Data's Making Branded Content More Valuable to Publishers (and Brands)

As Facebook and YouTube continually change algorithms, brands and publishers are beginning to take matters into their own hands. Data is the main driver for successful video and written content offerings now, with specialized targeting a key -- but most importantly, a wider data set on who customers are and what they want out of content.USA Today's branded content studio is one successful shop leaning on data, and content metadata has combined with machine learning  to assist publishers in get a better read on what viewers want. That ability also allows for more effective ads; more so than many were able to serve before.Your video advertising and personalization week-in-review is below. See something we missed? Drop us a line.USA Today's Branded Content Studio Is Thriving Thanks to a Focus on Data [Adweek]But an integral part of that process is for advertisers to clearly define as part of their programmatic strategy what brand safety means to their particular brand. Brand safety is a subjective metric, Kratchman said, and the tolerance threshold varies for every brand. One brand’s safety nightmare is another brand’s media buy, and platforms are going to have to adapt to that. The adaptation has begun, with a combination of technological solutions and human oversight, both of which are necessary to give advertisers the control they demand, said Ken Suh, COO of News Corp.-owned video ad platform Unruly.How Machine Learning Is Changing the Game for Content Metadata [Multichannel News]This is where machine learning comes in. Not only does machine learning help companies keep up with the tsunami of content, it can better enrich metadata and enable distributors to get the right entertainment in front of the right viewers at the right time. Machine learning takes metadata beyond cast, title and descriptions, and enables content to be enhanced with many new data descriptors such as keywords, dynamic popularity ratings, and moods, to name a few.Facebook will ‘completely deprioritize publishers’: Confessions of a publisher audience development head [Digiday]We don’t use Instant Articles, and we didn’t pivot to video, but Facebook has encouraged us not to pivot to video, very candidly so. The opportunities for monetization there are basically nil. The ROI for the kind of investment required to put out the amount of video some folks are putting out there isn’t there. And with Instant Articles, being a first candidate for alpha and beta testing is predicated on being there, but the dev lift would be such a heavy lift for not much return.Facebook could learn a lot from Spotify when it comes to making money from video [Business Insider]Facebook has been researching the different ways people interact with ads in different environments. They have found that people will tolerate interruptive video ads as long as they aren't too long. Perhaps. But it's awfully early in establishing the ad mores for Watch. Maybe 30 minutes of ad-free isn't the way to go here. Shorter sessions might be better. Global OTT Viewing Skyrockets by 100% [VideoInk]The OTT video trend has expanded its reach by 100%, according to a new report by video AI platform Conviva. The report suggests that the amount of people who are watching content via streaming has doubled, with viewing taking place on more than 2.4 billion devices, up 9% from the company’s previous study. The U.S. accounted for 58% of OTT viewing, followed by Europe with 21%, Asia with 19% and the rest of the world with 2%.SKIM THIS'The future of cable': Looking beyond Facebook, publishers eye streaming TV bundles [Digiday]How Volkswagen is Using Artificial Intelligence for Ad Buying Decisions [Digiday]Mobile Video Will Benefit Publishers, Advertisers & Consumers: Q&A with Maggie Mesa, OpenX [Exchange Wire]Facebook says its AI work is alive and well, even after closing M [Fast Company]Why AI is the New Battleground for Brand Marketers [Adweek]With $35M In Investments, TUBI TV Has Established Itself As A Leading Free Streaming Service [Forbes]