In this week’s Week in Review: Google make a surprise announcement and everyone’s talking about ad blocking and fraud. For your weekly summary of industry news and other VAN interviews and videos, sign up to the weekly Video Round-Up.
Google to Restructure as Alphabet
Google has unexpectedly announced a massive restructuring effort that includes forming a new umbrella company, called Alphabet. On its newly launched website former Google CEO and now Alphabet CEO Larry Page said the transition will make the companies “cleaner and more accountable.”
SpotXchange Highlights Mobile Video Ad Growth
SpotXchange has released new data that has highlighted huge growth in mobile video advertising and private marketplaces by premium publishers. SpotXchange said it experienced 800 percent growth in mobile video ad spending in the first half of 2015 and mobile accounted for 19 percent of total spending on its platform.
UK Advertisers Lose £277m Thanks to Online Fraud
Over 12 percent of advertising impressions are fraudulent, says a report released by Integral Ad Science. UK advertisers wasted more than £277m of their online budgets on fraud, which is also a major barrier to further investment in programmatic trading.
Impact of Ad-Blocking Revealed
Ad blocking was estimated to be accountable for $5.8bn of lost revenue in 2014, projected to reach $10.7bn this year and $20.3bn in 2016. Says a joint report by The Pagefair Team.
US Cable TV Watch Shares Decline
US cable TV companies have watched their shares decline as investors panic at the acceleration of customers turning their attention to online viewing, Reuters has announced. Walt Disney Co reported a 9 per cent decline in shares yesterday, wiping $18bn off the company’s market value, following a dip in subscribers for its cornerstone sports channel ESPN.
The New York Times Grows and Reveals Digital Boost
The New York Times’ digital business grew both in subscriptions and ad revenue in Q2. Digital revenue grew 14 percent to $48.3 million and digital subscriptions grew 19 percent to 990,000. By the time of the earnings call, this had passed 1 million subscribers.
Kids Choose TV Over Phones
More than half of 8-18 year-olds say streaming TV shows on the web is their favourite type of programming, says a study from PwC. However, on average, they are spending the most time watching network TV shows and movies live, more than the time spent on their phones, gaming or watching YouTube.
View Through Rate a KPI Priority
Fifty percent of UK advertisers are choosing ‘view through’ rates as they main measure of effectiveness of their media spend, found Videology.
Discovery in Mobile Deal with Verizon
Discovery has made a content deal to provide clips of current series on its networks and full-episodes of past seasons to Verizon mobile subscribers.
Outstream Digital Video Outperforms Traditional Instream Formats
Viewability is a major factor in when comparing outstream and instream video advertising formats, according to a study by Millward Brown and Teads. Outstream formats created a lift in awareness of adverts, which impacted hugely on confidence levels and were shown to be in the visible area of the screen for 25 percent longer than instream.
Video Quality Matters, Says Report
Viewers are looking for a TV-like experience online, and 30 percent will quickly abandon their show if content isn’t up to scratch, says a report by UK consumer report from Conviva.
Change of Viewing Habits Hasn’t Affected TV Growth
The UK TV Industry has experienced growth in revenue despite viewing habits switching to smartphones and tablets, a report by the UK broadcast regulator’s Communications Market Report claims. The report says that that the overall increase was due to gains across all revenue sources.
Original Content Only Viewed by 31 Percent
Over two-thirds of online TV subscribers in the UK don’t watch original shows on Netflix or Amazon, according to Ofcom research.
Mobile Video to Grow 78 Percent by 2016
Online video viewing will increase by 23.3 percent in 2015, and again by 19.6% in 2016, according to ZenithOptimedia’s ‘Online Video Forecast’. The growth is fuelled by increased global smartphone and tablet penetration, with video consumption on mobile a main driver.
Video Advertising Spend to Grow
Digital Video Advertising spend will grow 21 per cent annually, according to Forrester, in contrast to broadcast ad spend which will decline 10 per cent year over year. Despite projected growth in digital video, marketers remain confused by the number of solutions in the video ecosystem.
Online Campaigns Informed By TV Data
Advertisers are increasingly using TV audience data to better inform their digital video campaigns, according to research from Videology.
Linear TV Viewing Continues Decline in UK
The average daily viewing on the TV set in the UK fell by 11 minutes in 2014, compared to 2013, according to Ofcom’s latest Communications Market Report. This is the second consecutive year of decline, following a nine-minute decline in 2013 compared to 2012.
OTT Services Haven’t Replaced TV
OTT video services like Netflix remain “a complement to, not a replacement for” traditional pay TV, according to a report by Horowitz Research. The report claims that less than half of internet users are online multichannel subscribers.
US pay-TV loses 400,000 subs in Q2
The top 10 pay-TV services in the US lost over 400,000 digital subscribers in Q2 of 2015, reports the informitv Multiscreen Index. Verizon was the only operator to gain.
Twitter CEO Steps Down
Twitter co-founder and CEO, Dick Costolo, has announced he will be leaving as chief executive in June, he will continue to serve on its board.
Buy-Out Seems Likely for Millennial Media
Millennial Media has released its Q2 results, showing that revenue for Q2 was up only a small amount from Q1, but declined year over year, making a buy out seem likely.
Viacom Profit Loss in Q3
Media company Viacom, which operates MTV and Nickelodeon, has reported weaker-than-expected revenue for the third quarter, hurt by lower revenue from its movie business and a fall in advertising revenue.
Amscreen Sold to DigiCom
Amscreen, the digital out-of-home (OOH) advertising network, has been sold to Tom Goddarrd’s DigiCom.
Tremor Video Acquires TVN
Off the back of their positive Q2 results, Tremor Video announced Thursday it has acquired Australian video supply-side platform TVN.
Client Losses Affect YuMe
Video Ad company YuMe has announced lower than anticipated Q2 2015 financial performance following client losses this year.
Viewster and YouTube Partner on Branded Videos
Viewster has launched a new branded channel in partnership with YouTube, which is focused around “highly curated short-form content.”
Headway Digital Launches NativeWay
Headway Digital has announced the global release of NativeWay, which offers display, video and mobile solutions for native advertising campaigns using programmatic buying.
Telecom Italia Targets 550,000 Customers
After announcing its Q2 results, Telecom Italia has announced it will be targeting 550,000 video customers by the end of this year, following its recent deals with Netflix, Sky and Mediaset Premium.
Crackle Begins Scheduling Shows
Following on from its recent announcement about sharing ratings information, online distribution service Crackle has started programming television, through ‘Always On’.
Swrve Releases Record Results
Mobile marketing tech company, Swrve, has just reported record half-year financial results.
This Week on VAN:
- Simulmedia’s Dave Morgan: There’s Still Plenty of Time For Broadcasters to Turn Things Around, read more on VAN
- The Industry Reacts to YouTube Inventory Being Taken Off AdX, read more on VAN
Ad of the Week: Air New Zealand, ‘Men in Black Safety Defenders’, Sony Pictures
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