Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Investor Pinterest
Pinterest is picking up supporters on Wall Street, Bloomberg reports.
Investors aren’t enthused, exactly, but see Pinterest as an “underappreciated bargain” with revenue growth.
“Improving ad targeting is a natural use for AI, and [Pinterest’s] partnership with Amazon is a match made in heaven, as close as a game changer as you can get,” says Conrad van Tienhoven, portfolio manager at RiverPark Capital.
The Amazon partnership points to another bright spot: Pinterest’s new ad targeting partnerships with Amazon and Google. AdExchanger dubbed these types of partnerships “sky bridges,” since they create specific data and advertising integrations between two walled gardens, which are accessible only via the walled garden.
Amazon and Google are the big winners from the arrangement with Pinterest. They access Pinterest’s addressable supply, and as Amazon’s and Google’s respective ad systems improve at converting Pinterest users to ecommerce sales, Pinterest shares none of that growth. Pinterest’s CPMs inch up, and it will have two consistent demand sources buttressing its ad auctions.
But Pinterest can afford to give the upper hand to Amazon, if it also means getting a leg up from Wall Street.
Who Owns Reddit?
Speaking of “sky bridges,” another great example of the trend is the search advertising, AI and data licensing deal between Google and Reddit.
Google needs huge, authentic data sets that are comprised of people making product recommendations and genuine back-and-forth responses. Reddit needs money.
It’s a match made in heaven.
However, while Reddit (and Pinterest and other subordinate sky bridge partners) gets much-needed revenue wins from these deals, they give platforms like Google and Amazon massive power to dictate terms moving forward.
For instance, Reddit moderators who oversee some of the most popular subreddits and comment boards on the platform are ticked off with Reddit corporate again, writes Julia Alexander on her blog Posting Nexus. This time, it’s because Reddit will make moderators request permission for their subreddits to be private – formerly, moderators decided on an open or private forum.
Why this change?
There is no explanation. Buuuuuuuut the answer is clearly that Google wants visibility into all subreddits, and not for potentially useful Reddit forums to be out of view.
Tick Tock, Tick Tock
TikTok has enough on its plate. But too bad! Because a coalition of 14 state-level attorneys general have leveled a lawsuit against TikTok for allegedly promoting harmful content to children, The Verge reports.
There are examples of direct harm, such as viral trends that have caused injuries and deaths. (Tide pods, anyone? Cough meds as chicken marinade?)
But TikTok has insidious features that home in on people’s insecurities. For instance, kids using TikTok without understanding that it puts a “beauty filter” on posts.
This isn’t unique to TikTok. State AGs have targeted Meta and Snap for potential harm to children and teenage users. But TikTok, as a shopping platform, is even more directly exposed.
TikTok’s best-selling products in the US include anti-wrinkle creams, startup cosmetics, health supplements, multivitamins, hair curlers and clothing – especially underclothes, as well as items like nipple covers for women to wear under sheer clothes. Those products all sell more effectively on TikTok, where there are discreetly overlaid beauty filters on many posts.
But Wait, There’s More!
Ad tech execs keep leaving. It’s a sign of a new era. [Business Insider]
WPP partners with online gaming platform Roblox to create training courses and other marketer-friendly resources. [release]
Snapchat has begun testing two new ad placements in its platform. [Adweek]
Adobe launches a new web app that claims to help creators opt out of AI training. [The Verge]
OpenAI adds another media publisher, this time Hearst, as a data licensing partner. [release]
Google ordered to open up the Play Store in Epic Games antitrust ruling. [Engadget]
You’re Hired
Attain brings on Rachel Conforti as SVP of business marketing, Dave Constantino as SVP of business development. [release]
Kerv brings on Lauri Baker to serve as SVP and head of partnerships [release]
