Youtube double ads

For a few months now, Youtube  has doubled the number of ads displayed as prerolls and midrolls. Instead of one single ad, there are now 2 consecutive commercials. To avoid to overexpose the users to advertising, they however limit the number of ad breaks. Studies show Google that people prefer to be interrupted less often.

At the same time, Youtube announced that it would broadcast full movie films for free, interrupted by some ad breaks. Youtube gradually comes closer to the linear television model.

Users to be able to manage Youtube recommendations

Youtube finally takes a request from its users into account. Consumers will be able to modify channel and video recommendations on YouTube by means of 3 options.

1. On the home page, YouTube will make it easier to discover new videos and in the "To Follow" reading thread by offering clickable suggestion buttons for previously explored topics, recently viewed videos or a frequently viewed Youtuber.

It’s for the moment only available for registered users in English or for the Android application. It will be extended later for the whole platform.

2. Like on Spotify or on Instagram, the user will be able to exclude videos and channels he/she doesn’t want to watch. This does not prevent access to these channels, but their videos will no longer be highlighted by the recommedation algorithm.

3. [only available via IOS] YouTube will supply more information on the very origin of the suggestions proposed, indicating why such a video appears in the suggestion thread.

Since users will be more in control of their content, we will probably be able to segment our ads better.  On the other hand, the recommendations may also accelerate the circulation of controversial content such as disinformation videos, sometimes at the expense of better quality achievements… So the innovation here is not an all time winner.

Mobile advertising: Amazon to compete with Google and Facebook

The e-commerce giant is about to create a new format for video advertising within its mobile application.

Amazon has been testing on iOS platforms a new type of ads for brands selling on their  platform: video ads of 15 to 30 seconds that are displayed within search results. Implementation of this new format on Android platforms is planned later this year.

In the practice, the short video commercial  is based on a customer’s search query on the Amazon mobile app. This may be considered a valuable context: in the United States, consumers searching for products on that app have a higher propensity to buy than those scrolling through Facebook or on Google’s Youtube.

This ad type will be available through Amazon Marketing Service as opposed to its DSP that is used to manage programmatic display advertisements. Amazon is requiring a $35,000 ad budget to run the ads on a Cost per View of 5 cents to run the spots for 60 days, but prices may vary by category.

The video market, currently dominated by Google and Facebook, and estimated  $ 16 billion, is about to see Amazon come into force!

In a Facebook document published this January, we could read "We are competing with Amazon in online advertising ". For the first time Facebook named their rival, showing that competition is increasing.

There is for the moment, no date set for a release in Belgium. Hopefully, it will be available soon for our country.

“Catch Me” : RMB new video targeting offer

RMB, saleshouse of RTBF online video inventory, has launched a new commercial offer based on several targeting possibilities they called “Catch Me”. This video targeting service gives access to demographic profiles, places of living, or interests: 

• Catch Me @ my place : target surfer's place of residence
• Catch Me: target the socio-demographic profile (sex and age) of the surfer
• Catch Me @ my interests: target surfer browsing habits

It is available on all video inventory of the RTBF sites, on all devices, both programmatic and IO. In addition, it will be possible to combine those criteria in order to refine the targeting of their campaigns thanks to the offer “Mix & Catch”.

The data come from the information declared (2.2 million profiles) but also observed (surfing habits) collected from users of RTBF Web platforms. It is stored and managed by the Adobe Audience Manager Data Management Platform (DMP). The segments are then sent to the different sales technologies. Of course, the data is collected in accordance with the GDPR legal policy.

Adding valuable audience segments to our campaigns is always a good news as our aim is to qualify as much as possible the audiences we want to reach. Such sharp targeting may increase the ROI  and minimize the advertising “waste” among irrelevant targets.

CPV based offer for Online Video at IP Belgium

IP Belgium has launched a new online video offer based on Cost per View (CPV) instead of Cost per thousand Impressions (CPM). This new buying method is available on longform and shortform premium contexts via RTL Play, RTL Info, BelRTL and Radio Contact.

CPV video campaigns will be available in direct buying with a floor price of 0.045€ for a 15" spot. IP guarantees the viewability of the spot as well as an ad-fraud safe environment. CPV purchase is audited by Moat that provides a campaign report at the end of the process.

IP CPV buying method assures the advertiser that the commercial will be completely viewed in a premium environment. It brings also more flexibility in media plans.