Posts for 'Technology'

In concert with its Made on YouTube event, YouTube unveiled a slew of innovations aimed at enhancing creators’, viewers’ and advertisers’ experiences. Potentially the most high impact is a revamp of its CTV app which will offer “immersive previews” of creator content, modeled on best practices of SVOD apps like Netflix. Creators will also be able to customize how they categorize and organize their episodes in the app. With CTV accounting for at least 40% of YouTube’s views, optimizing the CTV app is critical.

YouTube also updated a number of relatively new AI-powered tools, including “Dream Screen,” which generates backgrounds in YouTube Shorts and a 6-second clip generator, both using Veo, which is DeepMind’s video AI technology, plus a refreshed Inspiration Tab to help brainstorm new video ideas.

Also new is the launch of Communities which allows engagment within the creator’s channel, pulling into YouTube discussions already happening in other social platforms. The feature builds on commenting, which has long been available in YouTube.

YouTube also confirmed broad availability of Pause ads, long in use by others like Hulu, which are likely to get a strong reception.

Many of the features are described in this post.   

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The following video was recorded at VideoNuze’s fourth annual Connected TV Advertising Summit virtual on June 8, 2023.

How Innovation is Driving the Value of Content and Advertising in CTV
Innovation is everywhere in the CTV and streaming market, creating better viewer experiences and more value for content providers. What does the near-term roadmap look like, where are resources being focused, what key challenges are being addressed, and most important, what does all of this mean the CTV market will look like in 2-3 years? Join a high-impact discussion by experts who chart out CTV’s innovative future.

Michael Nagle - GM of Streaming, USA Today and USA Today Sports
Jackie Swansburg Paulino - Chief Product Officer, Pixability
Damian Pelliccione - CEO and Co-Founder, Revry
Nyma Quidwai - VP, Client Services and Inventory Partnerships, VIZIO Ads
Christy Tanner - Partner-in-Residence, The Nunatak Group and former EVP, CBS Interactive (moderator)

Beachfront’s head of strategy and operations Laura Wu discusses connected TV advertising innovations in a 10-minute interview below. Laura dives into how publishers are better controlling/monetizing ad pods, using first-party data and converting CTV into a lower-funnel channel. Laura also explains how consumers crave simplicity, which will likely lead to more bundling going forward.

If you want to hear more from Laura, then after the jump, check out her recent session at VideoNuze’s Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023, “The Big Picture: Trends and Opportunities in CTV in 2023.” Laura is joined by Aaron Goldman (Chief Marketing Officer, Mediaocean), Paul Josephsen (Chief Strategy Officer, WMX Content & Media Division @Warner Music Group) and Brian Wieser (Principal, Madison and Wall), with Danielle DeLauro (EVP, VAB) moderating.

Watch Laura’s interview now.

The following video was recorded at VideoNuze’s third annual Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 virtual on February 28, 2023.

CTV UX Innovation – The 2023 Roadmap
CTV viewing experiences benefit from dynamic, constant innovation, which in turn bolsters the value of advertising inventory as brands look to execute more interactive campaigns that achieve ever-better returns on spending. With so much happening so fast, what are the key programming and advertising changes primed to enhance the CTV viewer experience, and how will they improve engagement and boost the performance of the market in 2023 and beyond? Join us for an insightful discussion of CTV’s innovation roadmap in 2023.

Ashley Arena – Head of Advanced Video Activation, PHD
Krista Panoff – SVP, Global Enterprise Development, Innovid
David Pudjunis – VP, Revenue Operations and Digital Partnerships, AMC Networks
Lance Wolder – Head of Strategy and Marketing, PadSquad
Mary Ann Halford – Partner, Altman Solon (moderator)

PadSquad, which specializes in creating high-impact advertising experiences, has partnered with CTV leader Innovid to gain in-house access to Innovid’s full suite of interactive CTV tools. The goal of the joint advanced CTV offering is to streamline and accelerate brands’ ability to create interactive and shoppable CTV ads.

According to PadSquad’s head of marketing Lance Wolder, it is the first time Innovid’s interactive CTV tools can be fully utilized by a third-party instead of through Innovid’s managed service. Lance said that with PadSquad’s team of over 20 designers and developers, being able to directly use Innovid’s tools will enable faster turnaround times for clients’ campaigns and also unlock new creative potential.

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This week on Inside the Stream Colin and I interview Xperi’s EVP and Chief Products and Services Officer Geir Skaaden. Earlier this week Xperi completed its spinoff and is now an independent company with a portfolio of entertainment technology brands including TiVo, DTS, IMAX Enhanced and HD Radio. Geir walks us through how Xperi is focused on building out its media platform business as an independent partner to TV OEMs and automobile OEMs.

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This week on Inside the Stream nScreenMedia’s Colin Dixon and I interview Geir Skaaden, EVP and Chief Products and Services Officer at Xperi, which recently acquired Vewd to push further into the TVOS market. Geir walks us through the deal’s rationale and the value of providing an independent TVOS platform to TV OEMs who can retain a share of post-sale streaming economics. Geir also explains how Xperi’s TiVo+ service that includes 160 FAST channels enhances the company’s appeal as a partner for TV OEMs.

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Mediaocean’s GM, Verification Asaf Greiner outlines a new paradigm for CTV advertising transparency in a 10 minute interview with me below. Asaf discusses one of the key issues in verification in CTV today, which is adapting browser-based technologies to CTVs, which of course don’t have browsers. Asaf previews what a modern approach involving industry collaboration would look like, and how higher transparency would be achieved.

Hear Asaf’s full presentation at next week’s CTV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit virtual on November 16th at 3pm. Asaf is one of 32 executives speaking on 10 different sessions across 2 afternoons. Reminder that all paid registrants will be entered to win a 50-inch Roku TV and Streaming Soundbar.

Watch the interview now!

IRIS.TV and SpotX (part of Magnite) announced this morning they’re partnering to offer industry-standard contextual targeting segments to SpotX’s video ad supply. The move will give ad buyers the ability to target and verify the category of video on all screens.

SpotX will be able to give ad buyers access to video-level metadata that has been “IRIS-enabled” for targeting in CTV and digital video, driving more value for content owners, especially in in brand-safe CTV where viewership is soaring and ad performance is superior.

Noting the challenges the partnership will overcome, SpotX’s SVP of Strategic Partnerships Kristen William said, “Our clients have been demanding increased visibility into the content they are advertising in, but access to contextual data is extremely complicated as it comes in a variety of formats as well as being locked behind content management systems and video players.”

For more on how IRIS.TV enables video data for contextual segmentation to create more value for both ad buyers and content owners, see my interview below with VP of Publisher Partnerships Lauren Gabriele. Lauren will also be moderating a session at this week’s VideoNuze Connected TV Ad Summit virtual “Targeting in CTV: The New Data Paradigm,” with Xumo, Index Exchange and Icon Media Direct.

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Extreme Reach is acquiring Australia-based Adstream to create a comprehensive platform that will streamline workflows for global brands activating video campaigns across devices and services. The combined company is addressing pain points for brands that have arisen from the fragmentation of video consumption. There is a lot more complexity because every ad that is served must be properly formatted to deliver an appropriate user experience and tracked so that talent is accurately compensated.

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Evergent has unveiled its Customer Care and Billing (CCB) 3.0 platform, to help content and service providers gain more agility in their video monetization. Evergent was founded in 2007 but has largely flown below the radar. It now serves over 700 million accounts in 175 countries across a customer base including AT&T, FOX, Sony Entertainment Television and Etisalat. CCB 3.0 allows customers to more easily create and manage product configurations, promotions and packaging in order to drive new revenue.

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Ad spending on SpotX’s platform increased by 42% in 2020 vs. 2019, driven mainly by over-the-top/connected TV clients who now comprise almost 70% of overall ad spending on the platform. SpotX said that after a Covid-driven pullback in Q2, platform spending globally grew 70% in Q4 ’20 vs. Q4 ’19. North America is still the dominant territory for SpotX, accounting for 88% of ad spending in 2020, though EMEA and APAC grew by 107% and 66% respectively in 2020 vs. 2019.

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Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has integrated technology from ad server Flashtalking via API which will help streamline work flows and campaign optimization across linear and online video. Integrating with the CTS Ad Management Platform will centralize linear and online video creative management. Richard Nunn, VP/GM of Advertiser Solutions at CTS said in a briefing that the integration would provide insights on the performance of campaign creative in online video channels to drive greater ad personalization in linear viewing.

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Crackle Plus is expanding its relationship with video supply-side platform SpotX to help monetize new distribution across a variety of free ad-supported streaming TV (“FAST”) services, the companies announced this morning. Crackle Plus is now available on 29 devices and services and has announced deals with fuboTV, Philo, VIDAA, VIZIO and Xumo which it estimates will expose Crackle Plus networks to over 60 million new viewers in 2021.

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Sell-side ad platform Magnite has unveiled an open beta of its “Unified Decisioning” solution which gives CTV and OTT publishers the ability to have direct sold and programmatic demand compete for available inventory. By doing so publishers can maximize yield while the decisioning still respects deal priority and business rules such as frequency capping and competitive separation.

Paige Bilins, Magnite’s VP of Video Product Management said “publishers are eager to tap into the efficiencies that programmatic provides without relinquishing the control they are used to when selling directly to buyers.” Magnite said that Unified Decisioning works with all major ad servers.

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Video ad management platform Beachfront has announced that ad buyers can now use its technology to access Canoe’s premium VOD ad inventory. Canoe powers VOD and linear addressable advertising in 38 million U.S. households that subscribe to pay-TV from Comcast, Charter and Cox, which are Canoe investors.

In a briefing, Chris Maccaro, CEO of Beachfront, told me that the company has been investing in the solution for several years and sees an opportunity to improve VOD yield by exposing digital-centric buyers to premium VOD inventory. Chris believes that as VOD inventory is made available to agencies, brands, demand side platforms and others for automated programmatic buying, yield will improve and prices will increase.

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Akamai has announced a set of new live streaming features for its platform in anticipation of a viewership surge in late 2020 and into 2021. Akamai forecasts that a single event could have 50 million concurrent streamers, approximately double what events have seen in the past. The company cited the Summer Olympics which have been pushed to 2021 and UEFA EURO as sporting events expected to drive record live streaming in narrow time windows.

Akamai said the pandemic generated peak traffic on its platform exceeding 100 terabits per second every day during Q2 ’20; for context, the 100 terabit per second threshold was broken for the first time in October ’19. Akamai cited video games, in-game live events and esports tournaments, in addition to SVOD/AVOD consumption, as key traffic drivers.

To support the expected surge in live streaming, Akamai announced the following platform enhancements:

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Video ad platform SpotX has made an undisclosed investment in SpringServe, an independent OTT and connected TV ad server, extending an existing partnership. SpotX is owned by RTL Group; it says it reaches 50 million CTV households per month and it acquired server-side ad insertion provider Yospace last year. SpringServe was founded in 2015 and serves publishers and content owners.

The deal underscores how viewership is moving to OTT and CTV, driving publishers and content owners to seek stronger monetization of every view and manage their inventory in more sophisticated ways across programmatic and direct sold. I reached out to both companies for more details on what the deal will mean for them, the broader market and their respective roadmaps going forward as viewership of OTT and CTV accelerates. Below is what they shared with me:

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