Spotify’s increased focus on podcasts in 2019 includes selling its own ads

Having established itself as a top streaming service with now over 200 million users, Spotify this year is preparing to focus more of its attention on podcasts. The company plans bring its personalization technology to podcasts in order to make better recommendations, update its app’s interface so people can access podcasts more easily, and broker […]

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Spotify will now let brands sponsor its Discover Weekly playlist

Spotify has begun testing a new type of ad in Discover Weekly, its personalized playlist of music that’s the streaming service’s flagship feature. The company says that, for the first time, it will allow a brand to “sponsor” this playlist as opposed to just running ads. It believes many advertisers will be interested in this […]

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Google warns app developers of three malicious SDKs being used for ad fraud

A few days ago, Google removed popular Cheetah Mobile and Kika Tech apps from its Play Store following a BuzzFeed investigation, which discovered the apps were engaging in ad fraud. Today, as a result of Google’s ongoing investigation into the situation, it has discovered three malicious ad network SDKs that were being used to conduct ad […]

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YouTube to double pre-roll ads, so there’s less interruption later

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It’s a familiar bugbear.

There you are, watching a nice, long YouTube video, when an ad — usually with a stock soundtrack of a jangly ukulele and a glockenspiel — annoyingly rams itself somewhere midway.

YouTube has a TV-inspired solution to the issue, announcing it will trial running two skippable pre-roll ads together, as per a blog post published Wednesday.

Image: YouTUbe

That means it’s less likely that ads will pop up in the middle of a video, with YouTube estimating users will experience up to 40 percent fewer interruptions by ads in a session. Read more…

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Supermarket ad banned for being too ‘political’ becomes an online hit

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In April, Iceland became the first major UK supermarket to ban palm oil from its own products, in light of the severe environmental damage caused by increased global demand for the substance.

The issue has been raised in a TV commercial for the supermarket, but the ad has been banned from television in the UK for being too “political” — and people are not happy about it.

Clearcast, a body responsible for clearing ads on behalf of the four major UK commercial broadcasters, said the ad was in breach of political advertising rules in the country’s broadcasting code. Read more…

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WhatsApp ‘Status’ feature will soon include ads

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It was bound to happen, eventually. WhatsApp is going to start showing you ads.

Advertisements are coming to the messaging app’s Status feature, according to WhatsApp Vice President Chris Daniels. “We are going to be putting ads in ‘Status’,” said Daniels. “That is going to be primary monetisation mode for the company as well as an opportunity for businesses to reach people on WhatsApp.” 

WhatsApp Status was rolled out on the app in February of last year. Status allows WhatsApp users to add encrypted text, photos, and video to their profile. Statuses delete after 24 hours. It’s a bit like a Snapchat Stories type feature in-line with the company’s similarly cloned Facebook and Instagram Stories. Read more…

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Goop has been reported to UK regulators for ‘potentially dangerous’ claims

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Gwyneth Paltrow’s controversial lifestyle and wellness brand Goop is facing some adversity these days. Just a month after settling a consumer protection case in California over unscientific claims, Goop has been reported to two regulators in the UK — the National Trading Standards and the Advertising Standards Authority. 

Goop was reported by Good Thinking Society, a pro-science organisation, for 113 misleading claims on their website. According to Good Thinking Society, the 113 claims are in violation of UK advertising law.  Read more…

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Tesla pulls useless ‘Full Self-Driving’ add-on from its cars

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For years, Elon Musk has been touting the promise of a self-driving car. Well, it looks like that promise is a little further off than Musk previously thought, if it materializes at all.

On Thursday, Elon Musk unveiled a new “lower cost, mid-range” Tesla Model 3 car coming in at around $45,000. At the same time, one eagle-eyed Twitter user noticed another update over at Tesla: the optional add-on “Full Self-Driving” feature was gone.

Also available off menu for a week. Was causing too much confusion.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 18, 2018

According to Musk’s reply tweet, the option is still available for Tesla customers who’d like it, but the company won’t be advertising it as it “was causing too much confusion.” Read more…

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Now you can buy movie tickets or book a vacation right from a YouTube ad

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YouTube ads are about to get a lot more interactive.

The Google-owned video platform today announced a brand-new video advertising option that will allow users to buy or download what the ad is advertising — straight from the ad itself.

Before this announcement, advertisers had a more limited selection of interactive ad extentions from YouTube. Location extensions, for instance, can point viewers to a place related to the ad that’s close to them.

Now, advertisers will have a lot more options when it comes to these interactive extensions. For example, a movie trailer advertiser could show users local showtimes that they can click through and be taken straight to a site like Fandango or Atom. Viewers could also potentially download an app or booking a trip through these kinds of new YouTube ad extensions. Read more…

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