Microsoft is being investigated by the European Commission over whether it broke EU competition rules by tying Teams to Office 365 and Microsoft 365. In 2020, Slack Technologies alleged Microsoft illegally bundled Teams to its productivity suites for business customers.

Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic have teamed to establish the Frontier Model Forum, aimed at advancing AI safety research, minimize risks and promote responsible model development. The group will develop industry best practices and work with policymakers and academics to support efforts to build apps that serve in areas like climate change and early cancer detection. “Companies creating AI technology have a responsibility to ensure that it is safe, secure and remains under human control,” said Brad Smith, President of Microsoft. “This initiative is a vital step to bring the tech sector together in advancing AI responsibly and tackling the challenges so that it benefits all of humanity.”

TikTok has partnered with post-purchase survey providers KnoCommerce and Fairing will give brands more insight into TikTok users. “Traditional attribution models have always struggled with an inherent flaw: they often fail to capture the full consumer journey, generally focusing on the last touchpoint before a purchase is made,” said TikTok in a blog post. “In today’s multichannel, multi-device world, this model is becoming increasingly inadequate.”

Warner Bros. Discovery, in partnership with emerging venture fund Acme Innovation, is launching “Collider On The Lot,” a two-month, in-person and virtual accelerator program for media, entertainment, and emerging technology companies. Companies selected to participate will collaborate with WBD and Acme Innovation to develop innovative approaches to engaging fans of beloved brands, using emerging technologies to improve production processes, and enhancing digital experiences for fans.

Google announced new updates for Performance Max. Advertisers opting into the upgrades will have access to a tools and capabilities aimed at improving campaign performance and user experience, and be able to monitor out-of-stock pages to ensure they do not serve up with Search ads by automatically factoring in product inventory.

Service Electric Cablevision, provider of residential and business Internet, IPTV, and phone services, announced a strategic partnership with Nrby, Inc to deploy its in Nrby Platform. The integration will significantly improve the visibility of SECV’s infrastructure assets, optimize operations, and heighten subscriber experience.

BY THE NUMBERS

Alphabet’s 2Q23 revenue rose 7% to $74.6 billion compared versus the year prior, with boosts from AI and cloud services. Google also reversed consecutive quarters of ad declines with ad revenue topping $58 billion, up from $56.29 billion last year. YouTube ads clocked in at $7.67 billion, up from $7.34 billion.

Meta revenue rose 11% for the quarter, to $32 billion, beating estimates, and net income rose 16% to $7.79 billion. Facebook daily active users numbered 2.06 billion in June, up 5% year-over-year. “We have the most exciting roadmap I’ve seen in a while,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg, pointing to Threads, AI, Reels, Llama 2 and the upcoming launch of Quest 3.

Snap reported revenue of $1.07 billion, versus estimates of $946.7 million, and a net loss of $377 million. The app added 14 million daily active users in the quarter, to hit 397 million, up 14% year-over-year.

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ADVERTISING

X (fka Twitter) announced its “Ads Revenue Sharing” program is now available to creators globally. X users must have at least 15 million impressions within the last three months and at least 500 followers to be eligible.

When deciding on a programmatic ATV partner, the three most important capabilities are measurement (58%), unique identity and audience capabilities (56%), and access to unique linear TV data and platform cost efficiencies (47%), according to a new survey from Yahoo Advertising focused on advanced advertising. Automatic optimization tools (40%) and unique supply (35%) ranked fourth and fifth. Of these, 22% rated access to unique linear TV data as their number one priority, closely followed by measurement at 21%. “Advanced TV represents a significant opportunity for advertisers,” said Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, Chief Revenue Officer of Yahoo. “It combines the reach and impact of traditional television with the precision and efficiency of digital advertising. The growth of this sector is shifting the advertising landscape, allowing marketers to connect with their audience in more targeted, meaningful ways.”

Eighty-four percent of Canadian viewers like enhanced ads, and 52% will engage with them, according to a new study from LG Ad Solutions. Enhanced ads with sports-related dynamic content are the most likely to improve brand favorability and purchase intent, with one in three viewers reporting a positive impact; 69% are likely to engage with enhanced ads that show real-time sports scores or a countdown to games/events and team match-ups. “The results of this study reinforce the desire among consumers to have a more personalized advertising experience, receiving information that is timely and relevant to them,” said Jason Randall, Country Manager, Vice President of Sales, Canada, LG Ad Solutions. “Unlike traditional television, Connected TV provides brands a way to give viewers the experience they’re looking for and help drive better brand engagement through more interactive and compelling advertising content.”

Innovid announced the launch of a cookieless cross-device solution that matches multiple devices to user interactions with the goal of increasing conversion rate accuracy. “Traditional methods of tracking audience behavior leave actions isolated to the devices they originated in, providing an incomplete picture of the customer journey and the risk of losing valuable conversion traffic with only a partial view of campaign effectiveness,” said Dale Older, Chief Product Officer at Innovid. “Now, marketers can match events that a household did across different devices in a cookieless, privacy-compliant manner, resulting in a more accurate conversion rate.”

Sounder has struck a partnership with AMA (A Million Ads) that combines Sounder’s brand suitability and contextual targeting technology with AMA’s dynamic creative ad platform to deliver contextually relevant and brand safe podcast advertising. AMA’s flagship platform, AMA Studio, allows advertisers to create personalized ads for podcast listeners based on their listening habits, demographics, and interests. The tool, which uses data from a variety of sources, including purchase history and location, can now include Sounder’s contextual data for podcasts, to create ads that are tailored to each individual listener and trafficked with a single tag.

DoubleVerify has expanded its quality solutions with Google’s Ads Data Hub for Measurement Partners, enabling media measurement and helping maximize advertiser performance on YouTube Shorts, Masthead and In-feed Video formats. The release leverages DV’s technology to help advertisers on YouTube Shorts ensure their video ads are viewable by a human being and are safe from Fraud/Invalid Traffic.

Uber’s advertising division is partnering with third-party verification providers, DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science. The partnerships include integrations to verify viewability, brand suitability and the absence of ad fraud, supporting Uber in validating performance and effectiveness of Journey Ads campaigns on Uber advertising.

STREAMING

Over 70% of viewers used any given app three months or less out of the year, according to The Streaming Index: Spotlight on Churn, from Samsung Ads. The top 15 apps were stickier, with almost half of their viewers active more than three months out of twelve, but only 30% were active more than half the year. Other finding include:
* Greater monthly time spent with an app is directly correlated with a higher number of months active during the year.
* Once a streaming app user has been inactive for 4 months, users have churned out, moved on to other apps and are unlikely to return.
* App publishers can drive engagement by marketing to current users.
Bottom line? “User engagement is critical for long-term health,” says the report. “As Americans figure out which 3-4 apps they will use on a regular basis, app publishers must not only attract trial, but work to encourage regular usage.”

Cineverse announced the release of MatchpointAI, an AI-based platform and marketplace offering a solution for video content producers, streaming platforms, and OEMs to prepare, optimize and future-proof their content. MatchpointAI leverages Cineverse’s content processing platform, Dispatch™, to provide content owners and streaming services access to capabilities that can eliminate expensive, time consuming manual work preparing film and television assets for global distribution.

Consumers are turning to curated collections and hubs to find content based on a theme, with eight in ten viewers watch content from a collection or hub at least occasionally, according to the “State of Media, Entertainment and Tech: Viewing Behaviors 2023” report from Horowitz Research. Black streaming customers are especially engaged, with 80% reporting using Black content collections/hubs at least occasionally. Among Asian streamers, 65% watch Asian content collections/hubs, while 59% of Latinx streamers report using Latinx content collections/hubs. Among LGBTQIA+ consumers, 52% of streamers report using LGBTQIA+ content collections/hubs. “Until the industry works collaboratively to deliver a truly integrated search and discovery experience that comprises content from all possible streaming sources, consumers will continue to struggle to find what to watch” said Adriana Waterston, Insights and Strategy Lead for Horowitz Research. “Professional curation, such as these hubs or collections, are playing an increasingly relevant role in easing some of those struggles’ consumers are facing.”

Netflix introduced “My Netflix,” a shortcut for mobile users that replaces the “Downloads” tab. The feature allows viewers to easily find the series and movies they want to watch.

About two thirds (64%) of all TV homes report using a smart TV to stream video, compared with 47% in 2020, according to Hub Entertainment Research’s “Evolution of the TV Set” study. “The evolution of the TV set is making valuable new features available to viewers, whether it be better quality picture and sound, streaming, apps, or voice control,” said David Tice, senior consultant to Hub and co-author of the study. “This also means challenges to incumbent firms in the TV ecosystem as alternative content providers, advertising sellers, and gatekeepers dramatically increase their presence through the growth of smart TVs.”

Brightcove is teaming with PubMatic to combine PubMatic’s programmatic advertising solutions with Brightcove’s video platform. The goal: enhance and bolster demand for the recently launched Brightcove Ad Monetization service.

Fuse Media is bringing Fuse+ to Prime Video. The new offering on Prime Video is an expansion of Fuse Media’s agreement with Amazon for Amazon Freevee, which offers Fuse FAST channels Shades of Black, Backstage, Latino Vibes, and OutTV Proud.

TheSoul Publishing has partnered with Plex, bringing its content channels to Plex’s userbase in more than 180 countries.

Cynopsis Team