Digiday Sunday
Digiday:?It was a busy week chasing down stories ranging from a catch up on X and advertisers two years after Elon Musk purchased Twitter that found that relationship remains as fraught as ever, to how the nearly-concluded presidential race impacted publishers making – or not making – candidate endorsements. We ended the week with a flurry of political media and marketing pieces that looked at how creators – and even gaming platform Roblox – are approaching the final days of the long and contentious race and how AI is driving a wave of political misinformation across online platforms. And after a few years of hiatus, we also returned to Europe this past week with our Digiday Publishing Summit Europe in Barcelona which surfaced themes such as publisher concern regarding ad curation and how to offset search-driven traffic declines. The week’s most read pieces, keyed on an interesting mix of gaming, Gen Z and OOH and ad tech. – James Cooper
Story highlights
Alexander Lee had the most read piece of the week with a look at how a group of creators/streamers are accusing giant gaming platform Twitch of antisemitism after it disabled email signups for users located in Israel and Palestine following the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. The group has been approaching brands to boycott. Twitch’s push back is that they were trying to stop potentially violent content landing on the platform. As he reported, ‘The group of online organizers, led by creator Dan “DanCantStream” Saltman, has centered its criticisms of Twitch around the revelation that the platform had disabled email signups for users located in Israel and Palestine following the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023 and the following Israeli military action in Gaza. Twitch lifted the ban earlier this month, but the online organizers viewed the policy as an attempt to prevent Israelis from reporting on the conflict in the region and are using the opportunity to challenge advertisers on brand safety.’
Antoinette S. reported an interesting and well-read piece about a new Gen Z founded platform that hopes to redefine how out-of-home operates in pursuit of a young cohort. As she reported, ‘The new platform Anvara, founded by two Gen Z entrepreneurs who met in college, aims to make the media buying process simple for advertisers and suppliers — from campaign management to tracking impressions on physical products.The platform’s launch is slated for November, and it’s attracting various media agencies, sports teams and other brands that have expressed interest or put themselves on the waitlist to join the online marketplace.’
Ronan Shields had a smart news analysis of ad tech giant Criteo’s mixed third-quarter earnings during which it pointed to its partnership with Microsoft and what it sees as opportunities in retail media as bright points against the larger backdrop of an uncertain digital advertising futur e. As he reported, ‘Criteo posted mixed results for the three months ending Sept. 30. Revenues were $459 million, representing a 2% annual decline, although gross profit increased 13% to $232 million during the period. These results — announced a day after Google posted further declines in its display ad business — indicate the?challenges facing the broader digital landscape?as it attempts to wrestle with the transition to ad targeting without third-party cookies.’
Krystal Scanlon had a great piece that performed all week that looked at the present relationship between X and advertisers two years after Elon Musk purchased Twitter – as she reported things remain fraught and tense . ‘Exactly two years ago today (Oct. 28), billionaire?Elon Musk started his first day as owner / CEO of then-Twitter. As the platform transformed into a hotbed of divisive content, many marketers?swiftly pulled their ad dollars, anxious about their brands being tied to either controversial topics or Musk himself. Now, as the dust settles, the answer to the question of whether advertisers will reconsider their stance has never been more complex.
Marty Swant , as our election coverage hit with a flurry of stories at the end of the week and before election day on Tuesday, took a look at the flood of AI-powered misinformation onto social platforms . As he reported in his weekly AI Briefing, ‘Reports this week reveal increasing chaos from AI and non-AI content on platforms like Meta and X. The BBC?reported?that X is paying some users thousands of dollars to share political misinformation including AI images about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal?noted?that X’s algorithm is filling feeds with unwanted political content, while Wired found Meta is auto-generating Facebook groups for militias organizing ahead of Election Day. And just last month, U.S. intelligence officials?warned?that Russia and Iran are attempting to influence the election by using AI in social media and fake news articles.’
Kimeko McCoy ’s edition of the Digiday Podcast featured a chat with Rich Lehrfeld, svp and general manager of?Walmart Connect during which he discussed his media buying background and how that experience can influence the retail media giant’s media strategy.’ Give a listen here
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?Here are the Digiday + Briefings for the week
See you next Sunday!