The WIR: Netflix's Ad Tier "Nears Critical Scale", IPG Launches New Core Tech Infrastructure, and Adobe Releases Gen AI Video Tools

In this week’s Week in Review: Netflix reports of ad tier growth, IPG revamps its core tech infrastructure, and Adobe releases new gen AI video tools.

Top Stories

Netflix Claims It Will Reach “Critical Ad Subscriber Scale” in 2025

Netflix revenues climbed 15 percent YoY during Q3, according to the streaming giant’s latest earnings update, alongside adding 5.1 million subscribers during the quarter. The 14 percent YoY uptick brings Netflix’s global subscriber base to 282.72 million, with further growth forecast for Q4 when Squid Game returns to the streaming service.

The company also provided an update on the ad-supported tier, which accounted for more than 50 percent of sign-ups during Q3. “We’re on track to reach what we believe to be critical ad subscriber scale for advertisers in all of our ads countries in 2025, creating a strong base from which we can further increase our ad membership in 2026 and beyond,” the streaming firm told investors.

Netflix shares rose 4.8 percent following the results, and have gained around 47 percent so far this year.

IPG Launches New Core Tech Infrastructure ‘Interact’

Interpublic Group (IPG) has announced the latest iteration of its core technology infrastructure. ‘Interact’ integrates data across the lifecycle of marketing campaigns, according to the agency group, from brand research and audience insights to creative ideation, production, activation and optimisation. This kind of ‘operating system’ has become common across the agency holding groups, as a way of unifying data assets and applying them as efficiently as possible across the whole range of marketing functions.

The updates include:

– Unified Resources: IPG has unified its data, engineering, mar tech, and ad tech resources under one leadership team

– Content Supply Chain Integration: IPG has integrated Adobe’s content supply chain and generative AI products into its platform

– Strategic Partnerships: IPG has access to advanced generative AI tools and large language models through partnerships with IBM, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Blackbird.AI, and Getty Images

“Interact links the powerful expertise resident within our agencies with our technology capabilities to orchestrate the full range of marketing and sales activity in one place,” said IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky. “In media and CRM, we’ve been delivering true personalisation at scale with our marketing engine, and these enhancements allow us to do so consistently across all forms of marketing activity. Interact enables end-to-end solutions that help our clients better engage, convert and retain customers through the entire funnel, assessing and understanding the value of their investments across media, marketing and sales channels, in real-time.”

Adobe Launches Gen AI Tools in Premiere Pro

Adobe has launched “commercially safe” generative AI video tools, the company announced this week. These include text-to-video capabilities and ‘Generative Extend’, which can be used to extend or alter footage, including correcting shifting eye-lines or unexpected movement.

Generative Extend, which sits within Adobe’s video editing software Premiere Pro, is pitched as a tool to help avoid expensive reshoots where video footage just needs to be slightly adjusted or extended. Clips can only be extended by two seconds, according to the report, making the tool suitable for small tweaks, as well as audio applications to help smooth out edits.

Adobe is also launching its Text-to-Video and Image-to-Video Firefly tools as a limited public beta in the Firefly web app. The tools were announced in September, joining a handful of tech companies unveiling text-to-video GenAI tools over the last few weeks.

The Week in Tech

Taboola Introduces AI Assistant for Campaign Management

Taboola, a company specialising in content recommendations for the open web, has introduced a GenAI tool allowing advertisers to start and manage campaigns. The ‘Abby’ assistant can build media plans by prompting users with simple questions around the goals of a marketing campaign. Earlier this month, Taboola also announced a partnership with Jounce Media, a specialist in programmatic supply chain management, to verify that the Taboola Select publisher network is free from ‘made for advertising’ (MFA) websites.

DoubleVerify Announces News Initiative and Spotify Integration

DoubleVerify, a measurement and verification firm, has launched a News Accelerator programme. The initiative is designed to align DV’s products with the needs of the news industry, and encourage advertiser spending on news and journalism. Also this week, the company announced it will begin authenticating media quality for Spotify video campaigns.

IAB Tech Lab Opens ADMaP for Public Comment

IAB Tech Lab, the technical standards-setting body for digital advertising, has announced the launch of ADMaP (Attribution Data Matching Protocol) for public comment. ADMaP aims to enable advertisers and publishers to securely share and measure conversion data without revealing user-specific details. IAB Tech Lab is inviting industry stakeholders to review the protocol and submit feedback by 14th November 2024.

X Drops Unilever From Advertiser Lawsuit

X has dropped Unilever from its lawsuit against the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and major brands, the WSJ reported last Friday. The lawsuit claims that the advertisers conspired to withhold billions of ad dollars from the social media company, but has dismissed its claims against Unilever. The FMCG giant did not respond to a request for comment on whether it has been advertising on the platform, but said it plans for its brands to advertise on X.

Trump Signals Scepticism Over Google Breakup

Donald Trump has indicated that he might not break up Google over allegations of antitrust violations, according to the NYT, seeing the company as a technological defence against China. “China is afraid of Google,” he said on Tuesday. “What you can do without breaking it up is make sure it’s more fair.” The former Trump administration sued the tech giant four years ago.

The Week in TV

Ofcom Grants Channel 4 10-Year Broadcast Licence

Ofcom, the UK broadcasting regulator, has granted Channel 4 a 10-year broadcast licence. The watchdog said the licence will support the broadcaster’s digital growth in the face of financial challenges, while securing its “distinctive role” in UK news media. “It strikes the right balance between giving Channel 4 the flexibility to support its digital transformation, while safeguarding highly-valued distinctive programming on its traditional channel for the long term,” said Cristina Nicolotti Squires, Group Director, Broadcasting and Media at Ofcom. “The new licence also substantially increases Channel 4’s requirement for production in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Ofcom will be closely monitoring its performance in this area and holding it to account.”

NBCU to Merge Olympics and Sports Sales Teams

NBCUniversal is restructuring its ad sales team, AdAge reported on Tuesday, by merging its Olympics and broader sports sales teams. The broadcaster is also seeking to attract new advertising clients, according to an internal memo from Alison Levin, President of Advertising and Partnerships at NBCU, focusing on “growing the business, selling audiences first, and maximizing revenue for our big moments.” Meanwhile Dan Lovinger, President of Advertising Sales at NBC Sports Group, is reportedly leaving the company.

Ads Coming to Amazon Prime Video in Five New Markets Next Year

Amazon will introduce ads on Prime Video in India, Brazil, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand next year, the company announced at its Amazon UnBoxed conference. Ads are currently included on Prime Video in the US, UK, Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico and Spain. Customers in the additional markets will also have the option to pay extra to remove ads.

Max Lands in Southeast Asia

The Max streaming service will be available in seven new Southeast Asian markets from 19th November, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced on Tuesday. The roll-out covers Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong. “Warner Bros. Discovery has long entertained fans across Asia Pacific with culture-defining content from powerhouse brands,” said James Gibbons, President at WBD APAC. “For the first time, this programming will be available in a brand new streaming app for regional audiences, with Max combining incredible breadth and depth and a best in class viewing experience.”

The Week for Publishers

Reach Sees Digital Growth Despite Social Struggles

UK news publisher Reach, owner of the Mirror, Express, Daily Star, and a host of regional and local channels, reported 2.5 percent year-on-year growth in total digital revenues for Q3, in a trading update released this week. Digital revenues were flat across the first nine months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, but given that Reach reported an 8.5 percent year-on-year drop in Q1, this represents a recovery in the intervening months. Read more on VideoWeek.

FT Revenues Topped $500 Billion Last Year

The Financial Times’ total revenues topped half a billion dollars for the first time last year, according to unaudited financial filings seen by Press Gazette, as the business publication saw growth in all its major revenue lines. The FT reportedly had its best year for advertising since 2012, though subscriptions remain a big focus for the company – it wants to hit three million total paying subscribers in 2028, up from around 2.5 million last year.

New York Times Sends Cease and Desist Letter to Perplexity

The New York Times has sent a cease and desist notice to Perplexity, the AI-based search engine backed by Jeff Bezos, over its use of NYT content within its search results. The Times, which sued OpenAI last year for similar reasons, claims the ways in which Perplexity uses the NYT’s content violates US copyright law. It has also asked for information on how Perplexity is gaining access to its content – Perplexity previously pledged to not use crawlers on publisher sites, and the New York Times itself has taken steps to block AI web crawlers.

The Sun Rolls Out Registration Wall for Major Stories

UK newspaper The Sun has rolled out a registration wall for some of its biggest stories, Press Gazette reported this week, asking users to sign up for free in order to be able read some of its articles. The Sun is one of a number of major UK publishers which has begun using a ‘consent or pay’ model, asking users to either consent to data collection or pay for access to articles. The registration wall is presumably designed to encourage more readers to sign up to The Sun, strengthening its bank of first-party audience data.

G/O Media Sues Paste Over Jezebel Sale

Digital media business G/O Media is selling fellow digital publisher Paste Media over the sale of Jezebel, the feminist site which G/O sold to Paste last year, Adweek reported this week. The suit is a debt or breach of contract case according to Adweek, suggesting it relates to a dispute over payment for Jezebel, though details of the case are sealed.

Evening Standard Reports Low Revenues for 2023

The Evening Standard released its financial reports for its financial year ending October 2023, with revenues sitting at £26.8 million, down from £64 million in 2019. The Standard has struggled to recover after the pandemic, where revenues plummeted due to its inability to distribute its free daily paper. The newspaper has been pursuing a digital-first strategy, and its website underwent a refresh last year, though company director Manish Malhotra said in the financial filing that this redesign didn’t drive the improvement in performance which the company had hoped for.

The Week for Brands & Agencies

Publicis and Omnicom Post Solid Growth in Q3

Publicis Groupe and Omnicom both posted their Q3 financial results this week, with both of the agency holding groups reporting solid year-on-year growth. Omnicom reported 6.5 percent organic growth for the quarter, while Publicis hit 5.8 percent organic growth. Both groups saw growth across regions, with the exception of Omnicom’s UK business, which was down 0.5 percent year-on-year.

Omnicom CEO John Wren used his earnings call to talk up his company’s measurement offering, powered by its ecommerce acquisition Flywheel. Publicis CEO pushed his own group’s retail and influencer acquisitions in the previous quarter, while also defending Publicis’s principal media offering.

Video Investment Grows as UK Marketing Budgets Are “Put on Ice”

UK marketing budgets have been largely frozen during Q3 2024, according to the latest IPA Bellwether Report, as marketers cautiously await the Government’s autumn budget on 30th October. There was good news for the main media category however, with advertisers increasing their budgets for big-ticket video campaigns.

The report paints a chilly picture for UK marketing activity in the latest quarter. A net balance of 0 percent of marketers increased their ad budgets, down from +15.9 percent during Q2 2024. Budgets being “put on ice” brings an end to 13 consecutive quarters of sustained budget increases, at an average net balance of +8.8 percent. Read more on VideoWeek.

Media Inflation Forecasted to Rise in 2025

Global media inflation across 2024 as a whole is expected to sit at 3.3 percent, according to the latest WFA Outlook report released this week, up from the previous forecast of 3.3 percent back in April. Inflation is expected to rise next year, with nine of the top ten global media markets projected to see higher inflation rates in 2025 compared with 2024. The UK is the exception – though inflation expectations for this year have already shot up significantly over the past six months, from 2.8 percent in April to 3.9 percent now.

Lego Builds its In-House Media Capabilities

Lego is recruiting to build up its in-house media buying capabilities, Digiday reported this week, reviewing areas where media buying might be brought in-house. The toy maker has handled creative in-house for the past decade, according to Digiday, and says it already buys one channel through an in-house team.

Outvertising and All In Launch Pronoun Guide for Ad Industry

Outvertising, a volunteer-run LGBTQIA+ advocacy group within the All In LGBTQIA+ Working Group, this week launched a ‘Pronouns in Adland‘ resource, a guide it says is designed to help industry organisations create safer and more welcoming environments where people can readily share their pronouns. “The guide has been designed to remedy confusion over the usage of pronouns by exploring their importance, unpacking commonly used terms and pronouns associated with gender-identity, and guiding readers on tips to overcome challenging or awkward conversations,” Outvertising said in a statement announcing the guide.

Carat Retains Kellogg’s Owner’s Media Account in Europe

Kellanova, the parent brand of Kellogg’s, Pringles, and Pop Tarts, has retained Dentsu’s Carat as its European media agency following a review, Campaign reported this week. Carat will handle media planning and buying, data, and digital strategy across 28 European markets including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, according to Campaign.

Hires of the Week

Mark Dekan Takes Over as Axel Springer CFO

Axel Springer has appointed Mark Dekan as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and member of the Executive Board. He takes over from Julian Deutz, who will remain responsible for the Classifieds businesses until completion of the corporate restructuring. Dekan previously served as CEO at Ringier Axel Springer Media, before becoming COO of Axel Springer-owned POLITICO.