In this week’s Week in Review: Verizon goes after Yahoo, Unruly and AppNexus partner and Twitter unveils new Tweet carousel. To receive a weekly summary of industry news and other VAN interviews and videos, sign up to the weekly Video Round-Up.
“In-House” Digital Activity in Decline
The number of brands planning to take their digital activity in-house has halved over the last 12 months, a report from trade body SoDA has found. The reports hows the amount of brands looking to “take digital in-house” has dropped from 27 per cent a year ago to 13 per cent in 2016, whereas the number of agencies claiming to work with three or more digital shops grew to 42 per cent.
Verizon Revives Bid to Buy Yahoo
US mobile operator Verizon has planned to submit a US$3 billion second-round bid for Yahoo’s core web assets ahead of the deadline. It’s been reported that Verizon was expected to meet Monday’s deadline for second round of bids, with Yahoo expected to hold “at least one more” cycle of bidding.
82 Per Cent of Content is Shared on “Dark Social”
Globally, 82 percent of content shared on mobile is shared through messaging, email or text, according to RadiumOne. The report found that just 13 per cent is shared via Facebook, and the remaining 10 per cent through the other public social networks.
Twitter Test Video Tweet Carousel
A new ad unit that allows brands to combine multiple tweets is being tested by Twitter. ‘Promoted Tweet Carousel’ lets marketers use a brand’s tweets in a format that lets users swipe through photos, videos or text. Advertisers also can include content from niche creators, providing they get permission from the originator first. The Carousel unit is a way for brands to include visually appealing material in certain tweets while featuring pricing and information in others.
Tremor Video Adds Creative Review Capabilities
Tremor Video has added advanced creative review capabilities within its seller platform. This new feature allows publishers to evaluate creative assets that are currently competing in the auction environment and ensure the ads appropriately match the content on the page.
Publishers’ Reach on Facebook Sinks
Overall reach for publishers who use Facebook has dropped 42 per cent, according to a new report from SocialFlow. The rapid decline in overall reach during the past few months has been attributed to factors such as Facebook’s algorithms for promoting personal posts or preventing an overload in newsfeeds.
Yahoo Drives More Traffic than Twitter
Yahoo is driving more traffic than originally thought, according to a Chartbeat blog. Yahoo has added a referral tag to its homepage and quickly went from being the number 16 referral source for publishers to number 6 after Facebook, Google Search, Twitter, Google News and Bing.
Adverts Most Acceptable Through Podcasts
If people have to receive adverts, they’d rather get them through podcasts, according to a new study from comScore and Wondery. The study shows that ads within a podcast were found to be the least intrusive when compared with other types of digital ads and people were more likely to act on them.
Cafemedia Launches Digital Video Studio
Cafemedia has launched a digital video production studio, CafeMedia Studios. The video studio launch will enhance the company’s multi-platform video strategy.
Facebook to Incorporate Video Game Livestreaming
Blizzard Entertainment has agreed a deal with Facebook which will allow video game fans to livestream their playing experience on their news feed. The collaboration with Blizzard will kick off by offering users the option to login with Facebook and share in-game content with their friends, who will be able to leave real-time comments underneath the game play.
Advertising Worth £18 Billion to UK Media And Entertainment Industry
TV is the largest sector in terms of revenue for the Media and Entertainment Industry in the UK, but Advertising is a close second, according to Deloitte’s latest Media Metrics Report. Advertising is worth £18bn to the Media and Entertainment Industry, and as a whole, the combined revenue of the UK’s top 100 media and entertainment companies is expected to surpass £100bn in the next five years.
IABM Appoints Director of Europe
Fernando Lopez Cisneros has been made Director, Europe, of IABM, a newly created position. IABM hopes this position will strengthen their presence and activity in the media technology market, and is the latest move in IABM’s drive to serve vendors in all the world’s major markets.
Tubular Labs Raises $10 Million in Funding
A financing round led by Marker LLC has put Tubular Lab’s funding total to date up to $31m. The video company has also launched their ‘Media Property Rankings’, where media companies can see their total monthly views across all online video properties, ranked against their competitors.
Warner Bros Open Digital Video Division
A new division focused on building Warner Bros. owned digital and OTT video service has been opened. Warner Bros. Digital Networks will accelerate the company’s owned OTT activities, including DramaFever and Warner Archive Instant, an SVOD service offering classic Warner Bros. titles.
Teads.tv Creates Outstream Video Accreditation Program
A new accreditation program to equip media buyers with the latest training in outstream video advertising has been created by Teads.tv. The decision was made after a survey they conducted found that nearly 70 per cent of brand professionals agree outstream will grow significantly over the next two years.
SVoD Growth Reliant on Multiple Subscriptions
OTT TV and video revenues in Canada and the US will reach $24.39 billion in 2021; up from $2.67 billion in 2010 and $15.39 billion in 2015, according to the latest figures from Digital TV Research. The SVOD total is forecast to climb to 109.59 million by 2021, with a forecasted 25 million being secondary SVoD subscriptions.
NeuLion Acquires Saffron Digital
Online video content provider, NeuLion, has completed its acquisition of Saffron Digital. Saffron Digital is a private company that helps its customers build multi-platform digital video services for entertainment delivered over-the-top to internet connected devices.
TV Still Dominates Video Consumption
In the U.K, TV accounts for 76 per cent of total average video consumption, whilst YouTube accounts for 4.4 per cent of video viewing. The news comes from TV trade bodies from around the globe, including Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, who have recently published reports to put video consumption in perspective. For 16-24s, TV accounts for 57.5 per cent of all video, compared to 10.3 per cent for YouTube.
Amazon Takes Streaming Partner Programme International
An international launch for Amazon’s recently-introduced, TV company-backed Streaming Partner Program (SPP) is “imminent”, according to Ampere Analysis. The report says that Amazon’s US SPP offering, which now contains 46 partner subscription services from the likes of Showtime and Starz, indicates a wider international move is in the offing.
Videology Chosen By Bell Media
Bell Media has selected Videology’s programmatic TV technology for their entire TV and digital video inventory portfolio. Through the proposed partnership, Bell Media will benefit from enhanced audience targeting capabilities through the use of first and third party data.
Evolution Digital and WOW! TV Reach Agreement
Evolution Digital has signed a distribution agreement with WOW! Internet, Broadband and Cable to deploy Evolution Digital’s newly developed eVUE-TV IP video solution. WOW! is the first company to use the new video solution.
Australians Average 6.4 Screens Per Household
There are an average of 6.4 screens per Australian home, up from 5.4 in Q1 2012, according to the latest Australian Multi-Screen Report from Regional TAM, OzTAM and Nielsen, covering the first quarter of calendar 2016. The report shows that year-on-year, the share of time spent viewing any video content on computers, tablets or smartphones rose from 11.6 per cent to 15.7 per cent.
90 Per Cent Skip Pre-Roll Ads
Ninety percent of people skip pre-roll ads appearing ahead of online video content and TV shows, a survey of 1,015 adults by ORC International, in conjunction with ad-tech firm Mirriad, has found. Of those surveyed, 76 per cent reported blocking ads online and skipping traditional TV ads.
Google Most Valuable Brand
Google has once again overtaken Apple to claim pole position and become the most valuable brand in the world, according to Millward Brown and WPP’s annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands. According to BrandZ, Alphabet leads the pack because of Google’s growth in advertising money, growth in its cloud business and the company’s constant innovation.
Snapchat Growth to Surpass Rivals in 2016
Snapchat is poised to pull ahead of Twitter and Pinterest in the US for the first time, according to eMarketer. The research forecasts that the messaging app will grow its user base by double digits to reach almost one in five Americans, and that Snapchat’s stateside user base will jump by 27.2 per cent to 58.6 million in 2016, outpacing Twitter which will have 56.8 million users in the US.
Internet Advertising to Take Over TV
TV advertising will remain strong over the next five years but internet advertising will overtake broadcast advertising in the US next year, according to PwC’s annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook. PwC forecasts that entertainment and media spending will hit $720 billion by 2020, up from $603 billion in 2015.
Millennials Make 73 Per Cent of Purchasing B2B Decisions
Up to 73 per cent of millennials are involved in product or service purchase decision-making at their companies, a report on B2B marketing from Sacuna has found. Approximately one third of those surveyed said they were the sole decision maker at their company.
JICWEBS Tackles Video Viewability
The UK’s Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS), has addressed online viewability with updated guidelines. The publication marks guidelines for products that measure the viewability of online video.
People Are “Bored” Of Instagram and Facebook
Internet users are abandoning Facebook and Instagram for more private apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram, according to new research. The study showed that out of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat, Instagram showed the biggest drop in global usage, down 23.7 per cent year-on-year.
Unruly and AppNexus Partner on Outstream Video Ad Offering
News Corp-owned video ad tech company Unruly has partnered with AppNexus to allow advertisers and publishers to transact outstream video campaigns at scale. AppNexus buyers will have access to more than a billion monthly viewable outstream video impressions via UnrulyX. AppNexus has also partnered with DailyMotion as the newest video SSP partner to its video platform.
Hires of the Week:
UK Editor of Mashable Leaves for CNN
Blathnaid Healy, the UK Editor of digital media website Mashable, is leaving the company to work for CNN International as Senior Editor. The news comes two weeks after Mashable’s head of EMEA operations, Ben Maher, departed the company.
beIN Media Appoints MD of Asia
Mike Kerr has been appointed Managing Director, Asia of beIN Media. beIN Media has been expanding its reach in Asia, and has plans to grow geographically while expanding into new genres and greater content production.
Vimeo CEO Steps Down
Kerry Trainor, CEO of Vimeo, is leaving his post at IAC/InterActiveCorp’s video website after building the niche outlet for filmmakers into a destination for high-end internet TV series. IAC CEO Joey Levin will serve as Vimeo’s interim boss.
This Week on VAN:
Network Level Ad-Blocking is ‘Unworkable’ says Telco Expert, read more on VAN
ANA Report Shines Light on ‘Pervasive’ and Multifaceted Agency Kickback Culture, read more on VAN
The Tech Sessions: Making the Most of Server-Side Ad Insertion, read more on VAN
Ad of the Week: Mr Seed, The Clif Bar Family Foundation, The Butler Brothers
What would a potty mouthed seed say about the agricultural business in the US? Glad you asked. This short video explains.
