#iab-home entertaining

[sohaibsmart]

What's Nowruz? Persian New 12 months traditions and meals defined

Editor’s Observe: Join CNN’s Eat, However Higher: Mediterranean Type. Our eight-part information exhibits you a scrumptious expert-backed consuming way of life that may enhance your well being for all times. CNN  —  Simply as spring is a time for rebirth, the Persian New 12 months is a time to have fun new life. Nowruz is well known on the spring equinox, which Tuesday, March 19. This…

[suchananewsblog]

Justin Bieber launches clean water company Generosity at Qatar's World Cup | CNN

Justin Bieber launches clean water company Generosity at Qatar’s World Cup | CNN

CNN  —  Justin Bieber is on a mission to make the world’s drinking water more sustainable. Bieber and Micah Cravalho have evolved bottled water brand Generosity into a water technology company that is providing premium alkaline water in refillable fountains across the globe. They showcased 150 water fountains this month at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Bieber spoke about the brand’s social…

[thesparklingwriter]

lunch is served!

“If only you were as good a cook as your outfit would suggest,”

tags: pet names, fem!reader, established relationship, they have a daughter, and reader still can’t cook (sorry)

ao3 link | taglist | masterlist | next

Hi I’m back, I did not forget about this I swear!!! Anyway I’m gonna go in with the usual spiel, requests for this are always open, and leave a comment if you want to be added to a taglist :) I’ll sort out links iab because mobile is being mean to me lol

When little Jingmei is fast asleep on her father’s lap after succumbing to a nap she’ll later deny the existence of, you often try to find topics to entertain Zhongli with as he waits patiently for his daughter to wake up. When you’re not around, he’ll pick up a book, or take a nap himself, but he takes great pleasure in talking to you like this.

When you open your mouth to start a new topic, he pats the space next to him on the sofa, gesturing for you to join him. And you do, nuzzling yourself into his chest, and pretending that you don’t notice the subtle sigh of content he lets out.

“Li,” you start, relaxing into him fully. “Why did you fall in love with me?”

Zhongli chuckles. “I am almost certain that this is some kind of trick.”

“It is not.” You scowl. “Am I not allowed to ask why my husband loves me?”

“You are, provided you don’t start a row when I give you my answer.” Zhongli’s hand trails up to your hair, gently massaging circles in your scalp.

If Zhongli really had to think about why he loves you, he’d probably struggle to quantify it. He’s been in love before, of course, but the way he feels with you is somewhat different. Perhaps it was initially your determination that drew him to you, or it could be your positivity, or the fact you brightened the days of all who were near you. But more than anything, it’s the fact that being with you feels like home. You’re his treasure—a gem he’s spent millennia searching for, and now he has you and he knows you love him as much as he does, he’s at peace. But expressing that in a few simple words will only lend itself to misunderstandings and you accusing him of using filler and metaphors to get away with not answering his question.

“I know my question wasn’t that hard.” You tease, prodding him slightly. His body is somewhat firmer when he’s in his half dragon form, yet at the same time, his touch envelops you in warmth and comfort. He tilts his head to look at you, his lips quirking into a smile.

“It was, my dear. How do you expect me to translate years of affection into one sentence?”

“I expect you to do it with enthusiasm.” You joke lightly. Jingmei stirs ever so slightly, muttering to herself as she adjusts herself, her tiny rounded horns digging into your thigh. “If I asked her why she loved me, she would answer immediately.”

“Jingmei would say it’s because you feed her.”

“And that is a perfectly valid and acceptable answer.”

“For an infant. I know you well enough to know you would not accept that from me.”

It’s true, you would not accept that from him. You expect his millennia on Teyvat to grant him the vocabulary necessary to express his love. But at the same time, seated the way you are, you can feel that he cares. It’s in the way he cradles you head to his chest, the way he strokes Jingmei’s hair with contented pride, the way his breathing slows as he savours the moment he’s sharing with you. Yes, you’d love for him to bullet point everything that's led him to this moment, but what’s to point in that?

“I changed my mind. Don’t say anything.”

“And why is that?”

“You’ll probably just make me cry, and then Jingmei will wake up.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, my love.” He chuckles. His laugh almost rumbles through him, stirring your daughter slightly. You pout, as if to complain, but in all honesty, you wouldn’t want her waking up any other way. But then her head drops and she falls back asleep again, whispering softly to herself.

“I do wonder what she dreams about,” Zhongli marvels.

“Probably food. On that note, I’ll make lunch.” As you stand to leave, Zhongli’s hand wraps around yours.

“Don’t go.”

“Why not?”

“Pretending your cooking is edible is an arduous affair. Let’s wait for Jingmei to wake up and then we can make something together.”

“You insult me.”

Despite the fact that your honour has been attacked, you wait for your daughter to wake up before tackling the matter of making lunch. At the mere mention of making food, Jingmei disappears up to her room, decking herself out in a chef’s outfit she’d gotten from Xiangling for her birthday.

“If only you were as good a cook as your outfit would suggest,” Zhongli jokes, helping her onto her stool so she can reach the kitchen counter.

“I am a good cook, Daddy. Promise.” She shoots back, crossing her arms petulantly.

“I believe you. Your father is just a big meanie.” You pull her into a hug, smothering her face and cheeks with kisses until she’s falling apart with giggles. “We should leave him here to make the food and play with your toys instead as punishment.”

“Let’s go!” Jingmei turns away from the counters and grabs your hand as she runs upstairs.

“You two are such cheats.” Zhongli complains quietly as he turns to the stove. His words fall on deaf ears as you’re already too far away to hear him.

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond!: Covered Stories

Since I can't really say anything about Ex-Prince Brian for now, that post will be delayed while @becdoesthings works on writing up the character's backstory to match up with this AU.

In the meantime, I can share what the key stories are for the AU, which should give you a general idea of how they'll play out. The main stories are:

Prequel:

One More Chance (the prologue to this story based on the climax of Avengers: Endgame)

Main Series:

One More Hero (based on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)

More than One Universe (based on Spider-Man: No Way Home)

Across All Worlds (a pseudo-sequel to Sonic Generations)

Many More Heroes (based on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)

Cosmic Discoveries (a Part 2 to Many More Heroes)

Tails of Trials (an alternate version of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse that rounds off the regular story arc)

Expanded Arc:

Into the SEGAVerse

(will add to this as time goes on)

Sub-Stories:

One More Hero

Mr. Needlemouse in "Captured Hog!" (a prequel to Mr. Needlemouse's appearance here based on Spider-Man: Caught in a Ham)

More than One Universe

My Last Trauma (in the epilogue for MtOU, based on The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story)

Hanelm Crackdown (a look into AVA!Corrupt's painful past and how Hanelm Entertainment, the malicious company behind the Amanda the Adventurer tapes, have something to do with it)

Amber to Green (a slice-of-life sub-story in the aftermath of MtOU following Richard taking residence in Dimension MP-2021 for good)

Miscellaneous

IAB! x Funkinverse (branching from the Across part of that story)

Rogue Robot (a mini-story based directly on Drone Home)

New Identity, New Life (an alternate universe focusing on Bently Forceloyed as he moves away from his old life as Benjamin/Boyfriend and starts a new life in a new world)

Prequel Points:

Friday Night Funkin': ErroRhythmic Beats (my own take on FNF starring Benjamin and Grace; focuses on base game content and classic mods) (NOTE: This may possibly become a playable mod.)

Rivals' Madness (a conceptual take on Mario's Madness and Vs. Sonic.exe (RERUN) taking place after the former mod) (NOTE: No, this will not become a playable mod.)

[hellojijoejoshi-blog]

Amazon Launches Fire TV Channels: A New Platform for Free Content

If you are looking for more free video content, Amazon has good news for you. The tech giant has launched Fire TV Channels, a new platform that provides more FAST (free, ad-supported TV) content to Fire TV devices. The service was announced during the IAB NewFronts event and has been officially launched recently.

What You Can Expect from Fire TV Channels

The new platform provides free content from various categories, including travel, sports, music, lifestyle, and entertainment. With Fire TV Channels, users can expect to access multiple local and international news channels. The platform will not affect or replace the existing streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and others. Instead, it adds more free content to your library.

The Channels are Free and Ad-Supported

Users can access the content without having to pay any additional costs or even sign up to the service. However, there will be ads displayed while you watch the channels. The service aims to provide users with more free content and to make it accessible to everyone with a Fire TV device.

Availability

Amazon has not specified which regions will have access to Fire TV Channels, so we have to wait for more details. Users can expect to start seeing the new channels on their Fire TV home screens this week. Read the full article

[ear-worthy]

Pod-Alization: Slow Burn Prize; Podcast Ads Still Tiny; Libsyn’s Product Development

Slow Burn Podcast wins Apple’s new podcast prize

Apple Podcasts has introduced an award for “Show of the Year,” with its inaugural honor going to Slate’s Slow Burn. In the weeks leading up to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade in June, Slow Burn published an in-depth account of the history behind the landmark 1973 case.

Slow Burn was selected by Apple Podcasts’ editorial team. In addition to quality, they took into account metrics like chart performance, listener engagement, and reviews, according to Apple Podcasts spokesperson Zach Kahn. As part of the award, Slate has collaborated with Apple to publish six bonus episodes available for free on Apple Podcasts. But the real prize is all the promo for the show, which dominates the Apple Podcasts landing page.

Slow Burn’s win is further proof that citizens take notice when heretofore “unalienable” rights are revoked.

Podcasting still makes up a tiny portion of digital ad spend

According to new data released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), podcasts constitute less than four percent of all advertising spending (ad spend). That puts it in the same league as digital out-of-home advertising, like digital billboards. Grabbing the lion’s share of digital ad spend are digital video (19.3 percent), paid search (13.7 percent), social media (16.6 percent), and digital display (16.4 percent).

Although podcasting’s growth prospects are solid, with IAB projecting that ad spend in podcasting will increase by more than eight percent in 2023, it is still falling behind digital video. IAB expects that podcasting will make up about the same share in 2023 as it did this year, whereas digital video will take up an even larger share of 22.4 percent.

The trend helps explain why more podcasts are pushing into video. Even though the CPM rates are typically lower on YouTube than Spotify or Apple, it’s another revenue stream that can potentially rack up a much larger audience. Even if many (most!) podcasts are better off audio only, the ad dollars may be too hard to resist.

Libsyn to crank up Product Development

Typically, an executive promotion at a podcast hosting and advertising company as large as Libsyn would not garner a mention here. Executives come and go. Sometimes, it’s musical chairs, with the same execs switching jobs in different companies. Podcasting, although new, isn’t that different.

However, Libsyn announced the appointment of Taylor Kirch as Director of Product Management, based in Champaign, Illinois. Kirch will help drive product development across Libsyn’s integrated platform of tools and solutions to “help creators unlock their full podcasting potential.”

Specifically, Kirch will oversee the advancement of the newest Libsyn platform and the development of next-generation tools for seasoned podcasters. She will report directly to John W. Gibbons, Libsyn’s President, and Chief Product Officer.

“We’re thrilled to bring Taylor on board during a time of tremendous growth and opportunity in both the podcasting industry and for Libsyn,” said Gibbons. “Her record of innovation in audio entertainment as a product innovator makes her a tremendous asset as we continue to develop and expand our platform for all creators, so they more easily bring their diverse voices to life, grow their audiences, and monetize their shows.”

“Throughout my career, I have always had a passion for creating compelling user experiences for content, recommendations, and monetization,” said Kirch. “I’m excited to join Libsyn, a podcasting pioneer and innovator, and apply my knowledge of the podcasting industry and product management to further advance Libsyn’s product development roadmap.”

Kirch’s background includes more than ten years of experience in the media technology space — spanning podcasting, streaming services, and video. Prior to her current role, she served as an Associate Director of Product Management at SiriusXM, focusing on Content Knowledge and Innovation. There, she harnessed contextual metadata to drive increased recommendation relevance and compelling discovery features. Before that, she worked for nearly six years at Pandora as a Product Manager, where, by all accounts, she did a lot of good stuff too boring to mention here.

Suddenly, there is a new kid on the block, with new ideas. Hopefully.

[android-for-life]

"Grow your brand with new Google Marketing Platform tools"

In the past months, we’ve seen a breakthrough in searches for terms such as "online graduation," “staycation” and “virtual classroom.” As people form new consumption habits, a strong brand is more valuable than ever. It allows you to stand out in the marketplace at a time when customers are on the lookout for the products and services that will be part of their new routines.

Today, we’re introducing a series of tools in Display & Video 360 and Campaign Manager to help you grow your brand and navigate the connected TV and digital video boom—including improved reach forecasting and measurement capabilities, more TV and video ad placements, and a solution to reach new engaged audiences on connected TV.

Real time reach forecasting that takes your deals into account

With most TV production shut down for parts of the spring and summer months, and the upfronts heavily disrupted, you may be approaching show premieres seasons with less visibility into your media plans than in years’ past. While forecasting ad spend has been more difficult than ever, planning tools that are tightly connected to your media buying platform can help you assess your media plans on the go and quickly optimize your ad strategy.

We’re further improving Display & Video 360’s forecasting tool by adding support for programmatic deals. In a few weeks, you'll be able to include deals in your deduplicated reach estimate, which already includes open auction and YouTube. This is particularly helpful for media planners working with brands that want to connect with TV viewers because most connected TV ads are secured via deals. With this added functionality, planners will be able to more easily answer questions such as, “How much incremental reach could I get by combining a network CTV deal with YouTube reservation and open auction video ads?”

Forecasting the combined reach of a connected TV deal, a YouTube lineup and in-stream video ads in Display & Video 360.

New streaming opportunities to reach your audiences where they are

Brands that can connect with their audiences as their interests and needs evolve have a head start on driving brand awareness for the long term. Buying media with a platform that gives you access to a large and varied portfolio of streaming content helps you reach these audiences in a more flexible way.

Today, Display & Video 360 provides access to the top 50 most watched ad supported connected TV apps in the US, according to Comscore. And to give you even more options to find your audience, we’re making more popular YouTube inventory available in Display & Video 360. For example, we integrated YouTube TV into the list of YouTube content you can reserve and manage - accessible via the streaming TV lineup. We’ve also just opened up access to Masthead ads, the prominent space in YouTube’s Home feed. This beta feature includes the YouTube Masthead on TV screens.

Lastly, we’re exploring other innovative canvases for brands to increase awareness. For instance, media and entertainment marketers in the US are currently testing a new cinematic teaser format that fits the look and feel of Android TV’s home screen.

Find new engaged connected TV audiences

Life in the new normal includes more connected TV watch time than before. To help marketers make the most of this extra reach opportunity, we’ve recently extended our similar audience functionality to connected TV devices in Display & Video 360. This feature allows you to find new connected TV viewers who share similarities with the audiences you already know.

For example, if you're an auto brand who has seen success in reaching “Truck & SUV Enthusiasts” with Google affinity audiences, you will now be able to easily reach additional connected TV viewers who have similar attributes to this group. Or if you know that people who use your mobile app are more likely to schedule a test drive, you can show your ads to connected TV viewers who have similarities with your app users.

Similar audiences can be used to extend your reach across connected TV inventory sources in Display & Video 360.

Durable reach measurement in Display & Video 360 and Campaign Manager

Marketers are on the hook to connect marketing spend with tangible results. This includes being able to provide a clear picture of any ad campaign’s reach and frequency performance. To give marketers an accurate and durable view of how they reach people across Display & Video 360 and Campaign Manager, we’re increasing our investment in Unique Reach solutions.

First, we’ve launched Unique Reach Audience reporting. This report further extends unique reach measurement to include demographic insights. So while you could already answer the question ‘How many unique users did my ad reach?’, you can now also answer the question ‘How many unique users within a particular demographic did my ad reach?’

Second, using the IAB’s Identifier for Advertising (IFA) standard, we’ve added Unique Reach support for connected TV devices. This capability gives brands a more precise understanding of the impact of ads on connected TVs and better articulates their contribution to the overall reach and frequency performance of digital advertising.

Building for the future, we’re continuing to replace cookie-based reach with Unique Reach across our products. Next up, frequency distribution and viewable reach measurement will soon be based off of Unique Reach. This will help you report on these metrics even when cookies aren't available.

To learn more ways to build your brand in this new world, check out this new collection of resources on our Advertising Solutions Center.

Source : The Official Google Blog via Source information

[sulietsexual]

I'm writing a Prue/Andy fic and need your help analyzing Andy's character! Do you see him as more introverted or extroverted? Someone who thinks more with his head or his hurt? Easygoing or intense? A dreamer or someone more concerned with concrete reality? Thank you!!!

I think Andy is one of those people who reallystraddles the line between introvertism and extrovertism. I think he has theability to be extroverted and that he enjoys being out and about andinteracting with people, but then he probably likes to go home early and be byhimself and spend time with just his own thoughts. I think, at the end of theday, he’s an extrovert who enjoys being introverted by his own choice.

Andy is definitely more of a heart/gut person,which is what frustrates Daryl so much (what with him always running off tochase down whatever lead his gut is telling him about). He does have a sensibleand steadfast side, but he definitely seems to be more of a “trust your gut”person than someone who rationalizes/analyzes.

I think Andy (once again) straddles the linebetween realism and dreaming. While he is definitely open to the idea of magicand the supernatural (as evidenced in the show), he is also someone who seemsto prefer reality, as (as he explains to Prue) he deals with enough evil in thereal world, without having to worry about another world beyond this one. Thatbeing said, I think he’s a lot more of a dreamer than he lets on, and that helikes to entertain more fantastic and magical notions than he would care to admit.

-EDIT-

Just realised I forgot to touch on the “easygoing or intense” question. 

Andy definitely has his intense moments, and has the ability to be hard and decisive, but I think overall he is a more easy going personality (this is where he balances Prue out really well, as she is a very intense personality). Andy comes across as very go-with-the-flow, and it takes a lot to push him to his limits (as we see in mild form with Prue and their relationship and extreme form with IAB and Rodriguez).

[jeramymobley]

Unity Technologies Powers Jigsaw With VR Advertisement

Unity first-of-its-kind virtual reality advertisement debuts ahead of film release

Unity Technologies, a leading creation engine for gaming and interactive entertainment and global content leader Lionsgate announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind virtual reality (VR) advertisement for the theatrical release of Jigsaw, the next film in the blockbuster Saw horror franchise. Built on Unity, the new Jigsaw Virtual Room interactive ad format is created within the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) emerging ad experience guidelines and will surface in VR apps made with Unity.

The Jigsaw Virtual Room is truly an authentic experience, featuring real props from the movie rendered in VR, custom voice-over from Jigsaw-himself, actor Tobin Bell, and even includes shrines to each of the eight films in the Saw franchise. The Jigsaw Virtual Room is a scalable ad, offering an immersive VR experience that is complemented with mobile video across Unity’s massive ad platform. By running the movie trailer in addition to the Virtual Room, Lionsgate will reach millions of fans through this one program.

“The Jigsaw Virtual Room is just the beginning. Now that we’ve proven broad-reaching, deeply immersive ads are possible, we expect to see this trend continue with formats including VR, AR, 360 mobile video, and playables.  Brands will have the opportunity to tell their story in a way that elicits emotional, memorable interactions. As the development platform with the highest reach in AR, VR, and mobile games, we are excited to see what marketers will do next,” said Julie Shumaker, VP of Advertiser Solutions at Unity.

“Advertising in VR combines the storytelling power of immersive content with the guaranteed reach of a media buy. We’re thrilled to have worked with Unity on this campaign, bringing Jigsaw into an engaging VR ad experience,” said David Edwards, SVP of Digital Marketing at Lionsgate.

The Jigsaw Virtual Room will also be distributed naturally within two VR apps: the Samsung Internet for VR app and Spiraloid’s Nanite Fulcrum. When Samsung extended its mobile web browser and built a VR web browser for Gear VR users, they made the core app in Unity. As a result, Unity was able to seamlessly integrate the Jigsaw Virtual Room into the Samsung Internet VR app, the first interactive experience to ever appear on its VR browser home screen.

The Virtual Room will also appear in Spiraloid’s Nanite Fulcrum, which is the next step in the evolution of the graphic novel. Users will be able to enter an exclusive Jigsaw comic book panel where the same heart-pumping ad will live. Nanite Fulcrum will be on the GearVR and also on the Oculus Rift, showcasing the cross-platform benefits of running this ad format on Unity.

The article Unity Technologies Powers Jigsaw With VR Advertisement appeared first on World Branding Forum.

[wikimakemoney]

The pivot to video is back, and that’s a good thing for innovation

30-second summary:

While surfacing the phrase “pivot to video” to any publisher may generate feelings of frustration and overall discomfort, the modern publisher needs to have a strong video strategy to make it in today’s digital media landscape.

Since the onset of the global COVID crisis, video viewership has been surging, with consumers spending nearly a half hour longer per day watching digital video content than they did last year.

To compete for viewer attention with the huge wave of streaming services introduced by media behemoths, social media companies have brought to market a raft of new video offerings.

In order to ensure creative content is highly visible, publishers must come to understand how to leverage social media to amplify distribution. There is no single recipe, each will need to find their own balance.

In order to ensure a healthy ecosystem and meet the rising demand for video, publishers must re-strategize and re-tool – and fast – learning as they go, overcoming new obstacles and creating content that will go the distance.

With much of the world spending a lot more time at home over the past few months, media consumption patterns have experienced a substantial shift in a short timeframe. With more time available, consumers’ typical “tl;dr” article skim has given way to sitting back and watching content in video form, a much-desired escape from home and daily routines.

Since the onset of the global COVID crisis, video viewership has been surging, with consumers spending nearly a half hour longer per day watching digital video content than they did last year.

While that peak is beginning to subside, the overall trend may actually lead to permanent shifts. Although mobile continues to be the screen favored by most for watching videos, data from cross-device solution provider Tapad shows connected TV (CTV) usage soaring by up to 60% throughout the day.

While surfacing the phrase “pivot to video” to any publisher may generate feelings of frustration and overall discomfort, the modern publisher needs to have a strong video strategy to make it in today’s digital media landscape.

New forms of popular video entertainment are what’s really driving engagement (and ad dollars) right now, and as remote work becomes the new normal, having an innovative approach to content creation and digital video production is a requirement for success.

What’s driving digital video’s accelerated growth  

The amount of time spent by viewers on digital sites has increased nearly 50 percent from last year, an indicator of their move to a “lean back” approach for content consumption that’s fit for the video medium.

The pandemic is certainly fueling growth, but there are other market factors contributing to this latest resurgence in digital video.

Younger cord cutting generations have all but abandoned a traditional TV model built around cable subscriptions, and that fact hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Large media companies from CBS to NBC have introduced streaming services over the past year with a lineup designed to captivate a younger audience while also bringing older viewers over to their platform.

While people across age groups may have tested a few different offerings anyway, quarantines perpetuated broader, faster adoption of both subscription and ad-supported models.

To compete for viewer attention with the huge wave of streaming services introduced by media behemoths, social media companies have brought to market a raft of new video offerings.

While Facebook focused on building out programming for Watch and bulking up capabilities for Instagram’s IGTV, Pinterest launched video on their platform.

Most recently, YouTube made its strongest bid yet to go after TV ad space, releasing YouTube Select for advertisers to purchase ads against premium content that approximates what audiences would see on TV, and touting more than 100 million viewers a month who stream their content on TV sets.

And as video content grew increasingly popular during quarantine, TikTok took off as a new favorite across a variety of demographics.

For publishers, the need to diversify revenue streams is not new, but it’s been amplified by an increasing sense of urgency to build up first-party data stores in advance of the demise of the third-party cookie on the popular Chrome browser in 2021.

During IAB NewFronts in June, publishers including Condé Nast, Barstool Sports, Vice Media Group and The Wall Street Journal all made presentations touting both their audiences and their creative capabilities via digital studios.

The second pivot to video is in full swing, but this time, publishers are aiming to gain more control of their own destiny.

Prime time for innovation

Now is the time for publishers to innovate. The confluence of outside forces, from the state of the digital media market to the normalization of remote work, are signals that media companies must drive and adopt change quickly, just as other industries have done to meet the world’s current demands.

In order to ensure creative content is highly visible, publishers must come to understand how to leverage social media to amplify distribution. There is no single recipe, each will need to find their own balance.

Not only should content fit the platform, but publishers must be able to interpret viewing patterns, trends, and how people are engaging with content.

At TheSoul Publishing, we debuted English-language channels on Pinterest and TikTok for “5-Minute Crafts” earlier this year, capitalizing on the desire for DIY and craft ideas during quarantine.

By testing and tailoring our content, we were able to quickly amass more than 10 million TikTok followers and see our Pinterest channels grow considerably month-over-month.

Innovation also needs to facilitate remote creation and creativity. Efficient workflow processes and new, tailored systems for creation must be adopted to foster the creation of quality video content.

And as more digital media companies are challenged with the need to adjust to new market realities, global talent resources may prove to be more efficient in the long run. Having team members located worldwide can provide the foundation for additional organic creativity.

In order to ensure a healthy ecosystem and meet the rising demand for video, publishers must re-strategize and re-tool – and fast – learning as they go, overcoming new obstacles and creating content that will go the distance.

The post The pivot to video is back, and that’s a good thing for innovation appeared first on ClickZ.

source http://wikimakemoney.com/2020/09/02/the-pivot-to-video-is-back-and-thats-a-good-thing-for-innovation/

[kadobeclothing]

35 Podcast Stats That Advertisers Need to Know in 2020

If you’re trying to connect with younger audiences, like millennials or Gen Z, odds are you’ve thought about creating a podcast for your brand.

I probably don’t need to tell you that podcasting takes time and effort. Not only do you have to figure out which topics will intrigue and captivate audiences, but you’ll also have to take time to book guests, record interviews, and build a solid recording space where you can create high-quality audio content.

As a busy marketer, you want to make sure you’re going to get a good return on your investment before you start spending time and money building a podcast. One great way to see if podcasting could be a viable marketing tactic for your company or personal brandis through podcast advertising or sponsorships. With these tactics, you can identify podcasters with a price-point and audience target that makes sense for your brand. Then, you can work with them and leverage their expertise by sponsoring the content they’ve made. Alternatively, you could also create a native ad that aligns with their discussion topics. If you aren’t sure if creating your own podcast is a good marketing strategy for your brand, you might see a return on podcast ads or sponsorships. If you’re interested in a pursuing a podcast advertising strategy but aren’t sure if the right opportunities exist for your company, check out this list of more than 30 podcast advertising stats. We’ll cover podcasting’s biggest marketing opportunities, where podcasting is headed, and the demographics who tune in the most. Podcasts and Advertising In 2018, 17% of marketers were actively planning to add podcasting to their strategy. (HubSpot) Podcast ad spending is expected to hit $354 million this year. (Statista) The average podcast ad slot costs between $10 to $50, with additional premium fees for shows with high listenership. (HubSpot) 54% of podcast consumers say that they are more likely to consider the brands they hear advertised on podcasts. (Edison Research) Podcast advertising revenue is expected to pass $1 billion by 2021. (IAB Podcast Ad Revenue Report)

Source Podcast Growth In 2018, there were more than 750,000 active podcasts. (Podcast Insights) By the end of 2019, the number of podcasts jumped to 800,000 (Podcast Insights) Monthly podcast listeners grew from 24% of Americans to 26% year over year in 2018. (Edison Research) The number of podcast episodes climbed to over 30 million in December 2019. (Podcast Insights) The number of people that said they listened to a podcast at least once a week rose by 17% between 2018 and 2019. (Podcast Insights) Between 2018 and 2019, the number of people who listened to podcasts at work doubled. (EX-IQ) Podcast Demographics Roughly 51% of people over the age of 12 in the U.S. have listened to a podcast at least once. (Edison Research) 56% of podcast listeners are men. (Podcast Insights) One-third of millennials regularly listen to podcasts. (EX-IQ) 27% of men and 24% of women listened to podcasts in 2018. (Edison Research) Roughly 34% of those making $50,000 to 75,000 annually and 32% of those making $75,000 to 100,000 listen to podcasts daily — more than any other income levels. (EX-IQ) The biggest increase in podcast listenership in the past year has come from those in the 12-to-24 age group. (Edison Research) Podcast Listener Behaviors 32% of people listen to podcasts monthly while 22% listen at least weekly. (Edison Research) Only 42% of generations older than millennials will listen to a podcast of 26 minutes or longer, compared to 60% of Gen Z and 52% of Millennials. (EX-IQ) While 49% of podcast listeners tune in from home, 22% listen in the car. (Podcast Insights) Roughly 64% of people learn about podcasts through social media while about 40% of listeners say they hear about them from other friends or word of mouth. (EX-IQ) 80% of podcast listeners stay tuned in for most or all of the episodes they listen to. (Podcast Insights)

Source Podcast listeners are more likely to own a smart speaker. (Edison Research) Podcasts are the number one audio source by time of consumption among podcast listeners. (Edison Research) In 2018, more than 67% of podcast listeners agreed that podcasts contribute to their intellectual growth. (EX-IQ) Millennials and Gen Z are 5% more likely to listen to podcasts for professional reasons than older generations. (EX-IQ) Roughly 50% of customer service reps have listened to a podcast at work. (EX-IQ) While 43% of people who listen to podcasts at least monthly listen via Spotify, 35% use Pandora. (Edison Research) More than half of millennials listen to educational podcasts. (EX-IQ) 62% of podcast listeners say they’d be more likely to share podcasts with friends if they were able to share one short segment or highlight of it, rather than an entire episode. (EX-IQ) In late 2018, premade edited in podcast ads made up 51% of placements. However, dynamic ads rose from making up 44% of ad placements in 2017 to 48% in the following year. (IAB Podcast Ad Revenue Report) The amount of branded content in podcasts increased by nearly 10% between 2017 and the end of 2018. (IAB Podcast Ad Revenue Report) More than 38% of podcast advertisements are sold and purchased on a quarterly basis. (IAB Podcast Ad Revenue Report) Nearly 86% of podcasters charge for ads with cost-per-mille pricing. (IAB Podcast Ad Revenue Report) NPR notes that 75% of its podcast listeners will respond or take action after hearing sponsored content. (National Public Media) Considering podcast advertising? As you’ve seen with the stats above, podcasting is growing in popularity — especially among younger generations. And while it is often considered a form of “entertainment,” podcast content can be incredibly versatile. For example, although millennials or Gen Z listen to podcasts that feature interviews with big celebrities, they’ll also listen intently to smaller shows that educate them about new trends or news that impacts their life or career. Because there are so many podcasts, and so many listeners with buying potential, you might want to consider podcast sponsorships in your future advertising plan. To learn more about how to advertise on a podcast that’s appropriate for your industry, check out this step-by-step guide with tips from HubSpot’s own podcast expert.

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source https://www.kadobeclothing.store/35-podcast-stats-that-advertisers-need-to-know-in-2020/

[fmservers]

What’s next for podcasting?

The podcast market will discover the answer to a foundational question about its future in the next few years. Will it continue along the path of music streaming, where all podcasts are available everywhere on free, ad-supported tiers? Or, will it follow the path of streaming TV into paid subscription services with exclusive content?

Today, effectively all of the industry’s revenue is from advertising — at least in the United States. However, we’re seeing the first steps being taken toward paid subscriptions and exclusive content. Based on numerous discussions I’ve had with top figures in podcasting over the last month, it’s clear that popular shows are getting large offers for exclusivity on podcasting platforms, major Hollywood players are entering the market, and some top VCs are willing to back new streaming platforms taking a Netflix approach to podcasts (like Luminary Media which raised a $40 million seed round).

Many in the industry are deeply skeptical of that business model and for good reason: we don’t have concrete evidence that consumers in the US will pay for podcasts and ad revenue is becoming quite lucrative for the top shows as the format gains popularity. But that precedent has hardly been entrenched, as the sector is only just now gaining mainstream consumer interest and getting attention from Hollywood.

And, there’s a macro problem with betting on ads. The dominance of Facebook and Google over all digital ad spending has already driven a shift to subscriptions across music, video, and publishing. Even with dramatic market growth, podcasting doesn’t have a comparative advantage in competing against the scale and ad-targeting of the duopoly.

Subscription tiers and exclusive shows (akin to Netflix Originals) can, on the other hand, provide a virtuous cycle of quality content and stable revenue, generating recurring revenue directly from consumers who might ultimately pay for multiple streaming subscriptions to access different shows.

Could podcasting go the direction of streaming TV, with subscription tiers and original series? The breakout success of House of Cards—the first Netflix Original—set the stage for Netflix’s dominance in streaming TV.

Podcasting’s future looks more like Hollywood than like NPR radio

The annual Infinite Dial survey by Edison Research tracked that the percent of Americans over age 12 who listen to a podcast in a given month grew steadily from 9% in 2008 to 26% (or 72 million people) in 2018. Fifty-four million Americans, or 17% of those over 12, are weekly podcast listeners with a mean weekly listening time over 6.5 hours.

The popularity of podcasts still exists primarily within a demographic niche, however. Roughly half of podcast listeners make $75,000 or more in annual income and a clear majority have a college degree (in fact, one-third have a master’s degree). This highlights how much potential for audience growth there still is. Podcasts are still mainly formatted like NPR radio shows, with hosts discussing politics, business, or society and a particular audience demographic tuning in as a result.

But podcasting is just a content medium and should be filled with shows that appeal to all different types of people, just like music, TV, film, publishing sites, and YouTube each have a vast range of content for everyone. Tom Webster, the SVP of Edison Research who co-authors that big annual survey on podcasting, highlighted in a recent blog post the discrepancy between the format and topics of the most popular podcasts and those of the most popular TV shows.

Addressing this gap in diverse show types is the thesis behind large new podcast production companies like Gimlet Media, Wondery, and Endeavor Audio. Endeavor Audio launched on September 13 as the podcast division of entertainment conglomerate Endeavor, dedicated to financing, developing, and marketing podcasts made for as diverse a set of topics and styles as there are in TV: scripted dramas, competition shows, documentaries, etc. that appeal to different audiences. Endeavor also owns WME, the world’s largest talent agency, giving it distinct advantage in creating new shows that draw on the skills of top creative talent in Hollywood. The upcoming wave of podcasts crafted to be more like TV shows than radio shows is what could bring tens of millions new listeners into the podcast market.

That will only be accelerated through music streaming services’ entry into the market and the rapid consumer adoption of smart speakers. Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and others have made podcasts a priority over the last year, promoting shows to millions of users who aren’t already into podcasting. Smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home make it easier for people who hear about a podcast to try it (just ask Alexa to play it) and will likely increase podcast listening among those in age groups that have lower smartphone penetration (children and people over 55).

Advertising isn’t the best path forward

Last year the US market size for podcast ad revenue was only $314M and this year it will still be around $400M (according to the IAB). That’s extraordinary annual growth for an industry but it’s still tiny in absolute value. Justine and Olivia Moore at VC firm CRV crunched the numbers to show that podcasting makes 10x less money per hours consumed than any other major content medium. There’s a lack of monetization on the vast majority of podcasts: the minimum number of downloads per podcast needed to enroll in the industry’s ad marketplaces or start discussions with most advertisers is 50,000. As they noted, this is attributable to a range of issues like lack of programmatic advertising, lack of analytics, and lack of consistent measurement standards.

Life is admittedly getting good for the most downloaded shows now that the podcasting market is getting serious attention. One executive I discussed this with (who represents several top podcast creators) says there are a handful of podcasts generating eight-figures in ad revenue per year, a rapidly growing tier making seven-figures, and a large “middle-class” making six-figures. That’s before income from touring, merchandise, and book/film/TV deals. The going rate for ad spots is anywhere from $20-50+ CPMs and podcast ads tend to have a higher conversion rate than video ads.

As General Manager of Endeavor Audio – the new podcasting division of entertainment conglomerate Endeavor – Moses Soyoola is overseeing a group that’s bringing top Hollywood talent into the podcast space and financing new types of shows.

But near-term financial gains are not the primary reason that big names in Hollywood are getting interested in producing podcasts, according to Endeavor Audio general manager Moses Soyoola. When we spoke recently, he explained that while the income can reach into the seven figures on successful shows, that’s still less than what they can make in other creative projects. They see podcasting as a brand-building mechanism, however, and as an opportunity to understand a new storytelling format that could become even more lucrative in the future.

As with all ad-dependent content, the losers right now are those with passionate niche audiences and those producing big-budget shows that advertisers treat the same even if audiences find much deeper value in. A creator with a devoted fan base of 30,000 listeners cannot currently tap into advertising nor easily turn to subscriptions as an alternative. Listening to an hour’s worth of news discussion that the hosts record over a couple hours day-of generates roughly the same ad revenue as listening to an hour installment of a show that takes months to produce.

With the growing number of narrative podcasts being created by Endeavor Audio and others, the need to include numerous ad spots throughout them is disruptive, pulling audiences out of the story. It constrains the format and limits content within the boundaries of family friendliness that major advertisers are comfortable with. This is like the historic difference between network TV shows and HBO shows, which — freed from ad breaks and advertiser concerns — became the crown jewel of TV dramas and went on to consistently top the Emmy Awards winner list.

Would people pay for podcasts?

China is the inverse of the Western podcast market. The Chinese “podcast” market dwarfs that of the US because it is the norm to have paid subscriptions for shows rather than rely on advertising. To my understanding, the definition of podcast here may be broader than the scope in the US — by including audio courses — but the Chinese government estimated the market for paid podcasts alone as $7.3 billion in 2017.

We know consumers in the West are willing to pay subscriptions for film/TV and for ad-free streaming music, so why not for podcast streaming? New content formats often start free, have lagging monetization, then as the audience grows enough and creators experiment enough, premium content rises up that people are willing to pay for. Podcasts have been around for two decades but are just now going mainstream and seeing serious investment from Hollywood.

We saw with music streaming and satellite radio that many consumers are willing to pay in order to eliminate audio ads from music that’s otherwise free to listen to. Spotify has made a big push into podcasts over the last few months; it creates branded podcasts in collaboration with advertisers but can’t remove ads that are within podcasts it distributes. As podcasts turn to programmatic advertising — and large streaming services like Spotify push them there in order to serve up the ads — it would be surprising if Spotify didn’t make podcasts ad-free for its Premium tier subscribers and encourage podcast listeners to go Premium.

Most podcasts aren’t worth paying for, just like most articles on the internet aren’t worth paying for. Paywalled content has to be exceptional to stand out from the noise and get consumers to open their wallets. The freemium model is most likely to become the norm in podcasting, with most podcasts available free and ad-supported but some particularly high-quality shows restricted to a paid subscription tier that’s ad-free.

Streaming competition will drive exclusivity

If we’re being honest, the existing podcast streaming services — and there are many — are all the same. They are simple utilities for searching for and playing a show. No one has cracked the nut of discoverability in a differentiated way: making podcasts easy to discover based on topic and style and having a personalized recommendation tool that works as well as Pandora and Spotify music recommendations do.

Streaming services of any content format struggle to differentiate on user interface alone. Users are there for the content — that’s the product they’re after. So ultimately, the way to differentiate is via exclusive content that audiences eagerly want. That’s true whether the service has a paid subscription or not, but maintaining a profitable subscription tier is nearly impossible if one’s competitors are able to offer all the same content for cheaper. Differentiation requires differentiated content available in the subscription that can’t be gained elsewhere: high-quality original shows.

This past summer, Spotify launched its first Spotify Original Podcasts, including a $1 million deal with comedian Amy Schumer to develop “3 Girls, 1 Keith” (which it just renewed for a second season). Schumer’s podcast isn’t exclusive to Spotify but it’s easy to envision the streaming service signing future podcast deals as exclusives as its base of podcast listeners grows (it has rapidly become the second most popular podcast platform after Apple’s Podcasts app).

Each individual I’ve spoken to over the last few weeks who runs a leading podcast production company said they are getting approached by numerous streaming platforms about exclusive shows. Most aren’t taking the deals, at least not yet, but it’s clear the industry is about to run this experiment over the next couple years and see if consumers buy in.

A couple of the executives I met noted that the deals top podcast services are offering for exclusivity are quite lucrative, but when you factor in how much the reduced audience size that comes with being exclusive limits touring, merchandise sales, and potential for a book/film/TV deal, it’s a tougher sell.

That has been true, but I think it’s quickly changing. Given how much consumer adoption of podcasts is poised to grow, the top few podcast streaming services (by monthly active users) could each enable an exclusive podcast to still reach an audience in the millions of listeners. In particular, I’m talking about Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and iHeartRadio given their pre-existing install bases. It’s also a rational decision for each of them to overpay for exclusivity of hit shows in these early days of the market — the short-term loss on a given show is an investment in becoming the preferred streaming service for millions of new podcast listeners.

The streaming platforms don’t have the leverage to negotiate ownership over exclusive podcasts—there’s too much competition between them and optionality for podcast creators—so creators will retain rights to develop touring, merchandise, book/film/tv deals, and other revenue streams. As a successful TV producer explained to me, the consideration of turning a podcast into a TV show is the same as turning a book into a TV show: it’s about whether it’s a captivating story that engages the audience; the existing audience size will affect deal terms but a hit podcast only being on iHeart or Spotify wouldn’t inhibit it from getting a deal.

If one company is uniquely positioned to offer exclusive shows without a paid subscription tier, it’s iHeartMedia (which acquired the Stuff Media podcast network in September). In addition to its iHeartRadio streaming service, it can syndicate shows across its radio stations which reach 250 million Americans per month. That could generate more ad revenue than from a show existing solely across podcast apps and give it a bigger fan base to benefit touring and other revenue streams.

Looking at how exclusivity could impact consumers’ experience, it’s notable that people are typically on the hunt for just one podcast to listen to in a given session. With lengths typically 25-60 minutes, this is most similar to picking out a TV episode. Music services need full libraries of the world’s songs because people listen to a wide range of 3-4 minute songs in the same sitting and organize them into custom playlists of every imaginable combination. Having music divided between separate streaming platforms would be disruptive to the core experience of a music listening session. Switching apps to listen to a different podcast might not be any more inconvenient than doing so for TV shows on different streaming services.

Podcasting should embrace “listener revenue”

Direct “listener revenue” from paid subscription tiers enable a whole swath of niche content creators to make a living creating high-quality podcasts for a small, passionate audience and they enable worthwhile return-on-investment for big budget productions that audiences find deep value in. Importantly, subscription tiers across the major podcast streaming platforms would drive an industry-wide focus on shows that gain popular acclaim rather than shows that maximize initial downloads or streams (just like subscription publishing incentivizes quality over clickbait).

Breakout shows that receive pop culture buzz will be critical to any paid subscription tier in podcasting gaining traction, like the success of House of Cards and Orange is the New Black were critical to Netflix gaining respect for its Netflix Originals and differentiating from competitors. Such breakouts will likely involve a big name from Hollywood whose existing fan base drives a critical mass of initial listeners, and whose name recognition lends credibility to a potential paid tier subscriber. And it will almost certainly be a narrative format rather than another talk show.

Incumbents moving into podcasting from music streaming (or that are operating systems able to pre-install their app) have a distinct advantage here over startups dedicated to podcast streaming. Established players can expose millions of existing users to their own shows and bundle premium podcasts into existing subscription plans. Podcast streaming startups hoping to break through will need a lot of initial capital to develop their own shows and will need to seek bundling partnerships with companies that already have distribution — like mobile carriers and subscription video platforms. Luminary Media in NYC, founded by Matt Sacks of NEA, might be the first to launch with this approach: with a $40 million seed round, it’s aiming for a majority of content on its upcoming subscription streaming service to be its own originals within 3 years. Don’t be surprised if a couple other VC-backed podcast apps take this route in the year ahead as well.

It is likely we will see a combination of exclusive shows and paid subscription tiers develop on several platforms over a period of the next 18-36 months. It won’t happen overnight, but looking at the precedent set in other content formats and having spoken to two dozen senior figures in the industry during the past month, we seem to be in the early days of this shift, driven by the growth of podcasting from talk shows into a broader entertainment medium.

Via Eric Peckham https://techcrunch.com

[adplatforms]

Oath Ad Platforms Combines Best Ad Tech Services For Advertisers: Rico Chan, MD, Oath

Oath has completed a year. Here are excerpts from an email interaction with Rico Chan, Managing Director, Hong Kong, India and SEA, Oath, about how the new ad platform with advanced features will help drive growth for advertisers and publishers.

It’s been a year since Oath was launched, but many users/advertisers still don’t know about the brand? How has the year been? Tell us about the progress.

We’re proud of what we have achieved–bringing together AOL and Yahoo – two powerhouse media and technology brands. We unified our people, processes and products. Today, we reach one billion people around the world, with a dynamic mix of media and technology brands in our portfolio, including HuffPost, Yahoo Cricket, Tumblr, Yahoo Finance and Flurry. In India, we continued to build on the momentum, releasing a new Yahoo Mail mobile web experience, besides an Android Go app. We won plenty of user love for our refreshed Yahoo Cricket app. HuffPost India came into the Oath fold. With Aman Sethi on board as Editor-in-Chief, HuffPost is now bringing its compelling and trusted brand of storytelling to our audiences in India. We also engaged deeply with advertisers, publishers and consumers over the last year. We are now in the exciting phase of innovating our offerings. We want to build deep consumer experiences across our much-loved brands, launch new products and services on mobile and video and continue to grow our partnerships. With the massive shift to mobile and Verizon (a Fortune 16 company and one of the largest mobile companies in the world) as our parent company, we are just getting started on the opportunity ahead. We aim to put our brands on every mobile screen. Our goal is to reach 2 billion users by 2020. We see many of our new users coming from this part of the world, with India leapfrogging on mobile and home to over 450 million mobile Internet users – a number that continues to rise sharply. 

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How do you see the digital advertising trend in India and where would you place Oath and its various brands within this canvas?

Digital advertising is gaining huge ground in India, and is expected to grow by 30 per cent YoY in 2018.

With increasing demand for cross-screen experiences and strong growth in mobile Internet usage, mobile marketing is a huge opportunity in India. This is a very exciting landscape. There’s been a phenomenal rise in online content consumption and we are well placed to offer the content consumers love and expect here, across our brands.

When we combine the power of our content, scale and data, we see tremendous opportunities to help advertisers in India build stronger relationships with consumers. We recently introduced Oath Ad Platforms, which delivers a simplified suite of intelligent advertising and publishing solutions to drive growth for advertisers and publishers. New innovative ad experiences as part of the suite will help us deliver creative and impactful campaigns for brands in this market.

We are simultaneously building meaningful consumer experiences on our brands that can take us closer to the Indian consumers. We want to be responsive to the needs of the Indian audience, many of whom will be coming online for the first time on their mobile phones. Yahoo Mail recently released an entirely new mobile web experience (alongside an Android Go app). We know that several users in India grapple with poor connectivity and data limitations. This new mobile web experience offers improved usability on top of a modern design. Irrespective of their hardware or connectivity issues, we wanted our users here to have a better, more enjoyable and productive Yahoo Mail experience.

We are innovating to build immersive consumer experiences that deeply engage Indian consumers. In less than four months of its refresh, the Yahoo Cricket app touched 1.5 million downloads on Android, with users giving it a 4.49 star rating on Google Play.

They were quickly hooked to the lightning fast scores, crisp match info and easy access to news listings. During this year’s IPL, we made the scores on the app available in 7 different regional languages– Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali and Malayalam– to engage with our regional users.

Studies show mobile internet is predominantly used by young Indians and we are invested in engaging deeply with this audience. 

What are the brands you are working for in India?

We have a gamut of advertisers across industries, from consumer goods to e-commerce, tourism and consumer technology, to name just a few. They include

Amazon, Nike, Lufthansa Airlines, Lenovo, Airtel, Toyota and Asian Paints.

We work extensively with banking & financial services advertisers. Bajaj Allianz,HDFC Asset Management, ICICI Lombard, Kotak Mahindra being a few of our top advertisers. We recently signed an exclusive partnership with online marketplaceBankBazaar, for a co-branded site accessible from the Yahoo Finance HomePage.

What is Oath’s strategy to compete with competitors like Facebook and Google?

The digital marketing space is enormous and still growing. The spaces are differentiated. There is so much opportunity both on the consumer side and on the advertiser side. Our goal is to reach 2 billion users by 2020. If you look at how people are coming online, the vast majority are accessing the Internet for the first time on their mobile phones. This is a US $800 billion-$1 trillion industry, but mobile accounts for just a fraction of it. We see tremendous opportunity in the mobile consumer economy, which is growing rapidly, and nowhere more so than in India. Today’s mobile consumer is empowered. This one device is increasingly controlling the entire experience – how people search, shop, communicate, consume information, news and entertainment. We want to provide customers with must-have mobile content and services. We want to give other businesses or partners access to those consumers on mobile. As we look through their lens, giving customers and advertisers what they want and need, we have some distinctive advantages at Oath. The combination of our trusted content, distribution, and data sets us apart from other players in the market.

What is Oath’s POV on ad fraud and prevention? What is the state of transparency in ad tech? What is Oath’s approach to providing transparency for its clients and partners, specifically in the world of programmatic?

As advertisers seek quality environments in which to run their ads, increased transparency in the programmatic ecosystem has become essential, now more than ever before. At Oath, we are committed to increasing transparency.

Oath has invested in proprietary technology on our buying platforms that aims to enforce supply transparency and prevent domain spoofing across the majority of supply partners. In fact, our technology blocks hundreds of millions of spoofed bid requests on a daily basis.

Combined with our long-time partnership with the IAB, industry-leading third party fraud measurement across our platforms and human review safeguards, we’re fully committed to a safe, transparent supply chain for our advertiser partners.

Source: https://www.exchange4media.com/digital/oath-ad-platforms-combines-best-ad-tech-services-for-advertisers-rico-chan-md-oath_92037.html

[martechadvisor-blog]

7 Fundamentals of Mobile Programmatic Advertising

Mobile Programmatic advertising is growing because mobile content consumption is growing. What do marketers need to do differently when it comes to the best outcomes from their mobile programmatic initiatives? We dive in.

With the rise in usage of mobile, and all marketers refocusing on a mobile-first strategy; mobile programmatic is gaining much prominence. While the basic premise of ‘programmatic’ advertising is the same -  an automated process of buying and selling of ad inventory with improved targeting and quicker, cheaper and better results – mobile programmatic advertising is different from display programmatic in some fundamental ways.

Mobile Stats

In 2018, mobile video ad spend is expected to grow 49%, to nearly $18 billion, and people around the world will watch 25% more video on phones and tablets (Zenith).

By 2019, nearly 80% of programmatic ad spend will go to mobile ads rather than desktop

InMobi

Smartphone subscriptions will reach 4 billion by 2025

About a third of consumers say their smartphone is their primary source of entertainment

Accounting for 23% of global ad spend, mobile is already the second-largest advertising medium and in 2018, mobile ad spend will grow further to a total of US$116.1 billion.

Adsquare

If you are part of the statistics (see above box) and are shifting significant amounts of your ad budgets to mobile, then keep these 7 fundamental aspects of mobile programmatic in mind:

1. In-app advertising is big in mobile

According to this Statista , an individual spends an average time of 3 to 5 hours everyday on mobile and 90% of that time is spent on apps. Which means in-app advertisements have huge potential to engage users and interact without interruption. Mobile apps form the backbone of much of the developments happening in mobile programmatic. In terms of both data and viewability, mobile apps are proving to be the best platforms for programmatic ads.

The immersive context within mobile apps provide 95% viewability to full screen ads (Chartboost report). Apart from that, mobile apps collect invaluable data like device type, location, connectivity, operating system and post install events and the information is collected through an to track conversion with precision. The prominent formats for in-app programmatic ads are mobile games, in-app creatives, video ads, interactive ads, static ads, and banners.

2. Beware of Programmatic mobile fraud

Brand safety, invalid traffic and other duplicity of content are the growing issues that need to be handled with caution. This constantly evolving threat of mobile ad fraud has got marketers thinking about how to best address the most prominent methods of mobile ad frauds are audience fraud, install & click fraud and impression fraud. According to RhythmOne, ad frauds in mobile apps are different than those happening in display/web. With mobiles, especially in apps, the nature of frauds is complicated, which makes it even more difficult to detect and trace them.

According to the company report, only 38% of fraudulent ad inventory gets blocked on mobile, and the percentage is even lower with mobile apps (only 27%) - in comparison with desktop (56%) and mobile web (56%). In the meantime, technologies to combat mobile ad fraud are evolving speedily to help marketers deal with this threat with least damage. The IAB UK launched the ads.txt in 2017 to tackle programmatic ad fraud, including for mobile.

Tim Mahlman, President of Advertising & Publisher Strategy at Oath said “Advertisers want greater transparency from their media partners. Publishers that have embraced ads.txt have taken a positive step toward delivering that. It’s a more secure way to publicly identify the platforms authorized to sell publisher inventory, limiting bad actors. And it gives advertisers a more accurate representation of media impressions and who’s selling them. For publishers that haven’t yet implemented ads.txt, they’ll ultimately get on board. They can’t afford not to as more advertisers buy based on transparency.” 

3. Mobile programmatic tapping the game-zone  

Mobile games are indeed the game changers for programmatic ads. According to the Mobile Gaming Guidance Report by MMA Global, the audience of mobile gaming is getting larger and more engaged. The report says that more than half of US population is using mobile games with no signs of slowing down. This indicates a huge opportunity for mobile programmatic ads to reach the already engaged audience with a big impact in their overall mobile ad strategy. Marketers need to hit a fine balance of understanding and utilizing both mobile web and in-app game inventory to create meaningful experiences through standard native formats. At the same time, challenges like viewability, right context, data accessibility and measurability of performance must also be considered by marketers.

4. Understand the Mobile programmatic metrics

People interact with their mobiles in a totally different way than what they do with desktop – marketers must evaluate this shift and reassess the metrics for mobile programmatic. To define the ROI from mobile programmatic, it is imperative to have a realistic and relevant attribution model – marketers need to adopt mobile specific strategies to measure returns from mobile ads. The attribution model should ideally be in sync with customer journeys and the role of mobile in helping customers take a certain buying decision. This will aid in attaching the right budget while effectively improving customer experience. 

5. Location-based programmatic is an emerging opportunity

Smartphones are the best device for location-based advertising, and mobile programmatic has a big opportunity in this arena. Cisco forecasts that by 2020 there will be 5.5 billion mobile users (70% of the global population); which implies a colossal scope for brands and advertisers to reach customers on their smartphones based on their location. When combined with the data collected by their mobile device and customer intelligence from their own customer data platforms, the offerings can be not just unique and customized, but real-time and contextual to each moment in time. This means infinite new revenue or engagement opportunities created on-the-go, based on customer movements and needs!  Programmatic mobile advertising based on customer location can reach customers at scale with specific messages, based on their exact location. This strategy, if based on relevant data that avoids being intrusive, can help with last-mile conversion at the POS and can connect the online and offline engagement for a seamless brand experience.

6. Mobile UX is different from display

People use mobiles for QUICK results. With mobiles, users are less tolerant, and it gets worse with bad mobile ads. They don’t want to be held up by ad-rolls, neither would they want your ad to cover the entire screen when all they want is the movie listings or the restaurant phone number. Don’t be that brand that annoys and distracts - ensure that the ad-size and shape of mobile ads meant for programmatic is not ruining the user experience. Insist to work with publishers who care about their audiences’ UX. Don’t use ads developed for the desktop on the mobile. Be guided by user preferences - a host of brands are developing 6 second ads exclusively for mobile as the age-old 30 second TV spot just doesn’t work on mobile. Remember, the ads are not what users open the mobile for – the moment your ad pops up covering the content and slows down the loading time, not to mention use up their data bandwidth, customers will probably hate you forever!

According to John DeVin, CRO of Oath, “Because they’re glued to their devices, consumers have even higher expectations for content on mobile, whether it’s a seamless livestream of an NFL game or on-demand viewing of need-to-know news. And these expectations for quality don’t just stop with content consumption—consumers are holding advertisers to a higher standard as well. Ads must be relevant and customized yet unobtrusive, complementing the consumer’s experience and not interrupting the moment. Today the goal for brands is more focused on enhancing the viewing experience and providing consumers with a new kind of utility from their phones.”

7. Dynamic Creative Optimization

The strength of programmatic to reach customers at scale to deliver highly targeted mobile ads is unquestionable. However, everything boils down to one question – ‘has the ad created a positive impact on the viewer’s mind?’ Creative mobile ads are the winner here. Advertisers are engaging with exciting new creative opportunities to build beautiful UX with the help of Dynamic Creative Optimization tools. This enables advertisers to constantly and simultaneously produce and test several different creative options – and work with the best one making maximum impact.  DCO tools aims to create highly personalized and optimized ads keeping the customers’ specific interests, in mind.

John DeVin, CRO of Oath, added “The heightened expectations for quality content and experiences that put the user first have ushered in a new frontier of ad formats. Those that work well for users and deliver an exceptional experience will, in turn, deliver for brand marketers. Last year there was much talk about the potential impact of mobile and consumer-first formats like augmented reality, virtual reality and 360-degree video. This year, the era of innovative, interactive content has arrived. Forward-thinking brands like The Home Depot and Pottery Barn are leading the pack by putting AR technology to work in their latest campaigns and bringing their in-store experience to shoppers’ mobile devices and living rooms. But it doesn’t stop there. It’s also about testing shorter video ad lengths and full-screen vertical video on mobile devices. These immersive advertising experiences perform exceptionally well with consumers and deliver big for advertisers, too. Brand builders are taking notice. With this future-forward content more accessible than ever, expect even more brands to leverage innovative ads in the year ahead to transform the world around you into an exceptional brand content experience.”

The fast-pace evolution of mobile programmatic ad is here to stay – but of course with new additions and alterations every year, to match with the changing faces of CX and ROI. The industry is getting more mature by adopting more improved, relevant and agile standards and regulations.   Keeping these 7 fundamentals of mobile in mind will help you build a more successful mobile programmatic initiative. It boils down to a fine balance between human creativity, user experience and scientific data-based decision making – all at scale and at an affordable price to deliver messages in an efficient, effective, yet non-intrusive way.

  This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor

[sunshineweb]

Budget 2020 Highlights – 5 Changes you must know

So finally the Budget 2020 is out. Whether you expected a lot from this budget? It is natural for all individuals to expect something from each budget. However, all expectations will not turn into realities. Let us see the Budget 2020 Highlights.

Budget 2020 Highlights – 5 changes you must know

1. Income Tax Slabs changed

There is a big change in individual tax slabs. I think this new change made life complicated to many than simplifying the tax. In one way Government is forcing us to SAVE more. However, with this new change, I think the Government is more concerned with making us to SPEND more.

There will be two types of tax slabs.

For those who wish to claim IT Deductions and Exemptions.

For those who DO NOT wish to claim IT Deductions and Exemptions.

Let me explain both the slabs as below.

Now, if you wish to choose the new tax regime, then you have to forget the below deductions or exemptions.

(i) Leave travel concession as contained in clause (5) of section 10; (ii) House rent allowance as contained in clause (13A) of section 10; (iii) Some of the allowance as contained in clause (14) of section 10; (iv) Allowances to MPs/MLAs as contained in clause (17) of section 10; (v) Allowance for income of minor as contained in clause (32) of section 10; (vi) Exemption for SEZ unit contained in section 10AA; (vii) Standard deduction, deduction for entertainment allowance and employment/professional tax as contained in section 16; (viii) Interest under section 24 in respect of self-occupied or vacant property referred to in sub-section (2) of section 23. (Loss under the head income from house property for rented house shall not be allowed to be set off under any other head and would be allowed to be carried forward as per extant law); (ix) Additional deprecation under clause (iia) of sub-section (1) of section 32; (x) Deductions under section 32AD, 33AB, 33ABA; (xi) Various deduction for donation for or expenditure on scientific research contained in sub-clause (ii) or sub-clause (iia) or sub-clause (iii) of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2AA) of section 35; (xii) Deduction under section 35AD or section 35CCC; (xiii) Deduction from family pension under clause (iia) of section 57; (xiv) Any deduction under chapter VIA (like section 80C, 80CCC, 80CCD, 80D, 80DD, 80DDB, 80E, 80EE, 80EEA, 80EEB, 80G, 80GG, 80GGA, 80GGC, 80IA, 80-IAB, 80-IAC, 80-IB, 80-IBA, etc). However, deduction under sub-section (2) of section 80CCD (employer contribution on account of the employee in notified pension scheme) and section 80JJAA (for new employment) can be claimed.

However, there are certain deductions you can still claim using the new tax regime and they are as below.

Retirement benefits, gratuity etc.

commutation of pension

leave encashment on retirement

retrenchment compensation

VRS benefits

EPFO: Employer contribution

NPS withdrawal benefits

Education scholarships

Payments of awards instituted in public interest

Which one to use for the highest tax benefits?

It is not yet clear and hence it is hard for me to say anything BLINDLY. However, going by changes, I assume it changes from individual to individuals. Hence, you have to calculate on your own and adopt the one which is more beneficial for you.

CONFUSING RIGHT? YES, as per me, this new tax slab regime is the most complicated tax slab rate any government introduced. Now many individuals will be in a dilemma of which one to use, the ADDITIONAL one along with the existing headache for taxpayers of HOW TO SAVE MORE TAX.

Refer a detailed:-Latest Income Tax Slab Rates FY 2020-21 (AY 2021-22)

2. Bank Deposit Insurance raised from existing Rs.1 lakh to Rs.5 lakh

Many Bank Depositors lost faith when the PMC kind of banks goes on financial issues. Many individuals started to fear to keep more than Rs.1 lakh in a bank. Because, as per the DICGC ( Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation), the maximum guarantee a depositor receive was Rs.1 lakh. However, to increase the faith among the depositors, the Government increased the limit to Rs.5,00,000.

This I think a good move. However, the Government must increase the cover with certain frequency as the inflation increases and income increases, even this Rs.5,00,000 increase may be peanut after certain years.

3. Affordable home loans under Sec.80EEA extended for one more year

To understand more on this aspect, refer my last year post Budget 2019-20 – Tax Incentive for affordable housing.

4. Dividend Distribution Tax Abolished in the hands of Companies BUT NOT FOR INDIVIDUALS!!

Many rejoiced with the news that DDT was abolished for all. However, it is abolished in the hands of companies. Hence, tax on dividends from shares and mutual funds (both equity and debt) will be taxed as per slab of the recipient.

Going forward companies will not deduct the DDT but as an investor, you have to pay the DDT as per your tax slab. Hence, this leads to many Mutual Fund investors to move to the GROWTH option than the DIVIDEND option. Because as of now, even the companies used to deduct the DDT, we as investors have no need to pay the tax. Hence, many felt it is tax-free DIVIDEND.

5. Definition of NRI is changed

Earlier the NRI status was defined if an Indian Citizen who resides in India for less than 182 days during the course of the preceding financial year. This is now reduced to 120 days.

One more change is if you are a citizen of India, but not a tax resident (on account of domicile or residence or similar exemption) in any other country, you will be deemed to be a resident in India.

6. TDS on Mutual Funds for Resident Indians

There is no clarity on fully in this front. However, I assume that Resident Indians have to have TDS if your gain from mutual funds (both equity and debt) is more than Rs.5,000.

They have introduced the new Sec.194k. This I think created the difference between equity mutual funds and direct equity investment. Rather than promoting the Mutual Funds, they are discouraged by inserting such a move of TDS. But do remember one thing always, AVOIDING TDS DOES NOT MEAN AVOIDING TAX.

Except for these five changes, I am unable to find any other new moves in the Budget 2020. So the dust and NOISE is over now. Calm down and relax and enjoy the realities 🙂

The post Budget 2020 Highlights – 5 Changes you must know appeared first on BasuNivesh.

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[theinvinciblenoob]

The U.S. podcasting industry had a record year in 2017, reaching $314 million in revenue – a figure that’s up 86 percent from the $169 million in 2016, according to new study out this morning from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and jointly conducted by IAB and PwC U.S.

The firms are also estimating podcast revenue will see triple-digit 110 percent growth between 2017 and 2020, when revenues will then reach $659 million.

The study also examined what sort of podcasts were benefiting the most from the increased interest in the audio format, as well as what sort of advertisements were preferred.

As you may have guessed (if you spend any time listening to podcasts), host-read ads were the more heavily used ad type, accounting for a whopping two-thirds of all ads in 2017.

Direct response ads transacted on a cost per thousand basis made up the majority of the campaigns, followed by brand awareness ads at 29 percent.

In terms of placement, ads that were inserted or edited into programming accounted for 58 percent of the ad inventory last year, the report also found.

Top advertisers included financial services (18% share of ads), direct-to-consumer retailers (16%), and arts and entertainment (13% of all ads).

However, certain types of podcasts are doing better than others when in comes to raking in the ad dollars.

In fact, the top four content genres, out of the 14 measured, generated over half the advertising revenue in 2017. These were: Arts & Entertainment (17%), Technology (15%), News/Politics/Current Events (13%), and Business (11%).

IAB has particular insight into the podcasting market, thanks to member companies like Audioboom, Authentic, ESPN Radio, Gimlet Media, How Stuff Works, Market Enginuity, Midroll Media, National Public Media, Panoply, Podcast One, PMM, Turner Podcast Network, Westwood One, WNYC Studios, and Wondery, who underwrote the industry study.

And in case you’re suspicious that an ad bureau claiming ads are doing great, the numbers here back up other industry reports confirming the podcast explosion. Nielsen, for example, claims that half of U.S. households listen to podcasts now, including big consumer groups – like beer buyers or new parents – who advertisers want to target.

ComScore, meanwhile, claims 1 in 5 Americans aged 18-49 listen to podcasts at least once per month.

And podcast startups are benefitting from the increased consumer interest in the format, as well. Wondery, for instance, raised $5 million earlier this year from Greycroft, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Shari Redstone’s Advancit Capital. At the time of the raise, IAB was forecasting $220 million in podcast ad revenue.

HowStuffWorks also raised $15 million last year, as did Gimlet Media; radio broadcaster Entercom bought 45 percent of podcast producer and network, Dgital Media, home to “Pod Save America.” Podcast platform Anchor raised $10 million in 2017, podcast platform Art19 raised $7.5 million, and, this spring, Castbox raised $13.5 million for its podcast app.

Investors wouldn’t be throwing money at the business if there wasn’t potential for more money to be made. And to some extent, those increased opportunities to reach consumers via audio are attributed to the changes in how we listen to audio content – that is, on mobile devices instead of radio, and on smart speakers in the home.

PwC also credits smart speakers and mobile as contributing to the opportunity here.

“The growing trend toward ‘anywhere and everywhere’ media engagement has created tremendous opportunity for digital media, of which podcasting is a significant component,” said David Silverman, a Partner at PwC U.S.m in a statement about the new report. “Whether at home on a smart speaker, at work on a PC, or somewhere in between on a mobile device, more and more Americans are listening while they live, providing a robust podcast platform where advertisers can connect with today’s consumers,” he said.

via TechCrunch