Here’s today’s roundup of AdExchanger.com news… Want it by email? Register here.
I have to spend money to spend money
Amazon’s advertising business is booming. You probably already knew that. But this growth for Amazon is not a win for many sellers, especially the platform’s experienced early adopters. There is strong demand for Amazon inventory, with the average cost per click rising from 86 cents a year ago to $1.27 today, according to Amazon Canopy. CNBC. Amazon is also opening up huge new swaths of inventory. Over the past three years, sponsored product ads have grown from 20% of Amazon’s search results space to over 40%. But the rates continue to rise. And the extra inventory is a boon for big legacy store brands, which can shut out independent sellers on the platform. Not to mention the Amazon aggregator companies that collect niche brands and operate their e-commerce advertising. “They are moving from competing with other smaller sellers to competing with massive, well-funded sellers,” says Juozas Kaziukenas, CEO of market research firm Marketplace Pulse.
In search of research
Mozilla runs a test on 1% of its Firefox desktop browser population by switching the default search engine from Google to Microsoft Bing, Ghacks reports. The experiment started the first week of September and will run through January 2022. Firefox comes with a number of search engines preloaded for the user to turn on or off, including Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and search engines. regional companies like Yandex in Russia. But this test marks the first time in years that Firefox has even dipped a toe outside of Google, which has a deal with Mozilla to pay between $400 million and $450 million a year to remain Firefox’s default search engine, apparently. until 2023. Bing’s silent review comes as many search engine challengers and browser operators see an opportunity to do the impossible: take market share away from Google. AdExchanger has more on that.
In denial?
Linear TV ratings took a hit last year. But will viewership return to pre-pandemic levels? Despite a massive shift to streaming during the pandemic, some broadcasters are optimistic that viewers will return in the fall when their “normal” premiere schedules kick off, Advertising week reports. Networks need to recoup some of the double-digit viewership losses they’ve suffered since the pandemic disrupted scheduled programming. However, many industry experts AdExchanger has spoken to over the past year expect the new streaming channels, namely CTV and AVOD services, to move further away from cable. Broadcasters are seeing a rosy glow of strong NFL numbers since the season started two weeks ago. But the NFL is an exception to the rule. Broadcasters of fall TV programming, including “new” shows such as ABC’s reboot of “The Wonder Years” and CBS’ spinoffs NCIS and CSI, can be difficult to master despite returning football fans American in their sofas.
But wait, there’s more!
The EU is concerned about the privacy of Facebook’s new smart glasses. [TechCrunch]
Apple’s ATT gives the company the stranglehold on advertising dollars. [Digiday]
Networks (other than NBCUniversal) are testing new measurement providers. [Campaign]
Sports Illustrated is expanding into the game with a new bookmaker. [BI]
Omnicom lands a Mercedes-Benz account. [MediaPost]
Is live shopping the future of retail? [WSJ]
You are engaged
Sendbird hires Sam Zayed as CRO. [Martech Series]
TripleLift taps Steven Berns as COO. [release]
