Robert Andrews

The BBC is known for its editorial integrity and, at least in the UK, its aversion to advertising. These facts would seem to make an embrace of the current “native advertising” trend difficult. But that’s just what BBC Worldwide, the corporation’s international, revenue-making arm, is doing. “We have a native advertising program, we’ve had a […]

The Guardian will soon overhaul its website to ensure ads, as well as editorial, adapt to work across the multitude of devices consumers use. The publisher first launched a “responsive design” site in 2012 – a tactic a growing number of operators are using to guarantee pages can render flexibly across different screen sizes. But The […]

Vevo still hasn’t completely settled on what it can get out of so-called “programmatic” online ad sales, but it is heartened that technology vendors are no longer just catering to cheap ad slots. “(Programmatic) inventory is typically lower-tier, lower-quality inventory,” the music video distributor’s chief revenue officer Jonathan Carson tells Beet.TV. “That marketplace is not […]

Old, TV-style ad measurement metrics are becoming vogue in the data-driven world of online advertising. But AOL Networks CEO Bob Lord says ads measured for audience reach don’t work as well alternatives. “As we move in to the ability to buy at an impression level …  you start to really question the GRP (gross rating […]

Non-human traffic was recently described as programmatic advertising’s “dirty little secret“. Integral Ad Science reckons nearly a third of impressions to be suspicious – up six-fold since 2011, according to comScore (via Adotas). AOL’s programmatic video ad tech platform Adap.tv wants to nip the problem in the bud. “We are fighting fraud that is generated by […]

Two cores good, 192 cores better. The history and future of digital media is the story of computer processing power. And the industry is still giving us better, faster, stronger. In this interview,  media agency GroupM’s visionary chairman Irwin Gotlieb ruminated with Beet.TV on where chip engineering is taking media. “Qualcomm just put out the  […]

We’re hearing a lot about “real-time” marketing. But, beyond the hype, it’s not all about dunking in the dark. “You have to be really in real-time,” says Tim Schigel, founder of ShareThis, whose near-ubiquitous green button lets users share content through umpteen online services. “People are interested a given topic maybe for just a few […]

The year ahead is finally the one in which TV advertisers can target specific viewers, thanks to online targeting, predicts one ad tech vendor. “The promise of addressable television, which has been worked on for over a decade, actually will begin to take off in 2014 in a major way,” Videology CEO Scott Ferber tells […]

Many in TV and marketing look forward to a future of “addressable advertising”. AT&T is executing on a version of that today – with its TV Blueprint offering, the cable company is helping advertisers reach specific subscribers from its customer base. We’re able to pull in data from over 15 million set-top boxes that are […]

Marketers are moving from thinking of their brands as a transaction destination to engaging consumers wherever they happen to be, says one ad veteran exec. “Marketers, back in the day, wanted to drive traffic online,” Vibrant Media global accounts and marketing SVP Ariff Quli tells Beet.TV during the Consumer Electronics Show. “The goals have changed […]

Marketers now use social media expertly to “engage” audiences? But, whilst such schemes are good top-of-funnel branding mechanisms, what about sealing the deal with an actual purchase? Chirpify is a start-up hoping to close that circle, by letting consumers buy or otherwise express interest in products using just hashtags in social media they already frequent. […]

AOL’s advertising chief says advertisers’ understanding of so-called “programmatic” technology improved at the tail end of 2013 – now the year ahead is about offering them the range of its benefits at integrated scale. “There’s been a lot of great progress in the last three to four months since the programmatic upfront of people understanding […]

Super-efficient online ad targeting is allowing advertisers to hone in on specific audiences, whatever they’re watching. But that doesn’t mean the traditional business of advertising against premium content will die, says ad tech vendor Videology‘s CEO Scott Ferber. “Premium publishers in online video … they’re sold out,” Ferber tells Beet.TV during a sit-down at the Consumer […]

Confidence in the effectiveness of TV ads is relatively stable, and big brands seem satisfied. But online ad tech vendor Tremor Video thinks it can improve on that effectiveness, regardless. New York-headquartered Tremor offers advertisers its service that improves short online video pre-roll ads, which typically get shovelled from linear TV ad slots, with interactive […]

One month ago, music streamer Spotify made a change which lets mobile and tablet users listen to more music for free. Previously, off-PC usage required a premium subscription. But Spotify’s change is not just a goodwill gift to users – it points to the growing part advertisers play in a business that has always relied […]

Cloud-based infrastructure can revolutionize the TV business says one internet TV technology vendor. “We strongly believe in the cloud, it can change the industry,” Rovi’s product development VP Thierry Lehartel tells Beet.TV at the Consumer Electronics Show. At the show, Rovi announced Remote Access Services, an upgrade to its existing Cloud Services which lets pay-TV operators […]

LAS VEGAS – In a world where mobile phones are replaced every two years or so, it’s frustrating that vehicles’ longer ownership terms make in-car entertainment systems dead-end and dead old. That’s why many auto makers, often accused of loading their dashes with old technology, are now turning their systems in to future-proof mobile mini-computers, […]

Across the industry, efficiency-hungry advertisers are going crazy to get their hands on data about viewers. And then they have to make sense of that data. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, Rovi trailed two new products aiming to help advertisers out. Ad Optimizer and Promotion Optimizer take in multiple data feeds […]

LAS VEGAS — With a growing number of connected screens, streaming services having risen above local playback and the demands of UltraHD video looming, internet infrastructure is being sorely tested. Akamai and Qualcomm think one solution is to cache popular digital content in the home or office. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Qualcomm’s Atheros […]

LAS VEGAS — The 4K content being showed off on TVs at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is going to come in much larger file sizes than plain old HD video. Fortunately, the new wave in super-sharp TV fare can be shrunk back down to size. “With the picture being four times the resolution, […]