US digital ad spend will exceed traditional in 2019
US digital ad spend is smashing it. This year, it’s set to exceed traditional ad spend for the first time, according to eMarketer. And if that wasn’t enough, by 2023, digital will surpass two-thirds of total media spending. The numbers are huge, obviously. Total digital ad spend in the US is forecast to grow 19% to a casual $129.34 billion this year, 54.2% of estimated total US ad spending (while traditional will drop to 45.8% in 2019, from 51.4% last year.) A big chunk of digital’s $$$ will come from mobile – $87.06 billion to be exact. eMarketer also showed that Amazon is landing some blows on the Facebook and Google duopoly. Its US ad business is set to grow to 8.8% this year, up from 6.8% in 2018, taking some market share away from the two major players.
Twitter tests redesign of conversations on the platform Twitter is looking to make a host of changes intended “to make it easier to see more of what people are saying”. These include new designs to tweet replies and different colours that help highlight responses from people you follow, as well as the original poster. The platform is testing the proposed changes amongst its community – and anyone can apply to be part of it. Our UK CEO, Jim Coleman, shared his views Campaign, stating that part of the motivation for the wider community testing could be to mitigate against user backlash towards the changes.
Pinterest progresses IPO, Instagram could encroach on territory
The latest social media, sorry, ‘discovery’ platform to seek an Initial Public Offering is Pinterest, and it’s getting closer to making it happen. It has crossed the Ts and dotted the lower case Js to submit the paperwork for its stock market debut. It’s expected that Pinterest will list its shares later in the year, with an IPO in late June. It’s seeking a valuation of at least $12bn, due to its user base of 250m monthly active users.
Instagram, however, could be looking to rain on its parade with the introduction of a very Pinterest-like feature – public Collections. It’s very much a rumour, based on code buried in Instagram for Android. But given the platform already has a private Collections feature, it hardly seems beyond the realms of possibility. Instagram told TechCrunch “we’re not testing this,” which, according to the publication, is its standard response to press enquiries about products that aren’t available to public users.
TikTok looks to attract media buyers with new ad options
TikTok is reported to be looking to make a bit of extra cash with new ad options. The fast-growing video-based app has told agency partners in the U.S. that it is working on a self-managed biddable advertising platform, where media buyers will be able to bid against one another for the ad impressions they want. TikTok currently offers advertisers direct IO (insertion order) buys, but the new formats being pitched include in-feed video ads, brand takeover ads and branded lenses.
Instagram success for National Geographic National Geographic last week became the first brand to top 100 million followers on Instagram ?. The publisher’s revenue from social advertising rose 80 per cent y-o-y from 2017 to 2018 and while it didn’t reveal an exact numerical amount, it’s apparently “well over seven figures”. National Geographic attributes its continued success to its 130-plus photographers and the level of authenticity it has been able to create by allowing them to publish directly to its channel.
MTV rolls out Facebook Watch quiz show
The gameshow format seem to be increasingly popular on Facebook Watch. The latest media owner to jump on the trend is MTV, with the launch of “MTV Stax” in the UK. In the show, which will be broadcast live for 10 weeks, contestants will answer 10 questions in order to win a cash prize of £1,000. Earlier this month, global radio brand Heart announced its own Watch gameshow, “Heart’s Triple Play”, and Facebook’s own gameshow Confetti expanded from the US to a number of other locations including Mexico, Thailand, Philippines and the UK.
PetRescue uses AI and Instagram to give rescue dogs a home
Nice use of AI to help give a dog a home – PetRescue has created PetMe, an AI platform which analyses dog photos on Instagram and matches followers of popular dogs on social media with similar ones up for adoption. Dog lovers can also share dog pics using #PetMe and the platform’s bots will reply with suggestions of dogs matching the breed, temperament, size and more. PetMe has helped make 14,000 adoptions in the last six months.
