In response to the Russian attack on Ukraine, YouTube has suspended all monetization programs for users in Russia, and is blocking access to YouTube channels associated with Russian state-funded media. Parent company Google has paused its billing system for users in Russia, so users cannot purchase apps and games, make subscription payments or conduct in-app purchases of goods using Google Play in Russia. The move follows the suspension of business in Russia by numerous tech companies, including Apple, Netflix, Snap, Microsoft and more.

The Russian government, which has already blocked Facebook, is now banning Instagram over Meta’s decision to allow users to post content that would normally violate its hate speech policies. Meta has temporarily allowed speech like “death to Russian invaders,” but does not allow “credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.” Instagram chief Adam Mosseri objected to Russia’s move, tweeting, “This decision will cut 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world as 80% of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country.”

Apple unveiled new devices at its “Peek Performance” event last week, including a new iPad Air, a new iPhone SE, and a new Apple display. An iOS update rolling out this week will include a Face ID that works with face masks, and a new Siri voice.

Facebook introduced new tools to help group admins manage interactions and reduce misinformation. Admins can now automatically decline incoming posts that have been identified by third-party fact checkers as containing false information, and more easily suspend users from posting, reacting or participating in group chats.

Verizon is partnering with Meta to explore metaverse opportunities. The goal is to “understand the foundational requirements for the metaverse and its applications,” said Chief Strategy Officer Rima Qureshi during Verizon’s analyst day. “Our collaboration with Meta will explore how Verizon’s MEC infrastructure can deliver intensive XR cloud rendering and low latency streaming.”

Google’s Android 12L, announced in October, is beginning its rollout. The operating system created for large-screened devices offers an updated user interface, multitasking enhancements and improved compatibility support.

Twitter has launched new mobile storefronts. Twitter Shops will enable merchants to display a catalog of up to 50 items on their Twitter profiles. Uses can access the items using an in-app browser.

The Recording Academy is rolling out its first collection of Grammy NFTs. The collection from web company OneOf launched last week with a free NFT available to all fans and features a single “golden ticket” NFT trip for two to the 64th Annual Grammy Awards on April 3 in Las Vegas. The collections will feature digital works created by three NFT artists from diverse backgrounds that highlight OneOf’s mission to support women and POC in the Web3 space.

Comcast’s Xfinity has become an official partner of Twitch’s twitchgaming channel, joining American Eagle and Ally Bank. As part of its partnership, Xfinity will present “Chat’s Choice Awards Nominee Debate” during “The Weekly”; and “Xfinity: First Plays,” with day-of-release commentary and gameplay during “Game Release.”

The Video Advertising Bureau is asking Nielsen to delay its new “Big Data” monthly impact releases, covering set-top box data and smart TV viewership metrics that could be used to estimate the price of ad inventory, until after this year’s upfront. Before Nielsen’s “Big Data” national TV measurement can be considered legitimate for eventual TV currency data use, wrote VAB CEO Sean Cunningham to Nielsen CEO David Kenny, disclosures are needed on how the data was created, and how to compare data sets.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau released the agenda for PlayFronts, representing the gaming industry. “Gaming is an untapped ‘attention oasis’ that embodies many of the characteristics of the next wave of the internet,” said IAB Vice President-Experience Center Zoe Soon. “As an industry, we can’t afford to keep neglecting the massive source of consumer attention that gaming provides.”

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ADVERTISING

Comcast Advertising announced that its media solutions allowing US advertisers to buy premium TV advertising on an audience basis nationwide across all screens will be relaunched under the AudienceXpress brand. FreeWheel Media, the media solutions team within FreeWheel, will now be in market under the AudienceXpress brand. Features include the ability to measure and report on campaigns in near real-time; integration with major MVPDs; use of aggregated Comcast viewership data, as well as first- and third-party data, to reach the right audiences with linear and CTV advertising; and advanced incremental reach and attribution solutions.

In the aftermath of ATT, 92% of app advertisers use the Dedicated Campaign feature on TikTok to target users on iOS 14 and above, according to findings from mobile analytics platform AppsFlyer’s In-app Measurement & Performance Report, in partnership with TikTok. Other highlights include:
* Retail apps see a 60% drop off between checkout and purchase. Finance apps, however, convert registered users at about 1 in every 4.
* Securing the final step in the funnel (purchase) is much harder for Gaming apps with 91% drop off on average vs. the level played event. Non-gaming apps see a 68% drop off before completing a purchase.
* The average large app (top 30%) measures a total of 3.7 million daily in-app events; medium and small apps measure 147K and 41K, respectively.

Comscore and WideOrbit expanded their longstanding partnership to create the next generation of automated linear TV buying and selling. WideOrbit is introducing Comscore TV information to power automated TV transactions and audience targeting across markets and demographics. The partnership facilitates the automated buying and selling of advertising inventory from more than 1700 local stations across 210 local markets, allowing advertisers to reach a specific number of impressions in a market and/or daypart rather than make specific program buys.

datafuelX, offering reusable decision support products for the forecasting and optimization of advertising audience and outcome deliveries, has launched, headed by Jay Amato, President, the former General Manager of OpenAP; Howard Shimmel, Head of Strategy, President of Janus Strategy and Insights and former Chief Research Officer at Turner Broadcasting; and Spencer Lambert, Manager, Product and Partnership Success, formerly with Horizon Media. “When it comes to application of data for buying and selling, the industry is largely stuck in a ‘what happened’ and ‘why’ mode,” said Amato. “This approach leads to a strategy that assumes the past is an accurate predictor of the future. The datafuelX vision is to use predictive and prescriptive analytics that take the trends and variables of the future into account.” At launch, datafuelX is offering two predictive analytics solutions: precisionX, a dynamic reach and frequency tool, and outcomeX, a predictive analytics model that powers the evolution of consumer behavior metrics from measurement and attribution to forecasting and optimization.

Annalect, Omnicom Group’s data and analytics division, has struck a multi-year agreement with Affinity Solutions, provider of real-time purchase behavior data built on a database of 7+ billion credit and debit card transactions annually. The agreement transforms Omni’s model for developing purchase insights from “propensity to buy” to actual purchases made at specific retailers. “Connecting Affinity’s purchase graph to Omni’s proprietary consumer database of 250+ million individuals and thousands of data points will allow us to develop enhanced commerce consumer journeys, as well as build more effective target audiences,” said Slavi Samardzija, Global CEO of Annalect.

Pinterest announced it will launch Idea Ads, an Idea Pin created and promoted by a business that includes a destination URL and the ability to follow a business account. Now in beta, Idea Ads was unveiled at the company’s global advertiser summit.

Magnite, the independent sell-side advertising platform, announced that Plex has named Magnite as a preferred SSP and SpringServe as their primary ad server.

Place Exchange, the supply-side platform for programmatic out-of-home media, announced a partnership with Clear Channel Outdoor Latin America, provider of digital OOH media in Latin America. The partnership will enable marketers to execute OOH media campaigns programmatically via their preferred demand-side platforms, delivering messaging to audiences throughout Latin America.

STREAMING

Next month, Hulu is introducing an Unlimited DVR feature for live TV customers, for no additional fee. Starting April 13, can store an unlimited number of live TV recordings for up to nine months.

“Never say never,” said Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann when asked at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference whether Netflix would consider changing its ad-free status, adding, “It’s not like we have religion against advertising.” That said, adding a tier with advertising is not in the plans right now. “We think we have a great model, a subscription business that scales globally really well,” said Neumann.

A lawsuit filed in New York on behalf of two HBO Max subscribers accuses HBO of providing Facebook with customer lists in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act. While HBO Max discloses on its website that it and its partners use cookies, the VPPA requires that subscribers give separate consent to share video viewing history.

Apple TV+ has started rolling out across Comcast’s entertainment platforms in the US, including Xfinity X1, Xfinity Flex and XClass TV. Sweetening the deal? From March 15 through March 21, Apple will offer Xfinity customers a preview of some of the most popular Apple TV+ original series and films across X1, Flex and Stream, no sign-up or sign-in required.

Cynopsis Team