Tag: verizon

Brands Can Pay To Have Their Apps Installed On Verizon Phones

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Verizon is giving brands a chance to establish a presence on new subscribers’ mobile phones. The telecom carrier is reportedly offering to pre-install some apps from paying brands on Android phones it sells, seeking between $1 and $2 for each device. Verizon currently has 75 million smartphone subscribers and activates about 10 million new phones every quarter. It’s unclear whether Verizon has sold any branded app pre-installations yet.

What Brands Need To Do
Convincing a consumer to install a standalone branded app is usually a hard sale. According to a study by Deloitte, 80% of branded apps are downloaded fewer than 1,000 times, and only 1% of them are downloaded over one million times. In this regard, Verizon’s offer can be helpful for brands eager to push their branded apps and get them in front of a wider audience. However, Verizon’s offer does not guarantee app usage or engagement, as users are free to delete or ignore pre-installed apps. In order to truly win over mobile consumers, brands still need to focus on making their apps functional, easy to use, and provide true value to customers.

 

Source: AdAge

Verizon To Acquire Yahoo’s Core Assets For $4.8 Billion

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Verizon announced on Monday morning that it has reached an agreement to acquire Yahoo’s core assets, primarily its internet business along with some real estate, for $4.8 billion in cash. Verizon says it plans to integrate Yahoo’s internet assets into AOL, which it acquired for $4.4 billion last year. Pending the usual regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to close in Q1 2017.

Why Brands Should Care
Much like buying AOL, this Yahoo acquisition should give Verizon’s ad business a strong boost in terms of audience reach and user data. The online properties and user data that Yahoo brings complements the mobile properties and user data that Verizon already has, and the combined data pool should significantly increase the cross-platform targeting capability of Verizon’s ad operations, similarly to the way that buying AOL’s ad operations has. Granted, the operation likely won’t be able to truly challenge Google and Facebook’s dominant positions in the mobile advertising space. But by joining forces, it might emerge as a competitive rival that provides an alternative for brands to consider when it comes to digital advertising.

Source: Ad Exchange

AT&T Plans To Launch A Mobile Content App

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following Verizon’s Go90, AT&T wants to become the next telecom carrier to launch a mobile app with ad-supported entertainment content, according to chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson. Moreover, AT&T is also looking to create more original content for DirecTV and mobile.

Market Impact
Just as Verizon looks to leverage its vast amount of customer data to sell ads in Go90, with some help from AOL’s ad networks, AT&T’s entry into the content market will also provide brands with a new video channel to reach a millennial mobile audience that are usually not buyable on subscription-based streaming services, targeting them with video ads based on demographic and behavioral consumer data.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Verizon To Test “Sponsored Data”

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
In what would be the mobile-data equivalent of toll-free calls, Verizon will start testing a “sponsored data” program where a third-party sponsor can pay for the data consumers use to access certain content on their mobile devices. The telecom giant is set to begin piloting the program within the next few days, with a wider rollout planned fro early next year. Previously, Verizon said in July that its Go90 mobile video service would include “ad-sponsored data.”

What Brands Need To Do
Allowing third parties to pay for consumer’s data usage can be a powerful marketing tool for brands. At a time when one in five American consumers report they are “almost constantly” online, it is becoming increasingly important for brands to not only create great content, but also provide easy access to their content. Therefore, brands should consider using sponsored data to encourage consumers to view branded content and download their apps.

Source: Re/Code

NBA Content Is Coming To Verizon’s Go90

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Verizon is adding NBA content to the lineup of its streaming service Go90, as the telecom giant inks a multi-year marketing and content deal with the basketball league. This pact will grant Go90 users access to some live games as well as highlights and original NBA programming. Moreover, viewers will be able to buy individual games via NBA’s “League Pass” programming with Go90’s a la carte option.

What Brands Need To Do
As we wrote when Verizon launched Go90 this summer, Verizon stands to offer brands strong targeting tools on Go90’s ad-supported platform by combining its vast amount of consumer data with the ad tech it acquired from AOL. By adding premium content such as live sports to its platform, Go90 should be able to draw an audience sizable enough to warrant ad buying. Therefore, brands need to be mindful of the great advertising potential it presents.

 

Source: AdAge

Verizon Plans New Wireless Network Exclusively for Connected Devices

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Does the Internet of Things need a cellular network of its own? Verizon seems to think so. The nation’s largest wireless service provider announced on Wednesday that it is building a new 4G LTE network core specifically designed for connected devices that only require occasional internet access for small amounts of data. Currently, each connected device is treated as just another mobile device when plugged into the existing cellular core networks, which isn’t very cost effective regardless of carrier.

Market Impact
The high minimum monthly fee remains a major barrier to mass adoption of connected devices. Therefore, Verizon’s initiative to cut the cost for low-data-usage devices is a step in the right direction for the development of the IoT market. Lower the monthly fee should help encourage further proliferation of connected devices and enable more everyday devices to come online.

 

Source: Re/Code

Verizon To Share Its “Supercookie” Data With AOL For Ad Targeting

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
When news broke back in May that Verizon acquired AOL for a whopping $4.4 billion, we made an educated guess that the telecom giant must be after AOL’s impressive arsenal of ad technologies and platforms. This has been proven correct today as Verizon is now reportedly going to combine data from its “supercookie” — a Unique Identifier Header (UIDH) cookie that tracks Verizon’s mobile users — with AOL’s expansive ad network for better mobile targeting. Also, about a month ago, AOL quietly acquired mobile ad platform Millennial Media, which marked Verizon’s official entry into mobile advertising business.

What Brands Need To Do
By adding its supercookie data into the mix, Verizon is aiming to up its ad targeting capability and appeal to mobile advertisers. While Verizon’s use of supercookie has been controversial, there will likely be improved targeting tools for brands and marketers can use to provide a better, more personalized ad experience. Verizon also says in their privacy docs that they will use the data for its new ad-supported video service, Go90, offering brands another way to reach today’s mobile-first audience.

 

Source: Marketing Land

Comcast And Verizon Launch Ad-Supported Video Streaming Platforms

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
The OTT video space just got a bit more crowded, with Comcast and Verizon both launching their video streaming platforms this week. First announced in mid-August, Comcast’s Watchable officially launched on Tuesday with 30 content partners, including Buzzfeed, Disney’s Maker Studios, Vice, and Vox, and is available on set-top boxes for Comcast customers, as well as mobile apps and online for anyone in the U.S.

Similarly, after teasing it for two months since late July, Verizon will officially open its video streaming service Go90 to the public on Thursday. Unlike Watchable, Go90 will only be available on mobile apps. But it is also ad-supported, and free to use for all mobile users in the States, regardless of carrier. Content-wise, Go90 includes a mixture of traditional TV content provided by partners such as Discovery and Viacom, live sports such as college football games, as well as some original digital shorts commonly seen on YouTube.

What Brands Need To Do
Since both services are ad-supported, brands, especially those seeking millennials, can reach their target audience with video ads that are usually not buyable on subscription-based streaming services. In comparison, Watchable seems to have an edge over Go90 in content, which is supplied by a batch of digital publishers popular among millennials. But with the support of AOL’s ad tech, which Verizon acquired earlier this year, Go90 could offer brands better targeting and customization for their ads. It remains to be seen whether these two new services will be able to draw an audience sizable enough to warrant ad buying. Nevertheless, brands of all types would be smart to stay mindful of the ongoing changes in the digital video space and adjust their ad buying strategy accordingly.

 

Source: Variety and CNET

Verizon’s OTT Service To Feature Content From Vice News And NCAA Games

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
New details have emerged on Go90, Verizon’s mobile video service first announced in July. The platform will feature a mix of select TV series and short-form videos, including original content from digital studios including Vice Media, DreamWorksTV, and Collective Digital Studio. Live programming featured on the app will include NCAA football and basketball games, as well as international soccer matches. The service will be available via a free, ad-supported mobile app for both Android and iOS devices.

What Brands Should Do
As we previously wrote, Verizon has long been making good use of the consumer data it acquires through its wireless service, including app usage and web browsing habits. Combined with AOL’s ad tech that Verizon now owns, the Go90 could offer brands some great ad targeting. If Verizon can provide compelling content for its platform, Go90 could grow into a late-bloomer in the OTT market, and a rare one that is actually ad-friendly.

 

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Why Verizon Is Launching Its Own Streaming Service Go90

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Verizon is reportedly getting ready to launch its own mobile-first, video streaming service named Go90 this summer, which will allow users to stream full episodes of TV shows from selected networks as well as music videos and other short-form content. Sources claim that Verizon will offer the service entirely free of charge, at least initially. Some of the content that Verizon gained through the recent AOL acquisition will also be added to the service.

What Brands Should Do
Verizon has long been making good use of the vast amount of consumer data gathered through its wireless service., including app usage and web browsing habits. That, coupled with the ad tech that AOL owns, could offer brands strong ad targeting tools on Go90’s ad-supported platform. Admittedly, it may be too early to tell if Go90 will be able to attract enough users that warrants brands’ attention. Nethertheless, brands need to be mindful of the great advertising potential it has.

 

Source: Variety