Week of July 26: CTV Deals & Platform Safety For Users

Behind Headlines: 180 Seconds in Ad Tech

Hey there! This is Ben & Cassie at Sharethrough. In this episode we'll be giving you a quick recap of what happened the week of July 26th in ad tech, in 180 seconds. Let’s go!

According to an article published in AdWeek, Teads had announced its plans to go public earlier this month. However, due to a lack of investor support, the company has halted their plans and has since stated its intentions to potentially launch near the end of 2021 instead. Their initial public offering was anticipated to raise approximately $751 million. (Source: AdWeek)

This year’s upfront deals have snatched almost all premium and programmatic CTV inventory available, leaving buyers worried about how much inventory will be left for buyers this upcoming quarter. As reported in eMarketer, upfront CTV ad spend is anticipated to exceed over $4 billion this year alone. With increased demand and competition, brands with lesser buying power are expected to be most at risk, and will have to become more strategic in order to compete with larger players in the mix. (Source: AdExchanger)

Instagram announced new safety measures to be put in place for younger users on their platform. Notably, accounts will automatically default to private for users under the age of 16. Tiktok also made similar changes earlier this year, increasing safety measures for users under 18 as well as defaulting users between the ages of 13-15 to a private account. In the midst of greater privacy regulations being rolled out, Instagram will also be implementing measures to reduce “unwanted contact from adults”. This latest move will restrict targeting options on “teen’s interests or activity on other apps and websites”, inevitably impacting advertisers wishing to target ads to users in this age group. (Sources: TechCrunch, TechCrunch)

Google Chrome provided a comprehensive timeline of its plans to test their proposals aimed at phasing out third-party cookies, following the announcement of their delay. The revised timeline sets quarterly benchmarks for proposals in its Privacy Sandbox; with FLoC and FLEDGE expected to end its testing phase in Q3 of 2022. Plans to move all of Privacy Sandbox proposals from testing to a transition period are expected sometime in Q4 of next year. (Sources: AdExchanger)

Good news for Peacock! The Comcast-owned streaming service announced they’ve reached 54 million subscribers in Q2. Comcast’s earnings have also surpassed initial expectations, spiking to 34 million. Plans to bring Peacock internationally are already in the works, with Comcast announcing its upcoming availability later this year “to 20 million Sky TV customers in Europe”. (Sources: AdExchanger)

Thanks for tuning in! For more in-depth information or to subscribe to these weekly updates, check out the links in our blog. This has been Ben & Cassie at Sharethrough for our weekly 180 second-recap in Ad tech. See you next week!