Yahoo Promises “Market-First” TV Measurement And New Web3 Tech

Yahoo unveiled a range of new adtech tools and features at its 2023 Newfront Showcase yesterday, ranging from Connected TV measurement to new Web3 tech promising to make marketing cheaper and more effective.

Yahoo Advanced TV Suite is a new tool, built in partnership with Samba TV, to bring real data from more than 350,000 Aussie homes back to marketers. The Advanced TV Suite is a new group of tools allowing marketers to forecast the incremental household reach of their digital media on top of linear TV and measure it.

Following the announcement, the company said it is now the only provider in Australia that is able to forecast, target, and measure household reach across all digital media.

“Whilst the rest of the industry was focusing on Total TV, we were focusing on Total TV and Total Digital Media. It’s a massive step towards cracking the toughest marketing nut, true marketing effectiveness,” said Andrew Gilbert, head of platform strategy for ANZ.

“In 2023, there’s a welcome shift to Total Media measurement by Australia’s major media networks. And the Yahoo Advanced TV Suite will help you plan, measure and negotiate better for years to come, giving you the full picture of your TV and digital investment.”

ConnectID Digital Identity

Yahoo also announced improvements to ConnectID — its cookie-replacing digital identity solution — and it will now allow brands and publishers to bring their own first party data to the table to help in a safe, secure and privacy compliant way.

As a result, Yahoo has added an extra 40 million logged-in users to ConnectID’s addressable identity footprint, bringing the global total to 290 million.

“ConnectID is different- it isn’t a patchwork hack that can be squashed by the next change to regulation or tracking, because it’s a completely privacy centric, real-time, scalable solution and therefore incredibly powerful,” said Dan Richardson, head of data for Yahoo APAC.

“We’re already seeing results. For example, an Australian security brand saw Next Gen Audiences account for 60% of clicks across iOS, with non-addressable, or unknown environments representing 84% of total targeted impressions for the campaign.

“Publishers are also seeing a material benefit from the NextGen Audience solution, with a 53% average lift in their CPMs compared to previously non-targeted impressions.”

Web3

The company revealed that it is working on a “huge innovation” in the web3 space.

Called VPS (Visual Positioning System) it will let marketers localise users, their devices, and drop multiplayer, always-on AR content straight to them. This technology will make it cheaper and easier for marketers to utilise immersive technologies to power their campaigns.

Zoe Cocker, head of innovation and creative studio, said: “Imagine as a marketer, you can build your very own Pokémon Go-style activation in your local city. Unlocking epic AR experiences for consumers that interact with the iconic landmark they are standing near.

“This brings your brand to life in a way that no 2D digital experience can, truly blurring the digital and physical. These campaigns are exciting on their own, but supremely impactful when they’re coupled with our world-class omnichannel platform to engage more people, wherever they are.

“I truly believe there’s an exciting future ahead of us creatively. As a marketer this isn’t something you can afford to ignore.”

Increasing Trust in Publishers 

Yahoo has acquired The Factual, which assigns trust ratings to news sources. The Factual’s algorithm will give Yahoo users article ratings based on a media bias and credibility score.

The score will provide consumers  insight into the content they are reading and, when applied to millions of users, the company said it “can increase confidence in the news.” Hopefully it skips over B&T.

Rachel Page, general manager of sales at Yahoo ANZ, said: “At Yahoo trust underpins everything we do. It is why we continue to see strong growth and performance across all of our mastheads in the market. Adding The Factual to the mix is proof of our commitment to help people enjoy a better internet experience, it’s an exciting innovation to be a part of.”