MM Tech, Media & Publishing Roundup #9

Advertising:

1. Fox says Super Bowl spots are going, going, almost gone

After the 2021 Super Bowl drew nearly 112 million viewers, it is no surprise that Fox has sold 95% of its ad inventory for the next Super Bowl scheduled for February 12th, 2023.  The 30-second ad placements on Fox currently exceed $7 million, a record-breaking number. 

“A lot of the NFL upfront deals were done in advance of your traditional entertainment marketplace, which is unique,” Mark Evans, Fox Sports Executive Vice President of Ad Sales, stated. “It speaks to the demand for marquee events.”
Via Fierce Video

2. Yahoo acquires source credibility algorithms with latest acquisition

Yahoo closed the financial deal to purchase The Factual, a news rating company that scores media bias and credibility, on August 23rd. Using this score, Yahoo will provide users with additional insight into the content's accuracy and reliability. 

Yahoo announced the new scoring system as a “first of its kind analysis of news stories,” going even further than fact-checking initiatives launched by Google, Facebook and YouTube.
Via Search Engine Journal

Technology:

3. Adobe Buys Figma For $20 Billion

Adobe closed a deal to buy Figma, reportedly worth $20 billion in cash and stock, expanding Adobe’s collaboration-focused offerings as it seeks to capture market share in the remote/hybrid work era.

“Together, Adobe and Figma will reimagine the future of creativity and productivity,  accelerate creativity on the web, advance product design and inspire global communities of creators, designers, and developers,” Adobe announced in a press release. 
Via Search Engine Journal

Social Media:

4. Instagram is beta testing new repost feature

Social Media Consultant, Matt Navarra, posted a picture on Twitter of the upcoming Instagram repost feature, as shown by Instagram Head, Adam Mosseri. 

Users will now be able to reshare content directly within their feed instead of in their stories, similar to other major platforms such as Twitter and TikTok.
Via Search Engine Journal 

5. YouTube experimenting with new features for analytics research tab

After the success of YouTube Search Insights, the platform has now added Watch Interest, Watch Activity and Personalized Insights to help creators identify content niches and their unique audiences.

These new features are intended to help content creators identify top, rising or recent videos within a topic and show what type of content a creator’s audience is viewing. If these new features are successful, YouTube has committed to rolling them out to a wider audience. 
Via Search Engine Journal

6. Snap powers AR experiences for Vogue World Event at New York Fashion Week

Snapchat has teamed up with Vogue in celebration of its 130th year with the Vogue World event on Monday 12th of September, during New York Fashion Week, with several custom-built Augmented Reality experiences tied to the event.

Attendees using the lens on Snapchat will see blossoming flowers emerging from the ground as models walk down the runway, and petals falling at the end of the catwalk. After the show, people can take full-body photos, and the Snap technology will show them what the garments would look like on them. 
Via Ad Week

7. Roblox is testing dynamic billboards in the Metaverse with new ad platform

Gaming platform Roblox has released new ad products that allow brands to place 3D promos within virtual worlds and games hosted on its platform. 

Roblox is adding several new types of immersive ads for brands to test in the coming months with the goal of launching its self-serve system within the following year. One of the new ad formats will consist of static images positioned like billboards or plastered onto buildings within a given world. 
Via Adweek

8. YouTube updates Masthead ad requirements to allow sports betting

From September 6th, 2022, YouTube will now be adding a new policy allowing sports betting ads to show on Mastheads, as long as the ads comply with the related gambling and games policy. The ads will be visible on desktops, mobile phones and TV screens. 
Via Search Engine Land

TikTok Updates:

9. ESPN launches creator network to attract Gen Z

ESPN is looking to collaborate with up-and-coming content creators to engage with niche sport fan communities on Instagram and TikTok, where the network has more than 26 million followers. 

The first iteration will feature 10 creators and focus on TikTok, beginning in October, and run for about four months. The creator network is a partnership with social-led content agency Blue Hour Studios.
Via Marketing Dive

10. TikTok adds additional regional trend insights

TikTok has added new features to its Creative Center platform, helping advertisers and creators understand their campaigns' audience, behaviors, opinions and effectiveness. Adding more insights, countries, industries, holidays and other key market trends to its insights tool.
Via Search Engine Land

11. Marketers look to TikTok’s new video ad offerings ahead of this year’s busy holiday shopping season

With the busiest time of the year for shoppers quickly approaching, TikTok is adding new shopping features to make it easier for consumers to discover and purchase products from the application. 

Three new features will allow advertisers to link their products in in-feed videos, advertise a catalog of products from videos and place clickable ads in live videos.
Via Digiday