#News

Only a few weeks after being officially labeled a monopoly by the U.S. government, Google finds themselves in court once again for more antitrust accusations. The Department of Justice and other States are still the plaintiffs, but instead of focusing on the “search” aspect of Google’s business, they’re now targeting Google’s hold on advertising technology. Let’s break down each side of the case and what advertisers stand to gain (or lose) from the outcome.

There’s no question that Google is the 800-pound gorilla in the tech industry that we all have to work around. Many have cried “monopoly”, but Google’s actions have always appeared just pro-competitive enough to escape legal action – that is, until now. Google LLC has now been officially labeled as a monopoly by the United States government; let’s dive into the details and what advertisers need to know. Details on the Four-Year Lawsuit In October 2020, the United States Department of Justice – along with several States – filed several suits against Google for Antitrust behaviors.

In a stunning turn of events, Google has reversed the decision to remove third-party cookies from the Chrome internet browser. The “death of the cookie” has been top-of-mind for many years for its potential impact on digital advertising; what does this mean for the future of digital advertising? Are cookies going to stay for good? Let’s take a look at the entire picture to understand what this breaking announcement means for your advertising.

GA4’s Report Card; Consumers are Missing Universal Already Digital marketing turned a corner in July 2023 when Universal Analytics rode into the sunset and GA4 stood up to take its place. Genius Monkey covered the major difference between UA and GA4 in in a July 2023 article. Now – after one whole year of nothing but GA4 – how does the new system hold up compared to Universal Analytics? Short answer: not great.

When the world’s third largest software company waves the white flag, people sit up and take notice. A few days ago (June 11, 2024), Oracle announced at an earnings call that it would be leaving the advertising industry after a string of expensive acquisitions, legal troubles, and a mountain of lost revenue. Let’s take a look at the context and see what advertisers can learn from this tech giant’s sad story.

Each year in May, television (and now streaming) networks invite the industry to come together and bask in the advertising glory of the year to come. This is the TV Upfront event, where major new shows are revealed, big announcements are made, and advertising deals are struck. It’s a time when all the major outlets are looking to win over programmatic dollars and a timely snapshot into the health of the OTT/CTV medium.

In a stunning move, three big names in the world of live sports streaming are teaming up to build a “new and exciting platform” launching later this year. Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery are all contributing to a new yet-to-be-named streaming entity in an unprecedented partnership that aims to streamline (or monopolize, depending on how you look at it) the sports-viewing experience. This has the potential to upset the way many marketers reach their audience through sports broadcasting and programmatic OTT, but Genius Monkey users have nothing to worry about, and can even look forward to the exciting new marketing opportunities it provides.

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%.

Featured on HostingAdvice.com, Jordan Sporgis held an interview with Genius Monkey COO Travis Champ to discuss how Genius Monkey has remained one of the top programmatic options in the space by leveraging data for unparalleled insight into the programmatic journey. Check out some of the highlights here or see more on HostingAdvice. On the problems modern advertisers face in digital marketing: “All too often in the digital realm, advertisers are going to several different networks or DSPs to try and run their ads and then have to learn the nuances of each, set up individual campaigns in each, go through reporting for each individually, and it just takes way too much time and creates margin for error,” said Travis Champ… “Whether the advertiser is a direct brand or agency, managing many different campaigns across many different DSPs gets overwhelming quickly.

Wow, what a year; 2023 was one for the books for digital media buyers. We saw the introduction of Netflix OTT placements, the last of lingering Cookies going away, the new growth of DOOH, and the ever expanding reach of display ads. Staying true to form, Genius Monkey is here to dive deep into platform user’s data to give you a quick overview of some interesting trends observed throughout the year.