Pause and Pay: Surprising Results from TV's Newest Ad Format

[00:00:00] It is Monday, April 29th.

[00:00:03] Today, you mocked them at first but now the results on PAWS ads are in and they're kind

[00:00:09] of amazing.

[00:00:10] Also, Threads makes a big move.

[00:00:13] Does the ad business need its own nutrition label?

[00:00:16] And Google's video ads push beyond YouTube.

[00:00:20] I'm Tod Maffin.

[00:00:21] That's ahead, Today in Digital Marketing.

[00:00:25] New research says that PAWS ads, which pop up when streaming viewers take a break,

[00:00:30] might be a bigger opportunity than we thought.

[00:00:32] According to new data from the Video Advertising Bureau, around 50% of streaming viewers have

[00:00:38] taken some action after seeing a PAWS ad.

[00:00:42] PAWS ads appear during breaks in viewing, like when a viewer steps away to grab a

[00:00:45] snack or handle other brief tasks.

[00:00:48] These ads have been adopted by various platforms like Max, Hulu and Peacock, all

[00:00:53] members of the VAB by the way, which includes heavyweights like Disney, NBC Universal

[00:00:58] and Paramount.

[00:00:59] The study also touched on other trends shaping the streaming landscape.

[00:01:03] Notably, half of the 1,600 TV consumers surveyed have used subscription services to watch live

[00:01:09] sports over the past year.

[00:01:12] In particular, a viewership growth in women's sports, highlighted by record-breaking viewership

[00:01:17] for events like the Women's World Cup and Women's March Madness.

[00:01:21] Also 73% of viewers said they prefer to have all episodes of a streaming show

[00:01:26] available at once, rather than dripped out weekly.

[00:01:30] Older viewers showed a preference for free ad-supported streaming TV channels versus

[00:01:34] paying for a premium plan.

[00:01:36] In terms of engagement when it comes to interactive advertising, the study found

[00:01:40] ads that viewers can click on for more information via email or directly on their

[00:01:45] devices saw the highest engagement with 67% interaction.

[00:01:51] As for those QR codes, they lagged way behind with only 36% engagement.

[00:02:01] The gloves are off.

[00:02:02] Threads has created a paid bonus program for creators.

[00:02:07] The program sets targets for each invited creator based in the US focusing on the

[00:02:11] performance of their posts like the number of views and frequency of posts.

[00:02:16] These creators also have to have a public threads profile and yes it is invitation

[00:02:21] only for now.

[00:02:22] So how do you get an invite?

[00:02:24] Well, to get one you need an average of 2500 views per post at the minimum and

[00:02:30] there has to be some text in it.

[00:02:31] So not just meme images and no competing watermarks from like TikTok or YouTube

[00:02:37] and posts that are tied to brand partnerships don't count in that.

[00:02:42] All of this of course is the latest salvo in the war for Twitter's refugees.

[00:02:46] Once the app rebranded to X, it started pushing harder on its creator

[00:02:50] compensation program as well.

[00:02:52] If previous programs like those that on TikTok and YouTube or anything to go by,

[00:02:56] this move by threads could very well bring in more eyeballs.

[00:03:00] More eyeballs should mean more options for ad placements.

[00:03:03] Once Meta opens threads up for ads of course, and if there's enough

[00:03:06] inventory we might even see a small drop in the CPM rates across Meta's

[00:03:10] platforms.

[00:03:15] The ad tech consulting group Deep Sea has unveiled a new tool aimed at

[00:03:18] improving transparency within the murky world of digital advertising.

[00:03:22] The publisher research portal helps advertisers and intermediaries assess

[00:03:27] the quality of websites used for programmatic advertising.

[00:03:31] According to Deep Sea, the platform functions like a nutrition label for

[00:03:35] digital publishers providing insights into a website's ad load, for instance,

[00:03:39] or the presence of pirated content and stability of its traffic.

[00:03:43] The company says unstable traffic might suggest the use of inorganic

[00:03:48] methods to inflate visitor numbers, which of course can be a critical

[00:03:51] advertiser for advertisers.

[00:03:53] A Deep Sea executive said their goal is to become sort of a similar web, but

[00:03:57] for advertisers with tools that cater not only to the buy side, but also to

[00:04:01] the supply side platforms and ad exchanges.

[00:04:04] This allows platforms to vet and monitor publishers a little bit more

[00:04:08] accurately.

[00:04:09] The new initiative comes in response to findings like those from the

[00:04:12] Association of National Advertisers, which reported significant waste in ad

[00:04:16] spending because of fraudulent or low quality sites.

[00:04:20] Despite efforts to establish guidelines for managing those issues,

[00:04:24] challenges in enforcement still stick around.

[00:04:27] The new platform has already attracted some big name attention with

[00:04:30] companies like the Trade Desk and Triplelift already participating as

[00:04:34] beta testers.

[00:04:39] The European Union recently introduced legislation that forces social media

[00:04:43] platforms over a certain size to report stats, like the number of

[00:04:46] users, the number of moderators in each region, and so on.

[00:04:50] But most of these platforms are, of course, public companies.

[00:04:53] So those numbers are already sort of available.

[00:04:57] I say sort of because while companies have a fiduciary duty to report their

[00:05:00] top line numbers, they can really do it whatever way they want.

[00:05:04] Are the daily actives down?

[00:05:06] Let's report monthlies instead.

[00:05:08] The EU Digital Services Act though requires platforms to use their

[00:05:12] metrics, logged in users and logged out guests.

[00:05:16] And according to those numbers, X lost just under one million active

[00:05:20] users in the region from last August to the end of January.

[00:05:24] In total, they have about 62 million logged in users in Europe.

[00:05:28] So how does that compare to the rest of the world?

[00:05:31] Assuming we use daily active users as the closest comparison,

[00:05:35] the EU makes up about 25% of X's global active user base.

[00:05:40] So while the platform isn't seeing growth, nor is it anywhere near

[00:05:43] Elon Musk's ambitious target of 600 million users by next year,

[00:05:47] it also isn't facing a steep drop off in users either.

[00:05:51] X says its existing user base is engaging more deeply with the platform.

[00:05:56] Quoting social media today, quote, X's main strength is that it's

[00:06:00] a habitual platform for many, with communities around sports in

[00:06:03] particular still highly aligned with the app.

[00:06:06] They've established communities there, made connections, and they

[00:06:09] can maintain their activity as always.

[00:06:11] The changes at the app and Elon's broader political commentary

[00:06:15] don't really mean a lot to them, and most seem happy to continue

[00:06:19] using the platform as they always have, unquote.

[00:06:26] Google today announced some changes to its display and video 360 platform.

[00:06:31] Until now, most of that platform focused on YouTube, but now it's

[00:06:34] moving more into placements on streaming TV.

[00:06:36] The company brought executives from major players like Warner

[00:06:39] Brothers Discovery to talk about the better results they got from

[00:06:42] reduced frequency.

[00:06:43] That's something, of course, you can manage better across different

[00:06:46] surfaces if you've got them all in one place.

[00:06:49] Google has also expanded its Instant Deal tool, previously exclusive

[00:06:53] to YouTube, which now facilitates private auctions for premium

[00:06:56] publishers like Disney.

[00:06:58] They've also got a new commitment optimizer tool in DV360 that can

[00:07:01] give you more flexibility in inventory management and media planning.

[00:07:05] Finally on the privacy side, Google announced it had open sourced

[00:07:08] its publisher-advertiser identity reconciliation technology known as Pair.

[00:07:13] This will help secure data transfers between advertisers and publishers

[00:07:17] without, Google says, compromising user privacy.

[00:07:22] My wife and I spent the entire weekend playing Fallout 76.

[00:07:27] We have two Xboxes, this is how we do it.

[00:07:29] But yeah, I don't know that I'm proud of it, but man, that's a

[00:07:33] compelling game.

[00:07:33] It's gotten so much better.

[00:07:34] And if you're not familiar with it, it's a multiplayer game.

[00:07:37] So you're in a world with usually about 20 or 30 other people.

[00:07:41] And you can create these camps so you can build walls and things

[00:07:44] and set up vending machines.

[00:07:45] So as you collect stuff out in the world that you need to build, or you

[00:07:48] need to repair your weapons or whatever, if you have too much of one

[00:07:51] thing, you can actually sell those things to other people.

[00:07:54] You can build a vending machine and list things for sale at whatever price.

[00:07:58] Now it's not real money, of course, it's caps, which is the in-game currency.

[00:08:01] You can't convert it to real money, but you need caps in the game to do stuff.

[00:08:06] And then this morning I realized, wait a minute, Xbox lets me play

[00:08:09] in a web browser.

[00:08:11] Why don't I just leave?

[00:08:12] Why don't I log in this morning and leave my game open in a new window

[00:08:17] so that I was online, so that people could buy stuff from me and just

[00:08:23] have people buy stuff.

[00:08:24] And it's been working.

[00:08:26] So all day I've just had my window open and I keep hearing this

[00:08:30] ka-ching, which is...

[00:08:32] Anyway, I don't know why it brings me such pleasure.

[00:08:35] I feel like I've hacked the rules of the game somehow, but it just does.

[00:08:40] Anyway, that's it for today.

[00:08:41] See you tomorrow.