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New Ad Control Tool from Google + Netflix is Thinking About Live Streaming

Video
6
minutes
Technical Level
November 18, 2023
6
minutes
June 2, 2022
Technical Level
Ari Belliu
Marketing Communications Specialist

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In this video from Behind Programmatic Headlines, we will cover how Google providing users greater control over their ad experiences could impact advertisers and their campaigns. And not long after considering ads, Netflix is thinking about live-streaming too?

Google is building an ad control tool for users. And netflix is eyeing livestreaming as an option. What does that mean for you advertisers? Let’s find out!

Hello there folks, it’s Ari from Sharethrough here with a brand new episode of Behind Programmatic Headlines. In this video, we will cover how Google providing users greater control over their ad experiences could impact advertisers and their campaigns. And not long after considering ads, Netflix is thinking about livestreaming too? 

New Ad Control Tool From Google 

First up, Google is building an ad control tool for users, called My Ad Center. Only on google platforms. Users will be able to change the frequency of ads from different categories, turn off personalized ads, and a handful off other options. Except for turn ads completely off.

Why is Google Creating My Ads Center?

According to Google, my ad center is a result of user requests for more control of their ad experiences and privacy. But it’s also a good way for Google to collect people’s ad preferences right off the bat. This whole time we could’ve just asked people what ads they wanted to see? Why hasn’t anyone else thought of that? Oh wait, they have. My Ad Center seems like a more robust version of MyAdChoices.

How Will Google’s My Ad Center Affect Users?

My Ads Center aims to give users more control over their ad experiences like the frequency of ads, the different categories of ads, and being able to limit the amount of ads they see for sensitive topics, like alcohol, gambling, parenting, just to name a few. But in theory it seems like a more privacy centric way to reach users. However, only on google properties like YouTube, search, and so on. 

How Will My Ad Center Affect the Reach and Frequency of Ads?

Users will be able to control the frequency of ads from different categories. For example, people can choose to see ads from different categories, or from one brand, they can choose to see less of one product but more for another product. So will users be blasted with ads from only one brand/product? A Google spokesperson says doesn’t affect frequency capping directly, what it sort of does is places ads in a sort of “queue”, kind of, with a user’s preferred ads going to the front of the queue. How often does that queue change? And if they’re in that sort of queue, can users see the ad way faster than another one, or much slower than others ones? But what if advertisers want to spread their ads throughout a certain time period? Could a user potentially hit their frequency cap of an ad sooner than intended? How will that impact ads running on different platforms?

How Will My Ad Center Work With Other Ad Control Initiatives?

What an excellent question! People can access My Ad Center through the app or site, which controls the rest of their experiences on google platforms. Although only display ads for now.

But how will My Ad Center interact with tech that’s built into the browser or device? Like Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency, or Google’s own Privacy Sandbox, which includes Google’s own Topics API. Will My Ads Center be fighting for control over google’s other products, or will Google assign different priorities to different controls and measures?

My Ad Center is a valiant effort from google to give people more choices and control over their ad experiences, however it’s unclear what will be the impact on ad performance. On one hand it could improve performance for advertisers by better matching ads to people’s preferences. On the other, it could be a rollercoaster ride for advertisers’ frequency and reach going everywhere.

Netflix is Thinking About Livestreaming

Next, Netflix is considering livestreaming. Mainly for their stand-up comedy specials, but also for other content. Is this a serious consideration or feeling out people’s sentiments? If this is real…

What Can Viewers Expect From Netflix Livestreaming?

The idea came following Netflix’s first live event, Netflix Is A Joke, a stand-up comedy special. Aside from stand-up comedy specials being an option for livestreaming, Netflix could also livestream reunions like Love is Blind, The Ultimatum, are all a possibility.

How Will Netflix Fit Ads During Livestreaming?

Livestreaming, especially sports, have the most engaged audiences that can’t skip or fast-forward through ads. People can livestream NLF games through Amazon Prime Video, and ads are a large part of the super bowl experience. Amazon would totally be okay with programmatic super bowl ads, right? Imagine the CPM of THAT ad spot. Disney+ is also thinking about livestreaming shows like Dancing with the Stars and American Idol, where viewers get to vote for their favorite contestants. Now we have audience engagement, does that count as first-party data? Anything can happen at live events, how can Netflix ensure a brand-safe environment for livestream content? A few seconds delay could help pull the plug if things don’t go as planned, saving advertisers, brands, and Netflix from potential damaging placements.

How Can Netflix Expand Livestreaming for Advertisers?

This isn’t the first time that Netflix considered different viewing formats. They’ve done choose-your-own-adventure shows, trivia games, and other interactive formats. The different viewing formats can provide new ways for advertisers to reach their targeted audience on Netflix during a livestream. Imagine that, a choose-your-own-live-adventure show; people get to vote, people get to scan the QR codes to make decisions for the rest of the show. That’d be pretty cool. Live shopping is also an opportunity for Netflix to expand for advertisers. For example, a retail brand can advertise the clothes a contestant is wearing. Netflix could nab a sports league to have exclusive streaming rights, like Amazon did with the NFL. It could be something like, Netflix NHL, who knows. It’s probably a better way to retain viewers.

Livestreaming makes sense for Netflix, and it’s probably going to be very engaging for viewers and equally rewarding for advertisers. There’s so much potential for everyone to benefit and could lead to some really creative content. But maybe one thing at a time, Netflix should figure out it’s ad strategy and find a way to retain subscribers before giving livestreaming a shot.

That’s it for this episode. Will Google’s new ad control tool improve users’ ad experience and performance for advertisers? And if Netflix introduces livestreaming as part of their content catalogue, will ads be included in livestreams? Drop your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to like and subscribe for more Behind Programmatic Headlines. Click the little bell too that lets you know when we release a new episode. This has been Ari at Sharethrough, thanks for watching!

Check out some of our research on CTV:

New Research: Understanding Consumer Behaviors During TV Commercial Breaks — Sharethrough

Introducing Dynamic QR Codes for CTV Ads — Sharethrough

4 Ways Programmatic CTV is Uniquely Suited to Improve Attention — Sharethrough

Sources:

Google's latest privacy tool is also a useful feature to bolster ad performance

Google Is Working On A Product To Give Users More Control Over The Ads They See (On Google Only) | AdExchanger

Google's My Ad Center lets users control their ad experience, follow brands

Netflix Exploring Live Streaming For First Time; Plans To Roll Out For Unscripted Series & Stand-Up Specials

Netflix is looking into livestreaming - The Verge

Disney Plus just experimented with its first livestream - The Verge

Want to learn more about Sharethrough?

Sharethrough — Human-Centric Programmatic Advertising

Sharethrough Blog

Enhanced Inventory Packages & PMPs

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sharethrough

About Behind Headlines: 180 Seconds in Ad Tech—

Behind Headlines: 180 Seconds in Ad Tech is a short 3-minute podcast exploring the news in the digital advertising industry. Ad tech is a fast-growing industry with many updates happening daily. As it can be hard for most to keep up with the latest news, the Sharethrough team wanted to create an audio series compiling notable mentions each week.

In this video from Behind Programmatic Headlines, we will cover how Google providing users greater control over their ad experiences could impact advertisers and their campaigns. And not long after considering ads, Netflix is thinking about live-streaming too?

Google is building an ad control tool for users. And netflix is eyeing livestreaming as an option. What does that mean for you advertisers? Let’s find out!

Hello there folks, it’s Ari from Sharethrough here with a brand new episode of Behind Programmatic Headlines. In this video, we will cover how Google providing users greater control over their ad experiences could impact advertisers and their campaigns. And not long after considering ads, Netflix is thinking about livestreaming too? 

New Ad Control Tool From Google 

First up, Google is building an ad control tool for users, called My Ad Center. Only on google platforms. Users will be able to change the frequency of ads from different categories, turn off personalized ads, and a handful off other options. Except for turn ads completely off.

Why is Google Creating My Ads Center?

According to Google, my ad center is a result of user requests for more control of their ad experiences and privacy. But it’s also a good way for Google to collect people’s ad preferences right off the bat. This whole time we could’ve just asked people what ads they wanted to see? Why hasn’t anyone else thought of that? Oh wait, they have. My Ad Center seems like a more robust version of MyAdChoices.

How Will Google’s My Ad Center Affect Users?

My Ads Center aims to give users more control over their ad experiences like the frequency of ads, the different categories of ads, and being able to limit the amount of ads they see for sensitive topics, like alcohol, gambling, parenting, just to name a few. But in theory it seems like a more privacy centric way to reach users. However, only on google properties like YouTube, search, and so on. 

How Will My Ad Center Affect the Reach and Frequency of Ads?

Users will be able to control the frequency of ads from different categories. For example, people can choose to see ads from different categories, or from one brand, they can choose to see less of one product but more for another product. So will users be blasted with ads from only one brand/product? A Google spokesperson says doesn’t affect frequency capping directly, what it sort of does is places ads in a sort of “queue”, kind of, with a user’s preferred ads going to the front of the queue. How often does that queue change? And if they’re in that sort of queue, can users see the ad way faster than another one, or much slower than others ones? But what if advertisers want to spread their ads throughout a certain time period? Could a user potentially hit their frequency cap of an ad sooner than intended? How will that impact ads running on different platforms?

How Will My Ad Center Work With Other Ad Control Initiatives?

What an excellent question! People can access My Ad Center through the app or site, which controls the rest of their experiences on google platforms. Although only display ads for now.

But how will My Ad Center interact with tech that’s built into the browser or device? Like Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency, or Google’s own Privacy Sandbox, which includes Google’s own Topics API. Will My Ads Center be fighting for control over google’s other products, or will Google assign different priorities to different controls and measures?

My Ad Center is a valiant effort from google to give people more choices and control over their ad experiences, however it’s unclear what will be the impact on ad performance. On one hand it could improve performance for advertisers by better matching ads to people’s preferences. On the other, it could be a rollercoaster ride for advertisers’ frequency and reach going everywhere.

Netflix is Thinking About Livestreaming

Next, Netflix is considering livestreaming. Mainly for their stand-up comedy specials, but also for other content. Is this a serious consideration or feeling out people’s sentiments? If this is real…

What Can Viewers Expect From Netflix Livestreaming?

The idea came following Netflix’s first live event, Netflix Is A Joke, a stand-up comedy special. Aside from stand-up comedy specials being an option for livestreaming, Netflix could also livestream reunions like Love is Blind, The Ultimatum, are all a possibility.

How Will Netflix Fit Ads During Livestreaming?

Livestreaming, especially sports, have the most engaged audiences that can’t skip or fast-forward through ads. People can livestream NLF games through Amazon Prime Video, and ads are a large part of the super bowl experience. Amazon would totally be okay with programmatic super bowl ads, right? Imagine the CPM of THAT ad spot. Disney+ is also thinking about livestreaming shows like Dancing with the Stars and American Idol, where viewers get to vote for their favorite contestants. Now we have audience engagement, does that count as first-party data? Anything can happen at live events, how can Netflix ensure a brand-safe environment for livestream content? A few seconds delay could help pull the plug if things don’t go as planned, saving advertisers, brands, and Netflix from potential damaging placements.

How Can Netflix Expand Livestreaming for Advertisers?

This isn’t the first time that Netflix considered different viewing formats. They’ve done choose-your-own-adventure shows, trivia games, and other interactive formats. The different viewing formats can provide new ways for advertisers to reach their targeted audience on Netflix during a livestream. Imagine that, a choose-your-own-live-adventure show; people get to vote, people get to scan the QR codes to make decisions for the rest of the show. That’d be pretty cool. Live shopping is also an opportunity for Netflix to expand for advertisers. For example, a retail brand can advertise the clothes a contestant is wearing. Netflix could nab a sports league to have exclusive streaming rights, like Amazon did with the NFL. It could be something like, Netflix NHL, who knows. It’s probably a better way to retain viewers.

Livestreaming makes sense for Netflix, and it’s probably going to be very engaging for viewers and equally rewarding for advertisers. There’s so much potential for everyone to benefit and could lead to some really creative content. But maybe one thing at a time, Netflix should figure out it’s ad strategy and find a way to retain subscribers before giving livestreaming a shot.

That’s it for this episode. Will Google’s new ad control tool improve users’ ad experience and performance for advertisers? And if Netflix introduces livestreaming as part of their content catalogue, will ads be included in livestreams? Drop your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to like and subscribe for more Behind Programmatic Headlines. Click the little bell too that lets you know when we release a new episode. This has been Ari at Sharethrough, thanks for watching!

Check out some of our research on CTV:

New Research: Understanding Consumer Behaviors During TV Commercial Breaks — Sharethrough

Introducing Dynamic QR Codes for CTV Ads — Sharethrough

4 Ways Programmatic CTV is Uniquely Suited to Improve Attention — Sharethrough

Sources:

Google's latest privacy tool is also a useful feature to bolster ad performance

Google Is Working On A Product To Give Users More Control Over The Ads They See (On Google Only) | AdExchanger

Google's My Ad Center lets users control their ad experience, follow brands

Netflix Exploring Live Streaming For First Time; Plans To Roll Out For Unscripted Series & Stand-Up Specials

Netflix is looking into livestreaming - The Verge

Disney Plus just experimented with its first livestream - The Verge

Want to learn more about Sharethrough?

Sharethrough — Human-Centric Programmatic Advertising

Sharethrough Blog

Enhanced Inventory Packages & PMPs

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sharethrough

About Calibrate—

Founded in 2015, Calibrate is a yearly conference for new engineering managers hosted by seasoned engineering managers. The experience level of the speakers ranges from newcomers all the way through senior engineering leaders with over twenty years of experience in the field. Each speaker is greatly concerned about the craft of engineering management. Organized and hosted by Sharethrough, it was conducted yearly in September, from 2015-2019 in San Francisco, California.

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Ari Belliu
Marketing Communications Specialist

About the Author

Ari is an experienced digital marketer with a demonstrated history of multi-tasking and working in health and tech on small teams. He's skilled in copywriting, community building, email and social media marketing, and building brand awareness.

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