Tag: Online Ads

Pinterest Expects 60% Sales Growth Thanks to Ad Rebound

Pinterest announced its quarterly results, beating estimates and providing some good news for the advertising business.

Pinterest reported quarterly revenue of $443 million, an increase of 58% year-over-year (YOY). Similarly, Global Monthly Active Users (MAUs) increased 37% YOY to 442 million.

“More than ever before, people are coming to Pinterest to get inspiration for their lives—everything from planning early for a socially distant Halloween to creating great home schools for their kids,” said Ben Silbermann, CEO and co-founder, Pinterest. “Our top priority is to continue making Pinterest home to the most inspiring and actionable content. This quarter we launched a set of tools to empower creators to show and share their ideas with people who are ready to act.”

Just as telling, however, is the projections moving forward. Based on a rebound in advertising, the company expects an increase in Q4 revenue of roughly 60%.

“The strong momentum our business experienced in July continued throughout the rest of the third quarter. We’re extremely pleased with the broad based strength of our business, driven by recovering advertiser demand as well as positive returns from our investments in advertiser products and international expansion,” said Todd Morgenfeld, CFO and Head of Business Operations, Pinterest.

Pinterest’s results are good news for the online advertising sector, as it’s one indication of a recovery in the industry in general.

October 28, 2020
Online Ads Gaining Traction Amid Pandemic

Research shows that ads are gaining traction as more people are working online and relying on the internet for all aspects of life.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues spreading around the globe, an untold number of individuals are working from home. For many, e-commerce has suddenly become a lifeline, providing a steady supply of food and essentials. Zoom, Slack, Skype, Teams, and other videoconferencing applications are keeping employees connected to work, and families connected to loved ones. Mobile apps are serving as a welcome distraction for people struggling to maintain some semblance of normalcy.

Amid such conditions, many companies have pulled back on their advertising efforts and budgets. According to Playground XYZ, however, there are a number of advertising categories that are experiencing greater engagement during the pandemic. Specifically, Playground XYZ found that consumer attention on ads was up 7% for February and 6% for March, compared to the previous six months. Home & Garden, Personal Finance and Food & Drink saw the largest gains, at 21%, 23% and 21% respectively. Another significant finding is that users paid more attention to ads the longer they looked at a site. For example, users who spend approximately 300 seconds on a site had a 250% higher attention index over the baseline, emphasizing the need for companies to focus on long-form and editorial content.

Similarly, Global Web Index (GWI) found that 27% of individuals are reading Business & Finance articles online. Similarly, “87% of U.S. consumers and 80% of UK consumers say they’re consuming more content.” While video and streaming take the top spots, the point remains that people are craving more information now than ever before. Just as important, “68% of millennial podcast listeners say they intend to keep consuming just as much after the outbreak, indicating potential areas of revenue for digital content providers in the aftermath of the crisis.” Again the point is clear: patterns of behavior and content consumption that are created now will likely continue long-term.

While the coronavirus pandemic is creating challenges and hardships for businesses of all size, there is also a tremendous opportunity to deliver the content users are looking for—and gain lifelong customers as a result.

April 20, 2020
Google and Facebook Face Tougher Rules in the UK Over Ad Dominance

According to Reuters, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) delivered a mixed bag of news for Google and Facebook.

On the one hand, the CMA indicated a reluctance to subject the two tech companies to more in-depth investigations, saying that ‘big’ did not necessarily equal ‘bad.’ On the other hand, the agency did indicate more regulation was in order to prevent abuses, especially given how much the two companies dominate the UK online ad market.

The CMA found that “Google earned more than 90% of all revenue for search advertising in Britain in 2018, with revenue of about 6 billion pounds, and Facebook accounted for almost half of all display advertising last year.”

Facebook indicated it was “fully committed” to working with the CMA and touted its tools to give people control over their data.

“We agree with the CMA that people should have control over their data and transparency around how it is used,” according to a company spokesman.

Of course, in the U.S., Facebook just admitted to senators that it continues to track individuals even if they have location tracking turned off and uses that information to sell ads. In view of that, it would seem the CMA’s concerns about more regulation being required is well-founded.

December 19, 2019
Online Advertisers Are Just Going To Ignore Microsoft’s ‘Do Not Track’ Signal

Microsoft became one of the good guys earlier this year when they said that Internet Explorer 10 would have the “Do Not Track” option set to on by default. In a perfect world, it would tell online advertisers that a user doesn’t want their browsing activity monitored for advertising purposes. It probably won’t work, but it’s the thought that counts. Anyway, you can imagine the response such a decision received from the online ad industry.

The online ad industry was never a fan of “Do Not Track,” and they don’t intend to ever be a fan. In fact, the Association of National Advertisers wrote a letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer saying that “Do Not Track’ was “unacceptable.” Since that letter, Microsoft has not backed down from its commitment to the setting. Online advertisers are now going to get serious.

According to Ad Age, the Digital Advertising Alliance issued a statement yesterday in regards to Microsoft’s “Do Not Track” option. In short, they said that they will not honor the DNT signals sent by IE10 or any other Web browser.

“The DAA does not require companies to honor DNT signals fixed by the browser manufacturers and set by them in browsers. Specifically, it is not a DAA Principle or in any way a requirement under the DAA Program to honor a DNT signal that is automatically set in IE10 or any other browser. The Council of Better Business Bureaus and the Direct Marketing Association will not sanction or penalize companies or otherwise enforce with respect to DNT signals set on IE10 or other browsers.”

It sounds like the DAA is only targeting those browsers that have “Do Not Track” turned on by default. Firefox and Chrome both have a DNT option, but users have to turn those on manually. IE10 will be the first browser to have the option set to on by default.

So what’s next for the DAA and Microsoft now that the former has drawn a line in the sand? According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s SVP & General Council of Public Policy Mike Zaneis, both parties are still talking it out. The big problem right now is determining what “Do Not Track” means. Privacy advocates want the signal to stop the collection of data altogether, whereas the ad industry wants it to simply mean that advertisers can’t use targeted ads. In their world, advertisers would still be able to collect data regardless of a user’s objections.

In all honesty, the “Do Not Track” debate has become a giant mess. The ad industry in right in their assertion that nobody really knows what DNT means. There are multiple ways to implement solutions, but neither side is going to be fully satisfied with whatever comes out at the end. For now, you’re just going to have to live with targeted ads until these two sides can come to some kind of compromise.

October 10, 2012
Yahoo Recovers Some of April’s Lost Video Viewers in May

comScore has released its online video rankings for sites in the United States for May 2012 and it appears to be some more good news for Yahoo. Following last week’s comScore report that Yahoo had finally slowed the precipitous loss of its search market stakes in May, this month’s video site rankings show that Yahoo appears to have gained back in May some of the viewers that it lost in April. The company’s total unique viewers still isn’t back up to March’s 60 million viewers, but at least Yahoo appears to be headed in that direction.

Google sites, which include the very popular YouTube, lost about 6 million viewers in May, which may or may not have something to do with Yahoo’s climb back up towards its March numbers. Then again, one reason Yahoo made some significant gains in May may have something to do with the fact that it was offering over 100,000,000 more videos in May than it was in April.

In other changes from April, Microsoft was bumped down one place by Facebook, Viacom was bumped down one place by AOL, and News Distribution Network bumped down both Amazon and Hulu.

The top five online video ad properties was unchanged from April to May and the second five shifted around very little. Hulu remained the top video ad property by adding about 69 million ads in May, amounting to about 55 million ad minutes. Hulu also delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 56. In other words, Hulu’s really trying to give you the television experience with lots of ads.

Also of note, comScore says that video ads accounted for 21.6% of all videos viewed and 1.9% of all minutes spent watching online video. While the average online video lasted about 6:30, the average video ad lasted about 12 seconds. The amount of video ads posted in May yielded another new record, surpassing the 10 billion mark for the first time.

VEVO continues to dominate the rankings among YouTube Partner Channels. Although it added nearly 27 million new videos in May, it actually lost over 600,000 unique viewers. Excepting the final two spots in the top ten YouTube channels, the rankings for May remained the same.

Although there were a few variations in May’s rankings from April’s, comScore notes that the number of the U.S. audience for online video remained the same at 84.5%.

June 18, 2012
ComScore Report: Surviving the Upfronts in a Cross-Media World

ComeScore just released a report on cross-media advertising and marketing efforts and what the matured state of online video brings to the effectiveness of a well-rounded campaign.

The report features many actionable insights for advertisers, agencies and media buyers who are considering incorporating digital video formats into their current media efforts.

Judy Bahary, SVP of Marketing Solutions at ComScore comments on the new report entitled Surviving the Upfronts in a Cross-Media World:

“With the digital upfronts in their second year, more advertisers are considering adding digital video to their media mix in long-form TV programming and short-form video,”

“Our research shows an incredible synergy between TV and digital video formats when used together in cross-media campaigns, driving effectiveness levels higher than either medium used on its own. As the online video market continues to develop, we should see it evolve from its current supporting role to an essential part of media planning in the annual upfronts.”

Key findings highlighted in the report include:

* The online video audience has reached a point of near saturation at approximately180 million monthly unique viewers, but average engagement levels are rising as it continues to play a more prominent role in the online experience.

* Adding a digital video component to a TV media plan can increase the effective reach of the campaign in a very efficient manner.

* Digital video ad formats are just as effective as TV ads. But TV and digital video have a synergistic effect when used together, making this media mix more effective than either one on its own.

* Multi-Screen consumers are a fast-growing segment and need to be marketed to on multiple screens in order for campaigns to achieve optimal reach and frequency levels.

* Younger age segments are generally more receptive to digital advertising than TV, highlighting the importance of incorporating digital video into the media buying and planning process.

The report is meant to serve as a guide for navigating the cross-media landscape of today for those in the industry. ComScore offers a complimentary download of the report on their site and you can find it by following this link .

June 5, 2012
Americans Watch Billions of Ads, Videos Every Month
Yes, you read that correctly. Billions.

According to MediaPost Publications, Americans watched a staggering 8.3 billion ads last March, breaking all previous records in the process. And who says that we have absolutely nothing better to do with our free time than sit around staring at computer/television screens all day? Well, they may have been right. Stand proud, America.

To break this statistic down ever further, Hulu is claiming 1.7 billion ad views, while YouTube has snagged 1.2 billion. All of this equates to nearly 3.2 billion minutes worth of ad time, which is probably why you still can’t get that impossibly lame AFLAC rap song out of your head. I’ve been trying for months now, and I can’t seem to shake it.

Want even more stats for the month of March? Well, here you go:
- 181 million Americans watched 37 billion online videos
- Google Sites generated 15.7 billion views , followed by Hulu with 1 billion and Yahoo Sites with 815 million
- Video music channels VEVO and Warner Music received 49.3 and 30.3 millions review, respectively
- YouTube trumps them all with nearly 146.1 million unique views
All of this data may seem boring, so let’s put it another way: 83% of all American internet users watched online video content in March. That’s pretty amazing. So when you think your coworker is hard at work doing whatever it is he or she is supposed to do, they’re probably watching something on YouTube or Hulu through their smartphone.

I’m sure these numbers are only going to get progressively higher as even more content becomes available to online video addicts. With Hulu adding more original content and YouTube signing deals with movie studios for online rentals, chances are you’ll see these records shattered by the end of the year. Mark my words.
April 20, 2012
Advertising: Social Versus Search [Infographic]

Are you searching for the most effective ways to reach potential clients? Have you tried launching campaigns on both social media and search? Today, many experts believe you have to maintain a presence on both just to make sure you are covering all your bases.

This great new infographic fromMGD Advertising gives us a little compare and contrast action to help us decide what will work best or if both platforms are truly necessary.

If price were no object, more coverage would always be better. For those of us who have a more limited budget, lets take a look at what they came up with:

March 22, 2012
Americans Ignoring Internet Banner Ads

Online advertising is considered a good way to target and reach consumers, but nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans say they tend to ignore Internet ads, according to a new survey from Adweek Media and Harris Interactive.

Among those who ignore Internet ads, 43 percent say they ignore banner ads the most and 20 percent say they ignore search engine ads the most. Smaller percentages say they ignore television ads (14%), radio ads (7%) and newspaper ads (6%); just 9% of Americans say they don’t ignore any of the listed types of ads.

There is little difference in the ads that men and women say they tend to ignore the most. Forty-two percent of men and forty-five percent of women say they ignore Internet banner ads the most while twenty percent and twenty-one percent respectively, say they ignore search ads the most. Somewhat fewer say so about television ads (15% and 13%), radio ads (7% and 8%), and newspaper ads (6% and 5%).

Older Americans say they ignore ads on TV the most-one in five of those 55 years and older say they ignore TV ads (20%), compared to 14% of those 45-54 years, 13% of those 35-44 years, and just 9% of those 18-34 years. Conversely, younger Americans are more likely than those older to ignore radio ads the most (11% of those 18-34 years do, compared to 6% of those 55 years and older). Also, while over two in five in all age groups say they ignore Internet banner ads the most, those aged 35-44 are most likely to say this, as almost half ignore these ads (47%) compared to between 42% and 43% of the other age groups.

Those who have more education are more likely to ignore online advertisements-46% of both those who have some college and those who are college graduates say they ignore banner ads, compared to just 40% of those who have a high school degree or less. One-quarter (23%) of those who have graduated from college say they ignore search engine ads, compared to 17% who have a high school or less education. Those with a high school or less education, however, are more likely to ignore television ads (17% versus 12% of those who have gone to college).

December 8, 2010