A summary of the most exciting recent news in online video and ad tech in the US, US-Hispanic and Latin American markets. If you’re trying to keep up, consider this your one-stop shop.
US-US/HISPANIC MARKET
Digital publishing company Playwire Media has signed video inventory management platform SpotX to manage their video ad deals across owned-and-operated (O&O) sites as well as their syndication partners. Playwire Media, which is a digital representation firm as well as an online video platform (OVP), will employ SpotX’s ad server and programmatic infrastructure to monetize its video inventory across its portfolio, including flagship partners CinemaBlend.com, BleedingCool.com and SuperCheats.com. One of SpotX’s key features that Playwire Media will utilize is the predictive viewability targeting tool within its ad server, which enables the publisher to pre-emptively meet the differing viewability requirements of buyers.
Popular gossip and news site MailOnline announced that its programmatic revenue has increased by 48% through selling its display inventory through header bidding.
Multiscreen audience technology company YuMe company released its Publisher’s Guide, which highlights consumer survey results focused on understanding the relationship between video viewing habits and ad receptivity. The guide revealed, among other interesting data, that users are more receptive to ads in the morning, that they prefer a single long ad over multiple short ads, that content quality matters, and that ad receptivity on tablets is higher than on smartphones in the morning, though ad receptivity is higher on smartphones in the evening.
The CW and Ford signed Twitter Amplify upfront deals to place videos in CW Twitter accounts. The Twitter Amplify program allows brands to run their ads in different categories of content.
DashBid announced DashBid360, a 360-degree video ad unit that runs on almost all platforms and screens. Users can move their phones or mouse to see ads from different angles.
Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. announced the addition of a full video channel line-up to its LaMusica music streaming app. It is available now and builds on its immersive mobile music offering with bi-cultural/bi-lingual, short-form vertical video content highlighting the world of Latin music, entertainment and pop-culture, created specifically by and for Hispanic millennials.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released its international mobile report, “Mobile Commerce: A Global Perspective,” revealing new insights about purchases on smartphones and tablets from users across 19 different countries. The study revealed that 76% of mobile purchasers have engaged with a mobile ad in the last six months and on average, and 33% clicked on the ad to find out more information. 60% of mobile purchasers from around the world discover products and services to buy on social platforms.
GumGum, a computer vision platform for marketers, announced its renewed partnership with Wenner Media, publisher of 
Rolling Stone, Us Weekly, and Men’s Journal brands, to deliver GumGum’s premium In-Image and In-Screen ad units to Wenner Media’s leading publications. The partnership first began in August of 2015.
Get ready for the 2017 Online Video Marketing Guide to be published on October 25, 2016 with the latest stats/projections and intelligence on the Ad-Driven Online Video market (OTT) throughout the Americas. To align your brand with this important annual reference and thought leadership report, please contact Portada’s Sales and Marketing Director Kelley Eberhardt at [email protected].
In reaction to Facebook’s announcement that it was misreporting the average viewing time on its video platforms, Bob Liodice, president and CEO of the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) said the news was “troubling” in his ANA blog posting on Sept 29. He also said that Facebook “not yet achieved the level of measurement transparency that marketers need and require.” GroupM issued a similar statement.
LATAM MARKET
Mexican broadcaster Televisa announced that it has signed content distribution deals with NBCUniversal and its Spanish-language unit Telemundo to add films and series to its roster and improve its recently launched streaming video service. The deal also included expanding Televisa’s existing contract for free-to-air television and blim, its streaming video service.
According to eMarketer, in Latin America, 32% of the population will use smartphones in 2016, and Latin America is projected to spend 69.8% of its digital ad budget on mobile by 2020.
The Brazilian digital agency Jüssi announced that it will be integrating its programmatic media buying area with its media planning department to improve measurement of campaigns’ impact and efficiency.
The video ad tech company DynAdmic announced its Weather Sync solution in Brazil, giving advertisers the ability to segment campaigns according to the weather in each user’s area.
Brazilian publisher iG and the local marketplace Apontador will be working with targeted content to offer online-to-offline (O2O) spaces to advertisers.
