GOOGLE NAMES NAMES: A few months ago Google announced it would begin screening and eventually blocking 3rd party publisher ads on Chrome which they deem as unsuitable or annoying. This raised some eyebrows since Google is effectively appointing itself judge and jury to determine the acceptability of ads. Now Google is out with a preliminary evaluation of 10,000 sites which run ads through their Chrome browser. Yesterday Digiday reported the first round of ratings from Google’s Ad Experience Report. 700 publishers were deemed as “failing”, including several big name newspaper websites. Hundreds of other sites received warnings, meaning they weren’t total fails but needed to improve. The most common reasons for getting on Google’s naughty list was full-page interstitials and pop-up ads – obviously these are the most intrusive ads and are most disruptive to visitors’ experiences. This report is just an early warning of what’s the come. Google has told publishers it will begin blocking failing ads in 2018, with the hope that the at-risk publishers will clean up their platforms before then. Should be interesting to watch when this standard goes live in Q1.
THE MOUSE IS GOING IT ALONE: In the media industry there’s been an age-old power struggle between the actual content and the distribution channels. Using cable as an example, does Comcast have the power in the relationship or does ESPN? We’re about to see another chapter in this debate unfold after yesterday’s announcement from Disney that it will be pulling content from Netflix in 2019, in order to start it’s own Disney-exclusive OTT service. Disney is one of the few media conglomerates out there with enough content to go it alone. But there are others too, including Viacom, NBCUniversal, etc.. Could you imagine what would happen if all these guys started to pull themselves off Netflix too? Speaking of, Netflix will need to put its own production studio into overdrive to self-generate enough content to make up for losing The Mouse. So maybe the content provider does have more power in the relationship after all?
“VOICE IS THE NEW TOUCH”, PERFECTLY SUMMARIZED: Interest in audio advertising is starting to heat up as the purchases of voice-activated digital assistants begins to surge. The logic trail is simple – as more connected devices become voice-enabled there will be less of a need for screens and keyboards, which means Voice will eventually supplant Touch as the primary way humans interact with technology. And in this Age of Voice audio will become an even more important tool for marketers who can’t just rely on visual platforms like display and video to reach consumers. This scenario is perfectly summarized in the attached Brand Channel link. There’s a ton in here, so give it a good read. I especially like the three questions 360i President Jared Belsky poses to brands . . . “(1) What should I do to prepare for when Voice is the driver of ecommerce? (2) What content do I have to think about to increase my chances to be the preferred answer with these devices? (3) Will all my search budget one day migrate onto these devices?” I agree that these are important questions for all marketers to answer as we drive towards the Age of Voice.
Have a great Thursday guys!