Big Layoffs At AudienceScience; Publishers Get No Money For Instagram Stories

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Different Direction

Procter & Gamble’s preferred demand-side platform AudienceScience is laying off a quarter of its staff. Roughly 50 positions at the 200-person company will be cut, although it’s unclear which departments will receive the biggest blow. GeekWire had the news first. The cuts come shortly after P&G moved its media account over to Hearts & Science, a data-driven agency launched by Omnicom. “The latest changes at the company reflect our increasing shift towards better serving the agency side of the advertising business alongside our roster of global advertiser clients,” the company said in a statement.

Don’t Sweat It

Publishers aren’t making money from Instagram Stories [AdExchanger coverage] … yet. Unlike Snapchat, which gives pubs a cut of ad revenue from their Discover channels, Instagram doesn’t offer a rev-share model. But publishers are patient. “It’s still really early days on Instagram,” said Bryan Goldberg, CEO at Bustle, whose Stories audience grew from 200,000 to 1.4 million last year. “It really helps publishers build their brand. It’s not yet at the center of our revenue strategy,” he said. More at WSJ.

Montjoie

Criteo has been on a tear – going from below $30 per share a year ago to almost $46 at the end of last week. Zacks Investment Research and TheStreet both recently upgraded the stock’s rating from hold to buy, among other optimistic indicators. One Seeking Alpha contributor calls Criteo “the little-known online advertising gem,” and notes the share price is still well below its previous peaks in the low 50s. Criteo has roller-coastered up and down a few times in its first three years, but the French retargeter has proven a durable bet among public tech and internet investors [AdExchanger coverage].

Snap Search

Snapchat launched a universal search bar at the top of the app screen, making it much easier for users to find friends, media companies and brands they want to connect with. TechCrunch reports the feature makes it easier for brands to find and interact with audiences on Snapchat, but users have also pressed Snapchat for better in-app navigation. Snapchat is behind the search game compared to competitors like Facebook, YouTube and Amazon. More.

Retail’s Revolving Door

Retail turmoil has led to a feeding frenzy among headhunters. Bloomberg reports that Walmart is overhauling its ecommerce team, elevating executives from its $3.3 billion Jet.com acquisition. Amazon, meanwhile, just poached Target’s SVP of strategy and innovation to lead its global Prime expansion. For the past year or so global retailers have been frantically losing and restoring talent like they’re running with a leaky bucket. The CFO job in particular has undergone a transformation as “retailers are shifting spending away from stores and into technology and ecommerce operations,” boosting applicants with hands-on data experience who want to move up from mere marketing.

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Video Shrug

Everyone is going full-tilt into online video. Except, wait, are we leaving everybody behind? Poynter writes up a Parse.ly report that claims video content actually receives worse engagement than short, medium or long-form text. That came after Oxford’s Reuters Institute for Journalism poured some cold water on the enthusiasm over online video viewership last year. And now, wouldn’t you know it, some publishers are seeing their short-form video numbers practically fall through the floor on Facebook. Take a picture, it lasts longer.

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