Robert Andrews

PHOENIX — Over the last year, the reality that many web ads are viewed not by consumers but by automated scripts, or are otherwise out of view, has gained visibility. Some estimates on the topic gloomily suggest the sky is falling over digital advertising. But that’s far from the truth – at least, if you […]

BERLIN — In an industry long dominated by Youku and Tudou, Baidu-backed iQiyi has risen to become the most popular VOD service in China. Speaking with Beet.TV at this week’s Berlinale (Berlin Film Festival), iQiyi Motion Pictures president Li Yansong said this is despite three problems that have previously inhibited the market in China: Piracy: “In the […]

PHOENIX — Since founding in 2006, Outbrain has built up to serving 200bn content recommendations on publisher sites every month, most as suggestions at the bottom of online articles. Now it wants use some of that breadth to improve the relevance of those recommendations. “As publishers get smarter in content recommendation, we’re able to better understand the […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — The emerging opportunity of connected TVs with household-level targeting capability may not be met without the kind of ad standardisation that the IAB’s inception brought to display, says one ad tech exec. “Everyone does something a little bit differently – each of the (TV) operators has different decks, data,” says Jamie Power, senior partner  for addressable […]

FORD LAUDERDALE — It has been a whirlwind couple of years in digital ad technology platforms, with the onset of “programmatic” quickly shaking up the sector. What are the views from one company whose input to the space endures? “We are in an uncertain time,” according to Nielsen Digital MD Andrew Feigenson. “There’s a lot of […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — What’s a magazine anymore? A video series, an app, or a cross-portfolio digital aggregation, according to publisher Time Inc’s video SVP JR McCabe. “I look at the portfolio as brands, not as magazines,” McCabe tells Beet.TV. Case in point is recently-launched Daily Cut, which scoops up video from across Time Inc titles. […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — Original commissions have become the creative differentiators for video-on-demand platforms. TV aggregator Hulu is taking a range of new programming to the upcoming April/May NewFronts, a week when platforms try to secure upfront ad bookings. “One of our better shows is The Awesomes, an animated series by Seth Myers,” Hulu ad sales SVP Peter […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — Online video viewing that requires consumers log in is growing, now that TV Everywhere services have popularized the notion. That is according to video ad tech platform FreeWheel, which expects to observe growth in its upcoming Q4 video monetization report. FreeWheel’s business solutions GM James Rooke expects “continued growth in viewing taking place behind the authentication […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — “Out-of-stream” video ad tech supplier Teads is targeting global expansion in 2015, after it raised another $30m in funding in January. Speaking with Beet.TV, North America GM Jim Daily expects “more expansion” this year: “We’ve opened up in the US. We’re going to be expanding further in to Canada and some other key markets. We’ve […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — What place creativity when ads can be scientifically created to match viewer emotions using all manner of data points? Eyeview, a vendor which helps personalize video ads according to targeting criteria, thinks the two disciplines connect. “For example, a retailer has 100,000 products in different locations, different prices,” says Eyeview CEO Oren […]

BERLIN — Outside of some key markets, few may have heard of Viewster. But the Zurich- and Berlin-based VOD service has more than 20 million unique monthly users across four of its operating countries. At this week’s Berlinale (Berlin Film Festival) and European Film Market, Viewster chief content officer Robert Franke appeared on on a panel […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — What works in online video advertising, and where is it going to work best? Emotional content, and on Facebook, according to one company which measures the virality of digital video spots. “This year, we think Facebook is going to be the big winner – Facebook is going to just explode in terms of […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — Fresh from RTL buying a majority stake for $144m, programmatic video ad tech outfit SpotXchange says it will shortly be opening up more offices in Europe under the group’s stewardship. “You’ll see some news from us early this year around new office openings specifically in the European region,” SpotXchange platform SVP Sean Buckley […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — Google’s YouTube announced last month it would switch from Flash to powering its video player in HTML5 by default. But the video site wasn’t the only property to have gone in that direction. The New York Times went to HTML5-first a few years ago now, out of a “toolbox” that has been […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — How times change. Once, the web was the be-all and end-all of digital media. Wired magazine’s playful cover story may not quite have come to pass, but the web certainly isn’t where digital starts and ends nowadays. “Eighty-seven percent of mobile traffic happens in an app,” says ad tech company Jun Group‘s […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — To spread their messages across so many different kinds of marketing channel these days, advertisers are going to have to create spots for more formats than just standard, 30-second TV ads. Fortunately, that is now beginning to happen, says Innovid CTO and co-founder Tal Chalozin. “In order to really apply sophistication on […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — The emergence of so-called “programmatic” ad-trading techniques, in which new software platforms enable precise, data-driven ad buying and selling, has kicked off a race of ad tech suite vendors. Each promises to serve customers with a specific part of the value chain – but one vendor says this just confuses customers. “There […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — Viewers love TV, but they love watching TV on multiple device screens even more, says a video ad tech vendor targeting benefits form the consumer shift. “Consumers see TV as TV – an episode of Family Guy is an episode of Family Guy, regardless of where you watch it,” says video ad […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — Many in the video ad tech space think the old way of buying and selling TV ads will soon be overturned by new technology. But TV planning and buying tool Mediaocean‘s product VP Cordie DePascale says the old guard must be eased in to the new world for mutual benefit to occur. “There’s […]

FORT LAUDERDALE — Companies in the TV advertising business don’t need to adopt all of the so-called “programmatic” technologies vendors tout to benefit from some of their key efficiencies, says one such vendor in the chain. “You don’t have to have complete automation, dynamic ad insertion,” Adap,tv programmatic SVP Dan Ackerman tells Beet.TV in this panel […]