CHICAGO -- "Native" advertising gathered a head of steam in 2014 but, with as many definitions as there are people trying the technology, what do some leading ad tech execs think makes the concept tick? "There are a lot of different definitions of 'native' advertising," according to outstream ads technology vendor Teads' US GM Jim Daily. "The type of outstream units [...]

AOL, which has become one of the biggest digital video platforms, in large part around its syndication business, is about to expand its offering to publishers with the recent acquisition of Vidible, says Bob Lord, Global CEO of AOL Platforms, in this interview with Beet.TV He says that Vidible, which has a robust, self-service technology for publishers, will merged with the [...]

The success of a video campaign can be measured by a range of different metrics and they often vary by the campaign or clients, says Stephanie Mustari, Director of Programmatic Media at Havas, in a panel interview with Elaine Boxer, Director of Industry Initiatives at the IAB "There is always a KPI when we launch a campaign," Mustari says. "Typically with video [...]

CHICAGO -- Mobile attracts different consumers in a different mindset than traditional digital media. So how can agencies get out of the "shovelware" mindset and give mobile users something more likely to yield results? A Beet.TV panel discussion heard executives' answers: Maxus strategic planning director Jill Langan: "There are opportunities to use mobile as a point-of-sale vehicle if we choose to… in-store, [...]

This year, there was a dramatic rise in adtech "stacks," with Facebook's relaunch of Atlas and the expansion of Google's DSP business, but WPP wants to support "an independent ad tech ecosystem" where technology and media companies remain separate.   It is this direction that aligns with the recently announced alliance with AppNexus, explains Brian Lesser, Global CEO of Xaxis, [...]

Meredith is expanding further into native video ads, and has plans to roll out more in the coming months, says Laura Rowley, VP of Video Production and Product for the Meredith National Media Group, a media and marketing company serving women, in an interview with Beet.TV. The media company focuses four types of video ads: pre-roll, exclusive series, branded video and [...]

Brands that previously let their ad agencies get on with the business of advertising are increasingly using available new technology platforms do do some of the work themselves. So is the very existence of the media agency under threat? Not according to one agency exec who has just crossed to the other side. "More clients want to get involved in the decisions [...]

Dynamic ad insertion - through which, video channel owners can swap in and out ads as content reaches viewers - is a growing phenomenon. Just before Christmas, one such technology provider, Elemental Technologies, scored a $14.5 million investment for the prospect. “What’s really driving a lot of DAI (dynamic ad insertion) - at least in this country right now - is, [...]

Advertisers reared on a generation of scientific online targeting and measurement may pour scorn, nowadays, on the relatively imprecise medium of TV - but new television techniques with a digital flavor may change that, says an ad tech exec. "Buying television has always been about buying audiences - but the measurement hasn’t been there," David Miller, VP Product Management at INVISION, a [...]

CHICAGO -- For many, it is a forgotten medium that never quite fulfilled its promise. But podcast publishers who have done well tend to have done really well. Webzine Slate, a veteran talk podcast show producer, had six million downloads last month, publisher Anthony DeMaio tells Beet.TV in this video interview. "We think there’s a huge (advertising) business percolating in the podcasting space," [...]

In a big year for video technology vendor Kaltura, the company acquired Tvinci, an outfit that helps content owners create over-the-top TV experiences. But more customers than just TV companies want to use video nowadays. "Visual experiences are becoming part of our lives, transforming the way we learn, entertain, work," Kaltura president and co-founder Michal Tsur says in this video interview with Beet.TV. "A [...]

First-party data is critical to deliver video content to the right audiences, says Laura Rowley, VP of Video Production and Product for the Meredith National Media Group, a media and marketing company serving women, in an interview with Beet.TV. Meredith has grown its video viewership in the last year to 30 to 40 million views per month across its sites, [...]

In 2015, WPP's large portfolio of digital agencies, tech providers and content companies, which are fully or partly owned by WPP,  will be organized into a "complete" offering that can "compete with any company in the world," says David J. Moore, President of WPP Digital and Chairman of Xaxis, in this interview with Beet.TV Moore sees the most promising opportunity in [...]

The social TV app formerly known as "Zeebox" has ambitions to offer advertisers new experiences, after rebranding to "Beamly" earlier this year. First launched in 2011, Zeebox helped viewers learn and talk about shows during live broadcast. But it expanded to VOD and a greater female focus this year in its pivot. "When a drama is on, most people want to focus [...]

The next hurdle for second screen marketing lies in measuring consumer sentiment towards a TV show, says Alan Wolk, Chairman of Second Screen Society, in an interview with Beet.TV. That can be done by tapping into the treasure trove of data available via mobile phones that consumers use to interact with a show. "How do you measure these audiences? How do [...]

Programmatic TV will be driven first by addressable tools, says Scott Ferber, Chairman and CEO of video advertising technology platform Videology, in an interview with Beet.TV. "The first step where programmatic and addressable will converge in the TV space is on the data side...understanding who is on the other end of the set-top box," he says, adding that a smooth delivery [...]

While programmatic TV buying operates in a just a small slice of the overall TV ad market, it is growing and advertisers are allocating budget.  AOL has some 58 advertising campaigns running in test mode, on its platform, says Bob Lord, Global CEO of AOL Platforms in this interview with Beet.TV We sat down with him yesterday for a look back [...]

CHICAGO -- Webzine Slate may be producing some video of its own nowadays but, as a text specialist, the outlet may never make enough to satisfy booming advertiser demand for video ad inventory. That's why the publisher is using InRead, an ad format from vendor Teads which allows sites to inject video ads between text paragraphs, even if pages don't have [...]

CHICAGO -- A couple of months after US news publisher Gannett finalized its purchase of the remainder of Cars.com, the autos classified site is revving up to combine data points and its new owner's heft to sell ads. "There’s a lot of data … our advertisers would love to have the ability to work across the Gannett footprint," Cars.com national sales VP [...]

If you are tired of trying to distinguish one "end-to-end, full-service video targeting and decisioning" vendor from another, imagine how people from outside the digital video industry must feel. LUMA partners CEO Terence Kawaja says 2015 will see ongoing video tech momentum after the "inflection year" of 2014: "We’ve just seen 28 transactions across the video Lumascape, involving 13 over $100m, just since [...]