New Research On Audio Ads; Twitter Lets Publishers Rep Pre-Roll Video Ads

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Listen And Learn

Data scientists from Uber, Pandora and Netflix published joint research measuring the impact of audio ads on listeners over a 21-month period. Pandora listeners were broken into nine groups, each with different ad exposure levels over that time. With such a long duration, “we are able to measure long-run demand effects, with three times as much ad-load sensitivity as we would have obtained if we had run a month-long experiment,” according to the authors. Perhaps the most notable finding is that “increased ad load causes a significant increase in the number of paid ad-free subscriptions to Pandora, particularly among older listeners.” That rationale could explain YouTube’s plan to “frustrate” music listeners into signing up for an ad-free subscription by upping its ad load. Check out the research paper.

The Rest Is History

Facebook plans to develop a privacy tool giving users control over the data that Facebook collects on them via sites and apps that use the Facebook Like button or a Facebook Analytics pixel. The product, called “Clear History,” should take a few months to build, writes VP and chief privacy officer Erin Egan. “This feature will enable you to see the websites and apps that send us information when you use them, delete this information from your account, and turn off our ability to store it associated with your account going forward.” If adopted by Facebook users, the tool could prevent brands and attribution vendors from measuring audiences as cohesively as they have in the past. But that’s a big if. More.

Birdie Told Me

Twitter is exploring turning over pre-roll ad sales to video publishers on its platform. Pre-roll was previously sold directly by the platform through its Twitter Amplify product. The change could allow publishers to make more money from Twitter pre-roll ads by letting them package the inventory with pre-roll on other platforms, Benjamin Mullin reports for CMO Today. More. But the rev-share model will likely remain the same, with pubs taking 70% of revenue and Twitter taking 30%. Twitter is looking to gain favor with publishers after Facebook’s assault on organic reach in the News Feed, and giving them the opportunity to sell their own inventory could make its offer more attractive. Related: At its NewFront Monday, Twitter announced new media deals that cement its push into live programming.

Finding A Way

Google and Apple app stores forbid developers from sharing user data, but it’s easy to evade detection by burying tracking code in an app or by uploading data to a separate server, where the app store operators lack oversight. Apps that do location tracking “are approached with pay-for-data schemes,” BuzzFeed reports. In some cases, an SDK isn’t required if the developer uploads data directly to a server where the partner can aggregate and use it for marketing. “It’s very difficult to get any idea of where it goes and who it goes to,” says Cooper Quintin, a security researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. More.

But Wait, There’s More!