AdColony CEO Will Kassoy Gets The Boot As Revenue Is Set To Tumble In Q4

AdExchanger |

AdColony’s Q4 revenue is expected to drop 5-10% more than it did last quarter and CEO Will Kassoy is out, effective immediately. The news caps off a “disappointing” year for AdColony, according to a release late Thursday from parent company Otello Corp. (formerly Opera Software, which rebranded to Otello on Monday). Kassoy, who joined Otello/OperaContinue reading »

Publisher commerce ambitions will hit a wall in 2018

Publishers know by now that farming on a platform’s land can be dangerous.

Just as publishers have learned that they’d struggle to monetize their content on Facebook, those that spent to build businesses based on e-commerce affiliate commissions will get a wake-up call in 2018, as Amazon cements its place as an online shopping destination and cuts the affiliate commission rates it pays publishers.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer nec odio. Praesent libero. Sed cursus ante dapibus diam. Sed nisi. Nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet. Duis sagittis ipsum. Praesent mauris. Fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. Mauris massa. Vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Curabitur sodales ligula in libero. Sed dignissim lacinia nunc.

Curabitur tortor. Pellentesque nibh. Fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. Aenean quam. In scelerisque sem at dolor. Maecenas mattis. Sed convallis tristique sem. Proin ut ligula vel nunc egestas porttitor. Morbi lectus risus, iaculis vel, suscipit quis, luctus non, massa. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Fusce ac turpis quis ligula lacinia aliquet. Mauris ipsum. Aenean quam. Nulla metus metus, ullamcorper vel, tincidunt sed, euismod in, nibh.

Quisque volutpat condimentum velit. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nam nec ante. Sed lacinia, urna non tincidunt mattis, tortor neque adipiscing diam, a cursus ipsum ante quis turpis. Nulla facilisi. Ut fringilla. Suspendisse potenti. Nunc feugiat mi a tellus consequat imperdiet. Vestibulum sapien. Proin quam. Etiam ultrices. Nam nec ante. Suspendisse in justo eu magna luctus suscipit.

Sed lectus. Integer euismod lacus luctus magna. Quisque cursus, metus vitae pharetra auctor, sem massa mattis sem, at interdum magna augue eget diam. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Morbi lacinia molestie dui. Praesent blandit dolor. Sed non quam. In vel mi sit amet augue congue elementum. Morbi in ipsum sit amet pede facilisis laoreet. Donec lacus nunc, viverra nec, blandit vel, egestas et, augue. Vestibulum tincidunt malesuada tellus. Ut ultrices ultrices enim. Curabitur sit amet mauris. Morbi in dui quis est pulvinar ullamcorper.

Facebook Watch, independent media, referral traffic: What’s doomed in media in 2018

Every year, a number of things die in media and marketing. This year, we thought we’d switch up the year-end prediction tradition, and ask people in those industries to tell us what they think will kick the bucket in the coming year. We granted sources anonymity so they could speak freely. Here are their responses.

Referral traffic: “In the short term, Facebook will be a worse partner before they’re a better partner. They’re confused right now. They had a shitty year. When you’re confused and scared, you go back to your comfort zone, and that’s peer to peer. I think they’re going to go, ‘This news thing is harder than it looks.’ But fundamentally, Facebook is a way less interesting place without premium content.” — Digital publisher

The 30-second digital video ad: “We’ll see ad length decrease to meet the demands of short-form video viewers. Six- to 15-second ads will dominate by the end of 2018.” — Video platform vendor

Facebook Watch: “Facebook will abandon the Watch strategy and reinvent a digital product yet again. They’ve literally abandoned every single video strategy in the past three years. None of the Watch shows are making money. People asked to produce content for Watch are not going to see enough ROI for it, and this mid-roll experiment is going to be a massive failure because users aren’t going to engage with mid-roll advertising. Getting people to consume video is the easy part. Getting people to stick around when you’re jamming in a mid-roll ad isn’t.” — Digital publishing exec

Fake influencers: “Bullshit poseurs who have built up their followers by buying them and baiting them, and then rip off the brands who pay them for influencer campaigns that don’t generate any results. The brands are getting too smart for this shit.” — Influencer marketer

BuzzFeed’s commitment to news: “BuzzFeed will divest one of its business to a legacy media company, most likely BuzzFeed News. Running a news organization is expensive and they have always struggled with monetizing it versus their lighter content, and the recent layoffs have refocused the company into building fast, efficient businesses like Tasty. BuzzFeed News would be a bounty to a legacy organization looking to jump-start their journalistic footprint against younger audiences. The most likely buyer will be NBCU because of the existing relationships, but what about the soon-to-be-merged Disney/Fox or even the eventually merged AT&T?” — Publishing sales exec

The independent media company: “That can’t last. Everyone will figure out a way to partner up with someone to get through the tough times, or bigger companies will snap them them up. Maybe NowThis picks up Mic. All these digital media companies raised so much money, they have amazing cost structures. It’s a downside to all the VCs and people who get laid off, but it’s necessary for the vitality of the space.” — Digital media operator

The cold war between Facebook and Google: “In the way Facebook came after YouTube, YouTube will hit back, along with Google, with things like better products, better monetization for publishers. Publishers had 45 percent referral traffic from Facebook and 34 percent from Google, and now that’s reversed. Google is the friend to publishers, and Google is going to keep on it and hit back. Zuck is in for a bit of a fight.” — Platform partnerships exec

Quartz Adopts Anti-Programmatic Stance; Agency Pitch Frenzy Siphons Talent

AdExchanger |

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Programmatic Pushback The news company Quartz released a memo on Thursday laying out an anti-programmatic stance on advertising. “In a bygone era, advertisers wished to align with and support what they perceived as quality content,” writes Quartz publisher Jay Lauf. “That idea has erodedContinue reading »

Comic: Naughty & Nice

AdExchanger |

A weekly comic strip from AdExchanger that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem… AdExchanger: Origins AdExchanger: Crisis In Ad City (Part I) AdExchanger: Crisis In Ad City (Part II) AdExchanger: Enter Malware (Part I) AdExchanger: Enter Malware (Part II) AdExchanger: Enter Malware (Part III) AdExchanger: Enter Malware (The Conclusion) AdExchanger: Angels And Startups AdExchanger: Rumble In Arbitrage PlazaContinue reading »

A Closer Look At Demand-Path Optimization: Why Humans Matter

AdExchanger |

“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Erik Requidan, vice president of programmatic strategy at Intermarkets. In September, I wrote a column that introduced the idea of demand-path optimization, the process by which publishers optimize the path from supply-side platforms (SSPs),Continue reading »

Article: Five Stats to Understand Christmas in Japan

Christmas is not an official holiday in Japan, nor a widely observed religious holiday, but it is celebrated nonetheless in its own unique way. Here’s some data that highlights Christmas in Japan.

Article: Five Stats to Understand Christmas in Japan

Christmas is not an official holiday in Japan, nor a widely observed religious holiday, but it is celebrated nonetheless in its own unique way. Here’s some data that highlights Christmas in Japan.

Papa gone: Pizza chain founder, CEO John Schnatter steps down

Papa John’s founder and chief executive officer John Schnatter announced that he will step down from his role in January 2018.

The news comes two months after openly criticizing NFL players for protests against police brutality during the national anthem. The pizza chain, an NFL sponsor and advertiser, had seen its quarterly revenues fall since the football season started, with “significant decline” in TV ratings being blamed for the losses. 

According to the Associated Press (AP), Schnatter’s post as chairman (he is also the largest shareholder of the chain) remains intact. Steve Ritchie, the brand’s chief operating officer, will replace Schnatter in the top role. Ritchie said there is no word on whether Schnatter will remain the brand’s spokesperson.

Papa John’s recently underwent a creative review that saw the likes of Grey, BBDO New York, and Laundry Service competing for the business. Chief marketing officer Brandon Rhoten announced the winner of the pitch, Laundry Service via Twitter:

Ritchie, who began his career at Papa John’s making pizzas and answering customer phone calls 21 years ago, said that the brand looks to compete with Domino’s, as well as other fast food brands by making it easier for customers to order a pizza from multiple platforms. The brand currently allows customers to order from Facebook and Apple TV.

[Read More …]

Papa gone: Pizza chain founder, CEO John Schnatter steps down

Papa John’s founder and chief executive officer John Schnatter announced that he will step down from his role in January 2018.

The news comes two months after openly criticizing NFL players for protests against police brutality during the national anthem. The pizza chain, an NFL sponsor and advertiser, had seen its quarterly revenues fall since the football season started, with “significant decline” in TV ratings being blamed for the losses. 

According to the Associated Press (AP), Schnatter’s post as chairman (he is also the largest shareholder of the chain) remains intact. Steve Ritchie, the brand’s chief operating officer, will replace Schnatter in the top role. Ritchie said there is no word on whether Schnatter will remain the brand’s spokesperson.

Papa John’s recently underwent a creative review that saw the likes of Grey, BBDO New York, and Laundry Service competing for the business. Chief marketing officer Brandon Rhoten announced the winner of the pitch, Laundry Service via Twitter:

Ritchie, who began his career at Papa John’s making pizzas and answering customer phone calls 21 years ago, said that the brand looks to compete with Domino’s, as well as other fast food brands by making it easier for customers to order a pizza from multiple platforms. The brand currently allows customers to order from Facebook and Apple TV.

[Read More …]