Major Google Outage Costs Publishers & Advertisers A Lot of Money
Google Ad Manager crashed last Saturday when most ad ops team members were enjoying the weekend. For two full days, campaigns simply stopped in their tracks, resulting in zero clicks or conversions but plenty of lost revenue for publishers and brands (one advertiser told Adweek they lost $50,000). Even though advertisers reported it, it took Google a few days to acknowledge the problem.
Though Google claimed the crash only hit "a small number" of accounts worldwide, the reality felt different to those affected. Advertisers couldn't access dashboards. Error messages popped up constantly. The system crawled when it worked at all. The incident has many rethinking their reliance on GAM and speaks to an urgent need for publishers to build flexibility into their tech platforms. – SS
Disney Announces More Staff Cuts: Including all of FiveThirtyEight
If you’re a political junky, how many times a day do you jump on to FiveThirtyEight to fact-check politicians’ popularity claims? Sadly, that resource will bite the dust, a casualty of further consolidation of Disney’s news business.
Last Wednesday, Disney told employees that it would lay off 200 employees—about 6%—of its ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks unit. In addition to eliminating the FiveThirtyEight site, Disney is consolidating the ABC news magazine shows “20/20” and “Nightline” into a single unit.
This is the latest round in a broader strategy Disney announced in 2023. Back then, CEO Bob Iger said the company would cut 7,000 jobs to address a tough economic climate and would help achieve about $5.5 billion in cost savings. Following a trend of industry layoffs that began in 2020.
Media companies consolidate as ad revenue shrinks, prioritizing profitable areas like streaming, sports, and entertainment. Consequently, news operations—once their backbone—are being cut back as publishers struggle to maintain profitability amid unstable revenue streams.
FiveThirtyEight once had a staff of 35 people, but when Nate Silver—and his models—left ABC News, they reduced the team to just 15. An ABC News spokesperson said the unit’s new, leaner structure would “allow us to be more closely aligned with our priorities for the 2024 election.” FiveThirtyEight continued to poll and predict election outcomes, as well as track favorable and unfavorability rates across polls. According to Nieman Lab, it’s unclear if ABC will continue offering a similar service once the site darkens. – SS
Google to CMA: We Were Wrong About Privacy Sandbox
Google's most recent report to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on its Privacy Sandbox project reveals troubling admissions about the technology's functionality. According to the Movement for an Open Web, Google acknowledges that its Sandbox Attribution Reporting API is far from effective, with 85% of reported advertising conversions inaccurate by 60-100%. This casts doubt on the tool's ability to measure ad effectiveness reliably.
Even more concerning, Google admits it won't rely solely on Privacy Sandbox, instead opting for a portfolio approach that includes the technology. This puts the industry in a pickle. Per the Movement for an Open Web, everyone wants to adopt its flawed solution while simultaneously acknowledging it doesn't work for their products. This glaring double standard makes their true motives suspect.
For the first time, the CMA didn't issue its regular quarterly report declaring Google compliant with its competition commitments. This unprecedented development signals growing regulatory concern about Google's conduct. – SS
MNTN Goes Public
On March 3, MNTN filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed IPO. In our industry, the word "disruptor" tends to be overused, but the term is apt in this case.
When the world was in lockdowns and Americans signed up for multiple streaming services, MNTN spotted a unique opportunity for smaller brands to participate in TV advertising via programmatic CTV. MNTN's message to first-time TV advertisers was simple: Watching TV keeps people engaged, and programmatic allows brands to focus ad spend on specific audiences rather than blast it out. It was a smart move. According to the S-1, 92% of MNTN's customers are first-time TV advertisers. – SS
AdTechGod on DV Acquisition
In this episode of The Refresh, AdTechGod is joined by Doug Campbell (Global Chief Strategy Officer) and Ron Jacobson (@rjjacobson) (Co-Founder and CEO) to discuss the impact of DoubleVerify’s acquisition of Rockerbox.
They explore what this means for measurement and attribution in digital advertising, the push for greater transparency, and how integrated solutions can help advertisers better understand their ad spend effectiveness.
Vinny Rinaldi: Hershey's VP, Media and Marketing
Brand vs. Performance. Innovation. Chocolate. This episode has it all: A snark-filled, insight-packed conversation, co-hosts Matt Wurst & Valerie Vespa sit down with Vinny Rinaldi, VP of Media & Marketing at Hershey’s, to break down some of the biggest challenges in marketing today—and have some fun along the way.
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