Media Buying

Digital political ad spending broke records in the 2020 election cycle. Grace Briscoe, senior vice president of candidates and causes at programmatic media firm Centro, joins eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin to discuss what, when, and where political advertisers bought digital ads last year, how much attention they paid to connected TV (CTV), and why they love digital video ads so much.

Unifying digital billboards: The Out of Home Advertising Association of America released new guidelines in an attempt to standardize measurement of digital out-of-home media.

Before the pandemic, linear addressable TV ad spending was soaring in the US, with annual growth rates of 50.7% in 2018 and 36.5% in 2019. But that spending increased by just 7.3% in 2020, amid advertising budget cuts in the TV industry.

On today's episode, we discuss what has stood out the most about Twitter's Q1. We then talk about Twitter's Scroll acquisition, what to make of its "Professional Profiles" test, and whether tipping via social media might catch on. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior analyst Jasmine Enberg and forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Nazmul Islam.

The duopoly of Facebook and Google still dominates digital ad revenues worldwide, but a collective rival from the ecommerce industry is showing momentum.

NewFronts recap: Exclusive content on ad-supported platforms, shoppable shows, and creator-driven video content on social media were three major trends we saw at the NewFronts this past week.

In 2020, digital video ad spending exceeded TV ad outlays for the first time in Canada. Digital video gained the most momentum of any format amid the pandemic last year, growing by 10.0% year over year (YoY). This includes both in-stream video formats (e.g., YouTube ads) and those outstream (ads appearing in social media feeds).

On today's episode, we discuss the most interesting findings from Facebook's Q1 earnings, how Apple’s iOS 14.5 update might affect its business, and where it sits among the digital ad giants. We then talk about how many people are using Facebook Dating, measuring Facebook's "potential reach," and Facebook Reality Labs' upcoming smart wristband. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analysts at Insider Intelligence Debra Aho Williamson and Nicole Perrin.

On today's episode, we discuss the highlights from Snapchat's user growth and revenue picture in Q1. We then talk about Snapchat integrating a fashion recommendation company into its app, how social media behaviors have evolved because of the pandemic, and Facebook's latest ad offerings. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson and forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Nazmul Islam.

Scroll on, Twitter: The platform's acquisition of ad-free news startup Scroll is the latest in its effort to build out enough features and content to feasibly sell paid subscriptions to its users.

On today's episode, we discuss what stood out the most about Google's Q1 performance. We then talk about what kind of ad recovery we expect this year and why Google is in hot water again, as well as look at some survey data about third-party cookie doomsday. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Eric Haggstrom.

Verizon's exit plan: The telecom giant confirmed this week that it will be selling Verizon Media to a private equity firm for $5 billion. The buyer is planning to focus on a combination of content, commerce, and betting to drive growth.

Connected TV (CTV) advertisers have a new major player: Magnite has officially acquired SpotX, and it plans to commit two-thirds of its business to digital video advertising, with 50% of that going to CTV.

On today's episode, we discuss how LinkedIn is evolving, how successful its creator initiative can be, whether its upcoming social audio platform can compete with Clubhouse, and how user growth and ad revenues are performing. We then talk about whether we can expect nearly all events this year to be virtual, making B2B events more appealing, and how robots can make our lives easier in the office. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Jillian Ryan.

What to look out for at the NewFronts: CTV and social video will shine at this week's digital upfront presentations, as both formats have grown rapidly over the past year.

Connected TV (CTV) advertising was a beneficiary of pandemic trends and remains one of digital advertising’s fastest-growing channels. Last year, linear TV decreased in importance to advertisers, as cord-cutting accelerated and more programmatic CTV inventory became available than ever before.

Search had a challenging time during the pandemic. Spend grew just 5.3% to £7.34 billion ($9.41 billion) in 2020, down from 17.7% the previous year and significantly down on our pre-pandemic estimate of 12.2% growth. However, this latest forecast is a reversal on our interim August 2020 estimate, when we expected a decline of 1.7% for the year.

Roku consolidates its inventory around its DSP: Brands will no longer be able to use a third party to programmatically purchase inventory next to Roku's original content.

Apple's privacy changes are finally here: The learning curve may be steep, but the consent prompts could encourage more consumer trust and opt-ins than marketers expect.

Verizon looks for an exit: It's reportedly considering selling off its media assets, including Yahoo and AOL, in a deal worth an estimated $5 billion.