| TECH MEDIA NEWS Ford is offering an in-car VR experience, with an assist from entertainment technology start-up Holoride. Today through November 9, riders can buckle up at a pickup location at Universal CityWalk and take a spin with a virtual Bride of Frankenstein. “The connected vehicle technology from Ford can help completely revolutionize what the in-car experience can be, moving us toward never-before-imagined productivity and entertainment in the vehicle,” said Ford’s VP of Mobility Marketing and Growth, Brett Wheatley. Twitter admitted it erred, “inadvertently” using the email addresses and phone numbers of select users to serve them targeted ads. Those email addresses and phone numbers were supposed to help protect users’ accounts using two-factor authentication and other security measures. However, the sensitive information was mistakenly fed into Twitter Tailored Audiences and Partner Audiences ad systems. Tailored Audiences lets marketers target ads to customers based on their own marketing lists, including email addresses and phone numbers. While Roku plots the next steps of its international expansion plans, analysts are expecting impressive growth for the company over the next few years. Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen predicts Roku will have 72 million active users by 2022, up from the 30.5 million users the company reported in August. That most recent total was up 39% from the 22 million active accounts Roku reported for the same quarter in 2018. Nollen noted that 72 million active accounts for Roku could drive the company’s platform revenue to $2.3 billion and an overall revenue of $2.7 billion. Sony confirmed that the next edition of the PlayStation console system will be out in time for Christmas 2020. “Since we originally unveiled our next-generation console in April, we know that there’s been a lot of excitement and interest in hearing more about what the future of games will bring,” Sony’s president, Jim Ryan, said in a PS Blog post. “Today I’m proud to share that our next-generation console will be called PlayStation 5, and we’ll be launching in time for holiday 2020.” Google added a new feature that makes it easier for people to control their media as they move from room to room. Stream transfer allows users to move music, videos, podcasts and more between compatible devices using their voice, the Google Home app or a Nest touchscreen. Microsoft launched per-app and per-game time limits on its parental control software. Parents can also offer more screen time on certain days. “Ultimately, our goal is for the app and game limits feature to provide flexible and customizable tools to meet each family’s unique needs,” said the company. Amazon’s also got Mom and Dad in mind - the platform is bringing its Freetime kids service to Fire TV. The app enables parents to set age limits, restrict content and limit the amount of time watched. In more Amazon news, its game-focused streaming service Twitch made its long-awaited debut on Apple TV. The app enables viewers to browse the Twitch app on Apple TV by game, and jump into popular live streams as well as access archived programming. Hulu is launching the oft-requested ability to download TV shows and movies to mobile devices for viewing on the go. Subscribers on the $11.99 no-commercials plan can now download tens of thousands of TV episodes and movies. (Those on the $5.99-per-month package with ads are out of luck.) |
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| ADVERTISING Advanced advertising solutions are changing local market advertising, according to a FreeWheel survey of its Strata platform users, most of whom are specialists in local media planning and buying. Buyers of local and regional advertising still see high value in traditional local and cable TV, but their interest in advanced TV solutions is strong, according to Comcast’s FreeWheel: 79% are “extremely or very interested” in using advanced TV, a percentage almost as high as local TV and cable (87%) 78% expect their spending on advanced TV to increase over the next 12 months – the highest percentage for any medium in the survey, including digital video, mobile, digital display, local TV and cable Clients in retail (21%), healthcare (15%) and auto (13%) represent the largest spending categories on advanced TV. The survey revealed that the top three reasons cited by local and regionally focused agencies for using data-driven, audience-based TV advertising solutions were 1.) delivering hard to reach audiences; 2.) reducing wasted impressions delivered out of target; and 3.) improving cost efficiencies. Google introduced technology, built on artificial intelligence, that estimates how likely its visitors will land on publisher sites that serve the same ad through Google Ad Manager, without revealing any data through third-party cookies. It’s a way for advertisers to manage ad frequency in Display & Video 360, a programmatic ad campaign management platform. It’s also intended to reduce the number of times the ad is served to a specific consumer without collecting data and compromising their privacy. The tool, expected to be added into Google Ads for display in the near future, will generate predictive models based on traffic patterns where a third-party cookie is available and analyze them at an aggregated level across Google Ad Manager. Kantar has expanded its audience activation offer to a broader array of verticals, including automotive, consumer electronics, consumer financial, food & dining, health & wellness, lifestyle, media & entertainment, political & advocacy, sports, telecom and travel. Additional specialty categories such as beverage and B2B will launch shortly. “The expansion of our offer enables a new level of precision for addressing the right people on the right media channels in a privacy-first approach,” said Andy Brown, CEO of Kantar’s Media division. “The new Kantar Audiences offer in the US is an important first step toward our global objective to provide consistency of targeting across traditional linear and addressable media.” YouTube is looking to grab a bigger piece of the campaign advertising pie with its new Instant Reserve tool that gives political ad buyers an automated way to reserve slots through the end of February. When the tool launched, “People acted quickly with what was available,” a Democratic staffer told the Wall Street Journal. The E.W. Scripps Company also introduced a new tool for advertisers. The new platform, Scripps Octane, helps local advertisers target customers across a range of OTT video and streaming television providers; customers can build targeted OTT campaigns that can be highly customized across devices, day parts, geographies and consumer interests. “We know that about 204 million people in the U.S. will view OTT content this year, and those audiences are increasingly diverse in terms of their interests and consumption habits,” said Missy Evenson, VP of sales, Local Media, at Scripps. “Scripps Octane represents a path for our local advertisers to reach these audiences with built-in transparency and reporting tools to ensure their messages are resonating with the right audiences.” Tremor Video announced it has implemented self-service DSP advancements to its programmatic video platform. The data-driven enhancements aim to allow media planners to execute and measure campaigns more effectively by providing them with an environment built for operational efficiency. In addition, Tremor Video has released new reporting enhancements to provide more actionable campaign planning and optimization, increased granularity of insights and improved ease of use. Ad holding company IPG announced the formation of Kinesso, focused on creating applications that help marketers amplify the impact of traditional and addressable media through the better use of data by creating new software and products that deliver data trust and security tools, data-driven campaign optimization, and precision audiences. Kinesso will be comprised of Cadreon, IPG’s addressable media activation experts, and the company’s Data and Technology group. Kinesso will work in close partnership with IPG Mediabrands, Acxiom, and will provide services to agencies across the IPG network. “With the acquisition of Acxiom, we signaled our intent to lean into data-driven marketing, as well as position ourselves as brands’ trusted partner in their first party data management,” said Michael Roth, Chairman and CEO of Interpublic Group. “Kinesso furthers this vision by bringing together top data and technology talent with addressable media experts, and leveraging Acxiom’s assets and capabilities.” SpotX announced an expanded partnership with AMC to power programmatic monetization for OTT video throughout the Halloween season. “Last year, AMC viewership grew across digital by nearly 80% in video views and nearly 10% in reach, so this is an exciting opportunity for advertisers to reach consumers that they otherwise may not be reaching,” said David Pudjunis, director, yield management at AMC Networks. TVSquared and Extreme Reach announced a partnership aimed at allowing advertisers to measure all impressions across every ad-supported streaming service. With the integration, TVSquared Advantage looks at 100% of the linear and digital TV landscape. |
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