The WIR: Amazon Launches Gen AI Video Tools, French Broadcasters Embrace Retail Data, and Hearst UK Reports Improved Ad Market in 2024

In this week’s Week in Review: Amazon debuts new gen AI video tools, French retailers launch retail media partnerships, and Hearst reported improved ad market conditions in 2024.

The Week in Tech

CMA Says “Competition Concerns Remain” Over Google’s Privacy Plans

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said “concerns remain” over Google’s approach to the Privacy Sandbox (its set of tools initially designed to replace third-party cookies), in the watchdog’s latest update to an ongoing investigation into the five-year plan for privacy updates in Chrome. After the tech giant scrapped plans to remove third-party cookies from Chrome in July, the CMA invited stakeholders to share their views on the new approach, which includes making the Privacy Sandbox optional instead of replacing third-party cookies altogether. On Tuesday the regulator expressed misgivings over the new approach, and remains in discussion with Google on changes that should be implemented in order to assauge those concerns. Read more on VideoWeek.

Origin Beta Trials Go Live with 35 ISBA Members

Origin, the cross-media measurement initiative developed by UK advertiser trade group ISBA, is launching Beta trials with 35 of its members, ISBA announced this week. Using Origin, these brands will be able to measure their campaigns’ deduplicated reach and frequency across YouTube, Meta, and linear TV. An initial tranche of ten brands have already started the onboarding process, with the remaining 25 due to start in the coming months. The first ten brands involved in Beta tests are Confused.com, HSBC, L’Oréal, NatWest, PepsiCo, P&G, Red Bull, Tesco, Unilever and Virgin Media O2. Read more on VideoWeek.

Barb Adds Netflix and Discovery+ to Total Campaign Planning

UK measurement body Barb this morning announced it has expanded its pre-campaign planning tool Advanced Campaign Hub to cover Netflix and discovery+. Advertisers using the tool will be able to map out the projected reach of their campaigns and plan across ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky, UKTV, Warner Bros. Discovery’s wider portfolio, and Prime Video, as well as Netflix and discovery+. Barb also revealed it is in advanced talks with Disney to add Disney+ data to the Advanced Campaign Hub. Read more on VideoWeek.

French Data Watchdog Pushes Informed Consent for Ads on Mobile Apps

CNIL, the French data regulator, has published recommendations designed to safeguard user privacy for mobile apps. The recommendations state that apps must obtain consent to process data that is not necessary for their operation, including for targeted advertising purposes. This means “ensuring that consent is informed and not forced.” CNIL will take enforcement action against non-compliant applications from 2025 onwards.

IAS Expands Misinformation Reporting to YouTube Content

Integral Ad Science (IAS), a media measurement and optimisation company, has expanded its misinformation brand safety and suitability reporting to YouTube. IAS will identify content as misinformation for advertisers running campaigns across YouTube ad inventory. IAS classifies content according to industry-aligned definitions, according to the company, and provides reporting based on advertisers’ custom brand suitability settings.

IAB Tech Lab Releases PAIR Protocol for Cookieless Audience Activation

IAB Tech Lab has announced the launch of the PAIR (Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation) protocol. PAIR is a cookieless solution for advertisers and publishers to match and activate their first-party audiences. “Privacy-enhancing technologies are providing a path to unlocking first-party data in secure and privacy-centric approaches for both advertisers and publishers,” said Shailley Singh, EVP Product and COO at IAB Tech Lab. “PAIR is designed as an open standard to help advertisers and publishers choose their preferred Data Clean Room and DSP partners. It’s an important step forward for privacy-first advertising while maintaining the ability for advertisers to target and activate audiences effectively and for publishers to monetise their audience without data leakage.”

Roku Remains Committed to Set-Top Boxes

Roku remains “very committed” to manufacturing set-top boxes (STB) despite the shift to built-in streaming technology on smart TVs, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Mustafa Ozgen, President of Devices at Roku, acknowledged that TVs are “slightly higher” unit sellers than STBs. But Ozgen said he sees a “ton of opportunities” for the external devices, calling them a “particularly strong seller” in the US.

SuperAwesome Launches Data Platform for Under-18 Audience Insights

SuperAwesome, a youth technology and insights provider, has launched an audience data and recommendation platform for under-18 audiences. The platform, Awesome Intelligence, aims to enable brands to identify audiences and plan campaigns across all platforms where young audiences spend their time, including Roblox, YouTube, mobile games, and streaming TV. “Because kids and teens spend their time in NEW new media and safe data about their motivations is scarce, it can feel like a guessing game on how to best engage with them,” said SuperAwesome CEO Kate O’Loughlin. “Awesome Intelligence is the culmination of our continued investments in kidtech and innovation at the pace of change among under-18 audiences. We believe that it will forever empower the youth ecosystem and equip it in a way that simply hasn’t been possible before.”

The Week in TV

Lionsgate Turns to Runway AI for “Cinematic Video”

Lionsgate, the Hollywood studio behind the John Wick and Hunger Games movies, has signed a deal with AI company Runway, the WSJ reported this week. The partnership will see Lionsgate create and train a new AI model based on its portfolio of film and TV content. The model will be used to generate “cinematic video”, according to Michael Burns, Vice Chair at Lionsgate Studios, aiming to save “millions and millions of dollars” in special effects work. “We do a lot of action movies, so we blow a lot of things up and that is one of the things Runway does,” said Burns.

Amazon Ads Lets Prime Video Viewers Add to Cart Using TV Remote

Prime Video viewers will soon be able to add items to their Amazon cart using their TV remote, Amazon Ads revealed on Wednesday. The new interactive pause ads will roll out in the UK and Germany in 2025, having already launched in the US. “The combination of these new ad formats, together with our reach, ad tech and billions of first-party buying, shopping and streaming signals, means we’re creating an entirely new experience for brands,” said Phil Christer, Managing Director of Amazon Ads UK. “It’s one that enables them to use streaming TV ads to deliver on any full-funnel marketing objective – whether that’s driving awareness, consideration or conversion.”

French Broadcasters Welcome Arcom Decision to Boost PSB Visibility on CTV

France Télévisions, TF1, M6 and RMC BFM have said they welcome the decision by Arcom, the French broadcasting watchdog, to ensure the visibility of public service broadcasters (PSB) on connected devices. In compliance with the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), the decision aims to boost the use of PSBs by the French public, while simplifying user interfaces on connected devices.

Pluto TV Content and Inventory Comes to M6

M6 Group, a French media company, has agreed a commercial and editorial partnership with Pluto TV, the Paramount-owned FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) service. The relationship will make Pluto TV content available on the M6+ streaming service, and its inventory available via M6 Publicité, the broadcaster’s sales house.

TF1+ Lands in Switzerland
TF1+, the French broadcaster’s streaming service, is now available in Switzerland, the company announced on Thursday, having previously launched in Belgium and Luxembourg. TF1+ is available on mobile, tablets, and smart TVs, including Google TV, Android TV, Samsung, LG, Philips on Titan OS, Hisense on Vidaa OS, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV.

Netflix Tests Kids Content Playlists

Netflix is curating kids content into playlists for a limited test period, What’s On Netflix reported last week. The report said the move took the streaming giant “one step closer to Netflix entering the world of FAST”. The playlists are now available in South Korea, Brazil, the US and France. “We’re always exploring ways to improve the member experience, and these tests help us do so,” said the streaming company.

The Week for Publishers

Koch Equity Development Reportedly in Talks to Buy Forbes

Forbes Equity Development, the private equity arm of Koch Inc., has entered talks to buy Forbes, Axios reported this week. The proposed deal would value Forbes at around ten percent less than the $630 million valuation it received during plans to merge with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) a few years back.

Reach CEO Seeks Regulator Help in “Existential Battle for Survival” Against Tech Giants

Reach CEO Jim Mullen called for regulators to do more to help publishers in what he described as an “existential battle for survival” against the tech giants. Speaking at a dinner held by The Stationers’ Company, Mullen said that the advertising market is too heavily skewed in favour of big tech companies, who he also accused of spreading and promoting disinformation. Mullen called for tech companies to be forced to pay publishers for their news content, and for work to be done to bring better balance to digital ad markets.

The Free Press Valued at $100 Million Following Funding Round

The Free Press, a US-based media startup launched by former NYT journalist Bari Weiss, has reached a $100 million valuation following a successful funding round, the Financial Times reported this week. The Free Press, founded in 2022 as a Substack newsletter, now runs a website and podcasts alongside the newsletter. Most of its revenue comes from subscriptions, according to the FT.

Washington Post Lays Off Staff in Publisher Tech Unit

The Washington Post has laid off 54 staff in Arc XP, its standalone tech unit which sells software to other publishers, the company announced this week. This equates to around 25 percent of Arc XP’s staff. The unit has continued to pick up customers in recent years, but is losing money. Arc XP president Matt Monhan says the restructuring and a new product focus will help the company build a more sustainable business.

UK Digital Publisher Revenues Grew in Q2, Fuelled by Subscriptions

UK digital publisher revenues grew in Q2 according to the AOP and Deloitte’s latest Digital Publisher Revenue Index, with revenues across the publishers surveyed in the study up by 2.5 percent year-on-year. Subscription revenues were the biggest contributor to growth, up ten percent year-on-year, while display ad revenues fell by 8.5 percent, and only video revenues were down by 3.6 percent.

The Week for Brands & Agencies

Mondelēz Launches Gen AI Platform with Accenture and Publicis

International food brand Mondelēz has launched a new platform, developed with Accenture and Publicis, which will use generative AI to create personalised text, images, and video at scale for marketing use. Accenture’s work on the platform focused on using AI to surface insights based on Mondelēz’s data, while Publicis will work on the creative side, helping use AI for asset creation.

Omnicom Agencies Top Comvergence New Business Rankings

Omnicom media agencies PHD and OMD were the two most successful media agencies globally in terms of winning and retaining business in H1, according to Comvergence’s Global Media Agency New Business Barometer. PHD won and retained business worth $3.3 billion in H1, according to Comvergence, while for OMD that figure sat at $1.3 billion. Publicis Group’s Starcom ranked third with $1.2 billion in wins and retentions across H1.

Stagwell Sees Big Opportunity for Brands in News

Marketing group Stagwell says research shows that ads next to news content perform just as well as ads run next to content traditionally deemed more advertiser friendly, such as sports, entertainment, and business. The findings come in a UK-based study run as part of Stagwell’s Future of News initiative, which aims to encourage more brand investment in news journalism.

ASA Bans Nike and Sky Ads Over ‘Dark Patterns’

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned ads from Nike and Sky due to use of ‘dark patterns’ – tactics designed to lead consumers into unintentionally spending money. The Nike ad in question showed a pair of Nike trainers labelled with a certain price, but when consumers clicked through, the price only applied to children’s sizes. The Sky ad meanwhile was judged to not have made it sufficiently clear that the free trial for Now TV which was advertised would automatically convert to a paid membership once the trial period ended.

Hires of the Week

Havas Media Network UK Picks Emily Fairhead-Keen as Strategy Head

Havas Media Network UK has hired Emily Fairhead-Keen is its new group head of strategy, the agency announced this week. Fairhead-Keen joins from Wavemaker, where she was senior strategy partner for over twelve years.

XR Extreme Reach Appoints Kristin Wnuk as SVP of Enterprise Solutions

XR Extreme Reach this week announced it has appointed Kristin Wnuk as SVP of enterprise solutions. Kristin brings over 15 years of experience in media, having led commercial strategies and both broadcast and digital media advertising sales for Roku, Hulu, Madhive, Clear Channel and Tribune Broadcasting.