It’s official. The Cyber Five (the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday) have not lost their touch. Let’s dig into the data as retailers take a deep breath and ready themselves for what’s shaping up to be a pretty busy holiday season.
We project over half of the US population will be watching content from at least one ad-supported streaming service monthly by 2026, up from 41.8% in 2022.
Netflix’s “Glass Onion” gives insights into its priorities: Is the company sacrificing short-term box-office revenues in the process?
TikTok’s CEO tries to quiet content safety and Chinese controversies: Shou Zi Chew gave a rare interview touting the app’s answers to criticisms.
The wealthiest person vs. the most valuable company: Elon Musk is attacking Apple for ceasing advertising and threatening to pull Twitter from its App Store, setting up a monumental clash he can’t possibly win.
Twitter’s new product launches are all about performance marketing: With brands prioritizing bottom of funnel objectives, will it be enough to distract from the platform’s recent controversies?
Balenciaga’s broken creative process leaves: The brand is blaming its set designer and production firm for blowback from a campaign that goes over the line.
Regulators enforce influencer marketing standards: Google and iHeartMedia face a lawsuit for radio ads in which hosts lied about using the Pixel 4 phone.
Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency, Google’s cookie deprecation, and the impending threat of regulation are challenging data collection. Trust in social platforms is declining. As consumers shy from sharing information, marketers need to meet customers where they’re comfortable. That means finding creative solutions and investing in trusted platforms.
China’s protest flashpoint: Citizens are taking to the streets in the most significant protest against the Communist Party’s tightening grip since the Tiananmen crisis. Geopolitical strife could shut down the world’s factory.
Twitter’s latest data breach: Phone numbers, email addresses, and more for millions of Twitter users is out in the wild and could be used for phishing. The leak underscores growing vulnerabilities at Twitter.
A fading internet giant meets a fading ad format: Yahoo acquired a 25% stake in programmatic ad firm Taboola in a harbinger of bigger deals on the horizon.
Amazon Ads fail at the worst possible time: A measurement mishap on Black Friday extended into the weekend and cost some agencies and brands dearly.
The toll of tech’s frenetic upgrade cadence: A riot in the world’s biggest iPhone factory underscores the need for technology’s cadence to slow down, especially in light of slowing innovation and lack of net new breakthroughs.
Cybercrime costs escalate: The rise of cybercrime and phishing attacks could have devastating effects on businesses of all sizes, but economic uncertainty could drive companies to cut back on security spending.
A turnaround for the metaverse: The first half of 2022 was marked by high-profile Web3 brand partnerships, but a series of failures have softened interest.
The ad downturn isn’t bad news for everyone: Smaller brands are getting extra visibility from ad spend now that big advertisers are pulling back.
Though the ad industry has had a notoriously difficult year, search advertising is well positioned to grow in the years to come. On the consumer side, however, search behaviors are shifting, which could spell danger for those who don’t innovate.