Author: rssmasher

The annual rite of the televised State of the Union speech is all upside for the president, and a big downside for the opposition.

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“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Ray Kingman, CEO at Semcasting. Old models die hard. For more than a decade, attribution meant crediting the last click. But in an increasingly personalized and multichannel world, last-click has… Continue reading »

The post Getting Attribution Right Means Adopting A Digital Mailbox appeared first on AdExchanger.

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Last year, Group Nine Media, a holding company that owns publications including NowThis and Thrillist, created 23 360-degree videos on Facebook for the VR headset Samsung Gear 360, racking up 161 million views in five months. It was the most popular brand campaign on Facebook in 2017. But will Group Nine be able to replicate… Continue reading »

The post Three Ways To Survive The Facebook Algo Change, From A Group Nine Media Exec appeared first on AdExchanger.

It’s been an up-and-down ride for Twitter’s Moments feature since its introduction in October 2015, but the social network’s latest ad product offering appears to indicate that it believes Moments are on their way back up. Twitter introduced a new in-stream sponsorship option last week, Sponsored Moments, that lets advertisers sponsor Moments from select premium…

By and large, there was lot of happy news in McDonald’s fourth quarter and full year 2017 results, but the stock took a beating on fears that the renewed focus on cheap eats will cannibalize sales of
pricier menu items.

Facebook announced it would begin to prioritize local news outlets in the feeds of its users, emphasizing that local communities benefit and trust the outlets closest to them. How do involved
executives see the move?

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Kiehl’s, a high-end cosmetics brand and the country’s third-oldest retailer, has traditionally prioritized experiential branding over broadcast or online ad reach. While that preference isn’t changing, Kiehl’s is becoming a more digital, data-driven business. The brand started running programmatic campaigns in late 2016, and previously did little to no online media buying, said Julia Mavrodin,… Continue reading »

The post For Kiehl’s, More Data and More Business Hasn’t Meant More Advertising appeared first on AdExchanger.

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Cross-device provider Tapad is offloading its media business with Brand Networks, a social marketing tech firm that serves large retail brands and enterprise clients. The deal, announced Tuesday, is structured like a partnership rather than an acquisition, said Tapad CEO Sigvart Voss Eriksen. Tapad’s managed media and creative teams will join Brand Networks to help… Continue reading »

The post Tapad Is Getting Out Of The Media Services Game appeared first on AdExchanger.

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Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Casting For Data In December, Apple began providing podcast producers with iOS listener metrics – the number of people who stayed for a full program and when listeners dropped out. Some observers at the time were concerned podcasters would rue the day they asked… Continue reading »

The post Apple Metrics Pay Off For Podcasts; Sony Dissatisfied With Alexa Monetization appeared first on AdExchanger.

Brands’ initial relief after YouTube’s decision to cut the amount of channels it reviews is slowly being replaced by the realization among some that fewer channels to advertise against won’t make it a safer place.

YouTube wanted to reassure advertisers it had brand safety under control earlier this month when it said that creators with fewer than 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of view time would be unable to earn ad revenue. The video site said the rules were “tough but necessary,” and most advertisers seemed to agree. Some marketers, however, question whether restricting their access to only the biggest influencers will do much to guarantee their brand safety, given YouTube has contended with popular but controversial influencers lately, like Logan Paul.

Clients of influencer marketing platform Social Circle have reacted to the news with “intrigue and interest,” and they will monitor whether the targeting power that comes with fewer channel choices and more generalist content is reduced, said Social Circle CEO Matt Donegan. “Really, it’s a question of whether [brands would] rather be listened to by 20 people or ignored by 1,000.”

For PizzaExpress, the prospect of fewer small creators on YouTube is already influencing its content plans. The changes could make it more difficult for the brand to find influencers that work at a local level, according to Tim Love, senior marketing manager at PizzaExpress. Love plans to invest more time and resources this year on developing guidelines that help his team find new YouTube talent. It’s always meant “so much more” working with someone who will create custom content for the brand, said Love.

The days of marketers being blinded by influencers’ follower counts and reach are passing, said Love. “What’s happened on YouTube recently does influence how I feel about whether or not we’d be willing to spend tons of money to partner with [an influencer] who may have a huge subscriber count but who comes with risk,” he explained.

Stopping small creators from monetizing their videos ignores YouTube’s bigger problem around brand safety versus brand appropriateness. “It’s going to be hard to control what channels ads appear on and whether or not the advertiser deems those placements suitable without having manually checked them,” Love said.

YouTube has argued that eliminating smaller channels from its review process will work in brands’ favor. The higher threshold for creators to earn ad revenue gives YouTube the time to “learn about channels before we monetize them,” said Nadav Perry, the head of products, solutions and innovation for YouTube in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, at an event The Exchange Lab hosted on Jan. 30. “If this higher threshold existed a year ago, then none of the articles that we’ve seen in the press would have come to light,” Perry claimed.

Influencers worry YouTube is creating an even more tangible divide between the large and small creators, making the video site less accessible. Beckii Cruel, YouTube star and creator community manager at Social Circle, said these changes won’t plunge anyone into unavoidable debt or stop them from paying their rent, but it’s a “symbolic change that I think will reduce the amount of young, talented people creating YouTube channels.” While other influencers voiced similar concerns following the changes earlier this month, the initial response from advertisers was less objective: Advertisers and agencies welcomed YouTube’s decision to secure top advertising content and squeeze smaller creators out.

“What really concerns me is the fact that YouTube is giving way too much power to advertisers and making the same mistake TV made for a long time in letting the advertisers dictate the content in order to increase revenue,” said YouTube star Felipe Neto, who runs a channel that ranks in the top 50 in the world in subscribers, according to social research firm SocialBlade. “Advertisers don’t understand content. They don’t understand audience, and if you give them the power to decide what goes up and what goes down in entertainment, you will eventually kill this entertainment.”

The post Advertisers rethink YouTube influencer strategies after YouTube cuts small creators appeared first on Digiday.