No Business Like Show-Level Business
Third-party ad tech companies and some agencies have started testing ways to effectively jury-rig show-level CTV reporting – even when streaming media sellers don’t make that data available. Which, typically, they don’t.
The strategy involves connecting anonymized content IDs to reporting that shows up in conversion logs. In practice, a contextual advertising vendor or publisher vendor – such as Peer39, for example, as recently profiled by AdExchanger – assigns an identifier to each program that airs an ad.
Streamers and sell-side vendors could try to clamp down on this new streaming analytics and optimization workaround. But the honey-rather-than-vinegar approach is to accept that show-level campaign reporting will only become more accessible and lean into it.
Which is apparently what FreeWheel is doing, as Digiday reports. Its Buyer Cloud product (née Beeswax) will begin reporting show-level data for free as a matter of course beginning two hours after an ad is served.
However, FreeWheel still has no way to compel every streaming publisher in its network to participate, and the reporting is only available for publishers that opt into the disclosure. So far, that includes A+E, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Spectrum Reach, Warner Bros. Discovery and Xumo.
Ads, But At What Cost?
Xbox is trying to stand up an ads biz.
In-game advertising is nothing new and reward-based ads in casual mobile games are commonplace. But game consoles and PCs are what serious gamers use, and those gamers are notoriously less receptive to advertising.
But Xbox is strategically important to Microsoft, despite the fact that “our business today is not healthy,” new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wrote in a recent email to employees regarding the division’s layoffs earlier this month.
To turn the tide, Xbox is testing a way to let users stream games in exchange for watching ads rather than paying, Business Insider reports, and this is not Microsoft’s first rodeo testing ad-supported gaming. With its existing ad tech stack and measurement framework, Microsoft is arguably well-positioned to make an ad-supported experience work on Xbox.
In other words, the roadblock isn’t technology, it’s the risk of pissing off gamers.
In this case, treating ad exposure as a form of payment could entice a wider audience without necessarily forcing ads on unsuspecting consumers. But, even so, hardcore gamers have never been a natural audience for advertising, especially when it risks breaking the spell of the game.
Human In What Loop?
Can ad creative exist without a creator? On Meta and Google, the answer is, apparently, yes.
AI campaign settings on both platforms are capable of automatically overlaying music or even generating entire ads without prompting, Ad Age reports.
Advertisers can try and dodge auto generation by meticulously checking all of their toggles and settings before the launch of each campaign – but they can’t look away for a minute. Platforms automatically revert to AI management when any new campaign is created.
Take Google, which generates video assets or slideshows for brands that haven’t uploaded their own video ads, according to some sources. Meanwhile, AI-generated ad copy is par for the course, as are dead-end or errant links.
The rationale for these new features is understandable in theory: If music performs better in a video, then why not add music? But in practice, these AI settings mean major headaches for buyers who want control and would rather fine tune the details themselves.
As an aside, remember last year when Mattel had to pull some of its “Wicked” dolls from shelves because the toy boxes were printed with a link to an adult website? That was human error, but imagine something like it happening with every single digital ad you post. Shudder.
But Wait! There’s More!
Has sustainability in ad tech fallen by the wayside? [ExchangeWire]
Authors are revising their writing styles to sound less like AI. Ironic, of course, since generative AI chatbots trained on existing writing standards. [Wired]
Meanwhile, artists are increasingly optimistic about their chances facing off against AI companies in court. [The Verge]
Microsoft Word is now full of premium subscription Copilot ads, even for users who are already subscribed. [Kotaku]
Walmart Connect and Amazon Ads are battling for streaming ad budgets. How do they stack up? [Adweek]
You’re Hired!
AI commerce platform Disco expands its leadership team. [release]
Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
