Robert Andrews

Confidence in the effectiveness of TV ads is relatively stable, and big brands seem satisfied. But online ad tech vendor Tremor Video thinks it can improve on that effectiveness, regardless. New York-headquartered Tremor offers advertisers its service that improves short online video pre-roll ads, which typically get shovelled from linear TV ad slots, with interactive […]

One month ago, music streamer Spotify made a change which lets mobile and tablet users listen to more music for free. Previously, off-PC usage required a premium subscription. But Spotify’s change is not just a goodwill gift to users – it points to the growing part advertisers play in a business that has always relied […]

Cloud-based infrastructure can revolutionize the TV business says one internet TV technology vendor. “We strongly believe in the cloud, it can change the industry,” Rovi’s product development VP Thierry Lehartel tells Beet.TV at the Consumer Electronics Show. At the show, Rovi announced Remote Access Services, an upgrade to its existing Cloud Services which lets pay-TV operators […]

LAS VEGAS – In a world where mobile phones are replaced every two years or so, it’s frustrating that vehicles’ longer ownership terms make in-car entertainment systems dead-end and dead old. That’s why many auto makers, often accused of loading their dashes with old technology, are now turning their systems in to future-proof mobile mini-computers, […]

Across the industry, efficiency-hungry advertisers are going crazy to get their hands on data about viewers. And then they have to make sense of that data. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, Rovi trailed two new products aiming to help advertisers out. Ad Optimizer and Promotion Optimizer take in multiple data feeds […]

LAS VEGAS — With a growing number of connected screens, streaming services having risen above local playback and the demands of UltraHD video looming, internet infrastructure is being sorely tested. Akamai and Qualcomm think one solution is to cache popular digital content in the home or office. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Qualcomm’s Atheros […]

LAS VEGAS — The 4K content being showed off on TVs at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is going to come in much larger file sizes than plain old HD video. Fortunately, the new wave in super-sharp TV fare can be shrunk back down to size. “With the picture being four times the resolution, […]

LAS VEGAS — Sling Media‘s Slingbox is best know for helping customers in America’s patchwork TV ecosystem access their home TV setup whilst traveling in other states. But, just as the digital TV industry is realizing many mobile TV viewers actually don’t watch whilst “mobile”, Sling, too, is beginning to put greater focus on at-home […]

LAS VEGAS — If you want to know how best to advertising to consumers across mobile devices, look to the numbers, says one exec. “Some of the best mobile advertising we’re seeing to date are from brands who understand the importance of data,” mobile ad tech firm Millennial Media‘s global strategy VP Carrier Seifer tells […]

LAS VEGAS — By most reckonings, the US TV ad industry sells about $70 billion in ads each year. Dave Morgan thinks he can make that $100 billion. The Tacoda founder now helms Simulmedia, a company bringing an avalanche of data to bear on TV ad buying – a process Morgan says deserves to be […]

LAS VEGAS — Digital content data provider Rovi is preparing to reboot its recommendations offering in the next few weeks. The Rovi Recommendations Service uses metadata describing the content viewers are watching to make suggestions for similar next content to consume. “Our recommendations product will be relaunched this quarter,” company product management VP Priya Rajagopalan […]

LAS VEGAS — Kicking off its new year, digital video tech outfit Rovi announced it has been contracted by Mexico’s América Móvil to provide its guidance, search, recommendations and metadata products to the broadcaster. The year ahead heralds further development, says Rovi’s corporate strategy EVP Julian Lighton. “You’ll see us expand in to Europe and further parts […]

LAS VEGAS — Marketing land is abuzz about “native advertising” – the hybridized presentation of marketing in the guise of publisher editorial. As different publishers and agencies approach the opportunity in different ways, the commonly accepted notions of what constitutes an ad and how you recognize it begin to break down. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong wants […]

LAS VEGAS — Branded content is hot in marketing land. Now Starcom Mediavest Group (SMG’s) is saving brands the trouble of creating their own content – by obtaining publishers’ permission to re-publish theirs. SMG’s new Content@Scale CMS, launched this week, ingests text articles and images from Ahalogy, Demand Media, Glam Media, Forbes, Martha Stewart Omnimedia, Parade, […]

LAS VEGAS – Content@Scale, the new content marketing platform launched by Starcom Mediavest Group, will soon add video capability to its text article re-distribution offering. The service lets marketers licence “evergreen” articles from 15 US publishers to re-use as content in display ad units. Flite CEO Will Price, whose technology powers the service, says he […]

LAS VEGAS — 4K televisions being touted at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) promise phenomenal-quality viewing in the years ahead. But traditional broadcast infrastructure may not be able to cope with the extra demands, and broadband pipes may not be fat enough either, says one exec. “The only way a wireline operator is going to […]

LAS VEGAS — The New York Times’ web redesign on Wednesday opened the site up to paid articles from sponsors – but a distinction will always be clear and the publisher wants only “sophisticated” examples of the format including video, the exec in charge tells Beet.TV. “We are going to give marketers a platform to […]

LAS VEGAS — Pubmatic has long offered premium publishers the ability to sell their display and mobile ad inventory using real-time systems. Now it’s about to offer video ad sales in the same way, too. Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show, the Redwood City- and New York-based company president Kirk McDonald tells Beet.TV Pubmatic will […]

“Coding” is the new black, and there’s no longer a shortage of service teaching kids, women and all comers the virtues of computer programming. One of the latest, EngineHere, aims to to get ahead of the pack by replicating the familiar school environment using online video. Recently-launched, EngineHere uses Tokbox’s WebRTC video tools to support […]

Everyone has been talking about “second-screen” experiences. But what do those experiences really bring to advertisers’ party? Greater consumer engagement, says a tech vendor. In the Netherlands, Civolution, whose technology knows which ads are playing on which TV channels and when, has been delivering that real-time data to Group M’s data-driven ad unit Xaxis. “As […]