| X competitor Bluesky is getting a big bump as X users flee Elon Musk’s social media platform post-election. Bluesky has grown from about nine million users in September to 15 million last week, reaching the #2 spot among iPhone apps last Monday, up from #27 on November 6. But while some X users quit Elon, others jumped onboard – the platform saw a 15.5% lift in new user sign-ups on Election Day.
CIMM and OpenAP released a report concluding that the industry must reassess current approaches to identity and identity resolution. Executed in collaboration with ThinkMedium, “Identity Resolution for Advanced TV and Video Advertising: A Case for Durability and Transparency” analyzes the IDR landscape, and offers recommendations for strengthening and improving current ways of working through industry collaboration. The findings suggest a two-pronged, collaborative approach to developing industry resources could have the greatest impact: 1) providing buyer education guides to facilitate understanding of fundamentals and provide curated questions for engaging with identity providers (as part of the RFP process) and 2) defining taxonomies and templates for providers to communicate about definitions and methodologies for how data is sourced, matched, aggregated, and validated. “Identity and IDR serve as the backbone for planning, activating, and measuring video advertising that is relevant, personalized, and effective,” said Jon Watts, Managing Director, CIMM. “However, the rise of digital streaming, growing privacy concerns, and other trends are challenging traditional approaches in the TV advertising landscape. The increasing complexity and fragmentation of the ecosystem necessitate a reevaluation of strategies and industry collaboration to support future advancements with IDR in the Advanced TV and Video Advertising marketplace.”
AI-powered search engine Perplexity is experimenting with ads on its platform, formatted as “sponsored follow-up questions,” placed to the side of answers and labeled as “sponsored.” Explained a Perplexity blog post, “Ad programs like this help us generate revenue to share with our publisher partners. Experience has taught us that subscriptions alone do not generate enough revenue to create a sustainable revenue-sharing program. Especially given how rapidly our publisher program is growing, advertising is the best way to ensure a steady and scalable revenue stream. ” Indeed, Whole Foods, Universal McCann and PMG are partnering in the new ad program.
T-Mobile was one of the telecommunications companies that fell victim to a months-long campaign by hackers linked to a Chinese intelligence company, reports The Wall Street Journal. “T-Mobile is closely monitoring this industry-wide attack, and at this time, T-Mobile systems and data have not been impacted in any significant way, and we have no evidence of impacts to customer information,” said a company spokeswoman. “We will continue to monitor this closely, working with industry peers and the relevant authorities.” In October, it was reported that AT&T, Verizon and Lumen were infiltrated by Chinese hackers called Salt Typhoon.
Two years after the launch of advertising on Netflix, the streamer has reached 70 million monthly active users, with over 50% of new sign-ups for the ads plan in ad-supported countries. In an anniversary blog post, Amy Reinhard, President, Advertising, said Netflix has sold out advertising for its two NFL Christmas Day games, and partnered with multiple advertisers for the upcoming season of “Squid Game,” including a first-ever single title sponsorship with Kia in Korea.
On the measurement front, Netflix has partnered with VideoAmp in the US to deliver advertisers cross-screen and live viewership measurement, both of which will start with WWE’s launch in January, and partnered with Nielsen for live ratings of the Christmas Day games. “There has been continuous momentum over the last two years, but we’re just getting started and can’t wait to see what’s to come,” concluded Reinhard.
Social media has overtaken TV as the top channel for influencing purchasing decisions, at 43%. TV is close behind at 41%. That’s according to DISQO second annual Consumer Trends report, which also reports:
· 60% of consumers rank personal experience with a brand as the top factor shaping their brand perception.
· Millennials and Gen X have both increased their responsiveness to social ads over last year while Gen Z remains steady year-over-year, at 62%
· Product research is increasingly conducted across various channels, with 50% of consumers using search engines, 32% relying on retailer websites, and 28% on social media.
“In 2025, marketers will increasingly seek to align brand with performance by quantifying the incrementality lift of their ad campaigns across channels and throughout the full-funnel,” said Stephen Jepson, President, Media Effectiveness, DISQO. “This year’s report underlines the importance of this connection as people shift their purchase journeys, embracing new capabilities offered across platforms. It’s an important tool for marketers looking to keep and win consumers in 2025.”
IAB has released two guides aimed at helping marketers enhance their cross-channel measurement efforts to drive better business outcomes. “Implementing Cross-Channel Measurement for Marketers Playbook” discusses the challenges marketers face in the digital advertising landscape, offering insights on data integration, attribution models, advanced analytics, privacy compliance, and continuous optimization. Key highlights include strategies for aligning marketing efforts across multiple channels, improving ROI, and fostering stronger customer relationships. “Implementing Cross-Channel Measurement for Marketers Playbook” covers establishing clear objectives and KPIs, implementing advanced attribution models and ensuring privacy compliance
Adobe and actor/songwriter benny blanco announced they are collaborating on a collection of benny blanco templates in Adobe Express designed for small businesses. In partnership with MAMA, a local organization in LA committed to uplifting immigrant-run, family-owned eateries and assisting them with digital marketing needs, Adobe Express and blanco selected Mariscos 4 Vientos. “Adobe Express is already helping millions of people – from solopreneurs and SMBs to marketers and business users in some of the world’s largest organizations – promote their passions and grow their businesses,” said Govind Balakrishnan, Senior Vice President, Express Product Group & Digital Media Services, Adobe. “We’re excited to see the work we’ve done with benny and the Mariscos team inspire other entrepreneurs.”
Brightcove announced the launch of Brightcove Marketing Studio for Salls, a solution aimed at empowering sales teams to create and deploy personalized video content. The centrally managed video engagement platform gives companies control over brand and quality standards while providing unified measurement and insights across content and touchpoints.
StackAdapt announced a new integration on the Shopify App Store aimed at helping Shopify merchants tap into their customer data and optimize campaigns more effectively. By simplifying pixel installation and integrating first-party data, StackAdapt enables Shopify merchants to reach high-intent customers amid the shift away from third-party cookies.
Year-over-year upstream growth rose to 13.9% in 3Q24, while downstream usage increased 6.8%, according to the new OpenVault Broadband Insights (OVBI) report on broadcast consumption. Overall growth was 7.2%, the lowest year-over-year rate recorded by OpenVault. the 3Q24 OVBI report also looked at usage by selected demographic groups. Among the findings:
· Households with incomes under $50,000 per year had the highest average monthly data usage (639 GB), despite having the slowest average internet speeds (530 Mbps).
· Consumption and speeds ranged from 397 GB and 578 Mbps for a single-person household, to 1.125 TB and 833 Mbps for a household of four.
· Speeds and subscriber behavior were consistent between urban and rural markets, demonstrating the impact of providers’ upgrades in rural areas.
“Addressing upstream constraints within the DOCSIS environment will be essential as subscriber behavior evolves, putting added pressure on networks,” notes the report. “With upstream data usage now growing at more than twice the rate of downstream usage, the need for ongoing monitoring and network adaptability to maintain high Quality of Experience amid rising demand is crucial.” |
