Platforms

The coronavirus pandemic has led advertisers to rapidly switch directions, adjusting media buys and ad creative on the fly as the market changed overnight. “Automation feels like a necessity,” says Tara Walpert Levy, VP of agency and brand solutions at Google. “Both to try to help people capture any profitable growth they can, and to […]

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Meiry Vaknin, vice president of partnerships at YouAppi. With Amazon having joined the Google and Facebook duopoly as the platforms dominating digital marketing, could new or old players be preparing […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Big Mac Budgets McDonald’s is increasing its marketing spend during the pandemic to gain share as smaller restaurant chains struggle. Doubling down on spend in markets where McDonald’s handles its own operations, including the United States, Australia and Canada, is part of a three-pronged […]

Tencent had a monster start to the year, with overall ad revenue bolstered by its gaming division (natch). But it’s being super cautious about its outlook for the second quarter compared with others in the gaming space as people return to work and have less time to game their hearts out. While Activision Blizzard and […]

Kieley Taylor will speak about commerce and video opportunities on Instagram at AdExchanger’s Programmatic IO Innovation Labs, taking place virtually May 18-21. Of all the trends accelerating due to COVID-19, the uptick in ecommerce is the one most likely to stick – and Instagram is well suited to benefit, says Kieley Taylor, global VP of social […]

Engagement with games is up during the pandemic, but it’s not only because people are looking for a way to kill time. Gaming can be a therapeutic exercise, said Brian Ames, president of Activision Blizzard Media, the advertising and marketing division within gaming juggernaut Activision Blizzard, which owns Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and […]

You are reading AdExchanger Politics, our news roundup in which senior editor James Hercher tracks the latest developments in political advertising, augmenting our political marketing commentary and news coverage. Want it by email? Sign up here.   While everyone in politics is figuring out on the fly how COVID-19 will affect US elections this year, it seems already […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Cut Me Some Slack Advertisers are trying to get out of their TV deals as the pandemic timeline lengthens. Brands including GM, Pepsi, Domino’s and General Mills are trying to cancel commitments to broadcast and cable networks, threatening to upend the deal-making process, The […]

Twitter really wants a piece of the performance advertising pie. On Tuesday, Twitter said it has acquired interactive mobile ad company CrossInstall. No deal price was disclosed. All of CrossInstall’s 70 employees will be joining Twitter. CrossInstall is a mobile-only DSP focused on user acquisition with its own home-grown bidder and proprietary creative offering, including […]

Social media use is up, but advertiser demand is down – and that dynamic means brands that are spending right now can get a lot of quality reach for low prices. CPMs on social are down on average between 15% and 30% across the board, according to five media buyers that spoke with AdExchanger. Facebook […]

Pinterest would’ve had a pretty decent first quarter if it wasn’t for … the coronavirus, of course. But engagement is at an all-time high, and the immediacy of what people are searching for is changing, said Arthur Sevilla, Pinterest’s head of global vertical strategy. The shift first became noticeable in early April. “It’s gone from […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Privacy On Pause COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in the United Kingdom’s investigation of ad tech privacy practices. The country’s data protection agency paused its probe into the sector’s use of personal data due to business disruptions, TechCrunch reports. The investigation stems from a […]

There’s no traditional upfront season this year, but Facebook is still looking for its seat at the table. And it comes bearing gifts. On Friday, Facebook said it will extend its full set of native targeting capabilities to a small group of test advertisers using Facebook Reserve (previously called Facebook Showcase), its tool for buying […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. YouTube Flexes YouTube represents a quarter of all AVOD and SVOD viewership in the United States, growing 80% year over year, per Comscore. Among ad-supported services, YouTube has the highest reach and streaming hours, the company said in a blog post. Time spent watching […]

Rubicon Project is laying off 8% of its combined staff this quarter to reduce short-term costs in response to its merger and the coronavirus pandemic. Originally, Rubicon Project and Telaria expected to achieve $15 million to $20 million in cost synergies post-merger, but the coronavirus pandemic led the newly combined company to increase cost-cutting to […]

Pinterest made $272 million in Q1 this year, a 35% jump from the same period in 2019, but its net loss increased by $100 million because ad spend crumbled in March. The company “began 2020 on strong footing,” said Pinterest CFO Todd Morgenfeld during the company earnings call Tuesday, but April ad spend declined by […]

Gaming is growing like gangbusters in a socially distanced world, but it’s not immune to macroeconomic trends. Take Activision Blizzard’s mobile gaming arm, King, home to the wildly popular Candy Crush franchise. Activision Blizzard, which also owns the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft franchises, reported its Q1 earnings on Tuesday after market close. […]

Media and Games Invest (MGI), the German holding company that acquired mobile location player Verve in January, is creating a separate business unit for its ad tech assets. The new unit, announced on Tuesday, is called Verve Group, and comes along with a mini reorg. Sameer Sondhi, previously SVP and GM of global business development […]

Although Google Ad Manager’s policy changes make it a frequent subject of criticism among some publishers, in practice publishers don’t cite these changes as negatively impacting their businesses, according to Advertiser Perceptions’ latest survey of the SSP market. The report polled 150 digital ad sales and operations professionals at sites with more than 3 million […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Facebook Warned  Facebook could lose its MRC accreditation. The MRC warned Facebook that it might lose its seal after failing to address concerns about inflated video ad metrics that arose in 2016 and led to an audit in 2019, The Wall Street Journal reports. […]

The story of Twitter’s first quarter is familiar: a strong start to the year … and then a rapid ad revenue decline in March as COVID-19 began to take hold. Twitter posted modest growth in Q1, a 3% YoY increase to $808 million, while total ad revenue was $682 million, up $3 million compared to […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Primed For TV  Amazon beefed up its ad-supported OTT ranks with the hire of Maggie Zhang, former EVP of video research and insights at Dentsu Aegis Network. At Amazon, Zhang will develop reach and measurement products for Prime Video advertisers in a role that […]

Facebook is far from immune to the economic effects of the coronavirus – but it’s doing fairly well, all things considered. The stock spiked more than 18% after hours on Wednesday on news that ad revenue grew 17% in the quarter YoY to $17.44 billion, which was better than expected. Still, ad revenue cratered over the […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Cashing In The new hottest thing on Instagram is … giving away cash. Facebook and Google ads are a slow, expensive way to accrue followers. With cash giveaways, brands acquire hundreds or thousands of new users in one swoop. Influencers provide a list of […]

Alphabet had a surprisingly strong performance in Q1 2020, with revenues up 13% from last year to a total of $41.2 billion, according to the company’s earnings report on Tuesday. YouTube revenue passed $4 billion in Q1, up from $3 billion a year ago. But Google is preparing for a much tougher Q2. “Q1 was […]

OpenX said Tuesday it has laid off, furloughed or cut hours for 15% of its employees. Most of that percentage were layoffs and furloughs, and the number of people whose hours were cut was small, the company said. OpenX reduced the salaries of its leadership team by 15% to 20%. CEO John Gentry said he […]

TikTok on Tuesday said it has opened up its advertising API to Sprinklr as its first beta partner for video ad creation and management. Sprinklr is a full-service marketing platform that allows brands to buy, optimize and measure campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest and LinkedIn. “Sprinklr is a partner for one of our […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Here To Stay Hotel and hospitality companies are well known for their marketing partnerships with food, cosmetics and retail brands. But a recent tie-up between Hilton and Lysol, the cleaning product brand owned by Reckitt Benckiser, on new cleaning protocols across all Hilton hotels […]

“The Sell Sider” is a column written for the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Alessandro De Zanche, an audience and data strategy consultant. Sports federations, leagues, clubs and athletes are fighting for their future. In a matter of weeks live sport evaporated due to COVID-19, with some events […]

Snap is seeing a boost in user activity but a dip in advertiser spend in the wake of COVID-19. Daily active users reached 229 million in the first quarter, growing across all regions and on Android and iOS, the company announced Tuesday in its Q1 2020 earnings report. That represents a 20% increase from the […]