Info Tech
Google seeks brand advertising billions with YouTube
SAN FRANCISCO – Google is stepping up an effort to win more advertising dollars from brands because the Internet giant sees this area as one of the next big drivers of its revenue growth.
The push focuses on the YouTube online video business, but also includes Google’s display ad network and its social network Google Plus.
Google already dominates performance-related ads online through its leading search engine, limiting future growth there. Brand advertising is a big market that the company has yet to crack, giving it much more room to grow.
Digital brand advertising spending will grow from $18 billion this year to $31 billion by 2017, while spending on direct response, or performance, ads online will climb from $25 billion to $32 billion in the same period, according to eMarketer.
“The opportunity for brand advertisers and Google to work together is enormous,” said Lucas Watson, vice president of brand solutions at Google. “We have massive growth in front of us.”
The total brand advertising market, which includes digital, TV and more traditional offline ads, is worth at least $300 billion a year, he noted.
“Google has always wanted to participate in things that can be big and meaningful,” added Watson, who previously worked for Procter & Gamble, the world’s biggest advertiser.
Google’s ad business recently separated into a performance advertising group and a brand advertising group. Before that, the business was organized by ad products, such as search, display, social and mobile. Google made the change to be more in tune with its advertising customers, according to Watson.
YouTube is the most important part of Google’s brand advertising push because more people are watching online video instead of traditional TV. If this shift continues, brands are expected to move some of the massive amounts of money they spend on TV ads to online video.
“Advertisers now think that short form video is a relevant home for brand advertising and YouTube is responding,” said Rob Norman, chief digital officer at GroupM Global, a division of advertising giant WPP that is the largest buyer of online media.
In coming months, Google will re-package YouTube to look more familiar to TV advertisers, Norman said.
The online video service will be segmented into categories focused on specific topics such as music, comedy, arts, sports, health, wellness and beauty. Google will share data on the audience and volume of videos available in these categories, Norman explained.
“YouTube will be more like a cable TV line-up rather than this morass that sometimes people see as YouTube now,” said Norman, who works with clients including AT&T, Unilever and Volkswagen.
That will be significant because it will make it easier for big brands that traditionally spend heavily on TV ads to evaluate YouTube and buy ads on the service in a similar way, he explained.
Google spokeswoman Andrea Faville confirmed the new approach and said the company has already started presenting YouTube this way.
Google also recently said it will start using Nielsen’s Online Campaign Ratings, or OCR, service, which will help advertisers measure the performance of YouTube ads in a similar way to how they track TV ads.
Google had resisted using Nielsen OCR, a stance that meant YouTube probably missed out on “hundreds of millions of dollars” in business from ad agencies, according to Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group. Adopting OCR will likely accelerate YouTube’s ad revenue growth next year, he added.
While OCR may help Google win more brand advertisers, a longer-term improvement in the quality of YouTube videos has made the site even more attractive to these heavy spenders, according to David Cohen, chief investment officer at Universal McCann, part of Interpublic Group, one of the world’s biggest advertising companies.
YouTube used to be mostly user-generated content, such as videos of cats doing funny things. Now there’s broadcast-quality video from movie studios like Sony and Paramount and an entirely new type of video content from companies such as Maker Studios, Machinima and Fullscreen.
“This second tier is where the change has happened,” Cohen said. “This is content with relatively high production values – one or two steps above user generated content and a step below broadcast. There’s tremendous depth here that is tremendously monetizable and a friendly environment for brands.”
This improvement can be measured by how much more advertisers are prepared to pay for YouTube ads, compared to Hulu, the online video service with the highest-quality content at the moment.
CPMs, or cost per thousand impressions, on Hulu are $20 to $35, while YouTube gets $10 to $20. About two years ago, Hulu was $35 to $40 and YouTube was in the $5 to $10 range, according to Cohen.
“We work with a lot of TV friendly brands and our activities have grown exponentially with them on YouTube in the past three years,” he added. “More than 100%.”
Some ad agencies have even struck so-called upfront deals with YouTube. This usually only happens in the TV business when agencies want to secure space on hot upcoming TV shows ahead of time.
Publicis Groupe units DigitasLBi and Razorfish recently committed more than $100 million for future ad slots on Google sites including YouTube and Google Plus. Watson said more upfront deals are in the works, although he would not share more details.
However, GroupM’s Norman questioned the need for big upfront deals with YouTube.
“You enter an upfront either to lock up inventory you can’t live without or because you believe the price will be higher if you don’t do it,” he said. “Right now, you don’t see constrained supply on YouTube at significant price increases.”
Norman and others also questioned YouTube’s reach. The site is huge with men under 30, making it a must-buy for brands looking to target that demographic, but it lags in other areas.
“A bigger question is whether YouTube is a must-buy for a financial-services company that wants to get older, wealthier people to switch credit cards,” he said.
Google’s video ad properties reached 36% of the U.S. population in September, which would make it the 33rd largest cable network, just after National Geographic and before Bravo, Pivotal’s Wieser noted, citing comScore and Rentrak data.
Facebook, which is also trying to attract more brand advertisers and may be developing a video ad product, has much wider reach. Facebook highlighted this in a recent presentation, which also criticized YouTube, according to TechCrunch.
Google will need to invest a lot more in higher quality video content to win more of the brand advertising dollars that currently go to traditional TV, according to Wieser.
But it has begun to seriously focus on this goal and advertisers have noticed.
“I don’t have clients saying I have to be on YouTube, but I have no clients saying they don’t want to be on YouTube,” said Shelby Saville, a digital executive at media agency Spark. “Clients used to say it was not brand safe but that doesn’t happen anymore.”
– USA TODAY
In efforts at spicing up the 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue, the management of ITREALMS Media has partnered with E-waste Producer Responsibility Organization of Nigeria (EPRON) membership organisations for a day-long collection scheme of small electronic waste on Friday, December 15, 2023.
The EPRON members aligning their partnership with 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue are EL-AS Tech Enterprises Limited and WEEE Eco-Friendly.
ITREALMS’ day-long collection scheme is part of the commemoration of 2023 international E-Waste Day (IEWD) within the ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue with the theme “You Can Recycle Anything with a plug, battery or cable” at Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Lagos.
Revealing this collaboration, the Group Executive Editor, ITREALMS Media, the organisers of the 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue, Sir. Remmy Nweke, urged mobile device enthusiasts to come along with their devices that have reached their end-of-life to the venue for proper disposition by professionals who would also be on grounds to address some topical issues.
The collection of small electronic wastes especially mobile phones and like-devices, would be carried out by EPRON member organisation, EL-AS Tech Enterprises Limited as facilitated by ITREALMS Media group as part of this year’s ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue on Friday, December 15, he added.
He disclosed that the exercise would commence at Welcome Centre Hotel by 9am till close of work hours the same day.
Nweke pointed out that the collection of small e-waste items would include mobile phones, pointers mouse, earpieces, rechargeable torches, phone chargers, to name a few.
Further, he said, that this initiative has become time-serving because some people may have missed any other opportunity before now for the year-long campaign, hence this awareness on e-Waste has to be continuous, “ITREALMS came up with this scheme.”
Nweke beckoned on Nigerians, especially mobile phone users, to leverage the opportunity in disposing of their mobile devices they no longer use, of course in exchange for a voucher or gift item.
In her reaction to this year’s day-long small waste collection, EPRON Executive Secretary, Mrs. Ibukun Faluyi, described the initiative as commendable, expressing confidence it would intensify the collection of end-of-life devices for proper disposition.
Mrs. Faluyi, also urged Nigerians to take advantage of this day-long collection of small wastes courtesy of ITREALMS Media.
Recalling for instance that in October 2022, EPRON had partnered SLOT alongside some UN agencies for collection of small e-waste items in Lagos, including the United Nations Information Centres (UNIC), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).
This is even as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr. Aminu Maida and Director-General, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Prof. Aliyu Jauro, would both lead speakers at the 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue slated for this Friday, December 15, in Lagos.
Today, September 12, the tech corporation Apple will introduce the iPhone 15, their newest iPhone model.
According to a Forbes story, this model, which will be introduced at the company’s “Wanderlust” event in Cupertino, California, will be available in four variations: the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Here are five things you should know about the new iPhone 15 model.
1. The new model is made of titaniu, not stainless steel as some other Apple smartphone models, Senior research analyst at DIGITIMES, Luke Lin reports.
2. The Pro Max model will feature double the optical zoom on the iPhone 14 as it comes with a newly-introduced ‘periscope lens upgrade, performing 5-6x optical zoom.’
3. The Pro models will carry an A17 bionic chip expected to make it perform faster.
4. The iPhone 15 model will feature a USB-C charging port, the same port featured on some Android phone models.
5. Due to its titanium shell, the new model is anticipated to be more expensive to purchase. The following is the speculated price list, as reported by Forbes:
The iPhone 15 starts at $799, the iPhone 15 Plus at $899, the iPhone 15 Pro at $1,099 ($100 increase), and the iPhone 15 Pro Max at $1,299 ($200 increase).
In an effort to reduce the exorbitant cost of Premium Motor Spirit, better known as petrol, the Infrastructure Bank Plc announced its collaboration with FEMADEC Group on Monday to offer 500 buses powered by autogas (Compressed Natural Gas).
Partners in the agreement claimed that the project was created to provide citizens with dependable, affordable, and environmentally friendly travel options, taking into account the negative effects of the nationwide increase in PMS costs.
Under Decree No. 51 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1992 Constitution, the Infrastructure Bank, originally known as the Urban Development Bank of Nigeria Plc, was founded in 1992 to promote the quick development of infrastructure throughout the nation.
In a statement issued in Abuja on its partnership with FEMADEC, the bank said, “The preliminary offer extended by TIB lays a solid foundation for the expansion of FEMADEC Group’s CNG bus fleet.
“With plans to introduce 500 CNG buses within the next five years, commencing with an initial batch of 50 buses in the forthcoming year, this proposal stands poised to instigate significant change.
“The acceptance of this proposition by FEMADEC Group, notably championed by Fola Akinnola, the Group Chief Executive Officer, is a testament to their zeal and dedication to this alliance.”
The bank described the partnership as a “pivotal endeavour that is primed to redefine Nigeria’s public transportation landscape, offering dependable, cost-effective, and ecologically conscious travel alternatives for citizens, while harmonising with the nation’s broader sustainability ambitions.”
“This partnership represents a remarkable stride towards a more ecologically aware future for Nigeria’s transportation sector, highlighting the shared commitment of both TIB and FEMADEC Group to sustainable advancement and progress.”
It said FEMADEC Group’s strides in operating Compressed Natural Gas buses, including the existing fleet of 20 CNG buses under LAMATA, underscored their unwavering dedication to ecologically sound solutions, a commitment predating the fuel subsidy removal.
“Their leadership within the CNG value chain is undeniable, and the new alliance with TIB underscores their foresight.
“This partnership seamlessly aligns with TIB’s sustainability objectives, echoing their resolute endorsement of the government’s net-zero and climate change agenda.
“The bank’s aspiration to champion Nigeria’s infrastructure progress is evident in its endorsement of pivotal initiatives like this, yielding expansive positive impacts on both the environment and society,” the bank stated.
The bank added that it would continue to make a significant contribution to the country’s growth as a leading financial institution committed to advancing effective and long-lasting infrastructure projects.
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