In this week’s Week in Review: Enders Analysis says Brexit will hit UK TV advertising hard, AdX cuts off Adobe in Europe, and YouTube strengthens its child safety measures. To receive an update on the industry’s top stories every Friday, sign up to the weekly Video Round-Up.
Top Stories
Brexit Will Cause Five Percent Drop in UK TV Advertising says Enders
Britain’s exit from the European union will take a heavy toll on the UK’s TV advertising industry, according to a report from Enders Analysis released this week. Enders has revised its UK TV advertising forecast down to minus five percent year-on-year due to the prospect of a no-deal Brexit on 31st October.
Enders says a no deal scenario implies the interruption of the free flow of goods across the UK’s borders with Ireland, France and the EU generally. Given the amount UK consumers spend on imported goods from Europe, this cutting off of supply will damage TV advertising – since these European brands will cut their UK ad spend. At the same time Enders says general economic uncertainty caused by a no-deal Brexit will make advertisers less willing to commit budgets to TV.
AdX Cuts Off Adobe DSP Access in EMEA, Citing ‘Malware’ Concerns
Google has cut off Adobe’s demand-side platform (DSP) in Europe from buying inventory from its ad exchange, saying the move is related to Adobe’s implication in a recent malvertising attack. Adobe’s DSP was suspected of helping distribute a form of malvertising (advertising which spreads malware) called eGobbler, according to Adweek. While Google hasn’t commented on the move, it fits with Google’s existing policy, which says any authorised buyer whose creative is found to contain malware will face a minimum three-month suspension from Google Ad Manager.
Adobe Advertising Cloud’s managing director for EMEA Phil Duffield said that Google’s block is temporary, and that the two are working together to implement new security measures, and then restore Adobe’s access to AdX.
YouTube Bolsters Child Safety Measures Amid Legal Pressure
YouTube is reportedly implementing two new measures designed to better protect young users of its platform, as it faces continued legal pressure over child safety. Firstly, the company is planning to stop running targeted ads on videos which are primarily aimed at children. The move would see an immediate revenue loss for YouTube, but would help avoid inadvertent collection of children’s data. Secondly, YouTube officially announced that it is discontinuing private messaging on the platform. The company said this was driven by its decision to focus more on public conversations, but it seems likely child safety was a motivator here too. Numerous platforms have had problems with private messaging features allowing adults to communicate privately with children, and cutting off this feature helps mitigate this danger.
The Week in Tech
IAB Seeks to Address Regulators’ GDPR Concerns with Transparency and Consent Framework 2.0
European industry group IAB Europe this week released an updated version of its Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF 2.0), an industry standard designed to help publishers and tech companies comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. IAB Europe says the update, developed in partnership with sister organisation IAB Tech Lab, is based on feedback from various data protection authorities (DPAs) around the EU. The group says TCF 2.0 give consumers more control over their data, and publishers more flexibility with how they allow vendors to process data. Read the full story on VAN.
Facebook Offers a ‘Clear History’ Button… Of Sorts
Facebook this week announced it is launching its long promised ‘clear history’ feature to users, though some have criticised the tool as not living up to its promise. The clear history button is part of a wider release which lets users see how Facebook tracks their off-Facebook activity. But when users choose to clear their history, their off-Facebook data won’t actually be deleted, instead it will be disconnected from their account. “If you clear your off-Facebook activity, we’ll remove your identifying information from the data that apps and websites choose to send us,” said the company in a blog post. “We won’t know which websites you visited or what you did there, and we won’t use any of the data you disconnect to target ads to you on Facebook, Instagram or Messenger.”
seems apt that on the same day that thousands of people fell for an Instagram copypasta hoax about protecting your data, Facebook revealed that it’s most important post-Cambridge Analytica privacy promise – a clear history tool – will not in fact clear anyone’s history
— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) August 21, 2019
Samba TV Acquires Axwave
Samba TV this week announced that it has acquired Axwave for an undisclosed fee, a deal which will provide it with more automatic content recognition (ACR) data for smart TVs. “Combined with Samba’s AI-driven commercial break detection from 20m households worldwide, Axwave’s workflow for automatic detection and tagging of TV spots and its use of computer vision for logos and brands in linear video builds a foundation for the most accurate, real-time global TV spot schedule,” Samba TV said in a statement.
The Week in TV
UK Considers Relaxing TV Ad Break Limits
UK public-service broadcasters are in talks with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) over a potential relaxation of rules limiting the length of ad breaks, according to The Times. PSBs are currently restricted to showing seven minutes of advertising per hour of television outside of prime time, while commercial rivals can show up to nine minutes. But the broadcasters are reportedly seeking changes to the Ofcom rules to help boost their revenues in the face of competitive pressure from streaming rivals like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Apple TV+ Set for November Launch
Apple TV+, Apple’s upcoming subscription streaming service, will launch this November, according to a Bloomberg report. At release, the service will have a very limited number of shows according to Bloomberg, with Apple considering offering an initial free trial period to tempt users in while it builds its library. The FT reported earlier in the week that Apple has set aside $6 billion for content, a big increase from the initial $1 billion budget.
As it continues to commission content, Bloomberg says Apple is still settling on its pricing and content scheduling strategies. At the moment, a $9.99 per month price seems likely – in line with Netflix, but more expensive than Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. And Apple is contemplating launching the first three episodes of some programmes simultaneously, followed by weekly episode releases for the rest of the season.
Deutsche Telekom Combines Gaming with OTT via a New Cloud Gaming Service
German telco Deutsche Telekom has announced plans to launch a new cloud gaming service, Magenta Gaming, which will be integrated with its MagentaTV over-the-top service. The move follows closely behind Google’s own cloud gaming announcement, and demonstrates the increasing convergence of video streaming and gaming, partly enabled by cloud gaming.
Deutsche Telekom says MagentaGaming will allow users to play high end games on their PCs, smartphones, tablets and smart TVs. At launch, the service will be available via an app, though the company says in the future it hopes to make MagentaGaming available via a web browser too. The service is entering a beta testing phase with over 100 games available on 24th August – a full rollout is expected in 2020. Read the full story on VAN.
Disney+ Won’t Be Available on Amazon Fire TV
Disney this week announced the first international launch dates for its upcoming streaming service Disney+, revealing it will debut in Canada and the Netherlands on November 12th, the same as its US launch date. It will then launch in Australia and New Zealand a week later. The company also announced it has reached distribution agreements with Apple, Google, Microsoft, Roku and Sony – with Amazon a notable absence. This means that, as things stand, it won’t be available via Amazon Fire TV. As Gizmodo documented, Disney and Amazon have a history of spats, which may be the cause of this lack of partnership.
The Week in Publishing
Reddit Appears Set to Enter Live Streaming Market with First Test
Social news and content sharing site Reddit this week begun testing a new live streaming feature called Reddit Public Access Network, or RPAN. The five day test lets users broadcast live streams via the Reddit mobile app, with streams hosted on the Reddit website. While the company says the test is “first and foremost […] about having fun as a Reddit community”, it added that if the feature proves popular it’ll explore how it might work as a permanent feature. Read the full story on VAN.
Facebook Looks for Journalists for Upcoming News Tab
Facebook is looking to hire a team of journalists to help curate its upcoming News Tab, it’s latest venture into publishing. Facebook has been talking with publishers about potential content licensing deals, which would allow it to display their stories within its dedicated news section. And the team of journalists would help evaluate and select each day’s top stories, according to the New York Times.
News Corp Launches News Aggregation Service
Media group News Corp is launching a news aggregation service, knewz.com, pitched as an alternative to Google News and Facebook’s upcoming news tab relaunch. Knewz will be both a website and an app according to the Wall Street Journal, which will draw from national outlets as well as local publications. Knewz will send users straight to publishers’ original sites, with News Corp sharing data with the publisher but not taking a slice of ad revenue. In particular, it will look to highlight small outlets not picked up as readily by Google News, and will also place more emphasis on surfacing original reports, rather than rehashes of the same news stories by multiple outlets.
Twitter Launches ‘Six-Second Video Bidding’
Twitter this week launched a new feature it describes as a six-second video bid unit, whereby advertisers are only charged once a user has watched six seconds of the ad. “With this, advertisers have the security of transacting on a longer view, while still providing the optimal experience of a short-form, mobile video to their audience,” said Daniel Kang, group product manager at Twitter. The bid unit is globally available on Promoted Video, In-stream Video Sponsorships, and In-stream Video Ads for assets 15 seconds or less in length.
The Week for Agencies
Publicis Groupe Buys Rauxa
Publicis Groupe announced this week the acquisition of Rauxa, a US-based full service marketing agency. Rauxa, whose clients include Verizon, Samsung, Alaska Airlines and Vans, will be integrated into Publicis’ media-buying hub, Publicis Media. “With the acquisition of Rauxa, Publicis Groupe is reinforcing its expertise in driving one-to-one consumer engagement for clients, through data-driven creativity offerings and scaled capabilities,” said Publicis Groupe CEO and chairman Arthur Sadoun. “The addition of Rauxa’s data, tech, media, creative and production expertise will accelerate Publicis Media’s and the Groupe’s ability to deliver across all parts of the consumer journey.”
Betting Companies Accused of Gearing Esports Gambling Ads Towards Children
Betting firms are flouting advertising laws and gearing betting ads relating to esports towards children, according to a report released by think tank Demos and the Department of Management at the University of Bristol this week. The report found that 28 percent of those retweeting or replying to esports betting tweets in the UK are under 16 years old – five times higher than the engagement rate for traditional betting ads. Worldwide, 45 percent of those engaging are under 16. The report also found that 74 percent of esports tweets don’t comply with advertising regulations in some way.
Mondelēz Consolidates Creative Account with WPP and Publicis
American food and beverage giant Mondelēz International is streamlining its marketing operations by consolidating its global and local creative work within WPP and Publicis’ agencies. The brand had previously worked with other major holding groups IPG, Dentsu and Havas, but initiated a creative review as it seeks to improve digital ROI, according to The Drum.
Hires of the Week
Integral Ad Science Names Chance Johnson as Chief Revenue Officer
Integral Ad Science this week announced the appointment of Chance Johnson as Chief Revenue Officer. Johnson, who most recently served as the Senior Vice President of Sales for Amobee, will be based out of the New York office and he will report directly to the CEO, Lisa Utzschneider.
The Trade Desk Appoints Calvin Chan as General Manager, China
The Trade Desk this week announced the appointment of Calvin Chan as the company’s General Manager for China, based in Shanghai. In this new role, Chan will lead the company’s business in China, with a particular focus on localisation of the company’s branding & strategies, client relations and industry partnerships, according to TTD.
This Week on VAN
Toxic Comments and Content Farms: The Challenges of Building a Child-Safe Video Platform, read more on VAN
Deutsche Telekom Combines Gaming with OTT via a New Cloud Gaming Service, read more on VAN
IAB Seeks to Address Regulators’ GDPR Concerns with Transparency and Consent Framework 2.0, read more on VAN
Reddit Appears Set to Enter Live Streaming Market with First Test, read more on VAN
Ad of the Week
Channel 4, Complaints Welcome, 4Creative
