Google to prohibit spyware and surveillance technology ads

Google | July 15, 2020

Starting August 11 of this year, Google Ads will be denying advertising for anything designed at “spyware and surveillance technology.” It’s technically an update to the Enabling Dishonest Behavior policy, and will apply to both search and shopping. What is the Enabling Dishonest Behavior Policy? Historically, the policy has focused on on dishonesty in many forms, but they mostly fall into things that mislead others, or those that let users get unauthorized access to physical objects. Specific Product Types on Notice. While Google notes the list provided isn’t exhaustive, they give examples and caveats to exactly what this will apply to. Google specifies that spyware and tech used for “intimate partner surveillance” will be prohibited. Examples include software that monitor texts, phone calls and internet browsing. It also includes hardware, such as GPS trackers meant to spy without consent, or cameras/recorders marketed with the purpose of spying without consent. Exceptions to this rule allow for private investigation service ads, and products made for parents to track underage children.

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Hightouch Launches Match Booster to Revolutionize Audience Targeting Across Advertising Networks

PR Newswire | May 03, 2023

Hightouch, a leader in Data Activation and Customer Data Platform (CDP) solutions, has announced the launch of Match Booster, a breakthrough in how performance marketing teams can use data to increase the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. With Match Booster, for the first time marketers can seamlessly and securely combine the power of their first-party customer data with data from the world's leading enrichment providers to boost audience match rates across advertising platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, and more. The secret to Match Booster is the extensive identity enrichment data set Hightouch has built through partnerships with a number of the world's leading data providers. This identity store securely houses billions of hashed user identifiers such as email addresses, phone numbers, or device IDs. When Match Booster is toggled on, Hightouch matches identifiers from your first-party audience data with the identity enrichment data. As audiences are sent to destinations like Facebook, Hightouch references the identity store and enriches the audiences with the hashed identifiers before final upload to the various ad destinations. With enriched identity data, advertising platforms can better match desired user profiles, providing larger, more precise audiences. Enabled with larger audiences, marketing teams are able to target or suppress more customers across channels; optimizing segmentation, driving personalization, and maximizing their overall return on ad spend. For the first time, data onboarding doesn't mean storing your sensitive customer data with a third party. Now, enrichment can be done in real-time as your audiences get pushed into the advertising platforms, providing the security, flexibility and peace of mind desired by modern organizations. "We're excited to launch Match Booster, one of our most powerful products yet," said Tejas Manohar, Co-CEO of Hightouch. "With Match Booster, we're helping marketing teams fill in customer data gaps and maximize their return on advertising spend. It's a game-changer for growth and performance marketing teams looking to get the most out of their campaigns." Match Booster is designed to work with the many ad platforms that Hightouch already integrates with. It is available as an add-on to both Hightouch's core Reverse ETL offering as well as Customer Studio, Hightouch's suite of no-code audience tools. With just a few clicks, Hightouch customers can unlock secure data onboarding without the hassle of building manual pipelines, setting up data clean rooms, or paying for expensive Liveramp contracts. The new feature has already delivered impressive results for Hightouch customers. A leading publisher, for example, was able to boost their match rates an average of +35% across Facebook, and TikTok, allowing the team to drastically reduce wasted ad spend on existing customers. A mid-stage SaaS company was able to enrich their customer data with additional identifiers, resulting in a 68% boost to their audience match rates on Meta platforms. Match Booster is available today as a product for Business Tier customers. To learn more, read the blog post or schedule a demo with the Hightouch team. About Hightouch Hightouch is a leading provider of Data Activation and Customer Data Platform (CDP) solutions, enabling marketing and data teams to activate customer data directly from their data warehouse to over 150+ destinations like ad platforms and CRMs. Hightouch is used by leading organizations like Cars.com, Spotify, TripAdvisor and GameStop to unlock a fast, flexible, and scalable CDP alternative by enabling them to activate audiences and other customer data points directly from their organization's single source of truth - the data warehouse out to the many business tools it is needed in.

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AD TECH AND MARTECH

Vecima Partners with Cadent for Dynamic Ad Insertion for Video Service Providers

Business Wire | April 19, 2023

Vecima Networks Inc. (TSX: VCM) and Cadent, the largest independent platform for advanced TV advertising, today announced the integration of Vecima’s MediaScaleTM Streaming solution with Cadent Aperture Platform to power the next generation of multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) and vMVPD advertising services. Leveraging the integration of Vecima’s MediaScaleTM Streaming solution and the Aperture Platform, service providers will now be able to protect existing linear ad revenue as they migrate to new IPTV platforms, as well as create new opportunities for incremental revenue from previously unmonetized premium inventory. The integrated solution allows the current linear ad schedule to be mirrored on IP-based linear streams. Together, MediaScale and Aperture support ad insertion and dynamic decisioning for linear TV, time-shifted video services, as well as ad replacement for video on demand (VOD) and Cloud DVR content. Additionally, Aperture Viewer Graph, Cadent’s patented cookieless technology that maps IP address to household viewing targets, allows service providers to seamlessly activate data for themselves and their affiliate partners. Highly accurate targeting using a service provider’s first-party data, in a secure, data-safe workflow, combined with a wide range of third-party audience segments make addressable TV campaigns even more accurate with advanced reporting and attribution. This allows service providers to optimize the viewing experience for consumers by making campaigns more relevant and less intrusive. With the millions of subscribers already served by operators using Vecima and Cadent solutions, customers will be able to quickly implement addressable advertising across their IP video networks and deliver targeted messages in the moments people are most immersed in content, regardless of viewing channel, and realize revenue benefits with incremental spend. "As OTT and Connected TV viewership continues to grow, TV and video service providers need to find ways to future-proof their advertising business and maximize the return from their ad inventory and data assets,” said Paul Ranger, Senior Vice President, Platform Sales, Cadent. “By leveraging Aperture Platform and its addressable advertising solutions in conjunction with Vecima’s MediaScale platform, we can enable service providers to dynamically and efficiently deliver cross-platform campaigns.” “Vecima continues to lead the industry with an end-to-end solution that enables rich video entertainment experiences for viewers and integrated, highly-targeted advertising solutions for our customers,” said Kyle Goodwin, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Content Delivery & Storage Segment at Vecima. “With Cadent’s broad reach across programmer and TV networks, Vecima leverages pre-integrated features to bring cable advertising into the internet age. We’re providing a complete ecosystem with an innovative approach to ad insertion that’s cloud-deployable for low upfront investment and dynamic demand, while providing incremental revenue for operators.” About Cadent Cadent powers the evolution of TV brand advertising. We provide marketers, agencies, operators, and media owners with data-driven solutions for buying and selling TV advertising. By connecting brands with opportunities across national inventory sources—cable, broadcast, and OTT—our technology improves efficiencies and boosts the results of linear, addressable, and cross-screen campaigns. For more information, visit cadent.tv or follow @CadentTV. About Vecima Networks Vecima Networks Inc. (TSX: VCM) is leading the global evolution to the multi-gigabit, content-rich networks of the future. Our talented people deliver future-ready software, services, and integrated platforms that power broadband and video streaming networks, monitor and manage transportation, and transform experiences in homes, businesses, and everywhere people connect. We help our customers evolve their networks with cloud-based solutions that deliver ground-breaking speed, superior video quality, and exciting new services to their subscribers. Learn more at vecima.com.

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ADVERTISER PLATFORMS

Nearly Two-Thirds of Gamers Spend At Least Two Hours a Week Watching Free Ad-Supported Streaming

Business Wire | April 24, 2023

LG Ad Solutions, a global leader in connected TV (CTV) and cross-screen advertising, today released the findings of a new study that found that gamers are more likely to watch free, ad-supported streaming (FAST) than all CTV owners, with nearly two-thirds of gamers spending at least two hours a week streaming via FASTs. Additionally, gamers subscribe to the most subscription streaming services, at a higher rate than CTV owners, over-indexing on Discovery+, Apple TV+, Peacock and Paramount+. In terms of how they consume the content, only about 23% stream through their gaming console while the majority (55%) stream through their smart TV apps. LG Ad Solutions surveyed more than 700 consumers who owned a connected TV and played console games in March 2023 to explore trends and behaviors related to CTV consumption among U.S. gamers. The study, titled “The Connected Gamer,” also found: The LG Gamer can be easily reached via the TV screen: 78% of LG TV users play video games once a week with 1 in 5 playing every day. 93% of LG Gamers use FAST apps, with 67% actually preferring them. 49% of LG gamers learn about new games via TV/streaming. Women in gaming: Of women who play video games on any connected TV or device, 1 in 5 play every day, with 67% spending 4+ hours gaming per week. In terms of streaming habits, 61% of female gamers prefer streaming free video content with ads, and 45% pay more attention to ads while streaming compared to ads on cable/satellite TV. When it comes to discovering new games, 39% of female gamers find them through TV/streaming. New game discovery: Almost half (42%) of gamers cite streaming ads as a way they discover new games. The majority of CTV owners play video games: 68% of connected TV owners play video games, with 71% playing on mobile devices and 64% using consoles. 25% play on a daily basis, with the average gaming session lasting between 30 minutes and two hours. On average, 30% of gamers play 4-7 hours per week. The second screen opportunity: Gamers are more likely to multitask while watching TV than the average CTV owner, with 53% playing games and 50% shopping while streaming. Gaming is a social activity: 40% of gamers with children play with their kids 1 to 3 times a week and 2 in 5 of all gamers frequently or always play via local co-op on the same console in the same room. Gamers require personalization and relevancy: 80% of gamers prefer seeing ads relevant to their interests, compared to 73% of all CTV users. Similarly, they are more likely to prefer seeing ads that are relevant to the streaming content they are watching (76%) than the average CTV user (63%). Gaming goes beyond young adulthood: The generations with the largest percentage of console gamers are 30-44 (79%), followed by 18-29 (74%) and 45-60 (63%). Older generations also enjoy gaming as 32% of those 60+ play console games. “Gaming is now a cultural mainstay of consumers, and our latest data shows that CTV is a must-have channel for advertisers looking to reach this large, diverse, and highly engaged audience,” said Tony Marlow, CMO of LG Ad Solutions. "Consumers of all ages spend a significant amount of time with video games on a daily basis, and over index on ad-supported streaming. Gamers have a high propensity to buy, and are keenly aware of relevant streaming ads, so brands have an opportunity to create meaningful connections with precise targeting and creative strategies when connecting with this audience.” For more information on LG Ad Solutions and to download the full study, visit: https://lgads.tv/resource/connected-gamer About LG Ad Solutions LG Ad Solutions is a global leader in connected TV and cross-screen advertising, helping brands find hard-to-get unduplicated reach at optimal frequency across the fragmented streaming TV landscape. We bring together LG’s years of experience in delivering world-class smart TVs to consumers worldwide with big TV audience data and Video AI designed to connect brands with audiences across all screens.

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