AMC Networks revealed it plans to offer ad-supported versions of all of its streaming services for the 2024-2025 upfront market, as it makes a broader play to provide brands a pathway into each of the company’s video platforms. Concurrent to opening the networks to ads, the company will be offering consumers cost effective bundling options around those niche services in lieu of an umbrella AMC+ plan. AMC is rolling out the changes this week at the 2024-25 Upfronts in New York, where it is also emphasizing an increased horror content quotient. Continue reading AMC Plans to Feature New Ad-Supported Streaming Services

Twitter 2.0 is ready for takeoff, now that former NBCUniversal advertising chief Linda Yaccarino has been appointed the social media giant’s new CEO. Yaccarino has extensive experience in advertising and has long been one of Madison Avenue’s major power brokers. Twitter, which relies primarily on ad revenue, is still trying to recover from stumbling after Elon Musk alienated sponsors in a series of erratic moves immediately after acquiring the company for $44 billion in October. Musk says he will now focus on product design and technology while Yaccarino concentrates on business development. Continue reading Advertising Exec Linda Yaccarino Named New CEO of Twitter

YouTube Shorts, now two years old, is making a splash with the marketing community, which finds the feed of vertically oriented videos of up to 60 seconds a viable alternative to TikTok content. Creators of YouTube Shorts can add music, hashtags and other features. In June, the company said that of YouTube’s more than 2 billion logged-in viewers watching videos each month, about 1.5 billion of them are also watching YouTube Shorts, a statistic that captured the attention of advertisers and the media by surpassing TikTok’s 1 billion monthly users in five years. Continue reading YouTube Shorts Is a Serious Marketing Challenger to TikTok

Disney Advertising has entered into a deal with global ad tech firm The Trade Desk that will allow advertisers “to buy once to deliver everywhere across Disney.” Rita Ferro, president of ad sales, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, said the pact leverages years Disney has spent “investing in our data and technology” to create solutions that use precision targeting “in a privacy-focused way.” The Trade Desk will utilize data from the Disney Clean Room, a repository of first-party data Disney has collected from customers combining it with consumer data produced by the Unified ID 2.0 industry framework. Continue reading Disney Enters a Cross-Platform Ad Deal with The Trade Desk

Madison Avenue continues to scale in the metaverse, which is experiencing a land-grab for the best storefronts as brands like Gap and Nike unveil digital-only versions of their goods competing against — and sometimes collaborating with — digital-first brands like sneaker maker RTFKT and fashion house Fabrikant. Mobile game destination The Sandbox has already sold more than 70 percent of its “land” to businesses including cryptocurrency exchange Binance and video-game maker Atari. Even traditionalists like NASCAR and JPMorgan Chase are pitching virtual tents. The bank has signed a lease in Decentraland, a 3D online world. Continue reading Major Brands Are Starting to Experiment with the Metaverse

Under the Patents Act, a UK court ruled that creator Stephen Thaler’s “Creativity Machine” called DABUS could not be an inventor. Thaler appealed, and the UK’s High Court dismissed it, saying an inventor must be a person and not a machine. Thaler, however, insists that DABUS is “fundamentally different from other AI systems,” noting that, via “simple learning rules” it combines “swarms of many artificial neural nets, each containing interrelated patterns spanning some conceptual space … with no predetermined objective.” Continue reading UK High Court Dismisses Appeal to Classify AI as an Inventor

AT&T is reportedly paying about $1.6 billion to acquire AppNexus, which offers automated software to help advertisers buy ads across apps and websites. Now, AT&T chief executive of advertising and analytics Brian Lesser revealed that the purchase is aimed at creating a platform that connects advertisers not simply with AT&T’s own content, but with competing media outlets in television and digital video. The result would be a pioneering marketplace and give AT&T more leverage against Facebook and Google. Continue reading AT&T to Purchase AppNexus, Plans Global Ad Marketplace

Hundreds of advertisers and agencies that bought ads using Google’s DoubleClick Bid Manager are getting a portion of the money spent refunded, since Google determined that some of those ads ran on websites with fake traffic, otherwise known as ad fraud. Most of the ads were bought during Q2 this year. Not all advertisers are satisfied with the refunds, however, since they account for only a small portion of the costs. Specifically, Google’s “platform fee” ranges from 7 percent to 10 percent of the total purchase. Continue reading Google Responds to Fake Traffic, Issues Advertiser Refunds

Snapchat, with its reported 100 million daily users, is a favorite of advertisers that like the company’s growth and popularity among younger demographics. But those same advertisers have been also been lobbying Snapchat for data on the performance of their advertising campaigns. Now, Snapchat has gone the way of Facebook and YouTube in enlisting measurement stalwart Nielsen to provide that data. Snapchat has also made deals with ad tech companies Innovid and Sizmek to provide even more detailed data. Continue reading Snapchat Inks Deal with Nielsen, Tech Firms to Create Ad Data

Viacom is introducing a new strategy involving the use of big data to optimize the placement of ads. Initially known as Project Gemini (after an early NASA human spaceflight program), and now called Vantage, Viacom’s new big data capabilities were created by data scientists and other technologists hired away from Microsoft and elsewhere. As Viacom leverages Silicon Valley technology in an effort to capture Madison Avenue dollars, competitors are ramping up similar big data strategies. Continue reading Viacom Marries Madison Ave. and Silicon Valley for Better Ads

Research firms Rentrak and ListenFirst Media are collaborating on a new data set designed to help advertisers identify TV shows that generate consistent viewing and high social engagement. While these programs may not always have the highest ratings, they may have some of the most impassioned fans and may be a better target for advertisers. The research combines Rentrak’s viewership data from set-top boxes with ListenFirst’s data collected from blogs, social media platforms and other sources. The companies presented the research at an Advertising Research Foundation event in New York. Continue reading Rentrak and ListenFirst Want to Measure TV Show Stickiness

In the face of declining ratings and a shift in ad dollars to digital platforms, television networks are expanding their data and analytics capabilities. On Monday, leading broadcast and cable TV companies announced the formation of the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), a new trade organization that plans to promote research and data that highlights the impact of TV commercials to Madison Avenue. The VAB intends to provide marketers with insights and measurement tools that help gauge whether video ads drive consumer purchases. Continue reading Broadcast and Cable TV Join Forces to Form New Trade Group

According to a new report from eMarketer, digital-image bookmarking site Pinterest is poised to become the newest social favorite with advertisers since its users typically “pin” and “repin” items that paint a compelling picture of consumer interests. These interests often focus on specific products, services, travel ideas and other areas that could lead to purchases. The researcher suggests that 2015 will be a critical year to determine whether or not Pinterest can generate a serious advertising business. Continue reading New Report Points to Major Marketing Potential of Pinterest

Otter Media announced yesterday that it has taken a majority stake in Fullscreen in a deal that values the digital media company at about $200-$300 million. Otter Media is a joint venture between AT&T and The Chernin Group. Fullscreen connects popular online personalities — such as YouTube stars Connor Franta, the Fine Brothers, and Our2ndLife — with brands interested in reaching an audience under 30 that is increasingly looking online for entertainment. Continue reading The Chernin Group and AT&T Take Majority Stake in Fullscreen

Viewers have the ability to interact with characters in Infiniti’s Deja View video, created as part of an online campaign to promote the 2014 Infiniti Q50 sport sedan. The responsive video, produced by New York agency Campfire, uses voice recognition technology that allows viewers to interact with the video’s characters through toll-free phone calls. The story’s plot then responds dynamically based on the responses of each online viewer. Continue reading Infiniti Launches Marketing Campaign with Responsive Video