A summary of the most exciting recent news in online video in the U.S., U.S.-Hispanic and Latin American markets. If you’re trying to keep up, consider this your one-stop shop.
U.S./U.S.-HISPANIC MARKET
APP NEXUS RELEASES DIGITAL ADVERTISING INDEX FOR Q4 2015: App Nexus‘s index for Q4 2015 revealed that average CPMs rose from below 20 cents last summer to $1.60 in the span of a few months as part of the company’s anti-fraud efforts against invalid traffic. Impression transactions went down more than 90% from December to September. The company says that this drop came from getting rid of the single impressions that were sold multiple times before being served to a real person.
R3 RELEASES TRENDS IN AD-TECH: Global marketing consulting firm R3 put together a report, Adtech 40, with the best examples of ad-tech across the globe. Asia and North America were responsible for 30% of the winning examples, 47% leveraged technology to increase engagement, a fifth of the winners incorporated a mobile component, and in general, marketers were found to be moving away from AORs to collaboration with other agencies, vendors.
SNAPCHAT DEVELOPING API? Maybe, according to sources. The move would open huge opportunities for advertising on the platform, as advertising options are currently limited to ‘Snapchat Stories’. Insiders also claim that Snapchat is making a general move towards large-scale advertising, and will allow ad tech companies to connect with Snapchat users through micro targeting similar to that of Facebook and Twitter.
VERIZON INVESTS IN DATA MINING: The telecommunications giant has invested $5.5 million in Qualia, which focuses on mining intent data. The move suggests that telecommunications firms are looking for ways to acquire cross-screen data and increase revenue through revenue streams other than mobile subscriptions.
MORE ACQUISITIONS: Time Inc. has reportedly acquired Viant, an ad-tech company that also owns MySpace, the advertising cloud product Vindico, Specific Media and Xumo. As a part of the deal, Time will run Viant as an independent business and create a Big Data-driven advertising operation using Viant’s first-party data and programmatic capabilities. Time Inc. Chairman and CEO Joe Ripp says that through the move, Time ” will be able to deliver advertisers’ messages targeted to optimal audiences across all types of devices, along with the ability to measure ROI.”
TELENOR ACQUIRES TAPAD: Multinational telecommunications company Telenor has acquired NY-based cross-device retargeting startup Tapad, for $360 million, covering 95% of the company. Tapad focuses on cross-device marketing tech, and tracks billions of data points on multiple screens for mobile, PC and TV to understand consumer behavior online.
OPERA RECEIVES BUYOUT OF US$1.2 BILLION: A consortium of Chinese companies, including investment fund Golden Brick Silk Road, Kunlun Tech (a gaming company), Qihoo 360 (anti-virus and browser software) and Yonglian (Yinchuan) Investment Co., Ltd., bought Opera Mediaworks, the subsidiary for Opera’s desktop and mobile browser products.
WIDESPACE SECURES €15.8m IN GROWTH CAPITAL INVESTMENT: Mobile ad tech firm Widespace secured millions in investment to solidify its strategic position in Europe and invest in automation and data visualization.
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LATIN AMERICAN MARKET
APPLE CHANGES APP STORE PRICING IN MEXICO: Bad news, Mexico, New Zealand, Israel, Russia, Singapore and South Africa – Apple has informed developers that the App 
Store pricing will change slightly, including prices for in-app purchases. These changes come from fluctuations in exchange rates, and it is not the first time Apple has made similar moves.
ISOBAR ANNOUNCES NEW VP OF TECH: Alexandre Santos will take over as vice president of technology and operations out of ad agency Isobar‘s Sao Paulo office as part of the agency’s efforts to incorporate disruptive communications into its ad-tech strategy. Santos was previously the technology and project director at Isobar, and will be working on accounts for SKY, Fiat, Jeep, Whirlpool and Nivea.
COMSCORE RELEASES DATA ON DIGITAL ADVERTISING IN LATAM: comScore released its report, “Lessons in Digital Advertising,” which contained a few valuable insights into the industry in Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. Clicks and traffic were revealed to have less of a direct relation to the effectiveness of an advertisement (measured through increases in sales), targeting with cookies is effective for precise messages and obtaining data on demographics and behavior, but 29% of Latin American users eliminate them from their websites. And last but not least, the report revealed that audiences consume more and more content from different platforms and devices.
YOUNG & RUBICAM ARGENTINA HIRES A NEW HEAD OF PLANNING: Gonzalo Fonseca, ex director of planning and integration at Havas, will take over as head of planning at Y&R, where he will expand the agency’s planning and brand development efforts. His more than 25 years of experience at agencies like BBDO, McCann Ericsson, Grey, Casa Matriz, APG Argentina and J. Walter Thompson assure us that he is fit for the job.
OGILVY BRAZIL ACQUIRES NEW DIGITAL AGENCY: The WPP Group acquired majority participation in the agency 3yz, which specializes in online marketing. WPP is comprised of Ogilvy & Mather, Ogilvy One, Ogilvy PR, Ogilvy Salud, David, Etco Ogilvy, 9ine, Foster and Jussi Intention Marketing, but 3yz will function as a part of Ogilvy Brazil. The move is a part of WPP’s efforts to expand digital revenue, and 3yz’s clientele – Tramontina, Reebok, Shopping Iguatemi and Grenadine are clients – gives us reason to believe that they will be pleased with the results.
MEDIAMATH TEAMS UP WITH DYNADMIC: MediaMath, the company behind the TerminalOne marketing platform, and DynAdmic, dedicated to programmatic online video, are collaborating so that the latter’s premium online video inventory, which is based on an audio-recognition technology that classifies the videos being watched on the Internet at any given time, can be used to connect with consumers more efficiently. Through the deal, MediaMath can offer clients a better, more transparent way to buy inventory on Ad Exchanges.
