DIGITAL MEDIA DIGEST: JUN ‘17
A monthly look at the world of digital from NORTH’s point of view
Ads.txt to Fight Ad Fraud
By Nathan Johnson, Media Planner
It wasn’t that long ago that the “Methbot” scheme was unveiled to the public and reportedly spoofed more than 6,000 premium publishers in the U.S. and generated as much as $5 million in fraudulent revenue per day, according to White Ops.
This was a type of domain spoofing, which is where unethical publishers, ad networks or exchanges change the nature of their traffic to resemble legitimate websites, such as ESPN, when in reality they are far from that. While not a new practice in the industry, this has sparked recent conversations around brand safety as programmatic advertising grows in popularity every year.
Recently, the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) released a project called ads.txt as a way to help combat fraudulent behavior. Essentially, ads.txt works by creating a publicly accessible record of authorized digital sellers for publisher inventory that buyers can reference when looking to buy inventory.
Publishers who are participating will first post their authorized sellers to their domain. Programmatic buyers can then crawl the web for the ads.txt files to create a list of authorized sellers for each publisher. From here, buyers can create a filter to match their ads.txt list against the data provided in the OpenRTB bid request, according to IAB.
The success of ads.txt depends on the willingness for publishers and exchanges to adopt the program in mass. However, the issue that may arise is the lack of developer resources that publishers and exchanges typically have. Both would need to dedicate a web developer to integrate the files and monitor them whenever publishers alter their list of authorized sellers.
Until that time, there are still ways we can help ensure we limit our exposure to ad fraud. When we work within the programmatic space at NORTH, we first seek out partners who are well respected within the industry as well as have integrations with 3rd party ad verification partners. These verification partners, such as White Ops and IAS, provide Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) with the ability to apply tags to ads and get instant data back on inventory and invalid traffic.
By taking the proper steps to manage our exposure to ad fraud, the programmatic space can be an excellent tool in our pocket to reach audiences in an effective and efficient manner.
Pandora + Sirius XM Suggest Beginning of Streaming Consolidation
By Caroline Desmond, Director of Media Strategy
Last week Recode reported that the satellite radio company Sirius XM will invest $480 million in Pandora for a 19% stake in the streaming music service. Reuters noted earlier this month that the two companies originally discussed an outright acquisition of Pandora by Sirius XM, but that deal fell apart due to a disagreement in price. This is not to say that an acquisition would not ever happen, but under the current deal Sirius XM would have to achieve board approval to acquire more than 31.5% of Pandora.
As it stands, both companies benefit from the current deal. Pandora gets a boost in capital which will allow it to compete with other streaming services including Apple Music, Amazon Prime Music, Google Play, and Spotify. Whereas, Sirius XM achieves access to Pandora’s digital reach of 76.7 million users. Initially, Sirius could use this additional reach to market its own services. In the long-term, it will most likely migrate some of its user base over to Pandora particularly if Sirius XM decides to make another play at increasing its ownership of Pandora.
The real story however, is the broader implication of the deal for the future of radio. Although satellite radio was once the new frontier relative to AM/FM, this latest move by Sirius XM signals a continued move toward streaming. In fact, Statista projects that the music streaming user penetration in the U.S. is expected to grow to 44.1% by 2021.
Furthermore, with so many similar services in market and high adoption of streaming radio among consumers, it is likely we will begin to see the beginning of a consolidation cycle that drives merger and acquisition activity. If so, it is the tech giants who are poised to win (Amazon, Apple, Google). In the realm of consolidation it’s survival of the fittest, and the companies best positioned to come out on top will most likely be those with the most diverse portfolio of products and resources. Tech giants like Google have the benefit of an already strong presence in consumers’ lives. According to a US Statista survey conducted last March, 55% of survey respondents felt that online and tech companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon have become an integral part of society. As these companies become more plugged into to how consumers shop, listen to music, watch TV, and where they go (Google/Apple maps), they are also uniquely positioned to offer more personalized experiences. In the age of mass personalization, this offers tech giants a tremendous leg up on the competition making them the most likely candidates to control streaming radio consumption in the very near future.
6 Things People Think Still Work But Don’t
By Devon Brown, Performance Marketing Manager
The digital landscape changes fast. Strategies that worked a few months ago could already be outdated. Can’t keep up? Us either! JK, we can totally keep up. So here are a couple things that worked a few months ago but don’t anymore.
1. Using only one digital marketing channel
This doesn’t work anymore. You need at least two channels. Some channels are cheap, efficient traffic drivers, while others are conversion machines. They’re both rarely the same. You need one to be your efficient traffic workhorse, and another to reinforce your message elsewhere in your targets internet bubble and drive the action.
2. Neglecting to retarget
Also doesn’t work anymore. People see it once and don’t remember. Then they see it a second time and warm up a little with dwell time or action, but are still apt to forget. Now’s your chance. Retarget and reach them, or lose them forever.
“Hey Goose, you big stud! Retarget me or lose me forever.” -Top Gun, 1989
3. Using one message for all audiences
Can’t do this anymore. Won’t work. You need different messages for each audience segment. Different people are driven by different messages. And you need sequential messaging to move them through the funnel. That means a message for the first time, a message for the second time, a post conversion message, and a message for every other important step in your funnel.
4. Not having Google Tag Manager
Tried this. Didn’t work. You need Google Tag Manager. Developers are busy, they go on vacation, they get sick, they have 6 week support ticket queues… As self-reliant adults who need to pivot at a moment’s notice with new campaigns and content, Google Tag Manager is a must.
“If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” — Flynn Robertson, 2017
5. Using One Audience Parameter in Facebook
Don’t do it. Not gonna work. You need at least two. Three is better. Women who like SpinCycle could be any girl that went through a phase but is totally over it. Women who like SpinCycle AND Kure Smoothies AND live in a hoity toity part of town is stereotype you can more likely count on.
6. Optimizing all campaigns to clicks
Nope. Wrong. Won’t work. I’m not saying you can never optimize to clicks, but everyone on Facebook is optimizing to the small segment of clicky people. Broaden your horizons. Optimize to the lurkers who don’t take action but definitely saw you and will totally remember you in a few days. Then create a lookalike audience and/or retargeting audiences, and optimize that second touch to clicks.
“The only constant is change” — My hippie friend Jon
Google Mows Down Intrusive Ads
By Flynn Robertson, Assistant Media Planner
I must admit, I am a bit of a Google fanboy, and by “a bit” I mean that I’m ready to appoint
Sergey Brin and Larry Page as Co-Rulers of the world. Now, you might find this a bit extreme, but what can I say, these guys seem likeable and they’ve done nothing but make my life easier since the late-90s. This is why, despite some crying foul, I readily welcome the news that Google will be introducing an ad-blocking component into Google Chrome.
Google has announced that beginning in 2018, Chrome will incorporate an ad-blocking feature that will prohibit any ads that are deemed as disruptive from running. This is particularly intriguing due to the nature of Google as an ad-serving powerhouse paired with the near-ubiquity of Google Chrome as people’s internet browser of choice. According to The Washington Post, Google is expected to be responsible for, “nearly 41 percent of the $83 billion Internet advertising market” and Google Chrome accounts for over 50% of browser usage.
Of course, this announcement was met with a certain amount of backlash. I won’t go into much detail about the arguments against this announcement, but read about them here, here, and here. In essence, these arguments focus on whether or not Google is doing this solely to further its own interests and if this is bordering on antitrust territory.
Granted, the arguments do make a fair amount of valid points, but at the same time, there is no question (in my mind at least) that there is a surplus of disruptive advertising and if Google has the power to reduce that supply, then I’m on board.
While I am personally a big fan of this decision, this will have a series of immediate effects on us as advertisers. The first is that this will most likely remove a lot of the ad placements that are essentially guaranteed to snag user attention, i.e. prestitial ads (at least for Chrome users). The second is that there will possibly be a period of time where reporting metrics become questionable as we adjust to the new built-in-adblocker way of life.
Google surely has something up its sleeve to guarantee that all metrics remain reliable, and I’d like to read more about how they can guarantee accurate delivery and reporting. All-in-all, I think this will ultimately shift the emphasis to solid strategy and strong creative since depending on intrusive placements will no longer be an option.
Google gave us search, it gave us goats that mow the lawn, it gave us the ability to free ourself from the grips of MapQuest, and now it plans to deliver a frustration-free, non-intrusive online advertising experience. We can only hope that this project is as well received, and doesn’t go the way of Google Glass. P.S. any bloggers who might be reading this, please don’t post any pictures of yourselves posing in the shower with the new advertising restrictions.
