ADVERTISING
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released the final version of its IAB Standard Ad Unit Porfolio, a set of guidelines and specs for digital ads and platforms. The specs, designed by the IAB Technology Laboratory, feature ads that allow creative content to adjust to multiple resolution capabilities and screen sizes. The specs also offer guidelines for virtual and augmented reality, as well as 360-degree video, social and mobile video, and emoji ad messaging. A draft of the portfolio had been available for public comment since September of last year.
Q&A: THE WEATHER COMPANY’S MARK RISIS
What are today’s biggest challenges when it comes to consistent data and measurement? Mark Risis, The Weather Company’s Head of Global Partnerships and Data Sales, shared his thoughts with Cynopsis. Check out a couple of his answers below, and read the full Q&A here. Risis will serve as a moderator at Cynopsis’s upcoming Measurement and Data Conference. Be sure to register – here.
In what ways is the proliferation of new platforms making measurement and targeting harder? And on the flip side, what new opportunities are these shifts bringing?
The proliferation of services not only creates scale but also fragmentation…The idea of a rating becomes highly challenged, as its value is stretched to meet the reality of a 1:1 delivery across multiple platforms, and outside of the typical broadcast window, even when expanded by +3 or +7 days. At the same time, the underlying IP infrastructure [of the new services] allows for robust data collection about who watched what, when, and what else they also consumed.
Over the next decade, what do you think will be the biggest new challenges when it comes to achieving consistent measurement and transparency? And what steps should people be taking now as preparation for meeting those challenges?
Managing the transition between controlled measurement – panels and focus groups – to measurement that uses naturally occurring data that is collected “in the wild” is incredibly challenging. It’s a world where a rating and an impression live side by side. The odds of both approaches yielding the same answers are low. They often tell very different stories. Thus, there are two parallel truths that can coexist at the same moment in time for marketers, and knowing how to accept this gray area during the transition from a “good enough” to a “much better but never enough” is something that requires confidence and resolution.
APPS + PLATFORMS
Twitter says that its efforts to crack down on harassment are working. In a new blog post, product and engineering chief Ed Ho said that the number of flagged accounts that Twitter is taking action on each day has increased tenfold since this time last year. And Twitter has been making greater efforts to take action against backup accounts started by banned users. Over the years, the company has come under frequent criticism for perceived failures to fight abuse; its efforts to police such behavior kicked into a new gear earlier this year, starting with a policy that temporarily limits the reach of offenders’ tweets. According to Ho, accounts that were put into this period of “limited functionality” generate 25% fewer reports of abuse, and “approximately 65% of these accounts are in this state just once.” Ho also acknowledged that “there is still much work to be done.” You can check out the full blog post here.
Tasty, BuzzFeed’s recipe brand, could announce a standalone app as early as next week. That’s according to a report from Digiday; the site says the app will feature recipe clips, instructions, and the ability to assemble a favorites list, among other features. Tasty first debuted in the summer of 2015, and has since become a social media juggernaut: The brand has 87.5 million Facebook followers, 490,000 Twitter followers, and 12.3 million Instagram followers.
CNNgo, the cable net’s TV Everywhere app, is now available for Android TV-powered devices. It had already debuted for Apple TV, Roku devices, Amazon Fire TV streaming sticks and set-top boxes, Samsung smart TVs, and iOS and Android mobile devices. The app, which requires users to authenticate with pay TV credentials, features VOD and live content from CNN.
PROGRAMMING
Netflix is now streaming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The standalone Star Wars film first debuted in theaters last year. Its Netflix debut comes as part of a licensing deal that the service inked with Disney in 2012. The pact gives Netflix the rights to Disney films – beginning with 2016 releases.
PokerGO, the poker-focused SVOD service from Las Vegas startup Poker Central, is getting some new live content. Poker Central and the ARIA Resort & Casino are partnering to launch the Poker Masters, a high stakes poker tournament that will live-stream on PokerGO this fall. The tournament runs from September 13 to September 20, with an off day on Sunday, September 17.
EXECUTIVE MOVES
Vimeo finally has a new CEO. The IAC-owned video platform has given the role to Anjali Sud. Sud first joined the company in 2014, most recently serving as GM and SVP of Vimeo’s creator business. She’s also held roles at Amazon and Time Warner. Before her elevation to Vimeo’s top spot, IAC CEO Joey Levin had been doing his best to stretch the meaning of the phrase “interim CEO”; he’d doubled as Vimeo’s chief exec since June of 2016.
TRIVIA
Our Last Trivia Question: Billy Bob Thornton plays the lead role in which streaming series? Answer: Amazon Studios’ ‘Goliath.’ Kudos to Andy Pittman-TAMU/TX, Peter Steckelman-Tennis Channel/CA, Andrew Bellamy-Producers Guild of America/NY, Mathew Tombers-Intermat/NY, Luke Watson-Essential TV/NY, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/CA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, Lorrie Shilling/CA, and Bruce Trotter-CoxReps LA/CA
Follow-up: Goliath co-creator David E. Kelly has created roughly a zillion other TV dramas. Name three of them. (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and state.)
