Pandora Is Overhauling Its Ads to Amp Up Native Video for Mobile Users (Ad Week)
Pandora is overhauling its ads to create a more dynamic experience for some 80 million monthly users—blending images and sound, and integrating native video into its mobile experience. The streaming-music service is introducing responsive mobile display ads that automatically adjust to a phone’s screen size.
Twitter Turns 12,000 Users Into Quick-Research Panel for Marketers (Ad Age)
Twitter has begun a new initiative aimed at giving advertisers insights from 12,000 users chosen by the social media platform. Dubbed Twitter Insiders, the program’s goal is to create a one-stop shop for advertisers to recruit, design and collect live research.
Amazon Targets India Growth With $3 Billion Investment Boost (Bloomberg)
Amazon.com will invest $3 billion more to build its business in India, stepping up its bet that the country will become a major online-shopping market that will fuel sales growth. The latest commitment, unveiled by Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, more than doubles Amazon’s total pledged investment since 2014 to $5 billion.
For radio, a high price for fighting change (Media Life Magazine)
The radio industry has one thing going for it. It’s not the newspaper industry, which has been in a free fall for almost a decade now. But radio is struggling from many of the same issues, chief among them an inability to get its arms around digital.
Attorneys General to FCC: Require Edge to Make Consumer Privacy Pledge (Broadcasting & Cable)
More than two dozen state attorneys general have written the FCC to make third-party, direct-to-consumer privacy pledges part of its set-top proposal. They said that would be the best way to help states, and the Federal Trade Commission, to protect privacy by enforcing the laws against unfair or deceptive practices.
Google, Yahoo: Amendment Would Weaken Surveillance Protections (Broadcasting & Cable)
Computer companies, civil society groups and others say an amendment to a bill revising the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) would allow for government inspection of IP addresses, routing information and more without a probable cause warrant.
SBA’s Office of Advocacy: Exempt Small MVPDs From FCC’s Set-Top Rules (Broadcasting & Cable)
The advocacy arm of the Small Business Administration has told the FCC it’s concerned that the FCC’s proposed new set-top box rules requiring MVPDs to make their set-top content and data available to third parties would be “disproportionately and significantly burdensome” on those small operators.
The Web’s Creator Looks to Reinvent It (New York Times)
Twenty-seven years ago, Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web as a way for scientists to easily find information. It has since become the world’s most powerful medium for knowledge, communications and commerce — but that doesn’t mean Mr. Berners-Lee is happy with all of the consequences.
Mobile, social now drive internet growth, which is set to stall (emarketer)
Mobile devices and rising demand for messaging services and social media in emerging markets will be driving global growth in internet usage over the next few years. But with near saturation in developed markets, the global pace of gain is set to slacken by 2018, when just over half the world’s population will be going online.
Survey Finds 90% Of People Skip Pre-Roll Video Ads (Media Post)
It’s no secret that traditional advertising is increasingly ineffective, as online ad blocking and ad-skipping are becoming pervasive. Ad-tech firm Mirriad finds 90% of people skip pre-roll ads appearing ahead of online video content and TV shows; 76% of those polled reported blocking ads online and skipping TV ads.
TPA Highlights Cozy Relationship Between FCC and Google (Inside Sources)
Though President Obama’s tenure is winding down, his administration’s well-documented relationship with Google has grown stronger than ever at the FCC, where an economic think tank says a number of pending regulatory proposals will give the company an edge in the internet and cable markets.
PAY FOR PRIVACY (Silicon Beat- Commentary)
As the FCC considers restricting what broadband providers can do with our personal surfing data, the agency is weighing whether it should outright ban a practice that’s come to be known as “pay for privacy.” Certain ISPs have begun charging a premium to customers who opt out of having those companies to track their online activities.
Hulu’s Dance With Advertisers, Consumers (LA Times)
Product integration is hardly a new phenomenon. But the practice is becoming more prevalent in an era of commercial-free streaming and ad-skipping DVRs. For Hulu, the trend represents a quandary: how to keep its relationship with advertisers who help finance much of its programming, without alienating viewers.