In this week’s Week in Review: European broadcasters have launched their combined programmatic video exchange to rival the duopoly, Mindshare has launched ‘Anna’ their programmable media service, and Fox’s bid for Sky has been referred to the competition & markets authority. To receive an update on the industry’s top stories every Friday, sign up to the weekly Video Round-Up.
Top Stories
IAB Europe Launches New Push Against EU Privacy Proposal
The Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe has launched an initiative opposing the EU’s proposed GDPR privacy rules, which would require companies to obtain consumers’ consent before collecting a host of data. The IAB Europe argues that the regulations could cause “up to half of the digital advertising market” to disappear.
The IAB specifically said that a recent survey it commissioned from GfK shows that 88 per cent of Europeans say they would use the web “far less” if they had to pay. The organization also contends that digital advertising contributes 526 billion Euros to the EU’s economy. That figure includes what the IAB Europe terms “ripple effects” from a much smaller amount spent on online ads, 41.8 billion Euros in 2016.
Mindshare Launches ‘Anna’ Programmable Media Service
Mindshare has announced its new platform, ‘Anna’, which it says is the industry’s first “programmable” approach to demand-side platform and dynamic creative optimisation control. The tool allow users to create code to programme their DSPs and DCOs, configuring media-buying strategies and creative rules automatically. According to the company, this will remove the laborious manual configuration that media planners currently go through. Anna has been launched with DSP partner AppNexus and DCO company Jivox, both of which have upgraded their platforms so they can receive code-based instructions through Anna.
Fox Sky Bid Referred to Competition & Markets Authority
Culture secretary Karen Bradley has referred 21st Century Fox’s bid to take over Sky to the Competition & Markets Authority. Bradley told the House of Commons that she had not been persuaded to move from an earlier position in which she said was “minded to” refer the deal to the CMA over media plurality concerns. Additionally, the minister has also referred the deal to the CMA on the basis of “broadcasting standards” concerns, which had not been raised publicly until now.
The CMA referral means the protracted deal will be held up even longer as a six-month investigation takes its course.
The Week in Tech
Inneractive Launches Video Advertising Monetization Platform
Inneractive have launched their Video Advertising Monetization Platform to enable publishers to discover the optimal mix of ad units, run innovative video ad formats with high levels of viewability and user engagement, and create custom packages of valuable audience segments to increase pricing accuracy.
Teads Rolls Out New Viewable Display Units to Advertisers
Teads has announced that the company now provides the ability to create interactive, viewable display units. Teads’ new suite of inRead display products, including Scroller, Canvas, Swing, Slideshow and Carousel, are the first viewable by design display formats, guaranteeing viewability for advertisers’ creatives in a brand-safe environment. Advertisers can buy Teads’ viewable display units either through managed services, with guaranteed inventory, or through programmatic private marketplace deals.
PacketZoom Launches Free Analytics Tool for Mobile App Developers
PacketZoom has launched Mobile IQ, a free mobile analytical tool to let app developers analyse and troubleshoot app performances in real-time. The feature will be integrated as part of PacketZoom’s Mobile Expresslane platform. The addition of Mobile IQ should offer enhanced end-to-end analytics, control and optimisation. PacketZoom has vowed to keep Mobile IQ free of charge forever.
VR Industry Forum to Present First Industry Guidelines
The Virtual Reality Industry Forum is due to present the first draft of its industry guidelines at IBC this year. The forum has announced that they will emphasise interoperability and are designed to spur the availability of “high quality audiovisual VR experiences”. The initial release will focus on the delivery of 360° video with three degrees of freedom and will include:
- documentation of cross-industry interoperability;
- best industry practices for production of VR360 content, with an emphasis on human factors like motion sickness;
- and security considerations for VR360 streaming, including user privacy and content protection.
The VRIF said that, post-IBC, the finalised guidelines will be released at the Consumer Electronics Show in January to mark one year since the launch of the organisation.
The Week in TV
Turner Teams with Canal+ to Launch Warner TV
Turner Broadcast has teamed up with Canal+ Group to launch a new channel exclusive to the French pay TV operator’s subscribers, Broadband TV News reports. Turner has collaborated with Time Warner Group sister company Warner Bros on the rollout of the channel, which will reinforce Turner’s position in fiction channel channels in Europe. TNT is already present in several markets in Europe, including Spain. Turner’s existing portfolio in France includes TCM Cinéma, CNN International, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Boing and Toonami.
European Connected TV Ad Market Set for Huge Growth
The European connected TV advertising market could be worth €825 million by 2020, according to MTM. The UK is Europe’s market leader in connected TV advertising, with €125 million’s worth of advertising being viewed, and the market expected to grow to €250 million by 2020.
However, France will see the greatest growth in connected advertising amongst the five markets considered by MTM, with connected TV advertising growing from €35 million last year to €240 million by 2020. In all markets participants believe total audience measurement, combining TV and digital audience measurement, is crucial for the CTV ad market to develop.
Arris Debuts Android TV-Powered 4K HDR STB
Arris has unveiled a new line of Android TV-powered Ultra High Definition, High Dynamic Range set-top boxes at IBC. The next-gen STBs are designed to address the ever evolving requirements for cable, telco, satellite and terrestrial operators around the world. They offer WiFi connectivity and DVR options, as well as support and integration with DVB networks, and conditional access and DRM security solutions.
Netflix and Amazon Forecast to Withdraw from Russia
Netflix and Amazon Prime Video will withdraw from Russia due to new laws on OTT platform ownership, Digital TV Europe reports. A recent regulatory decree means foreign ownership of digital video platforms with more than 100,000 subscribers is limited to 20 per cent, similar to rules for owning linear networks that has seen many broadcasters withdraw from the market.
Murdoch’s 20th Century Fox Aims to Block CBS Network Ten Takeover
Rupert Murdoch’s 20th Century Fox has joined in the legal battle being waged by his son Lachlan and fellow media mogul Bruce Gordon to block the US network CBS from taking over the Ten Network. Channel Ten may be Australia’s third-rated free-to-air network but it has become a battleground between two of the world’s most powerful media companies.
Apple Unveils Apple TV 4K
Apple has unveiled a new 4K and High Dynamic Range compatible Apple TV device, and announced plans to launch its TV app in Europe by the end of the year. The fifth-generation Apple TV 4K was announced at Apple’s launch event in its new Cupertino headquarters. Apple said its latest streaming player will offer 4K HDR content from iTunes and streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, which is due to launch on Apple TV later this year.
EMarketer Cuts US TV Ad Spend Forecast by $1 Billion Due To Cord Cutters
eMarketer has lowered its US TV ad spend forecast for 2017 by $1 billion, citing “faster-than-expected growth in cord cutting” as the main contributor to the decline. US TV ad spend will still grow, but by just 0.5 per cent this year to $71.7 billion, down from the $72.7 billion the firm predicted in Q1. As a result, TV will represent 34.9 per cent of US media ad spend, and will decline to less than 30 per cent by 2021.
US cord cutters have grown since 2016 by 33.2 per cent to 22 million. By 2021, eMarketer believes that number will total 40.1 million. And “cord nevers,” or people who have never owned a cable box, will grow 5.8 per cent this year to 34 million.
The Week in Publishing
Google Launches Fightback Against Record £2.2 Billion EU Fine
Google has launched its appeal against Brussels in a fightback over its record monopoly abuse fine. The Commission hit Google with the fine in June after finding the company had illegally abused the dominance of its search engine to promote its online shopping over smaller comparison sites. Google is facing further multi-billion euro fines from the Commission over its Android software and online advertising network.
WhatsApp Testing Ads to WhatsApp via Facebook
WhatsApp is testing consumer chats with businesses, originating from Facebook adverts. TechCrunch has reportedly found a piece of code buried within Facebook’s advertising manager that allowed companies to purchase ads that included a “Send WhatsApp Message” call-to-action. The find shows how Facebook is approaching monetising its WhatsApp messaging service. Though for the time being WhatsApp won’t actually be offering any adverts for sale. Testing is going through Facebook right now.
Mobile Dominating Digital Minutes
Mobile now accounts for half of all digital minutes across 13 markets, and a massive 75 per cent in Mexico, India and Indonesia, according to comScore. Their report is based on data from the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia. When it comes to measuring the average mobile minutes per visitor, Latin American countries rank at the top.
‘The Global Mobile Report’ also confirmed that 80 per cent of all mobile minutes across all markets were being spent in apps. All markets have users which are active on mobile during the month, but in India 70 per cent of users are mobile-only.
China’s Digital Video Ad Spending to Overtake TV by 2021
In China, advertisers’ increased focus on mobile, along with investments in video and social, will continue to boost overall digital ad spend, according to eMarketer. This year, eMarketer estimates that overall digital ad spend in China will reach $50.31 billion, of which 72.0 per cent will go to mobile channels. Video is the fastest growing ad format within digital, and by 2021 eMarketer expects it will overtake spending on traditional TV, accounting for 13.4 per cent of all media ad expenditures.
Facebook Offers New Ad Controls in Response ‘Uneasiness’ over Brand Safety
Facebook is introducing new controls for publishers and creators over where advertising appears and around the type of content that can be monetised as it tries to allay marketers’ fears over brand safety, measurement and viewability. The changes will apply new standards to the type of content that can be monetised around in-stream ads and its Instant Articles feature.
Facebook will also begin to provide advertisers with both pre-and-post campaign reporting. Facebook’s VP of global marketing solutions, Carolyn Everson, said the changes are in response to a growing “uneasiness” among marketers about digital advertising that the social network hears “loud and clear”. The move comes hot on the heels of Facebook claiming to be able to reach more young people than actually exist in the UK, US and other countries.
Trinity Mirror Ditches Consortium and Launches Direct Takeover Bid for Express and Star
Trinity Mirror, the publisher of Labour-supporting Daily and Sunday Mirror titles has confirmed it has made an offer to take control of the Northern and Shell publishing group. Billionaire Richard Desmond was known to be positioning to sell his Express and Star newspapers and celebrity magazine OK! But the £130 million deal has sparked controversy over media plurality, with the National Union of Journalists expressing concern about the looming deal between political opposites. “The merger of national media titles would have implications for media plurality and diversity,” said Séamus Dooley, acting general secretary of the NUJ. “We would want a clear understanding of how the editorial independence of the titles will be managed.”
P&G Issues Rebuttal of Peltz’s Trian White Paper
Procter & Gamble have hit back at activist investor Nelson Peltz, in a withering response to his 94-page “white-paper”. P&G said that Peltz’s document simply “confirms that Mr Peltz has a very outdated and misinformed view of P&G”, and says that it ignores factors such as P&G’s industry-leading market shares, the consolidation of its portfolio from 170 to 65 brands, and structural reorganisation. The firm noted that his plans would only create more complexities in the firm’s management, ramp up costs and cut into the company’s profits.
The firm said it was delivering on its profit and cash flow objectives, that it was well-positioned to meet its savings targets, and had increased its dividend for 61 years in a row.
Video and Innovative Digital Formats Driving Global Ad Growth to 2019
Online video, social media in-feed ads, and other digital formats such as paid content and native advertising are leading the growth in global advertising, according to Zenith Media. Between 2016 and 2019 digital formats will drive 14 per cent annual growth in total display advertising. Total display expenditure will rise from $84 billion to $126 billion over this period, accounting for 64 per cent of all the growth in global ad expenditure.
Most of this growth is coming from online video at 21 per cent growth a year, and social media, at 20 per cent growth a year. Zenith note that online video is much better at conveying brand values than traditional display formats like banners. And that video advertising is now central to the growth strategies of most social media platforms.
Consumers Sick of Interruptive Ads on Mobile
Consumers have named their three least liked mobile ad formats. According to Inskin Media, the three worst formats have one frustrating feature in common, they all get in the way of content being consumed. Pop-up ad were named by 28 per cent of respondents as the most interruptive format, ads placed in the middle of the screen were second with 26 per cent, followed by ads that prolong page loading times 18 per cent. Ads that disrupt, delay or otherwise distract are the main annoyance of the average consumer.
Younger Consumers Moving Towards Exclusive Online Viewing
Traditional TV providers are struggling to maintain market share as consumers look to online streaming and other types of entertainment. According to Adobe, two-thirds of consumers under the age of 35 report using online streaming subscriptions to regularly watch television, over one-quarter are already watching TV exclusively online, and another 30 per cent say they will do so within the next two years.
60 Per Cent of Digital Publishers Auto-playing Half Their Video Ads
Sixty per cent of digital publishers are auto-playing at least half of their video ads across their own sites, according to MediaRadar. Auto-play is a ‘double-edged sword, as it quickly captures audience attention but is also deemed more intrusive by consumers. According to the report, there’s minimal month-to-month variance when it comes to auto-play strategies. Meaning a large number of sites have adopted a model and follow it rigorously.
The Week for Agencies
Vivendi ‘Close to Agreement’ with AGCOM over Mediaset
Vivendi is close to finding an agreement with Italian regulator AGCOM over the fate of its shares in Mediaset, Reuters reports. Vivendi currently holds a 28.8 per cent stake in the broadcaster, and has proposed transferring its holding above the 10 per cent threshold into a blind trust. According to Reuters, the regulator will study the terms of the agreement ahead of its meeting on September 13, but a final decision is not expected before April next year.
Adam & Eve Shareholders Pocket £110 Million After Earn-Out
The founding shareholders in Adam & Eve have collected an estimated £110 million from the sale of their agency to Omnicom, after completing a lucrative earn-out worth triple the amount they received initially.
Partnerships of the Week
ITV Taps AWS Elemental for Streaming Video
ITV has tapped video processing specialist AWS Elemental to deliver technology to modernise its streaming video capabilities. AWS Elemental Live software is now deployed in ITV’s two playout centers, encoding high-quality streams to two ITV data centers where ITV online services originate.
S4M Partners Factual to Boost Location Data Across Mobile Ad Platform
Mobile programmatic tech-co S4M has partnered with location data provider Factual to integrate its location data with the S4M mobile-first full stack FUSIO platform. The move means that FUSIO clients will be able to access Factual’s measurement products to optimise their campaigns against foot traffic and measure attribution post-campaign.
Viaccess OrcaTV Teams Up with Hi-Global for ‘Adaptive’ STB
Viaccess-Orca has teamed up with middleware specialist Hi-Global Technology to launch the Adaptive Box, a set-top box that combines Viaccess-Orca’s Adaptive Sentinel Conditional Access System, multi-DRM solution, and TVaaS platform with middleware from Hi-Global Technology. The box is designed to provide pay TV operators with a complete STB and TV apps solution for the distribution of satellite, cable, direct-to-home, IPTV, and OTT services.
Hires of the Week
Videoamp Appoints Tom Schmitt CFO
Videoamp has appointed former FreeWheel COO and CFO, Tom Schmitt, as its first chief financial officer. Prior to FreeWheel.TV Schmitt was a VP of Finance, Products & Technology at Salesforce.
Havas Hires Maxus’s Stephanie Marks as MD of Havas Media
Havas has appointed Maxus’s deputy managing director Stephanie Marks as UK managing director of Havas Media. The media agency has been without a managing director since Natasha Murray left in 2016 to join Guardian News & Media.
Adobe Appoints Philip Duffield as New MD for Advertising Cloud in EMEA
Adobe has announced the appointment of Philip Duffield as managing director of Adobe Advertising Cloud for EMEA. Duffield joins Adobe from consulting with Samba TV, a San Francisco-based data and analytics company that provides insights on TV audiences.
DoubleVerify Appoints Olaf Mahr to Open German Operations
DoubleVerify has announced that Olaf Mahar has joined the company to lead its operations in Germany centered in Berlin. Most recently Mahar led the sales operations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Nordics and Eastern Europe for a leading ad tech provider. Prior to that, he was the CEO of VoodooVideo AG.
This Week on VAN
UK Ad Industry Successfully Curbs Brand Safety Risk, read more on VAN
Why Advertisers Are Thinking Outside the Video Box, read more on VAN
The Guardian Chooses OpenX as its Programmatic Partner, read more on VAN
Ad of the Week: The Whole Chicken, KFC, Mother
Because chickens and DMX somehow work. And because of the outrage that live chickens were used in the advert… When KFC sells them fried.
