SPECTRUM REACH
The 1st and only local media sales organization to achieve
TAG PLATINUM-LEVEL STATUS
Spectrum Reach has now earned all 4 of the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) seals:
Certified against Fraud, Piracy, Malware, and Brand Safety Certified
Becoming a TAG Platinum Member means that Spectrum Reach put advanced measures in place to ensure that your ads are seen by real people and run in safe, quality inventory that protects the reputation of your brand.
FOR ACTIONABLE STEPS TO PROTECT YOUR CAMPAIGNS AGAINST FRAUD CLICK HERE.

Monday December 13, 2021

Apple added two new features for App Store product pages. Developers can now try out alternate versions of their app’s product page with different icons, screenshots, and app previews to find out which one gets the best results. They can also create additional versions of an app’s product page to highlight specific features or content, discoverable through unique URLs. Custom product pages can have different screenshots, app previews, and promotional text.

OpenWeb on announced a partnership with NewsGuard, a provider of reliability ratings for more news and information websites, intended to help OpenWeb fight disinformation. Through the partnership, OpenWeb will leverage NewsGuard’s rating criteria, which sheds light on a site’s credibility and transparency practices. Based on nine criteria, sites receive a score ranging from zero to 100.

Nielsen’s Gracenote is expanding its content analytics capabilities with the launch of Audience Predict, a tool that forecasts potential future entertainment programming performance. Leveraging Gracenote content metadata, syndicated Nielsen audience measurement data and advanced machine learning technology, Audience Predict analyzes relationships between streaming service or network distribution outlets and anticipated potential program performance utilizing years of proprietary Nielsen viewership data. The solution forecasts potential audience size, composition, reach and viewing minutes under different distribution scenarios.

Mobile communications firm Sinch has completed its $1 billion acquisition of email delivery platform Pathwire. Stockholm-based Sinch aims to provide “a best-of-breed product set, across messaging, voice and email, that empowers businesses and developers to craft an unmatched, digital, customer experience,” said Oscar Werner, CEO of Sinch.

Google is bringing Android games to Windows users in 2022. The launch of the Google Play Games app for the PC will allow users to play and resume games on a desktop PC after first playing them on a phone, tablet or Chromebook.

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri received stern words and bipartisan complaints before a Senate Commerce subcommittee last week over what lawmakers view as the company’s inertia in protecting teens using its platform. Congress is considering legislation that would affect Instagram as well as platforms including TikTok and Snapchat in areas including consumer privacy and algorithm transparency. “I believe the time for self policing and self regulation is over,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (C-CT), who chaired the hearing. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said that “nothing changes. This is the fourth time in past two years that we have spoken with someone from Meta … and I feel like the conversation repeats itself ad nauseam.”

At its annual Lens Fest, Snap offered a peek at its latest AR-enabled glasses Spectacles, and announced updates to its Lens Studio. The AR lenses creation platform is getting a new Sounds library, support for real-world physics, and broader support for World Mesh.

Twitter is testing a new system for identifying problems on the platform. Users will no longer be asked which rule a reported a harmful tweet is breaking. The automated system will suggest that, and the user can say whether it’s right. The move helps cover gray areas, areas.

B2B music sync licensing platform Harvest Media is now offering integration with TikTok. “We’re seeing a real trend toward delivering production music to social platforms,” said Harvest Media Managing Director Angus Hayes. “Production music has a role to play in the expanding multi-million dollar market surrounding UGC, and companies want to get involved, either to keep track of any use of their music or to encourage users to dig into their catalog.”

SPECTRUM REACH
The 1st and only local media sales organization to achieve
TAG PLATINUM-LEVEL STATUS
Spectrum Reach has now earned all 4 of the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) seals:
Certified against Fraud, Piracy, Malware, and Brand Safety Certified
Becoming a TAG Platinum Member means that Spectrum Reach put advanced measures in place to ensure that your ads are seen by real people and run in safe, quality inventory that protects the reputation of your brand.
FOR ACTIONABLE STEPS TO PROTECT YOUR CAMPAIGNS AGAINST FRAUD CLICK HERE.

Senator Elizabeth Warren is pushing for an investigation into whether Facebook violated wire fraud and securities laws. In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and SEC Chair Gary Gensler, Warren pointed to documentation in the public record that “suggests that Facebook may have misled investors, the SEC, its advertising customers, and the public about the reach of its advertisements, a core aspect of Facebook’s business model.” Facebook is already facing a lawsuit from advertisers over the allegations.

Twitter has asked a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit from former president Donald Trump that accuses the company of violating his First Amendment. Trump was banned from the platform after the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Twitter notes that Trump’s claims “ignore that the First Amendment protects Twitter’s decisions to exercise editorial control and judgment over what content is and is not published through its communications platform.”

The SEC is looking into SPAC Digital World Acquisition Corp., which plans to merge with former president Donald Trump’s startup, Trump Media & Technology Group. While the SEC has requested documents relating to meetings, policies and procedures, the inquiry “should not be construed as an indication that FINRA [the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority] has determined that any violations of Nasdaq rules or federal securities laws have occurred,” said DWAC.

ADVERTISING

IAB Tech Lab announced the release of OpenRTB 2.6 for public comment for a 60-day period until February 7. OpenRTB is the communication protocol that enables real-time buying and selling of digital ad inventory. The flagship feature of OpenRTB 2.6 is that it enables seamless buying of CTV inventory by introducing structured, dynamic, and hybrid ad pods. “As more and more CTV is bought and sold programmatically, it is critical that the industry is able to use a standard, yet flexible protocol,” said Shailley Singh, SVP, Product, IAB Tech Lab. “IAB Tech Lab listened to our members and developed OpenRTB 2.6 to meet this industry need.”

LiveRamp and Lotame have expanded their identity partnership focused on delivering improved interoperability across identity spaces. Lotame customers utilizing Lotame Panorama ID will also be able to access LiveRamp’s people-based, privacy-first identifier, RampID.

WPSD Local 6, part of Paxton Media Group, has partnered with CTV ad platform Publica. Publica will provide WPSD Local 6 with the technology to serve and manage ad experiences across all CTV environments.

Integral Ad Science announced an advanced integration with Mediaocean, enabling media buyers and planners to set up, launch, and adjust their digital campaigns within Mediaocean buyer workflow (Prisma) and automatically populate this information within IAS Signal. Initially available to select advertisers, this enhanced integration will launch globally in early 2022.

Criteo, which powers audience-first advertising solutions throughout the supply chain, is in talks to acquire IPONWEB, an advertising technology company that builds custom media trading systems. The acquisition accelerates Criteo’s plans to connect marketers and media owner first-party data across its network.

OpenAP announced the launch of XPm, the the collective TV publisher response to the Association of National Advertisers’ call to evolve to a cross-screen media measurement framework for marketers. XPm is built on the central TV identity spine, OpenID, and powers the sharing of campaign exposure data with third-party measurement companies in privacy safe environments. The VAB, as part of its Measurement Innovation Task Force, will operate as the governing body of XPm in order to create common standards and establish controls on how data is used on behalf of TV publishers. “New innovations have made it possible to use the same IDs for campaign targeting and as for measurement, giving marketers the ability to understand not only how many people were reached but who specifically was reached across all screens,” said David Levy, CEO of OpenAP. “We believe cross-platform measurement at the ID level is the future for TV advertising, and we’re thrilled to link arms with our partners to bring optionality and more choice of solutions to market.”

TUBI and TVSquared released findings detailing the unique reach achieved by advertisers across industry categories. “Leveraging Tubi for incremental reach to the linear audience intuitively makes sense, but being able to prove out its value through TVSquared was the selling point,” said Joe Sebolao, Director, Starcom. “Ultimately, 93% of the linear impressions delivered through Tubi were incremental to TV, proving out the value of the partnership and allowing us to further our client’s video strategy on future campaigns.”

YouTube TV and Game Show Network inked a distribution agreement to bring Game Show Network and getTV to YouTube TV’s base package, with Sony Cine launching as part of their previously announced Spanish-language add-on package.

HBO Max is debuting the Finding Magic Mike AR Experience, a web-based augmented reality activation that enables fans to tap into the “Magic Mike Live” action. The activation is a complement to its premiere of “Finding Magic Mike” on Thursday, December 16.

Free movie and TV streaming platform Filmzie expanded its service in the US market, launching on the Roku platform. Its TV and film catalogue will now be available to users without having to download an app. Viewers can find content from the Filmzie slate via Roku’s search function.

Vevo has launched 11 themed linear streaming channels with 24/7 curated music video programming on The Roku Channel. Over the past eight years, Vevo has been working closely with Roku around the Vevo on-demand app. Now the partnership has extended into linear.

FX is simplifying its branding for streaming, phasing out FX on Hulu. FX programming will be curated on the new FX hub. “For 20 years, we have worked tirelessly to make the FX mark synonymous to the consumer with original programming that is distinctive and excellent as well as entertaining,” said FX Networks Chairman John Landgraf. “This change furthers the natural evolution of FX.”

Kids’ streaming service Sensical’s algorithm-free lineup is now available on VIZIO’s free streaming service, WatchFree+ through three, separate FAST channels for kids 2-4, 5-7 and 8-10. Among the new video content alliances for the service are studio/distribution partners including Hasbro and Entertainment One, Sinking Ship Entertainment and Splash Entertainment. New digital-first video content includes additional titles from Tankee, plus new acquisitions from Neptune Studios; content from Music/Social Justice Artist Fyutch and from the Metropolitan Opera Guild.

VIZIO is also offering “Winter Watchland,” a collection of over 500 hours of free holiday-themed featured movies, TV shows, recipes, and music on WatchFree+. The holiday destination is sponsored by Microsoft.

Paramount+ has launched Live Channels, a new product feature that curates the most popular shows and movies on the service in linear channels. The new offering includes themed channels like Kids & Family Fun, Crime & Justice and Reality TV: Competitions, as well as fan-favorite franchises, such as PAW PATROL and STAR TREK. “Even in the era of on-demand, there is clearly a strong consumer appetite for reimagined linear channels that provide effortless, lean-back entertainment,” said Tom Ryan, President and CEO, ViacomCBS Streaming. “Inspired and informed by the winning model Pluto TV pioneered and popularized, these highly curated channels underscore the power of our unified streaming organization and serve as a product differentiator in the SVOD space.”

Heritage+, dedicated to filming cultural, historical and tourism sites around the world, is now available on DistroTV in the US, Canada and Great Britain.

2022 PREDICTIONS

“There are two main themes in the advanced TV space we can expect to see in 2022. The first is brands becoming more comfortable leveraging CTV and expecting more from their advertising on this channel. There is a big opportunity here for brands to think carefully about the household unit and how to apply granular data to achieve more precise targeting, so that the CTV ad experience is tailored and richer than the linear TV ad experience. Hand in hand with this will be advances in measurement, reporting, along with strides toward eliminating fraud within the CTV space. The second theme will be changes emerging in the broader channels. As streaming consumption matures, we can likely expect plateaus for SVOD and new opportunities for AVOD/FAST, with users turning to ad-supported services to complement their standard 1, 2 or 3 paid content subscriptions.” – Tim Sleath, VP Product Management, VDX.tv

“As consumers live in increasingly connected homes and cut the cord on cable, it’s important marketers not forget about the end consumer’s journey, digital footprint, and mobile devices. Planning omnichannel strategies will be huge in 2022. Using data-driven experiences across devices to complement the strengths and weaknesses of each channel and device, for holistic, engaging, high yield, and meaningful customer experiences, will be the winning strategy.” – Safaa Lafnoune, VP of Product, ViralGains

“There are many tools related to governance, risk, and compliance that marketers are considering. Outside of point solutions, in 2022, many marketers are taking the opportunity to future-proof their marketing technology stack. They are looking holistically to define marketing use cases, data sources, customer data platforms, governance, activation, reporting, and business intelligence.” – Alicia Arnold, Managing Director, fifty-five

“In 2021, more journalists followed the trend of departing for subscription newsletter services like Substack. This begs the question: will consumers reach a breaking point? Just how many subscriptions are they willing to pay for? As we head into 2022, I anticipate that the independent journalist model will regress back towards a publisher’s model. We’ll see journalists bundling their offerings together and supplementing their subscription revenue with ads in emails, letting journalists continue to do what they do best: report.” – Kerel Cooper, CMO at LiveIntent

“There’s going to be a lot more focus on cutting Adland’s significant carbon footprint. In 2022, that will mean the launch of a range of new sustainable solutions designed to help brands, publishers and ad tech companies cut CO2 emissions significantly. With the rise of programmatic advertising, we not only need to factor in the carbon dioxide used to transfer the ad onto the page and display the ad to the user, but also the trillions of auctions that take place every day without any ads being served at all. Moving forward, consumers will continue to demand more action from brands. After all, the last thing we need is more hot air.” – Ryan Cochrane, COO, Good-Loop