Vizio Unveils Advertising Analytics Platform At First-In Person NewFronts
Smart TV maker unveiled a suite of analytics tools on a new platform aimed at helping advertisers build custom approaches to reaching connected TV audiences and measuring cross-screen engagement.
This is the second year in the NewFronts but the company’s VP of national ad sales, Adam Bergman told Adweek that while Vizio may have been the new kids on the block last year, the connected TV company has made “big waves” in the market.
Vizio designs its business around four asset environments: audience, platform, inventory and content, and data. Adweek was explained by Bergam that the most crucial aspect of the business is integrating hardware and software. The entire approach revolves around the consumer experience.
“From the UI, the design, the look and feel of our operating system, to the way we use data to consider content we want to program and how we promote it, ad products and targeting, all of that is built on the integrated hardware and software approach.”
Interesting Read: Here, There, Everywhere, It Is Cross-Screen Advertising!
Introducing Vizio Analytics
Vizio Analytics offers campaign tracking and optimization capabilities for pre-campaign planning, segmentation, and budget allocation as well as measurement and reporting. Through its Inscape TV research business, the platform utilizes ACR (automatic content recognition) data from 20 million owners of its smart TVs.
Advertisers can tap into cross-platform buying solutions from partner companies, including Neustar, Oracle, Experian, LiveRamp, Epsilon, Lotame, Acxiom, IRI, Upwave, Factual, and Kochava. Vizio Ads offers users the ability to measure incremental reach gained over linear TV, as well as assess and validate ad effectiveness against a variety of KPIs, such as brand awareness, perceptions, familiarity, favorability, and purchase intent. Additionally, VIZIO Analytics gives advertisers insight into bottom-of-the-funnel metrics such as location attribution, site attribution and conversion, offline sales lift, and foot traffic. Travis Hockersmith, VP of Vizio’s Platform + Business, in a statement,
“We’ve built a custom analytics platform that gives brands the ability to leverage our massive TV footprint and data infrastructure for cross-platform campaigns. This makes it easier to connect their customer management and measurement services of choice with our analytics support to achieve their goals. The result provides consumers with more relevant ads and gives clients outcome-based accountability with their investment decisions.”
Customers can also utilize third-party measurement support from partners such as Nielsen DAR, iSpot.tv, VideoAmp, and ComScore, all of which license the Inscape data for measurement use cases.
Interesting Read: Connected TV Explained: The Essential Glossary Of CTV
Innovative new ad offerings
Adweek reported that Vizio will debut its new advanced advertising product Jump View, a new offering described by the company as “consumer first.” Jump View is an interactive overlay that, after a consumer finishes watching an episode in a linear environment, offers the user to continue watching the show in a streaming environment.
A key theme of the NewFronts is the shift from traditional TV to smart TVs and streaming, and the need for ad dollars to catch up. Furthermore, Vizio also plans to introduce Vizio Enact, their linear addressable TV advertising solution that enables national advertising.
Content is the key
AVOD WatchFree+ has been completely overhauled since last year’s upfronts, and it now has more than 250 free live-streaming channels, as well as more than 5,000 titles in its on-demand library. Bergman said to Adweek,
“Not only have we rebuilt and recaptured the content programming side of it, that also means we’ve completely rebuilt the ad inventory access, which advertisers really respond to.”
Interesting Read: AVOD strategy For Netflix Ahead: Should Advertisers Rejoice?
GroupM Launches Programmatic Marketplace, Result of Licensing Deals with Magnite and PubMatic
The media investment division of WPP, GroupM, has launched a programmatic marketplace covering everything from Connected TV and online video and display ads. This is a result of GroupM’s licensing deals with SSP platforms Magnite and Pubmatic.
GroupM believes that the Premium Marketplace will allow advertisers more transparency in this otherwise lopsided ecosystem of internet ads.
The GroupM Premium Marketplace is an integrated and unified programmatic marketplace created through worldwide collaboration agreements with Magnite in North America and PubMatic in Europe and the Middle East. It comes in response to an RFP that urged vendors to show their capabilities in the fast-growing CTV industry as well as in high-growth areas.
GroupM also expands on its previous SPO efforts, codenamed Premium Supply, which saw it centralize programmatic spending to a small number of SSPs, including Magnite, PubMatic, and Index Exchange, strategies that have been deployed on Madison Avenue.
According to a press release, GroupM Premium Marketplace will –
“provide clients with direct and advantaged access to high-quality publisher inventory”
Google Replaces FLoC With Topics API
FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts), Google’s divisive attempt to replace cookies for interest-based advertising by arranging users into groups with similar interests, is no longer active. Google has replaced it with a fresh idea called Topics.
The idea is that while you navigate the web, your browser will learn about your interests. Google is now limited the number of subjects to 300, with ambitions to expand this over time. It will preserve data for the last three weeks of your browser history. These themes will not cover sensitive categories such as gender or race, according to Google.
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Google categorizes the websites you visit based on one of these 300 topics to assess your interests. A lightweight machine learning system in the browser will be integrated for sites it hasn’t previously classified and offer an approximated topic based on the domain name.
Google’s Privacy Sandbox lead Ben Galbraith said –
“The design of topics was informed by our learnings from the earlier FLoC trials. As such, Topics replaces our FLoC proposal and I want to emphasize that this whole process of sharing a proposal, doing a trial, gathering feedback, and then iterating on the designs — this is the whole open development process that we wanted for the Sandbox and really shows the process working as intended.”
How does Topics works?
When you visit a site that employs the Topics API for advertising, the browser will show you three topics that you might be interested in, one for each of the last three weeks, chosen at random from your top five topics.
Going ahead, this information will be shared with the site’s advertising partners, who will select which adverts to display to you. This would potentially provide a more private means of determining which ad to show you, and Google claims that it also gives consumers significantly more control and transparency than the current standard. Users will be able to review and eliminate topics from their lists, as well as disable the Topics API entirely.
Also Read: Google’s New Advertising Page Will Show Brand’s Recent Ad History
Spotify Rolls Out Clickable CTA Cards for Podcasts
Spotify has launched a new ad format for podcasters called “Call-to-Action Cards” — or CTA cards. When the audio ad begins to play, the functionality, which is powered by Spotify’s streaming ad insertion technology, will show a visual ad in the Spotify app.
Advertisers may personalize the cards by adding their own photos, text, and other clickable buttons that drive listeners to “shop now” or take the appropriate action the advertiser wants.
Although adverts might capture users’ attention while streaming, Spotify understands that listening to podcasts is typically a background activity, with the app running in the side while the user is doing something else, such as everyday domestic activities.
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As a result, the redesigned CTA cards are now visible on both the show and episode pages of the podcast on Spotify. The company claims that this allows the targeted listeners to interact with the ad later on when browsing around the Spotify app. These cards will be accessible for up to seven days after the listener hears the advertisement, or for less if the campaign ends sooner.
Jay Richman, Spotify’s head of Ads Business & Platform, said –
“We think about these cards as an important step towards modernizing the format — a format that will become more capable over time, as we add shoppable and video and other interactive features into them.”
Spotify believes that the format will expand in the future to do more than merely link viewers to a landing page. Advertisers that use the format will get reporting and measurement based on confirmed ad impressions, which is made possible via streaming ad insertion.
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Is Global Ad Revenue Experiencing Fastest Growth In Advertising History?
The GroupM end-of-year advertising review offers marketers a broad view of ad revenues and trends over the past year and what’s anticipated for the coming year. Here are some highlights from the group’s 2021 report:
- In 2021, digital advertising is on track to grow 31%, and it will comprise 64.4% of all advertising, up from 52.1% in 2019. More than 50 percent of total ad revenue this year came from Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta, outside of China.
- Global advertising revenue is expected to grow at 22.5% for the year 2021, totaling approximately $763 billion.
- Next year will witness strong growth and it is estimated to grow at 9.7%.
The stable growth will continue even after 2021. In a briefing, Brian Wieser, GroupM’s global president of business intelligence said,
“It’s possible that this is the fastest growth in the history of advertising, at least in known history.”
Growth projections for 2021 outstripped GroupM’s midyear projections. He further said,
“We do expect some kind of reversion back toward a normal mid-single-digit growth rate over time, but at very elevated levels. In other words, we’re creating a new plateau for future growth to occur.”
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The Talking TV
The television marketplace is changing rapidly but the growth is generally flat.
There will be an 11.7% growth in global TV ad spending in 2021, but this will not compensate for the 2020 pandemic-induced shortfall. Reports suggest that the industry won’t rebound to its 2019 levels before 2023. TV advertising will make up 21% of total advertising revenue this year.
A contributing factor to slower growth is that smaller companies find it more difficult to buy television advertising. Historically, television has been used for brand-building, using high-quality video messaging to make a lasting impression on the minds of consumers. However, that can be very expensive for small brands that advertise exclusively online.
No Impact Of Apple Change On The Advertisers
The changes in Apple iOS 14 may have impacted marketers but did not have any adverse effect on digital advertising as a whole. Wieser explained,
“The changes in data do not cause a change in budgets allocated to digital media. We saw this with GDPR—no observable impact at an industry level. Even though the data fidelity is lower now than it might have been before, it doesn’t change the budgets, it doesn’t impact the growth rate. But you never know, things could change.”
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What Lies Ahead For Marketers
GroupM forecasts that Connected TV (CTV) is poised to grow “substantially,” – roughly $17 billion in 2022 and $33 billion by 2026. It saw a surge in audience viewership during the 2020 pandemic. Currently, viewers make up 24% of total TV consumption, which is up from 19% a year ago.
Advertisers who buy ads based on user data, including programmatically, may view this additional inventory as an opportunity to increase revenues. But since three of the most popular streamers—Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and Netflix—are ad-free and may stay the same in the near future. So, marketers need to come up with some alternate strategies to reach viewers.
Even though the scope of advertising would be harder on TV but marketers should not admit defeat. They should look for new ways to collaborate with the streaming partners. They can capitalize on their brand equity by “connecting their service to the brand in the minds of the consumer.”
Interesting Read: Connected TV Explained: The Essential Glossary Of CTV
Huawei Ads announces six new additions to Certified Partners Program
The programmatic advertising platform Huawei Ads announced six new partners to its Certified Partners program. A number of leading agencies such as LIVEmena in Saudi Arabia, Home of Performance in UAE, ARQQA in Egypt, VEVE by Affinity, Ventes Avenues in India, and OMD Pakistan have joined the alliance.
Adam Xiao, Managing Director of Huawei Mobile Services in the Middle East and Africa, Huawei Consumer Business Group, said,
“We consider our partner ecosystem as an extension of our own team, and we are delighted to announce that we are expanding the HUAWEI Ads Partner Program to on-board six more leading agencies as ‘Certified Partners’ from the Middle East, Africa and India region.”
He further added,
“This milestone underpins our commitment to enhance our services and provide our customers and partners with support to place advertisements in the HUAWEI Ads ecosystem effectively. We look forward to supporting our partners to scale new heights with their campaigns.”
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How Can It Help Brands?
Brands can reach Huawei’s vast untapped global user base through “Certified Partners” who can provide insight and advice to optimize their campaigns’ creative and performance aspects.
Moreover, HUAWEI Ads offers developers the ability to integrate multiple kits with AppGallery and monetize by displaying ads. The advertising platform supports many ad formats, including native, rewarded, banner, interstitial, splash, and roll, which increases revenue for developers.
With more than 1.2 billion daily advertising requests, HUAWEI Ads has introduced seven flagship apps and more than 30,000 third-party apps since the global inauguration. The advertising platform is available in 170 countries and has over 700 million monthly active users, allowing developers to increase in-app revenue and benefit from advertising through a fully connected world.
Huawei Ads is becoming an increasingly important consideration for brands as it continues to add new partners. As a result of the expansion of its partner program, HUAWEI Ads will be able to capitalize on that potential and become a key player in the adtech sector.
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Taboola Inks A Multiyear Deal With Getty Images For Video Content
Taboola, a global leader in serving recommendations for the open web, announced a multi-year agreement with Getty Images, a global leader in visual communication.
Taboola and Getty Images Agreement: What Is The Deal About?
– By partnering with Getty Images, Taboola’s more than 14,000 advertisers have access to Getty Images’ collection of premium video content through Taboola Ads media buying platform.
– Besides building on the five-year relationship, this will allow Taboola’s advertisers to integrate Getty Images’ diverse video library into their campaigns.
– Taboola advertisers can seamlessly have access to high-quality videos from Getty Images for use in campaigns that reach more than 500 million active daily users on the world’s top publishers.
– This partnership enables Taboola’s diverse formats such as High Impact Video and Motion Ads, to offer advertisers of all sizes the opportunity to execute campaigns.
Utilizing these formats and Taboola’s long-standing partnerships with leading websites means that advertisers can be sure that their ads will be enhanced every time they are viewed with high-quality video and imagery.
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That’s What They Said
Adam Singolda, CEO and founder, Taboola said the partnership with Getty Images will make video advertising seamless for advertisers of all sizes.
“The ability to create custom video content for campaigns with a partner like Getty Images means advertisers can ramp quickly and get their campaigns in front of our large audience of publishers and their readers.”
Nick Unsworth, VP of Business Development said they are pleased to expand the long-term partnership with Taboola.
“Video is central to how we communicate and engage digitally and with our high quality visual content, advertisers across a broad set of industries and categories can find the right image or video that will enhance their campaign and speak to their target audience.”
Interesting Read: Advertising On Taboola: An Efficient Tool For Advertisers
Place Exchange Allows Audio Advertising In Grocery And Pharma Stores!
Through its collaboration with Quotient, a digital ad services platform for retailers, Place Exchange, an SSP for OOH inventory, said recently that it would begin allowing programmatic audio-based ad buys in grocery and pharmaceutical stores.
InStore Audio Network, which collects digital in-store audio messaging options among retailers in the United States, will provide the audio inventory. On a weekly basis, the network connects over 100 million customers through over 16,000 locations, including Albertsons, Safeway, Southeastern Grocers, CVS, and Rite Aid.
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Norm Chait, director for out-of-home product and sales at Quotient, said-
“Unlike a lot of other formats, you wind up having a full-store experience regardless of the aisle you’re in, and you can reach people with some degree of frequency to drive home a purchase,”
Quotient’s DSP, which offers both self-serve and managed solutions, allows buyers to access the in-store audio material, which is offered on a CPM basis.
The advertisements may be targeted using segments obtained from Quotient’s proprietary data, which is collected from aggregated opted-in mobile device IDs that show where individuals are, what stores they visit, and what screens they pass.
Also Read: Connected TV Explained: The Essential Glossary Of CTV
Google Ads Launches Performance Max To All Advertisers Globally
Google ads announced an expanded rollout of Performance Max campaigns to all advertisers globally that will help them to drive more conversions.
What Is It About?
Last year, Google introduced Performance Max campaigns which enable users to buy ads across multiple platforms, including YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps, with one single campaign. In addition to keyword-driven Search campaigns, they complement Google’s full suite of advertising channels and inventory.
Google Ads launched Performance Max campaigns in beta last year, and advertisers that tested the service saw an average of 13% incremental conversion increase.
Performance Max campaigns will start to roll out to all advertisers today! This new campaign type can help you drive more conversions across all of Google’s ad inventory.
Check out new best practices and case studies → https://t.co/n0VEGlqPvg pic.twitter.com/jfgL2n3NoN
— Google Ads (@GoogleAds) November 2, 2021
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How Will It Help Advertisers?
Performance Max helps increase online sales, generate leads, or grow offline sales. It helps you achieve your goals in four main ways:
- Increasing conversions and value: Capitalize on new conversion opportunities by adjusting automated bids across channels in real-time.
- Finding new customers: Google’s real-time understanding of user intent, behavior, and context can help you create more relevant ads to target new audiences.
- Gaining richer insights: Performance Max campaigns are now included in the insights page.
- Working together with automation: Get better results through automation by providing high-quality creative assets and insights into which audiences convert well.
MG, Deezer, and Allianz are brands that have used the beta version of the campaign. Marketers report that it helped them improve their conversion rates, find new customers, and understand consumers better.
Interesting Read: Google Gives A New Look For Attribution Reports in Google Ads
New Features In The Works
The Google Ads team announced that next year it will add more Performance Max features specifically for retailers. Retailers with local inventory feeds will see new Search and Maps ad formats integrated with their products to help increase foot traffic to their stores. Furthermore, Smart Shopping and Local campaigns will be upgraded next year.
Eduardo Indacochea, Google, senior director of product management said in a blog post,
“We know the holidays are a critical time of year for your business. You should continue using Smart Shopping and Local campaigns to reach more shoppers across online and in-store experiences this holiday season.”
He further added,
“However, when the time is right for your business, you can start testing Performance Max campaigns before next year’s campaign upgrades.”
Google plans to continue investing in Performance Max and improving its automation technology in order to help businesses succeed.
Interesting Read: The Ultimate A-Z Glossary Of Digital Advertising!
Facebook Changes Counting Policy For Ad Planning And Measurement
Facebook outlined a significant change in a new update to how it counts user accounts when planning and measuring ads. The tech giant will treat users who do not have their Facebook and Instagram accounts linked in Accounts Center separately for ad metrics. Whereas, accounts that are connected in the Accounts Center will be counted as one person. The new update will roll out in the next few weeks. The privacy-centric course correction is likely to help advertisers to reach more accounts.
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Graham Mudd, Vice president of product marketing for ads explained in a blog post that before Facebook counted users with multiple accounts as a single person for ad purposes. They counted them only once if their Facebook and Instagram accounts were linked via those apps or believed that the same person used both. For instance, people who accessed Facebook and Instagram via the same device or shared the same email address across the two platforms were counted as one person when they interacted with ads.
It makes sense for Facebook to honor this choice for ad purposes proactively. As a result, it will not get called out later for linking accounts without the user’s knowledge. Graham Mudd wrote in the blog,
“This update aligns with trends of offering people more control over how their information is used for ads and is consistent with evolving advertising, privacy and regulatory environments.”
Interesting Read: Why Facebook thinks Apple’s iOS 14 privacy push will have a severe impact on business
How Will This Affect The Advertisers?
Earlier in June, Facebook informed advertisers of how users will be counted, which includes in-product notifications. With this new update, Facebook will rely on preferences from the Accounts Center – like whether accounts are linked or unlinked – to inform advertisers’ planning and campaign measurement.
In the blog post, Graham Mudd said that advertisers won’t see a substantial impact on reported campaign reach. However, noted that keeping unlinked account holders separate for advertising purposes, advertisers may see an impact on campaign planning estimates and performance reporting for unique metrics. Advertisers can see increases in their pre-campaign estimates, including estimated audience size.
Facebook has recently retitled the ‘potential reach’ metric as ‘estimated audience size’. It will now display a range of numbers to advertisers for their marketing campaigns instead of a specific number. In this way, Facebook is responding to ongoing lawsuits over how it calculates potential reach.
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