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☆ Tesla employees reportedly have videos of customers' shocking and humorous personal moments
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tesla employees passed around videos from customers' cars, according to Reuters. Not only can Tesla employees see what customers' cars can see, they apparently circulate humorous, shocking, or invasive videos. Tesla employees shared personal videos from customers' cars on an internal messaging system, according to the report. A former Tesla Autopilot employee confirmed to Insider that workers were not only able to view personal videos but were also sharing them among each other. Reuters reported that Tesla employees shared videos of car crashes, road-rage incidents, and some more embarrassing moments.

☆ Retail media will be a $130 billion industry next year, and adtech firms Criteo and The Trade Desk will win big, according to Morgan Stanley
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Retail media will make $130 billion globally by 2025, according to a new Morgan Stanley report. Criteo and The Trade Desk stand to benefit the most, according to the report. They have opportunity to grab the most share of the retail media market, compared to other indie adtech players. However, this push to expand offsite is a big challenge, and there's no guarantee The Trade Desk can seize this market. To be sure, neither Criteo nor The Trade Desk are positioned to be the dominant player in retail media.

☆ 4.screen, a startup that enables retailers to advertise to drivers through in-car displays, just raised $23 million with this 11-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

4.screen, a startup that enables retailers to advertise through in-car displays, just raised $23 million. A startup that enables retailers to advertise to drivers on the road and in real-time through a vehicle's connected display has raised $23 million in fresh funds. In addition to in-car video ads, the startup also displays search highlights, branded map pins, and in-car offers. The startup uses car sensor data allows the startup to be as specific as possible with its suggestions. "We make sure the right content is shown to the right partner at the right time — you only see a gas station when your fuel is low," cofounder and CEO Fabian Beste told Insider.

☆ As competition for the $45 billion retail media market heats up, one of its biggest players is expanding beyond advertising to stay on top
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Retail firm Pacvue is expanding beyond advertising. The firm made its name in e-commerce advertising but will now pitch advertisers on retail tech used to manage sales. Retail adtech firm Pacvue is moving beyond retail advertising, an industry that will be worth $45 billion in the US this year, according to Insider Intelligence, Insider's sister companyFour-year-old Pacvue is one of the biggest players in this space, handling $150 billion in gross merchandise value for retailers. At the same time, traditional adtech firms like Pubmatic, Magnite, and The Trade Desk are rolling out retail media products, creating even more retail media tools that brands must navigate. Pacvue is also expanding beyond retail media because it recognizes that there is a ceiling on how much brands will spend on retail advertising.

☆ Gap has quietly dissolved its advertising business. It shows the challenges companies have competing for the $45 billion retail media industry.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Gap was hoping to tap into a lucrative new revenue stream called retail media, projected to be worth $45 billion in 2023, according to Insider Intelligence, Insider's sister company. Instead of GPS Media, Gap is devoting resources to support GPS Platform, which handles logistics and fulfillment services for other retailers including next-day and two-day shipping. Gap has also started GPS Apparel, which customizes apparel for companies. Lipsman said that Gap also had a disadvantage in retail media because it only sold its own brands. Are you a Gap employee or do you have insight about retail media to share?

☆ YouTube lets advertisers use creators' video content as ads without their permission, hurting their ability to make money and build audiences
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

YouTube creator Taki Udon said his video was used as an ad without his permission. YouTube is letting advertisers use creators' video content as ads without their permission. He said that advertisers promoting creators' videos without their knowledge could risk a creator's audience and key metrics like watch time. TikTok has an ad program that allows advertisers to promote creators' videos but requires advertisers to first get permission from the creator. Meta-owned Instagram also requires advertisers to virtually agree to using a video by asking creators to opt-in to sharing their content with advertisers.

☆ Seeking nominations for the 2023 rising stars of adtech
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Business Insider is compiling its annual list that honors the rising stars transforming how digital ads are bought and sold. We're looking for up-and-comers who specialize in adtech at adtech firms, brands, agencies, and publishers. Criteria and methodologyThe list will profile talent at adtech companies as well as adtech specialists at ad agencies, publishers, retailers, and platforms. We will look at several factors to determine who to spotlight including the nominee's specific role and responsibilities as well as the person's impact on the industry. Please include as much detail as possible about the nominee's role when submitting a nomination here.

☆ Apple's advertising business is expanding into new areas this year such as TV. Here are 14 behind-the-scenes Apple executives building its advertising empire.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Right now its roughly $5 billion-in-revenue ads business largely consists of search ads sold within the App Store. We asked more than a dozen advertising industry insiders and former Apple advertising staffers to identify the most important executives building Apple's advertising business. Teresi's ascent coincides with the explosive growth of Apple's ad business in recent years. A former Yahoo and Quantcast staffer, Crawford first joined Apple in 2011 to work on global operations for iAd. Lauren Fry - Apple TV+ ad salesApple hired Fry, a TV and video ad sales veteran, in February this year, The Information reported.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg is turning Facebook into Instagram as part of his self-declared “year of efficiency.”
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He chatted with a woman who was locked out of her Apple account minutes after her iPhone was stolen. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is structurally changing Facebook to mimic Instagram. The restructuring — which will likely include layoffs, as Insider reported — is part of Zuck's planned "year of efficiency." 8. iPhone users could soon send iMessages through PCs. These are the best MagSafe battery packs for iPhone users.

☆ MediaMath seemed destined for a $1B fairy-tale exit. Instead, most early investors got nothing.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

At its Halloween party in 2015, the adtech startup MediaMath seemed on the brink of greatness. The machine-learning revolution that took over the financial industry was finally happening in marketing, and many industry insiders considered MediaMath to be the hottest adtech company of the time. "We never came close to consummating such a deal with MediaMath nor entertained the purported valuation," said a representative for Singtel. The Trade Desk, the most comparable independent DSP company to MediaMath, was riding high after its 2016 initial public offering. The quasi-equity agreement was structured to protect Searchlight if MediaMath didn't perform to certain quotas or if things went south financially.

☆ Gen Z is more enthusiastic about iPhones than Android phones because of their cameras, screen layouts, and apps
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Gen Z prefers Apple's iPhone to Android smartphones, a poll cited in the WSJ found. A 23-year-old told Insider that features like the iPhone Health app meant she was "Apple for life." Apple made up more than half of the US smartphone market last year, Counterpoint data showed. Apple was the top smartphone seller in Q4 last year in both the US and China, Counterpoint said. Despite Apple's popularity with Gen Z, Samsung is still the biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world by total shipments, according to International Data Corporation's research released in late January.

☆ One year into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, disinformation sites with ads powered by Google have more than doubled
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russian disinformation sites with Google-powered ads have more than doubled since last year, according to NewsGuard. Last year, as Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, Google and major brands placed ads on sites that promoted Kremlin propaganda. Google added that it has stopped running ads on specific pages on sites shared by Insider that show "violating content." The problem of ads appearing in sites containing disinformation is growing, as these sites take advantage of programmatic ad buying, where digital ads are purchased in an auction using automation. Programmatic ad buying is both a complicated and technical process, so advertisers often don't see where their ads are going.

☆ 3 things that will propel Uber's ad offering to become a $1 billion business, according to advertisers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The company is justifying its steep ad prices by pitching advertisers its first-party data that shows where people are and where they're going. Advertisers laid out why Uber's ads are so valuable, and how the company has been able to pull in their budgets. Uber's data-driven ad offering however isn't as compelling as what's offered by retail media competitors, like Walmart and Target. Uber has a new strategy to go after video ad budgetsUber also wants to corner a piece of the lucrative video advertising market. The tablet ad format is squarely aimed at video ad budgets.

☆ PE firm Bridgepoint takes a majority stake in Equativ, valuing the adtech firm at around $370 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bridgepoint Development Capital has taken a majority stake in the adtech firm Equativ. It values Equativ at 350 million euros, or $371 million, according to a person familiar with the matter. Private equity firm Bridgepoint has taken a majority stake in Equativ, the French adtech company formerly known as Smart Adserver, the pair said on Thursday. A person familiar with the matter said the deal values Equativ at 350 million euros, or around $371 million. Bridgepoint raised 1.7 billion euros for its BDC IV fund, while Croissance had raised 100 million euros.

☆ GenZers who own an Android have lost track of how many times they've been bullied for not having an iPhone but they still refuse to switch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Gen Z accounts for 34 percent of iPhone users and just 10 percent of Samsung users, according to data reported by Financial Times. Two Android phone users in their twenties told Insider that because of the wide disparity, they face challenges as minorities in the digital world. However, issues with being the only one with an Android phone still affect Carrier's friendships. According to Avila, Android users were seen as "poor or a loser," and the mentality gained popularity online. "Even if Androids are the better phone, that stigma would never make me get one," Avila told Insider.

Not only have marketers been pausing ad spend en masse, YouTube is also battling TikTok for audiences and content creators. Industry insiders credit Mohan with building out the ad products that made YouTube Google's main growth engine for so many years. Tal Chalozin, CTO and cofounder of the adtech company Innovid, said that Mohan's expertise stretches across all of YouTube's ad business, particularly adtech. "He was leading product for the launch of YouTube Premium and YouTube TV, and the growth of YouTube Music," said one former YouTube employee. "It's now Neal and YouTube against TikTok, and that's the existential battle for short-form video monetization and creators," Norman said.

☆ Former EMX Digital employees are furious they were let go without severance after the adtech firm's owner Big Village filed for bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Nearly all staff at adtech firm EMX Digital were laid off this week after parent company Big Village filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Big Village, EMX Digital, and Lake Capital Partner did not respond to a request for comment. EMX Digital got backlogged on payments to publishersTwo of the former EMX Digital employees said that financial problems started last summer, after Big Village rebranded from Engine Group. There were internal rumors that this was when Lake Capital Partners started looking for a buyer for Big Village, according to two former employees. At the same time, EMX Digital stopped paying publishers, and between July and September, EMX Digital was bombarded by emails from publishers who were getting increasingly mad about missed payments, said one former employee.

☆ Microsoft just laid out the $2 billion reason why it's going all in on ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft said it can add $2 billion in revenue for every 1 percentage point of search share it gains. Microsoft's ad business already grew to $18 billion in the last 12 months. And search advertising is such a lucrative section of the roughly $500 billion digital ad market that it almost doesn't matter if Microsoft barely dents Google's dominance. Even growing its share of search users by a couple of percentage points could grow its revenue by billions of dollars. "The moneymaker for search advertisers is short-tail, transactional terms," Goodwin said.

☆ Exclusive: French adtech firm Criteo in new bid to sell itself-sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Milana Vinn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Investment bank Evercore Inc (EVR.N) is advising Criteo on the process, the sources added. Criteo declined to comment, while an Evercore spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sale process for Criteo will likely pique the interest of buyout firms that have shown strong interest in audience measurement and analytics companies. Criteo collects data through partnerships with companies, ad agencies and brands, and earns money by charging advertisers when consumers click on personalized ads. In response, Criteo has been investing in its fast-growing retail media business, which involves partnering directly with the websites of retailers.

☆ Check out the 10-page pitch deck a new adtech startup used to raise $8 million to help influencers and film studios power product placement with AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The new adtech company Rembrand uses AI to digitally place products in videos. Product placement is a fast-growing part of the marketing landscape, with spend estimated at $26.2 billion in 2022. The first is through an ad network for product placement in influencer videos. Advertisers will run a product placement campaign and Rembrand's technology will place that product in influencer videos across its network. The $8 million Rembrand raised will provide it with about two years of runway, Tawakol said.

☆ Big Tech got crushed by falling ad prices, and the damage could last well into 2023. Here's exactly how much ads cost on Google, Meta, Amazon, YouTube, TikTok and Snap.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Meta, Google, and Snap reported declines in ad sales, or flat ad revenue, during the fourth quarter. Out of the four big ad-supported tech companies — Google, Meta, Amazon, and Snap — only Amazon reported that its ad business grew year-over-year in the fourth quarter. Meta's ad prices have declined as the company rebuilds its ad business with artificial intelligence after getting hit by Apple's app-tracking privacy crackdown. While CPMs fell year-over-year during the fourth quarter, ad prices were 7.2% higher in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter, according to Northbeam. The average return on Meta ad spend during the fourth quarter was $1.96, up from $1.30 in the first quarter of 2022.

☆ Digital ad firm Kargo is acquiring a video tech firm in a deal that could be worth $100 million to move into streaming TV ads
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The acquisition is aimed at giving Kargo inroads into the surging streaming TV ad market. Advertising technology firm Kargo has acquired VideoByte, a video tech firm that helps advertisers make ads for streaming TV platforms. Three-year-old VideoByte sells an ad server that lets advertisers run custom ads on streaming TV platforms. Kargo's competitors PubMatic and Magnite, for instance, have rapidly built out products that let publishers run ads in streaming TV platforms. As part of Kargo's move into streaming TV, the company has also hired Jennifer Pelino as chief strategy officer.

☆ Publisher tech firm OpenWeb is making a $100 million acquisition to help publishers better target ads and emails
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The acquisition is the third company OpenWeb has bought in about a year. The Jeeng acquisition will help OpenWeb's publisher clients collect data for subscriptions and ads. OpenWeb, a tech company that helps publishers engage with readers and sell ads, has acquired Jeeng for $100 million, the companies said Thursday. OpenWeb is acquiring Jeeng to provide publishers with tools to take that data and personalize emails, push notifications, and SMS messages. In January 2022, OpenWeb acquired Hive Media for $60 million to build tools for publishers to better recommend content, and the company acquired Adyoulike in April for $100 million to expand into social advertising.

The digital ad industry is scrambling as consumer anti-tracking policies from big tech companies like Google and Apple and privacy regulations across the world have already started to wipe out ad revenue. By one estimate, Apple's 2021 app tracking privacy change alone was expected to erase $16 billion in revenue from the world's biggest digital ad companies last year. "As every year progresses, it's much more of an existential issue for the ad industry than the year prior," said Anthony Katsur, CEO of IAB Tech Lab, an ad industry trade group. These companies were selected based on Insider's own reporting, input from ad industry experts, and data from Sincera, an analytics company that tracks which adtech companies are most used in the industry. This list does not include the big tech companies like Google and Amazon.

Layoffs have been hitting the ad industry as marketers trim spending amid a softening economy. Insider is tracking which ad and marketing companies have laid off staffers, and how many. Layoffs have been hitting the ad industry since early this year as marketers reined in their spending over growing economic concerns. Marketing is typically the first expense companies cut in downturns and times of uncertainty, and the industry's biggest trend forecasters have revised down their estimates for global ad revenue growth next year. Insider is tracking which companies across the ad industry are cutting staff and how many.

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