Digiday Sunday
Digiday: A solid week of coverage as the summer slowdown appears to be on deck. Ad tech, specifically some of the shady practices associated with it, continues to be a key driver of traffic as seen in a WTF explainer piece breaking down the difference between ID Bridging and ID Spoofing that performed very well with readers. A story looking at the next age cohort Gen Alpha (yikes, born between 2010 and 2024) and how to reach them with marketing (gaming, influencers and YouTube look like safe bets) also did nicely as did a piece reporting on gaming behemoth Electronic Art’s ad tech hiring intentions and advertising ambitions. And a look at the possible sale of ad tech player Teads – part of general ground swell of M&A activity in the ad tech sector – rounded out the week’s most-read stories. – James Cooper
Story highlights
Kayleigh Barber ’s WTF on ID Spoofing and ID Bridging told the tale of two open programmatic market practices – one seemingly bad (spoofing) and the other good (bridging) was the week’s most-read piece. But it’s not quite that simple. As she reported, ‘If ID spoofing is the latest villain of the open programmatic market, nefariously trying to siphon ad revenue from advertisers’ pockets, ID bridging is the hero trying to play peacemaker amid cookie deprecation. But the twist in this story is that the hero and the villain are twins separated at birth, operating on the same genetics, but raised on different moral codes. While ID bridging champions transparency, ID spoofing masquerades behind a lack of reporting, hoping to not get caught.’
Antoinette S. wrote up a sharp and well-read analysis of a report released by Razorfish and video ad platform Precise TV on the Gen Alpha cohort and their parents, diving into some of their social behaviors and media trends that will most appeal to this group. As she reported, ‘Born between 2010 and 2024, Gen Alpha is expected to become the largest and most diverse generation to date (reaching some 2.2 billion people by the end of 2025) – and hold the greatest spending power too, per Razorfish. For marketers, striking a balance between analog and digital experiences and partnering with the appropriate brands and influencers will become critical, as both studies highlight the ongoing appeal of YouTube, TikTok and gaming platforms.’
Alexander Lee dived into Electronic Arts’ advance into ad tech with hires and a plan to bring its advertising ambitions into sharper focus. As he reported, ‘At the moment, EA has four active job listings for ad tech roles, which went up on various job boards beginning in late May and as recently as weeks ago. The jobs are based across EA’s various offices, with the majority located in the company’s headquarters in Redwood City, California. An Electronic Arts representative declined to comment on the hiring plans, pointing to Wilson’s earnings comments as the company’s statement on the matter. The job postings include listings for an ad tech program manager, ad tech software engineers and a product manager for in-game data solutions. Another job listing, for an integrated technology lead, was marked as no longer accepting applications on July 1.’
Ronan Shields , after a few weeks on the story’s trail, reported that Teads is exploring the possibility of a sales as ad tech M&A continues its stirrings. As he reported, ‘Teads is exploring sales options, a development that comes three years after the Altice-owned ad tech outfit attempted to join the post-Covid wave of ad tech companies listing on the public markets. Such discussions have also taken place ahead of an anticipated wave of mergers and acquisitions in the space, with sources telling Digiday that both private equity and strategic players have explored a deal … it is widely understood that Altice’s initial target price was north of $1 billion.’
Julia Russell Tabisz pulled together a smart D+ Research piece that looked at how marketers are ramping up advertising on TV, with Amazon holding growth potential in their eyes. As she reported, ‘For context, 46% of marketers told Digiday in Q1 of this year that they were investing in streaming video as an ad channel. And, as of Q3 of last year, just 22% of marketers said they spent at least a very small portion of their marketing budget on TV and streaming ads. (Although it’s important to consider that 22% could be an outlier — more than 50% of marketers told Digiday they spent at least a little on TV ads all the way back through Q1 2022.) Clearly, there has been growth in the space in recent years — and Digiday’s survey found there is more likely to come. This is specifically in the area of the ever-present tech giant Amazon.’
Kayleigh Barber ’s edition of the Digiday weekly podcast featured a conversation with Bon Appétit and Epicurious’ editor-in-chief Jamila Robinson who, as she noted in the intro to their chat, is focusing on the ‘new Sports issue of Bon Appétit, hitting newsstands last week, as well as widening the aperture of cooking culture and lifestyle that the magazine covers to appeal to a modern audience.’ Give a listen here
Here are the Digiday + Briefings for the week
See you next Sunday!
Video Editor, Motion Graphics, Production & Post Production.
3moGood