AdTech News Digest | YouTube Halting 3rd-Party Ad Serving & Mobile Ad Trends
Check out this week’s news digest and learn about the most compelling news the industry has to offer.
Our previous digest: AdTech News Digest | Crypto & CFD Ads Updates, Mobile Research, and Native Ad Trends
#1 Programmatic Advertising Will Account for More than 80% of All Digital Display Ads in 2018
Programmatic advertising is extremely practical and versatile because it can significantly improve the overall performance of your ads. Not only is it very effective, simple to use, and easy to set up, but using programmatic technology, you can deliver personalized ads to your target audience in real-time.
Today, programmatic ads have become an indispensable tool because they handle repetitive tasks. This allows marketers to focus on building and optimizing campaigns that truly perform.
The folks at eMarketer estimate that by the end of 2018, programmatic advertising will take up more than 80% of digital display ads spending across all verticals. This will represent a total spending of $39.46 billion, but it will help marketers build more effective campaigns that potentially generate more revenue.
#2 YouTube Halts Ad Serving for Third Parties in the EU
There is no question that YouTube is one of the most powerful marketing channels online. That being said, the video streaming platform has recently announced that it will suspend third-party ad serving for selected buys in Europe. YouTube also announced plans to potentially make this their new Global policy, alluding the reforms to the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Image by Dustn.tv
Many marketers fear this will limit the insights they gain from using third-party tools to serve and track their ads. In a nutshell, this means that advertisers will have to use ad serving tools provided or pre-selected by Google. Industry leaders feel like this will end up hindering the competitive ecosystem that has characterized digital advertising since its early days.
Nevertheless, Google does offer a solid ads tracking suite that works across all of its platforms. The downside? You won’t be able to gain any more insights than the ones available on Google’s toolkit.
#3 4A’s is Launching an Advertising Protection Bureau
Maintaining high levels of security is very important, especially given today’s political and social environment. The American Association of Advertising Agencies, also known as the 4A’s, is launching the Advertising Protection Bureau (APB) which is designed to connect marketers and help them maintain their brands’ integrity.
The platform will allow companies to notify each other when their branding is being used in unsafe or suspicious environments. Moreover, the APB will outline and develop a risk model that marketers, publishers, and agencies can use to establish and identify risky or inappropriate pieces of content.
#4 Retail Giants: Amazon is the 5th Largest Retailer in the UK
Amazon is among the most recognizable brands worldwide, and, according to GlobalData, their rising profit margins have made them the 5th biggest retailer in the UK. In 2017 alone, the online retail juggernauts were responsible for more than £4 in every £100 spent on retail. This is a very impressive feat, especially given the growth rate of the retail industry across the United Kingdom.
The company also saw its retail revenue increase by approximately 22.5%. GlobalData also estimates that Amazon accounted for more than 33% of the UK’s total online spending, a significant improvement when compared to the 29.6% it posted in 2016.
#5 Top Self-Care Apps Increase Revenues by 40% YOY
Today, consumers are finding alternative ways to deal with stress. This is one of the reasons why the usage of top-selling self-care apps has increased by 40% year over year in the first quarter of 2018.
Meditation, self-care, and relaxation apps are becoming popular means to deal with stress. Calm, the app that won Apple’s App of the Year award in 2017, saw their monthly active users go up by 81% YOY, which in turn landed them $25 million in new funding.
Looking at Q1 alone, Apptopia estimate that the best self-care apps have already racked up close to $32 million in both Google Play and the App Store combined.
#6 Mobile Ads Industry is Estimated to Grow to $180 Billion in the Next 2 Years
Given the fact that mobile internet usage surpassed desktop a few years ago, it’s natural for the mobile advertising industry to grow accordingly. In Zenith’s latest Advertising Expenditure Forecast report, it’s estimated that the mobile advertising industry will grow to $180 billion by the end of 2020. This is almost twice as much as the estimated value of desktop ads, which stands at $94 billion.
It’s also worth noting that, according to Zenith, the internet has finally surpassed traditional television advertising to become the world’s most popular marketing channel, accounting for more than 37.5% of total advertisement-related expenditures worldwide.
#7 eCommerce Stats: Customer Experience and Convenience are a Winning Combo
Ecommerce makes up 10% of all retail sales, which represents a whopping $526 billion out of a $5.3 trillion. At the same time, 39.6% of these transactions will be processed through a smartphone, which means retailers need to find ways to engage consumers through their mobile devices.
Innovative brands, such as Gap, are now relying on a healthy combination of online advertising and physical locations to understand their targets’ decision-making process. In addition to this, apparel and accessories make up 19.7% of all ecommerce sales, a huge percentage when compared to other categories such as food and beverage (2.8%) and personal care (6.8%).
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