Let Us Dispel Of This Notion Once And For All…



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Let Us Dispel Of This Notion Once And For All





A Seismic Shift Is Underway in Ad Tech

Before I start this I need to make it clear- I like Andrew, in part because he did episode #4 of my podcast (hi-five) but also because he’s genuinely smart and considerate when he speaks. He’s not bombastic and seems to prefer listening to speaking (rare in these parts). That said I’ve never much liked the wall street stock trading comparison for what we do. Unlike stock or commodity trading no two impressions are alike because the value isn’t simply determined by the item being sold but also by value of the person consuming it. Therefore the value cannot easily be determined and is highly volatile. What we do is much closer to derivatives trading in that pricing is opaque and determined in that moment by its value to both the buyer and the seller. So once and for all can we agree to stop comparing selling impressions to selling stocks?

I agree with the general premise of the article, I just hate the metaphor.





Did Jason Kint Mention “Duopoly” This Week?





Translation: “Anyone who disagrees with me is either lying or cheating”



What’s even more annoying about this guy is that I generally agree with the stance that Google and Facebook should be looked at with a weary eye. Like I’m one of the people who is philosophically on his side. But he’s just fucking insufferable. His twitter feed reads like a guy obsessed with having other people say his name. He gets in the most petty and pointless arguments on twitter and is just overall unnecessarily dickish to a lot of people.

Current streak: 7 weeks







Other Articles





Reddit Looks to Lure Advertisers With Video and Redesign

Ryan’s take: There’s a lot to digest here. First Reddit is planning on offering video advertising. But it doesn’t host videos so either that needs to change or they’ve gone full suit and plan on adding outstream.

While it’s true that reddit has a highly engaged community the double-edged sword of that is the upcoming redesign, if it’s seen as a move to add advertising to the site, will be torn to shreds by those highly engaged members seeking to protect their playground. But my absolute favorite part of the whole article is this little nugget which I think exemplifies the root problem with advertising on reddit:

“What [marketers] are clamoring for most is a dashboard” to monitor their brands, Mr. Ohanian said, although there are no immediate plans to launch one.



Vice Raises $450 Million From TPG, Boosts Valuation to $5.7 Billion

This week’s BFD. That said something smells funny about this one to me. To take that much just from a PE deal (from a group that owns CAA). No Disney and no Fox, which means both of their stakes were diluted by this deal. Just seems strange. Maybe they don’t like that this is going to building a plausibly competing studio? By why wouldn’t Fox or Disney want to own a bigger piece of that? I dunno I could be paranoid but this just feels weird.

Either way that’s a shitton of cash and Shane Smith is now a paper billionaire. I know digital pubs want to count Vice as one of their own but they’re much more akin to a gonzo-news Food Network than say a Mic or Vox.



Jeff Bezos Has Advice For The News Business: ‘Ask People To Pay. They Will’

I wonder what it’s like to work your whole life in the news industry only to be lectured about the news industry by a guy who has treated it like a part-time job the last four years?

Listen far be it from me to shit on one of the richest men in the world and one of the best businessmen of my lifetime. Bezos is a visionary that’s not in question. That said this reads like some bullshit self-help presentation for out of work publishers.

Saying “focus on the product and ask for money” is not visionary and doesn’t pass the sniff test. Does “focus on the product and ask for money” help the long tail of regional and local newspapers? Or pure digital plays? Did the Star-Tribune just need to ask people to pay to prevent bankruptcy? There is absolutely no doubt the Washington Post is doing great and innovative things but it sure as shit has more to do with the guy who bought them than the fact they tightened their paywall.

Side Note: OH MY FUCKING GOD IF PUBLISHERS DON’T STOP IT WITH THIS SCROLLING AUTOPLAY VIDEO WITH NO CLOSE BUTTON I’M GOING TO LOSE MY GODDAMN MIND!



‘Twitter Chief Jack Dorsey: 'We’re Doubling Down On Adtech’

“We acquired companies or platforms and didn’t give them the options that they needed or tie it together with everything else that we’re doing,” he said. “And that doesn’t set up the acquisition for success. So, we’re [now] being really deliberate in what we look at and why.”

Translation

Reality



Time Warner Signs $100 Million Deal With Snap for Shows and Ads

I think this is a big deal? Not positive though. It smells like one of those announcements that “Company X will spend $X billion over the next 10 years on increasing US manufacturing” and you learn that it’s just what they would have spent anyway. It could be sugar coated PR bullshit but at the same time a big name studio just announced it’s committing 9-digits to making snapchat specific content. If it’s bullshit it’s at least an impressive amount of it.



Publishers’ And Advertisers’ Rights End At A Browser’s Front Door

Oh hey Doc Searls is back with more flawed advertising complaints and comparisons. So he starts off by comparing evil digital tracking to humble and pure print. Digital tracks you like a thief in the night and print just sits on your doorstep waiting for you to read it. Wait except print knows your name, address, and credit card information and sells that info to advertisers. Evil digital with it’s trackers following your every step and learning things like your content preferences and the things you search while attempting to surface relevant ads. Yes I can’t believe we’ve allowed society to decay to this level too Doc. And yes I’ll get off your lawn Doc. No I know it’s cold out today Doc. Yes Doc I’ll make sure the TV is set to record Murder She Wrote.





Quick Hitters



How The Guardian Lost America

Publisher does great reporting in underreported niches. Wins a pulitzer. Thinks they can report on everything now. Burns through money and dies a quiet death.



Introducing the BuzzFeed Channel for Shopify



A Messaging App for Ethereum Just Raised $44 Million With Barely An Alpha





Shameless Self Promotion

Podcast Episode #10 // Dan Layfield (Adpipes)

Sure I already told you about this last week… but did you actually listen to it? Like really listen to it? You should probably listen to it again.







Thanks for reading and have a great week! Or don’t. I’m not the boss of you.

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