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Netflix Reports Large Increase in Ad-Supported Streamers
With former password-sharers still eager for Netflix content, the addition of a cheaper, ad-supported tier seems to be just the right medicine. In January, Netflix announced over 23 million active monthly users on the commercial-driven version of the service. Compare this with the November 2023 report of 15 million; that’s an increase of 8 million active users in two months!
Last year, ad-supported customers made up about 5% of Netflix’s total user base; now they represent almost 9%. The ratio of ad-free to ad-supported is still heavily weighted toward the uninterrupted experience, but the explosive growth of ad-tier across the industry suggests that the gap might close up faster than we think.
Ad-supported streaming continues its steady growth of power, further increasing the influence of programmatic CTV advertising. The audience is expanding and OTT impression prices with Genius Monkey are lower compared to this time last year; there are good times ahead for OTT advertisers!
Amazon is Shutting Down Sizmek
Sizmek was a massive ad server that experienced quite a few financial troubles before being acquired by Amazon in 2019. Amazon was relatively new to the advertising game at that point, and likely wanted their own huge ad server to compete with Google. Four years later, Sizmek (now known as the Amazon Ad Server) is finally shutting down for good.
Genius Monkey users needn’t have any concerns over this, as it will not interfere with the programmatic services the GM platform provides. Ad servers are the gateway technology that facilitates interaction with the digital ad market on both the demand- and supply-side, and therefore any place you can buy ad space will have an ad server working in the background.
As a Meta-DSP, the Genius Monkey platform functions as its own ad server. The closure of any large ad server – including Sizmek – will have no effect on Genius Monkey users as they are already utilizing our first-party server. This will, though, affect the rest of the industry as there will be a smaller pool of ad servers to choose from.
Google Launches Gemini-Powered AI for Search Campaigns
Generative AI has been in the headlines for a while for its potential and how it can “revolutionize” such and such industry. We’re finally starting to see high-level adoption and utility as Google releases an AI tool to assist with paid search campaigns. Dubbed the new “conversational experience,” Google leverages the Gemini AI as a sort of chat bot that can put together creative and copy based on a URL and other inputs.
In the coming months, Google will be adding to the feature with a quasi-generative image construction tool, which will pull images from the specified site and layer-on generated copy/creative. These generated works are designed to be suggestive to the user, and will all come with SynthID watermarks and indicative metadata.
This isn’t the first AI rodeo for Google; they’ve been pushing generative ad tech for some time now, but all the attempts thus far have been lackluster in terms of scale and output quality. It may be a case of fingers in too many pies; Google wants AI to do so much that it can’t optimize it for marketing creation the way a dedicated platform can, and it comes with the cost of less control.
Visibility and control are core pillars of the Genius Monkey platform, and every additional step Google takes in implementing AI pushes those values further by the wayside. Genius Monkey has been using AI-powered creative tools for some time, as always backed by attribution metrics and engagement optimization.
IAB Tech Lab Reports Google Chrome “Privacy Sandbox” Not Working Well with Modern Real-Time Bidding
The Google Privacy Sandbox is an API that rebuilds digital advertising transactions right into the Chrome environment while introducing new privacy features for the end-user. The initiative promises the best of both worlds: enhanced tracking for advertisers while keeping consumer data secure. IAB Tech Lab, however, started ringing alarm bells regarding the Privacy Sandbox’s compatibility with digital advertising’s current set of tools and practices.
For example: the current iteration of the Privacy Sandbox aggregates clicks and impressions in an only-temporarily-visible “event” category; this would make it much more difficult to view the entire customer journey and see which impressions/engagements deserve conversion credit, at least while viewing browser-specific metrics. Other issues include possible website performance degradation and brand safety concerns – though these issues are somewhat vague in the IAB’s report.
Chrome is far-and-away the most popular web browser, therefore the report was significant enough to prompt concern and discussion throughout the tech industry similar to the discourse surrounding the disappearance of third-party cookies. The Privacy Sandbox is an ongoing initiative that will likely address many of these concerns before full implementation, but such feature concerns from the Google powerhouse can be worrying to advertisers who don’t have the right tracking and attribution tools.
This further drives the need for an end-to-end attribution system – such as the one Genius Monkey has – that incorporates more than just browser indications to factor in the full conversion journey. By utilizing identity maps and other resources Genius Monkey will be able to continue tracking such items while others without may struggle.
2024: It’s Our Year
The programmatic industry has only been growing, enjoying an 11% increase in 2023 and expecting to constitute 91% of all digital advertising in 2024. With improving technologies, new partnerships, expanded network reach and – lest we forget – a presidential election, 2024 promises to be a great year for the Genius Monkey platform. Come talk with us today to see how to evolve your marketing strategy to the next level!
