisers are becoming more efficient and performance-minded with their CTV buys, negotiating intensely with CTV vendors, which also drives down ad prices.
So it’s no wonder that so many vendors have rallied around the curation trend. In fact, we’re seeing curated packages of high-quality inventory fetch higher prices than on the open exchange, presumably because they offer better performance-based returns.
A word of caution, though: This trend is not immutable. Eventually, the CTV market will settle, and ad prices will rebound. Or so the industry hopes.
The (Strategic Market) Status Quo
Google is still on the international antitrust merry-go-round.
A multiyear antitrust case in Mexico just culminated this month in Google’s favor. But as one case closes, another suit is filed.
Now, Google Search is under the microscope of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA is considering giving Google “strategic market status,” which CNBC defines as “a designation under new competition rules for tech firms that hold entrenched power in a certain market.”
This designation allows the CMA to enforce restrictions and conduct requirements on large tech companies. For Google, it would mean greater scrutiny over its use of publisher content and nondiscriminatory search options, such as new choice screens that allow users to select alternative search engines.
Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director for competition, says the CMA’s considerations are “broad and unfocused.”
In Google’s view, he says, the CMA is prematurely focusing on “a range of interventions being considered before any evidence has been provided.”
The ‘AI’ In Laid Off
AI solutions will help people do their jobs better, not replace those workers entirely.
Lol.
Folks in the industry love talking about “humans in the loop,” but let’s be serious. From the corporate perspective, the purpose of AI adoption is to have fewer people do as much or more work.
The latest example comes courtesy of Intel, the semiconductor and device manufacturer, which is outsourcing (un-inhousing?) its marketing unit, reports daily state newspaper The Oregonian. Those functions will now be assigned to Accenture, with AI tech handling the work, per Intel’s memo to employees.
“We have received feedback that our decision-making is too slow, our programs are too complex and our competitors are moving faster,” Intel says in its memo.
Marketers at the company will be told by July 11 whether their jobs will be terminated, Intel tells The Oregonian.
Intel isn’t hedging in its own internal communications, though.
“The transition of our marketing and operations functions will result in significant changes to team structures, including potential headcount reductions, with only lean teams remaining,” CEO Lip-Bu Tan told employees.
But Wait! There’s More
The beer industry is calling on its top marketers to try and reverse the trend of people not drinking beer. [Ad Age]
The US House of Representatives has banned WhatsApp from staff devices. [Reuters]
IPhone users are pissed about Apple’s promotional push notifications for the F1 movie. (U2 could not be reached for comment.) [TechCrunch]
Online job hunting firm CareerBuilder + Monster files for bankruptcy. [Bloomberg]
Paramount drops the Showtime brand name from its ad-free streaming service package. [Variety]
The Electronic Frontier Foundation asked the European Commission to reconsider its plan to revive “illegal” data retention mandates for online platforms. [EFF]
Gen Alpha slang moves too fast for LLMs to understand, according to new research – performed, appropriately, by a ninth grader. [404 Media]
Media Matters sues the FTC, arguing that the commission is retaliating against the media ratings org on behalf of X owner Elon Musk. [Politico]
You’re Hired!
Ebiquity hires Michele Harrison as managing director for the Americas region and appoints Travis Lusk as group director of AI solutions. [release]
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