Publishers Push to be Part of the 'Future of Cable'

As we roll into CES week, the "future of cable" will certainly be top-of-mind for many, as video content creators and distributors make waves with big announcements. Though some publishers appear to be angling toward cable package pick-up, a lot of that is banking on the growing OTT and Connected TV markets that are gaining steam every day, and creating more value for advertisers as well.Digital display advertising also continues to shift, as experts weigh in on just how much Google Chrome's ad-blocking will alter the landscape. Large brands appear to be ahead of the curve, but what about those advertisers and publishers that aren't? The days of obtrusive banner ads are nigh, and one would expect to see a much different look for the mobile web, especially, starting February 15.Included here is your weekly digital and mobile advertising news round-up. See anything we might have missed. Drop us a line.‘The future of cable’: Looking beyond Facebook, publishers eye streaming TV bundles [Digiday]TYT Network, meanwhile, is looking to net subscription revenues from streaming bundles, but it hopes to do so by underpricing competitors. According to Oh, his plan is to sign short-term deals at lower carriage fees — coming in at a fraction of what a big cable news network such as CNN today would cost — in order to get on the bundle. Once TYT can prove it can drive an audience, it would be easier to negotiate a better fee per subscriber.How Facebook Ads Are Helping These 2 Retailers Reach New Audiences [Adweek]For the retailer, it’s not necessarily about the type of ad it used that was so effective; it was the ability to target certain audiences and reach a much larger group of young people on the platform than on TV. Of course, the type of ad AEO chose to lead with, and the creative behind it, also contributed heavily to driving sales.Server-to-Server Bidding Doesn’t End Up Replacing Header Bidding [Digiday]With the ad tech and digital publishing industries building ID consortiums, the revenue-generating ability of server-to-server connections should improve in the next few years, Bannister said. Theoretically, if more vendors and publishers start sharing user ID data, then the match rates will improve and programmatic platforms will fill more inventory.How Google's Chrome Ad-Blocker Could Change Digital Advertising [CMSwire]Ultimately, one of the most important goals for any advertiser is relevance. When you send the right message to the right person at the right time, they’ll listen.1 But when you don’t, you run the risk of being filtered out, especially by Chrome’s new ad filter. “Advertisers will need to ensure they’re 100% compliant with these updated specifications or face very costly consequences,” he added.Everything Old is New Again, as MGM Finds Data-Driven Ways to Monetize its Classics [AdExchanger]“Brands don’t trust digital or the audience reach,” he said. But data can close the rate gap between its ads and those of other networks. MGM’s linear revenue is through multicast distribution, a compressed form of TV broadcast that typically doesn’t include live or high-resolution footage, or the standard program-to-commercials pod structure. (Music sub-channels and home shopping networks are the most common multicast channels.)JPMorgan Was So Worried About its Ads Appearing Next to Sketchy YouTube Videos it Developed Technology to Keep That From Happening [Business Insider]The technology consists of 17 layers or filters, which allow the bank to separate what it deems as good or safe YouTube channels from the bad or unsafe ones. One of the filters, for example, looks at the total video count on a channel, which automatically sifts out channels with one-off viral videos. The bank also looks at channels' subscriber counts, the general topics channels focus on, language, and even the comments on different channels' videos.'Distressing, but they are Goliath': Hard-hit publishers brace for Google's ad blocking browser's launch [Digiday]Given Google’s immense ad business and the fact that it pays the popular ad blocker Adblock Plus to ensure its own ads aren’t blocked, Chrome’s move smacks of hypocrisy to some. But others appreciate that Google is one of a few organizations powerful enough to force the ad-supply chain to clean itself up. Chrome’s ad blocker is just Google’s way of forcing positive change in digital publishing, said Nick Flood, product and commercial ops director at Dennis Publishing.Engagement is More Important Than Viewability for Effective Ads [The Drum]Viewable engagement time is a very different concept to dwell time; the current industry standard that measures the time between the ad loading and the user closing the tab. Just because an ad loads, and is viewable, it doesn’t mean it is valuable. Dwell time is not effective for measuring engagement because the user might have left the tab open while taking a screen break, or have opened the tab to read at a later date that never comes. Too many dwell time metrics include time where users are apparently looking at viewable ads on a page, when they could be doing something else entirely.Global OTT Viewing Skyrockets by 100% [VideoInk]The OTT video trend has expanded its reach by 100%, according to a new report by video AI platform Conviva. The report suggests that the amount of people who are watching content via streaming has doubled, with viewing taking place on more than 2.4 billion devices, up 9% from the company’s previous study. The U.S. accounted for 58% of OTT viewing, followed by Europe with 21%, Asia with 19% and the rest of the world with 2%.SKIM THISSnapchat may require users to sit through its ads [Business Insider]Uber is sued over payment for mobile ads it called fraudulent [Reuters]3 Ways to Keep Up With the Future of Mobile Content [HuffPost]Americans Should Have More Control Over Their Data [Bloomberg]Predictions: What 2018 Holds For The Ad Industry [Forbes]Will Facebook Watch Be Must-See TV In 2018? [Fast Company]Forecast: Digital Ad Media To Climb 17% in 2018, Traditional Media Dips [MediaPost]Logan Paul Controversy Highlights YouTube Brand Safety Concerns [MediaPost]Facebook beats YouTube and TV as best place to launch new ad campaign in survey of ad buyers [CNBC]