Acquisitions, declarations and good news for native. Welcome to VAN’s Week in Review. For a weekly summary of industry news and other VAN interviews and videos, sign up to the Weekly Video Round-Up.
Nielsen Acquires Data Platform eXelate For $200 Million
Nielsen has acquired data-management technology platform and exchange eXelate this week. It marks a major shift into programmatic for TV-centric researcher Nielsen, which has been looking for ways to improve its digital audience intelligence. Details of the deal were not disclosed, but AdExchanger sources estimated the transaction price at close to $200 million.
The acquisition advances Nielsen’s capabilities beyond a purely panel-based research. Prior to its sale, eXelate was one of the last big standalone data-management platforms (DMPs).
Integral Ad Science Acquires Veenome in Bid to Improve Viewability Data
Ad verifier Integral Ad Science has acquired video analytics startup Veenome in a deal the two companies claim will improve video ad evaluation capabilities. Veenome offers products that allow advertisers to understand the context of the video content around their placement, analysing quality of content, brand safety, and viewability, and providing more data than simply whether they hit their demographic targets.
This is particularly pertinent given ongoing debate around viewability standards. Veenome claims the qualitative nature of its analysis differentiates it from other video measurement platforms.
Simulmedia So Confident in Audience-Targeted TV, They Offer a Guarantee
Simulmedia has announced an ‘Impression-to-Impact’ guarantee that assures advertisers a ‘higher return on ad spend’. The addressable TV advertising company is looking to disrupt TV advertising by employing web-like data targeting. It hit out at traditional measurements such as GRPs and daypart deliveries, stating that they alone do not capture television’s true impact on business outcomes.
For $1 million placed on its Audience Network for one month, Simulmedia will guarantee a higher Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) than any advertiser’s designated target business outcome as compared to their concurrent TV advertising base campaign.
ITV Revenue Up Despite Declining Audiences
ITV reported this week that net advertising revenues would grow 11 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2015. The UK commercial broadcaster’s share of the British TV advertising market also rose marginally to 45.9 percent. The results are boosted by spending being brought forward due to the UK general election.
However, audience share fell to its lowest since 2010, despite the football World Cup and the launch of two additional channels. Viewing was down 5 percent year-on-year to 22 percent in 2014. Chief executive Adam Crozier blamed BBC spending and ITV’s scheduling. Currently, poor viewing figures are not yet impacting advertising spend.
Twitter Launches Embedded Video, Ups Competition with YouTube
Twitter has launched a new embedded video widget, allowing users to highlight Twitter-hosted video on their website, enhanced by the same JavaScript used to render Tweet buttons and embedded Tweets. Video embeds are available for videos captured and uploaded through Twitter’s applications for iOS and Android as well as Twitter Amplify partners.
TubeMogul Sees Courage of Convictions Over Platform Model
TubeMogul‘s self-serve model now accounts for 76 percent of total client spend with the company, according to its Q4 earnings call. The remaining 24 percent comes from its managed-service model, but the video demand-side platform (DSP) is aiming for an 80-20 split by the end of 2015. The average client spend committed by self-serve Platform Direct users has substantially increased, up 62 percent year over year.
Total advertiser spend through the platform totalled $254.3 million, a 127 percent increase over last year. TubeMogul endured a rocky IPO process in 2014, partially because it needed to prove the value of its platform model versus a solely managed-services offering.
Majority of Consumers Positive Over Native Advertising
The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) revealed that nearly two-thirds (59 percent) of consumers find native advertising interesting and informative. The findings came as part of research report, The Power of Native. The report also shows that a third (33 percent) of consumers trust native over traditional adverting and that clicking on a native ad driver on a premium content website has greater impact than clicking via Facebook. However, commentators warned that the tone and content of any advert was vital to how it was received.
DTG Warns Against ‘Over-Promising’ on 4K
The UK’s Digital TV Group (DTG) has warned against ‘over-promising on the 4K experience’ claiming that exaggerating picture quality early on could damage consumer confidence. The DTT TV technology body raised the concerns after the Advertising Standards Authority warned DSG Retail – the parent firm of Currys and PC World – that it should not re-run a Christmas ad implying that 4K TVs would show greater detail without supporting evidence.
UK Television Viewing Falls as Some Users Turn to Tablets and Laptops
UK television viewers watched an average of 3 hours, 44 minutes, 30 seconds a day per person in 2014, down 4.5 percent year-on-year according to research by Thinkbox, the UK marketing body for commercial TV. The decline is attributed to a drop in TV set viewing, which decreased by 4.7 percent. Viewing on other screens grew year-on-year by 17 percent, though the research implies that this still only accounts for a small proportion of overall TV viewing at around 1.6 percent.
FCC Reinstates Net Neutrality Regulation
After months of intense debate in the USA, the FCC approved rules that reinstate so-called net neutrality regulation, which is intended to protect the openness of the Internet. The new rules replace regulation adopted by the FCC in 2010 and thrown out by a federal court last year.
Netflix Looks to China, Australia and New Zealand
Netflix will attempt to break into the booming, but notoriously difficult Chinese market without the help of a local partner. Reuters reported that Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos told Chinese reporters in Shanghai that the House of Cards producer was also planning to look at exporting content produced in China to the rest of the world. Elsewhere, the platform is to launch in Australia and New Zealand on March 24.
AOL UK Appoints Hamish Nicklin as New Managing Director
Nicklin, who will report to AOL international chief Graham Moysey, replaces Noel Penzer, who was recently named as Time Out Group’s European managing director. He was previously director of agency sales at Google UK.
blinkx Media UK Partners with Fullist.co.uk to Targets Millennials
Digital media agency blinxk Media announced it has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with news and opinion site, Fullist. The partnership will see blinkx Media offer rich media, video and display, and native advertising solutions to brands including UNILAD and The Daily Mash.
Quickplay Acquires Roundbox
Quickplay,has confirmed the acquisition of New Jersey based Roundbox, a technology provider for the optimisation of video over mobile networks. The acquisition supports the video distribution company’s, strategy to enable the monetisation of viewing experiences using multicast and unicast technologies that leverage 4G LTE Broadcast – eMBMS, WiFi, 3G, and 4G.
VAN@Mobile World Congress
This week, VAN has been reporting from Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. Some of the highlights are below:
VPAID 2.0 and Video’s Superiority over Display will Fuel Mobile Video’s Growth in 2015
Allen Klosowski, VP, Mobile & Connected Devices at SpotXchange, explains why the hype around mobile video is entirely justified. Read more on VAN.
Starcom’s Mulderink: Mobile Video Budgets are Coming from Digital, Not TV
Matt Mulderink, SVP, Director of Mobile and Social, Product and Partnerships at Starcom Mediavest explained to VAN how video’s growth needn’t necessarily come at TV’s expense how Starcom’s clients perceive mobile and how mobile is reaching millennials. Read more on VAN.
Native Mobile Video Ads will Allow Publishers to Compete with Google and Facebook
Atul Satija, CRO at InMobi, the world’s largest independent mobile ad network, explains why he believes that native mobile video advertising will enable smaller publishers to compete on a more level footing with the tech giants. Read more on VAN.
Ad of the Week: Always, #likeagirl, Stronger Together, Leo Burnett
Scenes of strength, skill and confidence as girls seek to redefine the phrase, ‘Like a girl’.
