1. Amazon Opens–Up Its Ad Products And DSP For MRC Audit (Digiday)
With 90% YoY growth in its ad revenue in Q1, Amazon has agreed to a Media Rating Council audit, which is helpful in attracting new advertisers and extending that growth stripe. The MRC audit will examine how Amazon measures its Sponsored Product campaigns and how the Amazon DSP is used to buy programmatic ads across a network of sites and publishers.
2. AT&T Tie Up With Discovery Helps CNN Risk Of MSNBC Connection (Bloomberg)
AT&T said on Monday that CNN and its corporate siblings will be partnering with Discovery Inc. The agreement might give CNN a variety of strategic benefits. Discovery’s worldwide operations would help “supercharge” CNN’s operation outside the US, according to David Zaslav, the president of Discovery who would manage the newly merged firm.
3. Prebid Is Key In Unlocking Cookies-Less Future For Publishers (AdExchanger)
A Google study that quantified the impact of third-party cookie deprecation in Chrome found that there will be an average revenue decline of 52% and a median decline of 64% among the top 500 publishers. Those reliant on open-exchange programmatic revenue will be more vulnerable and Prebid will be helpful for publishers to plan for a cookie-less 2022.
4. Crypto Giant Coinbase Launching Its Own Media Operations (Axios)
With Crypto-focused media companies gaining momentum, Crypto giant Coinbase is planning to launch its own media operation. This would not only act as a top-of-the-funnel marketing vehicle to draw more people to its cryptocurrency exchange, but also could be used to help the company drive its own narratives.
5. VideoAmp Raised $75M Is On Expansion Mode (WSJ)
Ad-tech company VideoAmp Inc. raised $75 million from IP Investment Partners, bringing its total funding to $175 million. Established in 2014, this start-up helps brands plan and measure their ad campaigns across digital and traditional TV systems. VideoAmp grew 700% in the last five years, and it is on track to double its YoY growth in 2021.
6. Piano Raises $88M, Adds LinkedIn To Investor Group (TechCrunch)
Piano, global analytics, customization, and subscription platform, has secured $88 million in funding. The company had raised $22 million in Series B financing in January 2019. Piano’s sales have increased by nearly 400% and have moved into the Asia-Pacific area. It also bought AT Internet, a French analytics platform.
7. Take-Two Forecasts Annual Adjusted Sales Below Estimates (Reuters)
Stay-at-home gamers during the pandemic increased demand for the video game maker’s iconic titles including “Grand Theft Auto” and “NBA 2K”, according to Take-Two Interactive Software Inc, which announced a quarterly profit and sales that topped analysts’ projections on Tuesday. In extended trading, the company’s stock was up roughly 3%.
