Among adults 18-49 and 25-54, 57 of the top 60-rated original scripted series on TV this season are on the Big Four broadcast networks. Another key indicator of broadcast strength is that six of the
top eight rated entertainment series on the broadcast networks among adults 18-49 debuted over the past two seasons: “Roseanne,” “This is Us,” “Young Sheldon'” “The Good Doctor,” “911,” and “Will &
Grace.”
Ternio, a startup working to provide transparency into programmatic advertising, introduced blockchain technology called Lexicon, which can process up to 1 million transactions per second. The
technology will offer transparency into ad transactions and the ability to make real-time payments.
Mushrooms can be great–delicious and nutrient-rich–but most people probably wouldn’t think to wear them on their feet. A new vegan sneaker design, by contrast, is turning tree fungus into a special textile that’s part of an environmentally friendly shoe. German designer sneaker brand nat-2, founded by Sebastian Thies, teamed up with designer Nina Fabert of…
Amazon’s advertising business may have been absent from the company’s annual shareholder letter last week, but ad revenue continues to grow quietly behind the scenes, with particular growth in sponsored products and headline search ads, according to recent reports and ad buyers. It’s a sign of the sheer girth of Amazon that Bezos didn’t rate the $3 billion ad business a bullet point in his letter.
Amazon has also been beefing up its offerings. The company is making more products available and easier to use, buyers said. And conveniently, the fastest-growing ad format, headline search ads, appeal to buyers since many of them are already experts in the search business, given their work with Google.
Increased interest from brands has resulted in Amazon ads becoming pricier, with Merkle’s digital marketing report saying cost per click for sponsored product ads is up 65 percent year over year and up 128 percent year over year for headline search ads. Buyers agreed to those estimates.
Source: Merkle Q1 2018 digital marketing report
“I don’t know if Amazon is going to be building that themselves, or encouraging agencies and brands and third-party tools to develop,” said Will Margaritis, vp of e-commerce at 360i.
Amazon’s ad business grew to about $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017, up from $1.12 billion in the previous quarter, according to the reported “other” revenue. The entire business could bring in more than $3 billion this year, according to eMarketer. Spending on sponsored products and headline search ads increased 96 percent and 90 percent, respectively, year over year.
In the shareholder letter, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos went as far as to tout the success of the Treasure Truck, its fleet of vehicles offering daily deals. While he did not mention the ad business, Amazon is top of mind in the ad industry. A big shift is how brands perceive the tech giant’s value. Amazon advertising works when it is done in conjunction with a larger Amazon strategy, including retail, review policing and even supply logistics.
Advertisers’ perspective is “shifting to see Amazon as more of a wholesale customer and realize it’s also an ad platform. What they’re putting onto Amazon works with what they’re spending on Facebook and Google, and even TV, and it’s even closer to conversion. You’re seeing the lightbulb go off,” Margaritis said.
Source: eMarketer
Agencies are gung-ho. Martin Sorrell, former CEO of WPP, told CNBCin January the firm was spending $300 million on Amazon ads this year, up from $200 million in 2017.
George Manas, president of Omnicom-owned Resolution Media, said Merkle’s numbers were not surprising and perhaps “a little bit conservative. There could be more spend.”
While the shareholder letter didn’t reveal any new statistics on Amazon’s ad business, other numbers Bezos shared do provide some insight into its growth. More than half of products sold on Amazon globally came from third-party sellers, and Amazon Prime now has 100 million subscribers. The former means more potential advertisers, while the latter implies more valuable customer insights, said Monica Peart, forecasting analyst at eMarketer.
“With a company like Facebook, ads could be even interruptive to your experience, where Amazon almost seems like they’re not advertising. To the consumer, it’s, ‘Oh, I searched for this, and you’re trying to be helpful by showing me other options,’” Peart said.
Facebook, Google and Amazon each own massive data sets. But Amazon is unique in its commerce focus. Google knows intent, Facebook owns social, and Amazon wants purchases. Yet Amazon also has a much bigger business than just e-commerce.
“People use the phrase ‘walled garden’ to describe Facebook and Google. Amazon is a walled jungle. They have such a breadth of services. They have Prime Video, groceries, payments, Web Services. They operate a multidimensional business that in a lot of ways has become the personal microeconomy for people,” said Manas.
Amazon also has more potential inventory, such as through Prime Video or Fire TV, Manas added. Peart said she’s keeping an eye on Amazon Echo and the future of audio ads.
And Amazon, which has been hiring people in New York City to focus on advertising, also understands this is a relationship business. “They’ve realized the value of relationships instead of just data,” Margaritis said. “They understand that this industry operates via people.”
Viacom on Monday formed a multi-year agreement with Comcast’s advanced ads business, FreeWheel, to expand its use of the tech platform. Previously, Viacom used FreeWheel to power digital ad decisioning, but now, it will also use FreeWheel’s operating system to manage yield and grow revenue across live TV, set-top box and video-on-demand inventory. In addition,… Continue reading »
It may seem out of character for Foot Locker to cosign on a music video for a song that isn’t really about the brand (and only mentions it once), but the shoe store chain’s collaboration with LGP Qua is a savvy move. Qua, an 18-year-old rapper from North Philly who’s as socially conscious as he…
Maybe it’s because I’m utterly confused by the second season opener of “Westworld” Sunday night, but I’m thinking a lot about humans this morning, especially the notion that the more we become
machine-oriented as species, the more we need human beings to govern those machines to make sure they’re serving the right masters and optimizing the correct outputs. But the real reason I’m thinking
this way is a couple of news announcements about some human talent plays. Definitely comScore’s announcement this morning that it has hired digital wunderkind (and 360i founder Bryan Wiener) as its
new CEO, not to mention adding digital agency pioneer (and former GroupM Chief Digital Officer) Rob Norman to its board.
The IAB Tech Lab, the research and development arm affiliated with the trade group, has acquired the nonprofit online identity consortium DigiTrust. Terms of the deal are unknown, though a key feature is the acqui-hire of Jordan Mitchell, DigiTrust’s founder and CEO, as the Tech Lab’s senior VP of members and operations. The Tech Lab… Continue reading »
