Behind Headlines: 180 Seconds in Ad Tech — FLoC, Topics & Winter Olympics

Hey there! This is Ari at Sharethrough with another episode of Behind Headlines. In this episode I'll be giving you a 180-second recap of what happened the week of January 24th in ad tech. Let’s go!

First thing’s first, Google let the FLoC fly away as it replaced the potential third-party cookie alternative with a new project called “Topics API.” What’s the difference? Rather than placing users into lookalike groups based on their browsing history, the new API will instead use, well, topics. Using machine learning that only happens on the user’s device, Google will be able to determine which topics, like books, baseball, travel, techno music, a user is interested in, which in turn, publishers and advertisers can target users based on a relevant topic or a combination of topics. Google claims that the Topics API is more private than the first iteration of FLoC, and will only share a limited amount of topics with websites, which will be refreshed every few weeks or so. Will this third-party cookie alternative become the one that nests itself, or will it too migrate back to the drawing board? (Source: AdExchanger, Digiday, TechCrunch)

Next up, NBCUniversal was testing several CTV measurement partners for the upcoming Winter Olympics, and recently decided on a winner! Between more than 50 companies like Nielsen, Comscore, iSpot.TV, and VideoAmp, NBCUniversal picked, drum roll please… iSpot.TV! According to iSpot.TV, only a handful of companies were able to provide the relevant data past a certain standard. iSpot.TV was picked as the winner because of their capabilities to measure accurate, real-time CTV audience data. NBCUniversal is labeling iSpot.TV as the “Certified Measurement Partner” during their three-year deal, with Publicis Media as the first holdco to test iSpot.TV for the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl. (Source: AdExchanger)

More on NBCUniversal, they also put out a request for proposal for a social media platform partner for the Winter Olympics. Any guesses? It’s TikTok. Beating out Snapchat, YouTube, and Meta’s joint proposal for Facebook and Instagram, TikTok will allow advertisers to pilot new ad experiences during the Winter Olympics and the two companies are working together to find a TikTok creator to host the program. However, TikTok isn’t technically the exclusive social media platform, as NBCUniversal has a previous deal with Twitter to provide them with a live show and real-time updates. NBCUniversal, the exclusive U.S. broadcaster for the Olympics for nearly forty years, believes more and more viewers prefer streaming and digital video instead of linear TV. (Source: TechCrunch)

Furthermore, Instacart is expanding its programmatic supply offerings by adding Display Ad units and branded pages for food and CPG brands. The display ads will be a separate offering from Instacart’s Sponsored Product search units, as the display ads will appear at the top or sides of pages, and will be sold on CPMs, as opposed to CPCs for Sponsored Posts. Advertisers will be able to use the items in someone’s cart, like PepsiCo drinks, to run display ads for other products from the same brand, like Lays chips. The branded pages, however, will be free for brands to do more, uh, branding. The branded pages will try to emulate how brands display their products on physical shelves, where they typically rely on packaging, shelf placement, or even the look and feel of the product itself. (Source: AdExchanger)

And last but not least, the IAB Tech Lab released update 2.6 to OpenRTB, meant to accommodate the growing demand for CTV advertising. The new update provides technical standardizations to CTV-specific buying, designed to help automate spend for CTV through more flexible buying and selling behaviors. Which also includes additional descriptions for video content, and faster to-market speeds. Some other new changes include Pod Bidding, a way for publishers to provide more details on the CTV ad breaks available to advertisers, as well as Channel and Network objects that will give advertisers more than just the information of the show, but also the channel and network their ad could appear in, and improvements to numbered lists. (Source: IAB Tech Lab)

Thanks for tuning in! For more in-depth information or to subscribe to these weekly updates, check out the links in our blog. This has been Ari at Sharethrough for our weekly 180 second-recap in Ad tech. See you next week!