CMO Today: Facebook Tweaks Algorithm to Favor People Over Publishers
June 30 2016 - 8:19AM
Dow Jones News
By Mike Shields
THE BOT'S WRATH: Many web publishers have gone all in on
distributing content through Facebook. And they're often asked
whether that dynamic is worrisome--relying on a platform they don't
control for such a big part of their business. Their response is
often something like, "Facebook needs us as much as we need them,"
though in private, executives are slightly less carefree. And
here's an example of why: Facebook announced that it is tweaking
its algorithm to favor real people's posts over publishers'
content, reports The Wall Street Journal. Can a mere algorithm
change make that big of a difference? Publishers might want to dial
up Zynga to ask. The good news is, the same thing happened to
marketers who built up big fan bases, only to see their Facebook
posts deprioritized by the algorithm. All they had to do was start
spending lots of money on Facebook ads to remedy the situation.
There, problem solved!
LITTLE WORRY: LittleThings is practically the poster child for
"web publisher that lives or dies on Facebook," with three-quarters
of its traffic coming from the social media giant. The company was
born as a pet product-oriented e-commerce vendor that built a
following with feel-good stories on social media, before morphing
into an accidental media company. LittleThings Chief Executive Joe
Speiser appeared on this week's WSJ Media Mix podcast to talk about
life as a media brand that relies--or one might argue thrives--on
Facebook. Mr. Speiser expressed little worry that publishers would
ever get squeezed out by Facebook's algorithm. Indeed, he told WSJ
that the latest algorithm tweak actually led to a bump in the
company's traffic, which he says is because Facebook users are more
likely to share the kind of "inspirational content" produced by the
site.
SLOW REVEAL: Nielsen has been promising to solve one of the
enduring mysteries of media: what are the ratings for shows on
Netflix and other streaming outlets? Media executives, tired of
hearing how totally awesome Netflix is and how it's stealing all
the millennials, have been clamoring for this information. Well,
Nielsen is now collecting lots of data and on Wednesday began
revealing a tiny bit to its clients, WSJ reports. From June 17 to
June 19, 6.7 million people streamed the season four debut of
"Orange is the New Black." The report shows that reruns of
"Seinfeld" on Hulu reached 706,000 U.S. viewers in the first five
days they were available. The Netflix audience is as young-skewing
as you probably thought (44% of streaming viewers of "Better Call
Saul" are ages 18 to 34, versus 24% on traditional TV). The
question for the TV and ad industry is, now that you finally have
some of this long-awaited data, what do you do with it? How can you
cater to a generation that clearly loves TV but likes it without a
linear schedule and without ads?
MASS HYSTERIA: Get ready for the next episode of Sumner's World.
This installment of the media industry's bizarre yet captivating
drama will take place today in a Massachusetts court, which will
hear a case brought by Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman and board member
George Abrams, WSJ reports. (Our Joe Flint will be on hand.) They
argue mogul Sumner Redstone wasn't of sound mind when he tossed
them as stewards of his empire. They'll be trying to make the
tricky legal case that Mr. Redstone was under the "undue influence"
of his daughter, Shari Redstone. The stakes are far higher now than
the last time the 93-year-old's mental competency was debated in
court in California. Then, it was all about whether he had the
right to evict an ex-girlfriend and remove her as his health proxy.
Now, the Great Game is on. Meanwhile, another front of the legal
battle in Delaware is on hold pending progress in
Massachusetts.
Elsewhere
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. is in advanced talks to acquire
the premium cable network Starz. The companies have had off-and-on
talks and have been close before. [ Bloomberg]
The ad tech IPO drought may soon end, as both Appnexus and The
Trade Desk--two venture backed companies focused on facilitating
automated ad-buying--may soon go public. [ AdExchanger]
The male-focused digital media company Woven Digital, which owns
sites such as Uproxx and BroBible, has raised $18.5 million in new
funding as it plans to push further into Web video. [ CMO
Today]
Snapchat has opened for business in France, and may start
signing up French media companies to create content for Snapchat
Discover. [ Variety]
RAPP Worldwide Chief Executive Alexei Orlov has resigned from
the Omnicom-owned direct marketing agency. Mr. Orlov has been
accused of discriminatory behavior by a former agency executive. [
CMO Today]
Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp says his company hasn't been impacted
much by ad blocking yet--but the magazine giant is working to get
away from "annoying" mobile banners ads to more engaging ad
products. [ Business Insider]
Viacom has promoted veteran executive Sean Moran to run its ad
sales operations, as former sales chief Jeff Lucas, after weeks of
news reports, is officially heading to Snapchat. [ Ad Age]
It takes roughly twice as long for mobile ads to load on
websites and apps compared to desktop ads, which is potentially a
deterrent to mobile advertising's growth and marketers' confidence
in the medium. [ CMO Today]
About Us
Follow us on Twitter: @wsjCMO, @digitalshields, @VranicaWSJ,
@JackMarshall, @nftadena, @perlberg, @srabil, @asharma
Subscribe to our morning newsletter, delivered straight to your
inbox, at http://on.wsj.com/CMOTodaySignup.
Write to Mike Shields at mike.shields@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 30, 2016 08:04 ET (12:04 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024