Youtube goes Vertical
As you know, we are a proud advisor of user experience and user preferences. We’ve been helping our publishers and readers to stay ahead of the Adtech curve by meticulously tracking the content consumption habits of the users across the Internet. After all, digital advertising aims at converting/wooing the users. Here’s the proof – Google is evolving its ad offerings to fit the consumer habits.
We watch over 1 billion hours of YouTube videos a day, more than Netflix and Facebook video combined.
Without a surprise, more than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices. So, don’t you think landscape videos are kind of getting old? Besides, from Snapchat to Facebook, everyone else is going vertical with their stories.
What’s in Beta?
Google revealed that it’s adding a new vertical ad format to its video sharing platform, YouTube at Dmexco. Advertisers can create stories (as they did for Snapchat, Instagram, etc.) that are minimum 6 seconds long but can go up to 3 minutes. Hyundai is one of the advertisers experimenting with the vertical ad format and yes, we’re waiting for the numbers too. And, there are YouTube stories on the horizon.
“As more video gets shot vertically, we want to take advantage of the full canvas and not just have it rammed into the horizontal [layout] with black bars on the side.”
– Neal Mahon, Chief Product Officer, YouTube.
Takeaway:
We believe video ads will be everywhere in the next three years. In addition, vertical ad formats will be attracting a throng of new advertisers competing to get the impressions. As a publisher, it’s time for you to consider the rising video ad format.
An Exchange to help you reach the ad-blocking audiences
Adblock Plus (ABP), one of the world’s most popular ad blockers claims to block all types of ads (Banner, Video, Interstitial, etc.) on both open internet and walled-gardens. However, it’s not going to last long. Eyeo GmbH, the parent company of Adblock Plus created the Acceptable Ad Exchange (AAX) initiative a while back.
The idea is to show acceptable ads to the users who are willing to see some ads as they surf the internet. The beta is winding up and the company is launching a programmatic technology to help advertisers reach the ad-blocking users.
“Some people hate all online ads, and we won’t convince them to embrace Acceptable Ads, but we have a user base that understands the economics of the web and wants a healthy compromise.”
– Till Faida, CEO, Eyeo.
Takeaway:
The company is developing the technology based on a fact that users will accept ads if delivered in the right manner. But we don’t have to take a leap of faith and develop anything new from the scratch. Just approach the ad-blocking users with the genuine message, you might turn them your way.
Next up is Oath
When we say it’s [Adtech Consolidation] happening, you better believe us. In fact, we’ve been covering one in our weekly roundups for the last few weeks and we’re also adding one today.
The ecosystem has been expecting for Oath to streamline its ad tech assets since its acquisition of AOL and Yahoo. Last week, Oath rebranded its ad tech products under the new name ‘Oath: Ad Platforms’ where marketers can get the efficiency of ONE by AOL, Yahoo Gemini, and Brightroll in a single unified DSP.
What’s impressive?
The stack is complete with a powerful DSP, a native/search marketplace, and Oath owned & operated properties. As Amazon, Oath rebranding aims at advertisers and marketers who are willing to diversify their budget from the duopoly.
“The addressable person-level data for around 400 million records pulled from a blend of Yahoo and AOL login data and Verizon CRM data”, as per source.
What’s not impressive?
Oath CEO Tim Armstrong is leaving the company and Verizon isn’t going to allow its subscriber data to get into the Oath ad platforms.
Dmexco Takeaways
The annual ad tech fest is considered as the most attractive event of the digital advertising. However, as per source, the number of attendees were 22 percent lesser than the last year. It doesn’t mean there’s nothing to catch up. We’ve briefed the top three takeaways from this year’s Dmexco.
a. Transparency is a plaguing the adtech
Agreed, GDPR has cleared a few middlemen and accelerated the industry’s process of becoming transparent. But marketers still think there’s too much to take in between the media transaction. Especially, this one from Digiday shows the marketers’ mind – “Whether it’s the open marketplace or within the walled gardens, advertisers feel like we’re compromising on transparency.”
b. Intelligence in the technology
Advertisers and marketers are tired of the seeing the same pitch over and over. They need something that’s good enough to dodge the current inefficiencies. For instance, content filtering in DSP could be improved as now DSPs flag some potential content as ‘unsafe’ just because there are some LGBTQ keywords.
c. Seeking to standout
Most importantly, adtech is pivoting towards newer formats and media. As Gen Z-ers may skip ads that are intrusive and traditional, marketers are opting-in to try vertical video ads and connected TV ads. That being said, the problem lies in commoditization.
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